HISTORY OF GREECE |
THE SCOPE AND DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK HISTORYTHE HEROIC AGE [ca. 1400-1200 B.C.] THE DORIANS [ca. 1100-1000 B.C.]SPARTA AND LYCURGUS [ca. 885 B.C.]
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SUMMARY OF GREEK HISTORYA TABLE OF CHRONOLOGY
IT is unnecessary in the summary of a country whose
chief events are so accurately dated and so fully understood as in the case of
Greece, to amplify the chronology. A synoptical view of these events will,
however, prove useful. Questions of origins and of earliest history are obscure
here as elsewhere. As to the earliest dates, it may be well to quote the dictum
of Prof. Flinders Petrie, who, after commenting on the discovery in Greece, of
pottery marked with the names of early Egyptian kings, states that “the grand
age of prehistoric Greece, which can well compare with the art of classical
Greece, began about 1600 B.C., was at its highest point about 1400 B.C. and
became decadent about 1200 B.C., before its overthrow by the Dorian invasion”.
The earlier phase of civilisation in the Aegean may therefore date from the
third millennium B.C.
2000—1000. Later phase of civilisation in the Aegean
(the Mycenaean Age). The Achaeans and other Greeks spread themselves over
Greece, Ionians settle in Asia Minor. The Pelopidae reign at Mycenae. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, commands the Greek forces at
Troy.
1184. Fall of Troy (traditional date).
1124. First migration. Northern warriors drive out the
population of Thessaly and occupy the country, causing many Achaeans to migrate
to the Peloponnesus.
1104. Dorian invasion. The Peloponnesus gradually
brought under the Dorian sway. Dorian colonies sent out to Crete, Rhodes, and
Asia Minor. Argos head of a Dorian hexapolis.
885. Lycurgus said to have given laws to Sparta. About
this time (perhaps much earlier) Phoenician alphabet imported into Greece.
776. The First Olympic year.
750. First Messenian war.
PERIOD OF GREEK COLONISATION
(750-650 B.C.)
683. Athens ruled by nine archons.
632. Attempt of Cylon to
make himself supreme at Athens.
621. Draconian code drawn up.
611. Anaximander of Miletus, the constructor of the
first map, born. End of seventh century. Second Messenian war. Spartans conquer
the country. The Ephors win almost all the kingly power. Cypaelus and his son Periander tyrants of Corinth.
600. The poets Alcaeus and Sappho flourish at Lesbos.
594—593. Solon archon at Athens.
590—589. Sacred war of the Amphictyonic league against Crisa. Clisthenes tyrant of Sicyon.
585. Pythian games reorganised. Date of first Pythiad.
570. Pisistratus polemarch at Athens. Athenians conquer Salamis and Nisaea.
561. Pisistratus makes himself supreme in Athens. He
is twice exiled.
559—556. Miltiades tyrant of the Thracian Chersonesus.
556. Chilon’s reforms in
Sparta.
549—548. Mycenae and Tiryns go over to Sparta.
ATHENS UNDER THE TYRANTS
(540-510 B.C)
540. Pisistratus tyrant of Athens.
530. Pythagoras goes to Croton.
527. Pisistratus dies and is succeeded by his sons,
Hippias and Hipparchus. Homeric poems collected.
514. Hipparchus slain by Harmodius and Aristogiton
510. A Spartan army under Cleomenes blockades Hippias
and forces him to quit Athens.
THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
(507 – 493 B.C.)
Clisthenes and Isagoras contend for the chief power in
Athens.
507. Isagoras calls in Cleomenes who invades Attica.
The Athenians overcome the Spartans, and Clisthenes, who had left Athens,
returns. Clisthenes reforms the Athenian democracy.
506. Spartans, Boeotians, and Chalcidians allied
against Athens. The Athenians allied with Plataea. Chalcidian territory annexed
by Athens. Nearly the whole Peloponnesus forms a league under the hegemony of
Sparta. Rivalry between Athens and Aegina.
504. The Athenians refuse to restore Hippias on the
Persian demand.
498. Athens and Eretria send ships to aid the
Milesians against the Persians.
496. Sophocles born at Athens.
494. Naval battle off Lade, the decisive struggle of
the Ionian war, won by the Persians. Battle of Sepeia.
The Spartans defeat the Argives.
493. Themistocles, archon at Athens, fortifies the
Piraeus.
PERIOD OF THE PERSIAN WARS
(492-479 B.C.)
492. Quarrel between the Spartan kings. King Demaratus
flees to the Persian court, and King Cleomenes seizes hostages from Aegina.
Thrace and Macedonia subdued by the Persians.
490. The Persians subdue Naxos and other islands, and
destroy Eretria before landing in Attica. Battle of Marathon; the Greeks under
Miltiades defeat the Persians, the latter losing six thousand men; the Persian
fleet sets sail for Asia.
489. Miltiades’ expedition against Paros. Miltiades
tried, and fined. His death.
487. War between Athens and Aegina. Themistocles
begins to equip an Athenian fleet.
483. Aristides ostracised.
481. Xerxes musters an army to invade Greece. Greek
congress at Corinth.
480. Xerxes at the Hellespont. The northern Greeks
submit to Xerxes. The Greek army is defeated at the pass of Thermopylae and
Leonidas, the Spartan king, is slain. Battle of Artemisium. The Greek fleet
retreats. Athens being evacuated, Xerxes occupies it. Battle of Salamis and
complete victory of the Greeks. Retreat of Xerxes. The Greeks fail to follow up
their victory.
479. Mardonius invades Boeotia; occupies Athens.
Retreat of Mardonius. Battle of Plataea. Mardonius defeated and slain. Retreat
of the Persian army. Battle of Mycale and defeat of the Persian fleet.
POST-BELLUM RECONSTRUCTION
(479-463 B.C.)
478. Athenians under Xanthippus capture Sestus in the Chersonesus. Confederacy of Delos.
477. Athenian walls rebuilt. Piraeus fortified.
Themistocles’ law providing for the annual increase of the navy. Pausanias
conquers Byzantium. He enters into treacherous relations with the Persians.
476. The Spartans endeavour to reorganise the
Amphictyonic league. Their attempts defeated by Themistocles.
474. The poet Pindar flourishes.
473. Scyros conquered by the Athenian, Cimon. Argos
defeated by the Spartans at the battle of Tegea.
472. Themistocles ostracised. PERSAE of
Aeschylus performed.
471. The Arcadian league against Sparta crushed at the
battle of Dipaea
470—469. Naxos secedes from the confederacy of Delos,
and is compelled to return.
470. Socrates born.
468. Cimon defeats the Persians at the Eurymedon.
Argos recovers Tiryns.
465—463. Thasos revolts and is reduced by the fleet
under Cimon.
464. Sparta stirred by terrible earthquake and a
revolt of the helots. The Third Messenian war.
463-462. Cimon persuades Athens to send help to the
Spartans, but the latter refuse the assistance. They are afraid of Athens’
revolutionary spirit. This incident puts an end to Cimon’s Laconian policy. It
is the triumph of Ephialtes and his party.
THE AGE OF PERICLES
(463-431 B.C.)
463-461. Triumph of democracy at Athens under
Ephialtes and Pericles. The Areopagus deprived of its powers. Cimon protests
against the changes effected in his absence. He is ostracised, and Athens forms
a connection with Argos, which captures and destroys Mycenae.
460-459. Megara secedes from the Peloponnesian league
to Athens. A fleet, sent by Athens to aid the Egyptian revolt against Persia,
captures Memphis.
459. Ithome captured by the Spartans.
459—458. Athens at war with the northern states of the
Peloponnesus. Athenian victories of Halieis, Cecryphalea,
and Aegina.
458. Long walls of Athens completed.
457. Spartan expedition to Boeotia. Victory of Tanagra
over the Athenians. Truce between Athens and Sparta. Battle of Oenophyta and conquest of Boeotia by the Athenians. The
Phocians and Locrians make alliance with Athens.
456. Aegina surrenders to the Athenians.
454. Greek contingent in Egypt capitulates to the
Persians; the Athenian fleet destroyed at the mouth of the Nile.
454—453. Treasury of the confederacy of Delos
transferred from the island to Athens.
453. Pericles besieges Sicyon and Oeniadae without success. Achaia passes under the Athenian dominion.
452—451. Five years’ truce between Athens and the
Peloponnesus.
450—449. Cimon leads an expedition against Cyprus.
Death of Cimon. The fleet on its way home wins the battle of Salamis in Cyprus.
448. Peace of Callias concluded with Persia. Sacred
war. The Phocians withdraw from the Athenian alliance.
447. Boeotia lost to Athens by the battle of Coronea.
447—446. Revolt of Euboea and Megara from the Delian
confederacy. Euboea is subdued and annexed. Pericles plants colonies in the
Thracian Chersonesus, Euboea, Naxos, etc.
446—445. Thirty Years’ Peace between Athens and
Sparta.
444. Aristophanes born.
442. Thucydides opposes Pericles; is ostracised,
leaving Pericles without a rival in Athens, where he governs for fifteen years
with absolute power. Sophocles’ Antigone produced.
440-439. Pericles subdues Samos. Corcyraeans defeat
Corinthians in a sea-fight.
433. Corcyra concludes alliance with Athens. Battle of Sybota between Corcyra and Corinth. King Perdiccas of
Macedonia incites the revolt of Chalcidice against Athens.
432. Megarian decree, passed at Athens, excludes
Megarians from all Athenian markets. Battle of Potidaea. Athenians defeat the
Corinthians.
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
(431-404 B.C.)
431. Sparta decides on war with Athens on the grounds
of her having broken the Thirty ears’ Peace. Peloponnesian War. First period
called the “Attic War”. Plataea surprised by Thebans. Thebans taken and
executed in spite of a promise for their release. King Archidamus of Sparta
invades Attica. The population crowd into Athens. Athens annexes Aegina. The
fleet takes several important places.
430. The plague in Athens. Trial of Pericles for
misappropriation of public money. Potidaea taken by the Athenians and the
inhabitants expelled.
429. Archidamus besieges Plataea. Phormion,
the Athenian, wins the victory of Naupactus. Death of Pericles. Rivalry between
contending parties under Nicias and Cleon.
428. Archidamus invades Attica. Mytilene revolts and
is blockaded by the Athenians.
427. Fourth invasion of Attica by the Spartans.
Surrender of Mytilene. The Mytilenaean ringleaders
executed. Surrender of Plataea to the Peloponnesians. Oligarchs in Corcyra
conspire to overthrow the democrats. Civil war and naval engagement. Terrible
slaughter. Athenian expedition to Sicily under Laches. Birth of Plato.
426. Athenians under Demosthenes defeated in Aetolia.
Battle of Olpae. Peloponnesians and Ambracians defeated by Demosthenes. Purification of Delos
by the Athenians. The Delian festival revived under Athenian superintendence.
425. Athens increases the amount of tribute to be paid
by the confederacy. The episode of Pylos, leading, after a long struggle, to
the capture of Lacedaemonian forces in Sphacteria.
424. Defeat of Hippocrates at Delium. Thucydides, the
historian, banished for not succouring Amphipolis in time. Brasidas takes towns
of Chalcidice.
423. Truce between Athens and Sparta. Scione in Chalcidice revolts to Sparta and an Athenian
expedition under Cleon is sent against it, notwithstanding the truce.
422. Battle of Amphipolis won by Brasidas, but both he
and Cleon are slain.
421. Peace of Nicias ends the first period of the
Peloponnesian War. Mutual restoration of conquests. Scione is taken and all the male inhabitants put to death.
420. Second period of the Peloponnesian War.
Alcibiades becomes the chief opponent of Nicias. Expedition against Epidaurus.
418. Nicias recovers his power in Athens. The Spartans
invade Argolis. Athenians take Orchomenus, but are defeated by the Spartans.
Battle of Mantinea. Hyperbolus attempts to obtain the ostracism of Nicias. The
decree is passed against himself, being the last instance of ostracism. Argive
oligarchy overthrows the democratic government. A counter revolution restores
the democrats. Athens concludes alliance with Argos.
416. Melos conquered by the Athenians. The Sicilian
city of Segesta appeals to Athens for help against Selinus. Nicias opposes the
sending of assistance, but is overruled and sent with Alcibiades in command of
a Sicilian expedition.
415. Mysterious mutilation of the Hermae statues
regarded as an evil omen. Alcibiades accused of a plot. His trial postponed.
The expedition sails. Fall of Alcibiades; his escape.
414. Siege of Syracuse. The Spartan Gylippus arrives with ships.
413. Nicias appeals for help to Athens and a second
expedition is voted. Syracusans worsted in a sea battle. Syracusans capture an
Athenian treasure fleet, and win a battle in the harbour of Syracuse. Arrival
of the second Athenian expedition and its total defeat. The Athenians retreat
by land. The rear guard is forced to surrender and the relics of the main body
are captured after the defeat of the Asinarus.
Tribute of the confederacy abolished and replaced by an import and export duty.
412. Third period of the Peloponnesian War, called the Decelean or Ionian War. The allies of Athens take
advantage of her misfortunes to revolt. Sparta makes a treaty with Persia.
Athens wins several naval successes.
411. “Revolution of the Four Hundred”. The fleet and
army at Samos place themselves under the leadership of Alcibiades. Spartans
defeat the Athenian fleet at Eretria. Fall of the Four Hundred and partial
restoration of Athenian democracy. Battle of Cynossema won by the Athenians. Alcibiades defeats the Peloponnesians at Abydos.
410. Battle of Cyzicus won by Alcibiades. Complete
restoration of Athenian democracy.
408. Alcibiades conquers Byzantium.
407. Cyrus, viceroy of Sardis, furnishes the Spartan
Lysander with money to raise the pay of the Spartan navy. Lysander begins to
set up the oligarchical government of the decarchies in the cities conquered by him. Battle of Notium.
Athenians defeated. Alcibiades’ downfall.
406. Battle of Arginusae. Peloponnesians defeated by
the Athenians. The victorious generals are blamed for not rescuing their
wounded, and are illegally condemned and executed. The Spartans make overtures
for peace, which are rejected.
405. Battle of Aegospotami. Most of the Athenian ships
are taken and all the prisoners are put to death. The Athenian empire passes to
Sparta. Lysander subdues the Hellespont and Thrace, and lays siege to Athens.
404. Surrender of Athens.
SPARTAN SUPREMACY AND PERSIAN INFLUENCE
(403 - 379
B.C.)
Return to Athens of exiles of the oligarchical party.
Athens under the Thirty. Thrasybulus and other exiles gain Phyle. Theramenes
opposes the violent rule of the Thirty and is put to death.
403. Battle of Munychia. Thrasybulus defeats the army
of the Thirty. Death of Critias. The Thirty are deposed and replaced by the
Ten. The Spartans under Lysander come to the aid of the Ten, but the
intervention of the Spartan king, Pausanias, brings about the restoration of
the Attic democracy.
401. Cyrus’ campaign and the battle of Cunaxa. Retreat
of the Ten Thousand Greeks under Xenophon.
400. Spartan invasion of the Persian dominions.
399. Spartans under Dercyllidas occupy the Troad. Elis conquered and dismembered by
the Spartans. Socrates put to death for denying the Athenian gods.
398. Agesilaus becomes king of Sparta.
397. Cimon’s conspiracy.
396. Agesilaus invades Phrygia.
395. Agesilaus wins the victory of Sardis. Revolt of
Rhodes. The Spartans invade Boeotia and are repelled with the assistance of the
Athenians. Thebes, Athens, Argos, and Corinth allied against Sparta.
394. Agesilaus returns from Asia Minor. Battle of
Nemea won by the Spartans. Battle of Cnidus. The Persian fleet under Conon
destroys the Spartan fleet. Agesilaus wins the battle of Coronea and retreats from Boeotia.
393. Pharnabazus destroys the Spartan dominion in the
eastern Aegean, and supplies Conon with funds to restore the long walls of
Athens. Beginning of the “Corinthian War”.
392. Federation of Corinth and Argos. Fighting between
the Spartans and the allies on the Isthmus of Corinth. Both sides send
embassies to the Persians.
391. The Spartans begin fresh wars in Asia.
389. Successes of Thrasybulus in the northern Aegean.
388. Spartans dispute the supremacy of Athens on the
Hellespont and are defeated at Cremaste.
387. Peace of Antalcidas between Persia and Sparta.
Athens is compelled to accede.
386. Dissolution of the union of Corinth and Argos.
Sparta compels the Mantineans to break down their city walls and separate into
small villages.
384—382. The city of Olynthus, having united the
Chalcidian towns under her hegemony and increased her territory at the expense
of Macedonia, makes alliance with Athens and Thebes. Sparta sends help to the
towns which refuse to join.
384. Aristotle born.
882. Spartans seize the citadel of Thebes.
880.PANEGYRIC of Isocrates, a plea for Greek
unity.
381-879. Sparta forces Phlius to submit to her dictation.
379. Chalcidian league compelled by Sparta to
dissolve. The power of Sparta at its height. Rising of Thebes under Pelopidas
against Sparta. Sphodrias, the Spartan, invades
Athenian territory. The Spartans decline to punish the aggression.
RISE OF THEBES
(378-359 B.C)
378. Athens makes alliance with Thebes.
378—377. Formation by the Athenians of a new maritime
confederacy.
378—376. Three unsuccessful Spartan expeditions into
Boeotia.
376. Great maritime victory of the Athenian Chabrias at Naxos. Successes of Timotheus of Athens in the
Ionian Sea.
374. Brief peace between Sparta and Athens.
374—373. Corcyra unsuccessfully invested by the
Spartans.
371. Peace of Callias, guaranteeing the independence
of each individual Greek city. Thebes not included in the Peace. Jason of
Pherae, despot of Thessaly. Battle of Leuctra. Epaminondas of Thebes defeats
the Spartans. Revolutionary outbreaks in Peloponnesus.
370. Arcadian union and restoration of Mantinea.
Foundation of Megalopolis. Epaminondas and Pelopidas invade Laconia.
369. Messene restored by the Thebans as a menace to
Sparta. Alliance between Sparta and Athens. The Thebans conquer Sicyon.
Pelopidas sent to deliver the Thessalian cities from the rivals, Alexander of
Macedon and Alexander of Pherae.
368. The Spartans win the “tearless victory” of Midea
over the Arcadians. Death of Alexander II of Macedon. Succession of his brother
Perdiccas secured by Athenian intervention. Pelopidas captured by Alexander of
Pherae.
367. Epaminondas rescues him. Pelopidas obtains a
Persian decree settling disputed questions in Peloponnesus. The decree
disregarded in Greece.
366. The Thebans conquer Achaia, but fail to keep it.
Athens makes alliance with Arcadia
365. Athenians conquer and colonise Samos, and acquire Sestus and Grithote.
Perdiccas III of Macedon assassinates the regent. Timotheus takes Potidaea and Torone for Athens. Elis invaded by the Arcadians.
364. Creation of a Boeotian navy encourages the allies
of Athens to revolt. Battle of Cynoscephalae. Alexander of Pherae, defeated by
the Boeotians and their Thessalian allies. Pelopidas falls in the battle.
Orchomenus destroyed by the Thebans. Elis invaded by the Arcadians. Spartan
operations fail. Battle in the Altis during the Olympic games. The Arcadians
appropriate the sacred Olympian treasure. Praxiteles, the sculptor, flourished.
362. Unsuccessful attack on Sparta by Epaminondas.
Battle of Mantinea and death of Epaminondas.
361. Agesilaus of Sparta goes to Egypt as a leader of
mercenaries. Battle of Peparethus. Alexander of
Pherae defeats the Athenian fleet. He attacks the Piraeus.
360. The Thracian Chersonesus lost to Athens.
PHILIP OF MACEDONIA
(359-386 B.C)
859. Death of Perdiccas III of Macedon. Philip seizes
the government as guardian for his nephew, Amyntas.
858. Brilliant victories of Philip over the Paeonians
and Illyrians.
857. Thracian Chersonesus and Euboea recovered by
Athens. Philip takes Amphipolis. Revolt of Athenian allies, Chios, Cos, and
Rhodes.
356. Battle of Embata lost
by the Athenians. Philip founds Philippi, takes Pydna and Potidaea, defeats the
Illyrians and sets to work to organise his kingdom on a military basis. Birth
of Alexander the Great.
355. Peace between Athens and her revolted allies. The
Athenians abandon their schemes of a naval empire. Outbreak of the “Sacred war”
against the Phocians who had seized the Delphic temple.
354. Battle of Neon. The Phocians defeated.
Demosthenes begins his political activity. Phocian successes under Onomarchus.
353. Methone taken by Philip of Macedon. Philip and
the Thessalian league opposed to Onomarchus and the tyrants of Pherae.
Onomarchus drives Philip from Thessaly. Philip crushes the Phocians in Magnesia
and makes himself master of Thessaly. Phocis saved from him by help from
Athens.
352. War in the Peloponnesus. Spartan schemes of
aggression frustrated. Thrace subdued by Philip.
351. Demosthenes delivers his First Philippic.
349. Philip begins war against Olynthus which makes
alliance with Athens. Athenian attempt to recover Euboea fails.
348. Philip destroys Olynthus and the Chalcidian
towns.
347. Death of Plato.
346. Peace of Philocrates between Philip and Athens.
Phocis subdued by Philip. Philip presides at the Pythian games. Philip becomes
archon of Thessaly. Demosthenes accuses Aeschines of accepting bribes from
Philip.
344. Demosthenes delivers The Second Philippic.
343. Megara, Chalcis, Ambracia, Acarnania, Achaia, and
Corcyra ally themselves with Athens.
342—341. Philip annexes Thrace. He founds
Philippopolis.
341. Demosthenes’ Third Philippic.
340. Diplomatic breach between Athens and Philip.
339. Perinthus and Byzantium unsuccessfully besieged
by Philip. Philip s campaign on the Danube.
338. The Amphiotyonic league
declares a “holy war” against Amphissa, and requests the aid of Philip. Philip
destroys Amphissa and conquers Naupactus. Philip occupies Elatea. Athens makes
alliance with Thebes. Battle of Chaeronea. Philip defeats the Athenians and
Thebans. The hegemony of Greece passes to Macedon. Philip invades the
Peloponnesus, which, with the exception of Sparta, acknowledges his supremacy.
Philip establishes a Greek confederacy under the Macedonian hegemony. Lycurgus
appointed to control the public revenues in Athens.
336. Attalus and Parmenion open the Macedonian war in
Aeolis.
THE AGE OF ALEXANDER
(336-323 B.C.)
Murder of Philip and succession of Alexander the
Great. Alexander compels the Hellenes to recognise his hegemony.
335. Alexander conducts a successful campaign on the
Danube and defeats the Illyrians at Pelium. Thebes
revolts against him and is destroyed.
334. Alexander sets out for Asia. Battle of the
Granicus. Alexander defeats the Persians. Lydia, Miletus, Caria, Halicarnassus,
Lycia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia subdued.
333. Alexander goes to Gordium and cuts the Gordian
knot. Death of his chief opponent, the Persian general, Memnon. Submission of
Paphlagonia and Cilicia. Battle of Issus. Alexander puts the army of Darius to
flight. Sidon and Byblos submit.
332. Tyre besieged and taken. He slaughters the
inhabitants and marches southward, storming Gaza. Egypt conquered. He founds
Alexandria.
331. Battle of Arbela and defeat of the Great King.
Babylon opens its gates to Alexander. He enters Susa. The Spartans rise and are
defeated at Megalopolis.
330. Alexander occupies Persepolis. Alexander in
Ecbatana, in Parthia, and on the Caspian. Philotas is accused of conspiring
against Alexander’s life and is executed. His father, the general Parmenion,
put to death on suspicion. Judicial contest between Demosthenes and Aeschines
ends in the latter’s quitting Athens. Part of Gedrosia (Beluchistan)
submits to Alexander.
329. Arachosia conquered.
328. Alexander conquers Bactria and Sogdiana.
327. Alexander quells the rebellion of Sogdiana and
Bactria. Clitus killed by Alexander at a banquet. Alexander marries the Sogdian
Roxane. Callisthenes, the historian, is put to death under pretext of
complicity in the conspiracy of the pages to assassinate Alexander. Beginning
of the Indian war.
326. Alexander in the Punjab; he crosses the Indus,
and is victorious at the Hydaspes. At the Hyphasis the army refuses to advance further. Alexander builds a fleet and sails to the
mouth of the Indus.
325. Conquest of the Lower Punjab. March through
Gedrosia (Mekran in Beluchistan)
and Carmania. Nearchus makes a voyage of discovery in the Indian Ocean.
324. Alexander in Susa. He punishes treasonable
conduct of officials during his absence. Alexander’s veterans discharged at Opis. Harpalus deposits at Athens the money stolen from
Alexander. The trial respecting misappropriation of this money ends in
Demosthenes being forced to quit Athens. Alexander’s last campaign against the Kossaeans.
323. Alexander returns to Babylon and reorganises his
army for the conquest of Arabia. Death of Alexander.
THE POST-ALEXANDRIAN EPOCH
(323 - 280 B.C.)
323. At Alexander’s death his young half-brother,
Philip Arrhidaeus, succeeded to his empire, while there are expectations of a
posthumous heir by Roxane. The young Alexander is born. Perdiccas is made
regent over the Asiatic dominions, while Antipater and Craterus take the joint
regency of the West. The Greeks, with Athens at their head, attempt to throw
off the Macedonian yoke as soon as Alexander is dead, and the Lamian war breaks out (323-322). But one by one the states
yield to Antipater and Craterus. The direct government of the dominions in
Europe, Africa, and Western Asia is divided among Alexander’s generals.
Thirty-four shared in the allotment; the most important are: Ptolemy Lagus, in
Egypt and Cyrenaica; Antigonus, in Phrygia, Pamphylia, and Lycia: Eumenes, the
secretary of Alexander, in Paphlagonia and Cappadocia; Cassander, in Caria;
Leonnatus, in Hellespontine Phrygia; Menander, in Lydia; and Lysimachus, in
Thrace and the Euxine districts. Perdiccas aims to marry Alexander’s sister,
Cleopatra, as a means of becoming absolute master of the empire. The other
generals league themselves against him, and (321) Perdiccas is murdered by his
soldiers while proceeding against Ptolemy. Antipater replaces him as regent,
and redivides the empire; Seleucus is given Babylonia to rule over. Antipater
dies 319, and Cassander Polysperchon become regents. In 317 and 316, Cassander
conquers Greece and Macedonia. Antigonus, with the help of Cassander, attacks
and defeats Eumenes, who is betrayed by his own forces in 316. Antigonus now
has ambitions to control the whole empire, and in 315 the terrible war of the
Diadochi, between him and the other generals, begins. Antigonus and his son,
Demetrius Poliorcetes, call themselves kings. Seleucus, Lysimachus, Cassander,
and others do the same. Demetrius seizes Athens in 307. At the end of the struggle
every member of Alexander’s family is dead, the majority put to death. In 301,
at the battle of Ipsus, Antigonus falls, and
Demetrius takes to flight. Cassander dies 296, and the succession is contested
by his two sons, Philip IV and ;Antipater. Demetrius takes the opportunity of
this quarrel to seize the European dominions. He prepares to invade Asia, and
the other successors of the empire, together with King Pyrrhus of Epirus,
league against him. In 287 Pyrrhus invades Macedonia, and Demetrius’army deserts him. Pyrrhus is welcomed as king, and he gives Lysimachus the eastern
part of Macedonia to rule over. Demetrius renews the struggle with Pyrrhus, and
at his death, in 283, his son, Antigonus Gonatas, carries it on. In 282
Lysimachus is attacked by Seleucus Nicator, and is defeated and killed on the
plain of Corus in 281. Ptolemy Ceraunus murders Seleucus, and seizes the
European kingdom of Lysimachus. In 280 Pyrrhus goes to Tarentum to make war on
the Romans.
THE ACHEAN AND AETOLIAN LEAGUES
(280 - 217 B.C.)
The Achaean towns of Patrae, Dyme, Tritaea, and Pharae expel their Macedonian garrisons and join in a
confederacy.
279. The Celts descend on the Balkan countries and on
Macedonia. Death of Ptolemy Ceraunus.
278. Celts under Brennus approach Greece. Struggle
between Celts and Hellenes round Thermopylae. Brennus defeated at Delphi. Celts
driven back. Aetolian Confederacy becomes the most important representative of
Greek independence.
277. Antigonus king of Macedonia. He founds the
dynasty of the Antigonids. Pyrrhus conquers Sicily.
276. The Achaean town Aegium expels its garrison and
joins Patrai, etc., in the Achaean Confederacy.
244. Pyrrhus returns to Epirus.
273. Pyrrhus expels Antigonus from Macedon.
272. Pyrrhus besieges Sparta, which successfully
resists him. He turns against Argos, where he is killed. Antigonus recovers his
supremacy in Greece. The Greek cities fight for their independence.
265. The Macedonians defeat the Egyptian fleet at Cos.
Antigonus recovers his position in the Peloponnesus.
263. Chremonidean war.
263-202. Antigonus takes Athens. End of the
independent political importance of Athens.
255. The Long Walls of Athens broken down.
249. Aratus frees Sicyon from its tyrant Nicodes, and brings the town over to the Achaean League.
245. Aratus becomes president of the Achaean League.
Agis IV becomes king of Sparta and attempts to introduce reforms.
242. Aratus conquers Corinth. Megara, Troezen, and Epidaurus join the Achaeans.
241. Agis IV executed.
239. Demetrius, king of Macedon. Alliance between the
Achaeans and Aetolians.
238—5. Extinction of the Epirote Aeacids; federative
republic in Epirus.
235. Cleomenes III, king of Sparta.
234. Lydiades abdicates from
his tyranny and brings Megalopolis over to the Achaean League.
231. Illyrian corsairs ravage the western coasts of
Greece and defy the Achaean and Aetolian fleets.
229. The greater part of Argolis included in the
Achaean League. Antigonus Doson, regent of Macedon. Athens frees herself from
the Macedonian dominion. The Romans defeat the Illyrian corsairs.
228. Athens makes alliance with Rome. The Achaean
League at the height of its power.
227. Beginning of the Spartan war against the Achaean
League.
226. Cleomenes III effects fundamental reforms in
Sparta.
224. Battle at Dyme.
Cleomenes defeats the Achaean League.
223. Aratus calls in the aid of Macedon. Egypt deserts
the Achaeans and becomes the ally of Sparta. Achaeans, Boeotians, Phocians,
Thessalians, Epirotes, and Acarnanians form, under the leadership of Macedon,
an alliance against Sparta.
222. Battle of Sellasia.
Defeat of the Spartans. Antigonus Doson restores the Spartan oligarchy.
220. Philip V, king of Macedon. War of Philip and his
Greek allies, including the Achaean League, against the Aetolians supported by
Sparta.
219. Lycurgus (last king of Sparta).
217. Peace of Naupactus. The destructive war against
the AetoIians ended in dread of a Carthaginian
invasion. Philip V becomes protector of all the Hellenes.
THE ROMAN CONQUEST
(216-140 B.C.)
216. Philip concludes an alliance with Hannibal and provokes
the first Macedonian war with Rome.
214. Battle near the mouth of the Aous. The Romans
surprise Philip and defeat him. Aetolians, Eleians, Messenians, and Illyrians
accept Roman protection.
213. Aratus poisoned at Philip’s instigation.
211. Sparta goes over to Rome. Savage wars of the
Grecian cities against one another.
208. Philopoemen becomes
general of the Achaean League, and revives its military power.
205. Philip makes peace with Rome, ceding the country
of the Parthenians and several Illyrian districts to
Rome. Philip carries on war in Rhodes, Thrace, and Mysia, and sends auxiliaries
to Carthage.
200. Second Macedonian war declared by Rome. Romans
under Sulpicius invade Macedonia.
199. Romans kept inactive by mutiny in the army.
198. Defeat of Philip by Flamininus.
Achaeans and Spartans join the Romans.
197. Battle of Cynoscephalae and destruction of the
Macedonian phalanx. Philip accepts humiliating terms and renounces his
supremacy over the Greeks.
194. Flamininus returns to
Rome. The Aetolians, dissatisfied, pillage Sparta, which joins the Achaean
League. Antiochus in of Syria comes to the aid of the Aetolians.
191. Battle of Thermopylae. Antiochus defeated by the
Romans.
190. Battle of Magnesia. Romans defeat Antiochus.
Submission of the Aetolians.
183. Messene revolts from the Achaean League.
179. Callicrates succeeds Philopoemen as general of the Achaean League. Death of Philip V and accession of Perseus,
who conciliates the Greeks, and makes alliances with Syria, Rhodes, etc.
169. Attempted assassination of Eumenes of Pergamum on
his return from Rome.
168. Third Macedonian war declared by the Romans.
Romans are unsuccessful at first, but the battle of Pydna is won by Paulus
Aemilius, the Macedonians losing twenty thousand men. Flight and subsequent
surrender of Perseus.
150. Death of Callicrates.
152. Andriscus lays claim to the throne of Macedon.
148. Andriscus defeated at Pydna and taken to Rome.
146. Macedon made a Roman province. Romans support
Sparta in her attempt to withdraw from the Achaean League. Corinthians take up
arms, and are joined by the Boeotians and by Chalcis. Battle of Scarphe and victory of the Romans under Metellus. Corinth
is taken by Mummius; its art treasures are sent to
Rome, and the city delivered up to pillage. Achaean and Boeotian leagues
dissolved.
THE EGYPTIAN KINGDOM OF THE PTOLEMIES OR LAGIDS
(323-30 B.C.)
In 323 Ptolemy I, son of Lagus, receives the
government of Egypt and Cyrenaica in the division of Alexander’s Empire. He
rules at Alexandria. In 321 he allies himself with Antipater against the
ambitious Perdiccas. He joins the alliance against Antigonus in 315.
306. He assumes the title of king.
304. He assists the Rhodians to repel Demetrius, and
wins the surname of Soter (Saviour).
285. He abdicates in favour of his son, Ptolemy
Philadelphus, and dies two years later. Ptolemy II reigns almost in undisturbed
peace. About 266 he annexes Phoenicia and Coele-Syria. He is famous as a great
patron of commerce, science, literature, and art, and raises the Alexandrian
Museum and Library to importance. On his death in 247, his son, Ptolemy (III) Euergetes, reunites Cyrenaica, of which his father’s
half-brother, Magas, had declared himself king on the death of Ptolemy I.
In 245 he invades Syria, to avenge his sister
Berenice, the wife of Antiochus II, slain by Laodice. He also marches to and
captures Babylon, but is recalled to Egypt by a revolt in 243.
In 222 he is succeeded by his son, Ptolemy (IV) Philopator.
In 217 this king defeats Antiochus the Great at
Raphia, recovering Phoenicia and Coele-Syria, which has been wrested from him.
Ptolemy (V) Epiphanes began his reign in 205 or 204. Antiochus the Great
invades Egypt, and the Romans intervene. Ptolemy marries Cleopatra, daughter of
Antiochus. He dies by poison in 181. His son, Ptolemy (VI) Philometor,
succeeds, with Cleopatra as regent until her death in 174. Then the ministers
make war on Antiochus Epiphanes, who captures Ptolemy in 170. The king’s
brother, Ptolemy (VII) Euergetes or Physcon, then proclaims himself king, and reigns jointly
with his brother after the latter’s release.
In 164 Ptolemy VII expels Ptolemy VI, but is compelled
to recall him at the demand of Rome. Ptolemy VII returns to Cyrenaica, which he
holds as a separate kingdom until his brother’s death, 146, when he returns to
Egypt, slays the legitimate heir, and rules as sole king. The people of
Alexandria expel him in 130, but he manages to get back in 127. Dies 117. His
son, Ptolemy (VIII) Philometor or Lathyrus, shares
the throne with his mother, Cleopatra III.
In 107 his mother expels him, and puts her favourite
son, Ptolemy (IX) Alexander, on the throne. Ptolemy VIII keeps his power in
Cyprus, and on his mother’s death the Egyptians recall him and banish his
brother. The wars with the Seleucid princes are kept up. Berenice III, the
daughter of Ptolemy VIII, succeeds him in 81. Her stepson, Ptolemy X or
Alexander II, son of Ptolemy Alexander, comes from Rome as Sulla’s candidate,
and marries her. The queen is at once murdered, by her husband’s order, and the
people put him to death, 80. The legitimate line is now extinct. An
illegitimate son of Ptolemy Lathyrus, Ptolemy (XI) Neua Dionysus or Auletes, takes Egypt; and a younger brother, Cyprus. Weary of
taxation, the Alexandrians expel Auletes in 58, but the Romans restore him in
55. His son, Ptolemy XII, and his daughter, Cleopatra, succeed him in joint
reign in 51. In 48 Ptolemy expels his sister, who flees to Syria, and attempts
to recover Egypt by force of arms. Caesar effects her restoration in 48, and
the civil war with Pompey results. Ptolemy is defeated on the Nile, and
drowned. Cleopatra’s career after this belongs to Roman history. Unwilling to
appear in Octavian’s triumph after Actium, she kills herself in some unknown
way, 30 B.C.
THE SELEUCID KINGDOM OF SYRIA
(312-65 B.C.)
Seleucus (I) Nicator receives the satrapy of Babylon
from Antipater. He founds his kingdom in 312. He extends his conquests into
Central Asia and India, assuming the title of king about 306. He takes part
against Antigonus in the battle of Ipsus, 801. After
this a part of Asia Minor is added to his dominions, and the Syrian kingdom is
formed. He defeats Lysimachus on the plain of Corus in 281 and is assassinated
by Ptolemy Ceraunus in 280. He is the builder of the capital cities of Seleucia
and Antioch. His son Antiochus (I) Soter succeeds. He gives up all claim to
Macedonia on the marriage of Seleucus’ daughter, Phila, to Antigonus Gonatas.
Dies 261, his son Antiochus (II) Theos succeeding. In this reign the kingdom is
greatly weakened by the revolt of Parthia and Bactria, leading to the
establishment of the Parthian empire by Arsaces about 250. He also involves
himself in a ruinous war with Ptolemy Philadelphus, concluding with the peace
of 250. He is killed, 246, and succeeded by his son Seleucus (II) Callinicus
who wars with the Parthians and Egyptians until his death in 226. Seleucus
(III) Ceraunus after a short reign of three years is succeeded by his brother
Antiochus (III) the Great, the most famous of the Seleucidae.
223. Alexander and Molon the rebellious brothers of
the king are subdued. Antiochus goes to war with Ptolemy Philopator and is beaten at Raphia, 217, losing Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.
214. Achaeus the governor of Asia Minor rebels, and is
defeated and killed.
212. Antiochus begins an attempt to regain Parthia and
Bactria, but in 205 is compelled to acknowledge their independence. Continued
warfare with Egypt. Phoenicia and Coele-Syria regained by battle of Paneas in 198, but these territories are given back to
Egypt when Ptolemy Epiphanes marries Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus.
196. The Thracian Chersonesus taken from Macedonia.
192—189. War with the Romans, who demand restoration
of the Thracian and Egyptian provinces.
190. Battle of Magnesia; great defeat of Antiochus by
the Romans.
187. Antiochus killed by his subjects as he attempts
to rob the temple of Elymais to pay the Romans. His
son Seleucus (IV) Philopator succeeds. Before his
death, in 175, Seleucus satisfies the Roman claims. His successor is his
brother Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes. Armenia, lost by Antiochus III, is
reconquered, also Phoenicia and Coele-Syria, 171—168. Antiochus attempts to
stamp out the Jewish religion, giving rise to the Maccabaean rebellion in 167. Antiochus (V) Eupator succeeds his
father in 164. Lysias is regent, as the king is only nine years old. A peace
with the Jews is concluded and then Antiochus is killed, 162, by Demetrius (I)
Soter, son of Seleucus Philopator, who seizes the
throne. The Maccabaeans hold their own against this
king. Alexander Balas, a pretended son of Antiochus Epiphanes, organises an
insurrection. He invades Syria, and Demetrius is killed, 150, in battle.
Alexander Balas usurps the throne. Demetrius (II) Nicator, son of Demetrius I,
contests the throne but not with much success. Balas wars with Ptolemy Philopator and is killed, 145. A war of succession begins
between Demetrius Nicator and Balas’ young son Antiochus VI. The latter is
supported by the Jews. Antiochus VI is slain by Tryphon, the general of
Alexander Balas, in 142. Tryphon rules until 139, when he is put to death by
Antiochus (VII) Sidetes. Meanwhile one faction
recognises Demetrius Nicator as king. He marries Cleopatra, an Egyptian
princess, goes to war with the Parthians, is captured, and Antiochus Sidetes takes his place for ten years. Sidetes wages war with the Parthians, and is killed in battle, 128. Demetrius Nicator
now resumes his rule, but owing to his misgovernment is assassinated at the
instigation of Cleopatra, in 125. The eldest son, Seleucus V, is put to death
the same year by Cleopatra, and the second son, Antiochus (VIII) Grypus, takes the throne. He expels Alexander Zabina, a
usurper. Civil war breaks out between Antiochus and his half-brother, Antiochus
(IX) Cyzicenus, who in 112 compels a division of the
kingdom, taking Phoenicia and Coele-Syria as his share. Antiochus VIII is
assassinated, 96. Antiochus IX is killed in 95 by Seleucus (VI) Epiphanes, son
of Grypus, who rules only one year. Antiochus (X) Eusebes, son of Antiochus IX, follows. His claims are
contested by the sons of Grypus, Philip, Demetrius
(III) Eucaerus, and Antiochus (XI) Epiphanes. The
latter is drowned fleeing from Eusebes and the other
two rule over the whole of Syria. In 88 Demetrius is captured by the Parthians
and another brother Antioohus (XIl)
Dionysius, shares the rule with Philip. He is killed in a war with the
Arabians. Civil strife has now reached such a state that the Syrians invite
Tigranes of Armenia to put an end to it. He conquers Syria in 83, and rules it
until 69, when, after his defeat by Lucullus, Antiochus (XIII) Asiaticus, son
of Antiochus Eusebes, regains the throne. He is
deposed, 65, by Pompey, and Syria becomes a Roman province.
THE SICILIAN TYRANTS
(570-210 B.C.)
The government of the Greek colonies in Sicily is
originally oligarchical, but the rule soon gets into the hands of despots or
tyrants, who hold uncontrolled power.
570—554. Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum or Acrargas, brings that city to be the most powerful in the
island. About 500, Oleander obtains possession of Gela. His brother Hippocrates
succeeds, and is followed by Gelo, who makes himself master of Syracuse.
488. Theron is tyrant of Agrigentum, and, 481, expels Terillus from Himera. Terillus appeals to the Carthaginians who besiege Himera,
480. Gelo aids Theron and defeats Hamilcar.
478. Gelo succeeded by his brother Hiero I, an
oppressive ruler.
472. Thrasydaeus succeeds
Theron in Agrigentum, but is expelled by Hiero.
467. Thrasybulus succeeds Hiero, but is driven from
Sicily by the people, 466. The fall of Thrasybulus is the signal for great
internal dissensions, settled, 461, by a congress, which restores peace and
prosperity for half a century, interrupted only by a quickly suppressed revolt
of the Sicels in 451.
409. Hannibal, grandson of Hamilcar, attempts the
conquest of Sicily.
405. Dionysius attains to despotic power in Syracuse.
383. After constant war the limits of Greek and
Carthaginian power in Sicily are fixed.
367. Dion succeeds Dionysius; after an oppressive rule
he is murdered, 353. A period of confusion follows. The younger Dionysius and Hicetas hold power against each other. The latter calls in
the Carthaginians, and Timoleon comes from Corinth, defeats Hicetas,
and restores Greek liberty in 343. Democratic government is also reinstated in
other parts of Sicily.
340. Defeat of Hasdrubal and Hamilcar at the Crimisus puts an end to all fear from Carthage.
337. Agathocles establishes a despotism in Syracuse.
His reign is oppressive and disastrous for Sicily.
310. Defeat of Agathocles by Hamilcar at Ecnomus. Agathocles goes to Africa to carry on the war;
meanwhile Hamilcar gets possession of a large part of Sicily. Agathocles makes
peace with Carthage, and perpetrates a fearful massacre of his opponents.
289. Death of Agathocles. Hicetas becomes tyrant of Syracuse. Agrigentum, under Phintias,
attains to great power. The Carthaginians now begin to be predominant in the
island.
278. Pyrrhus lands in Sicily to aid the Greeks, but
returns to Italy, 276. Hiero II is chosen general by the Syracusans. He fights
the Mamertines.
270. Hiero assumes title of king. He allies with
Carthage to expel the Mamertines. The Romans espouse the latter’s cause, and
the First Punic War is begun, 264.
268. Hiero makes peace with Rome.
241. Battle off the Aegates Islands. The whole island,
except the territory of Hiero, becomes a Roman province.
215. Hieronymus, grandson and successor of Hiero,
breaks the treaty with Rome in the Second Punic War, and is assassinated.
Marcellus is sent to Syracuse.
212. Syracuse falls into his hands.
210. Agrigentum captured. Roman conquest completed.
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A HISTORY OF CLASSICAL GREEK LITERATUREMahaffy, John Pentland, Sir |
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