Based on 850 facts about world history by Keven N. Keegan, 19 Flashcards
An ancient Sumerian text credited as the 1st great epic
Gilgamesh, written in cuneiform around 3000 BC
The founder of Egypt’s 4th dynasty
Snofru, in 2900 BC
Egypt’s 4th dynasty ruler following the founder Snofru, famous for building a one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world
Cheops (Khufu), ruled for 23 years and built the Great Pyramid at Giza ( only still standing 7 wonders of the ancient world).
Circa 2850 BC, Khafra, ruler from Egypt’s 4th dynasty
Khafra ( Chephren) built the Great Sphinx, 189 foot long symbol/ monument for the god Harmachis
Circa 2350 BC Mesopotamia
Akkadian Empire is founded by Sumer’s Sargon I. Holds power in Mesopotamia for next two centuries
“Land between 2 rivers”
Mesopotamia
Babylonia’s 6th king, circa 1750 BC
Hammurabi, conquered Mesopotamia, and left written code of laws ( Hammurabi’s Code). The code was later found on a column at Susa and translated.
Circa 1374 BC, Egypt
Monotheism introduced by Pharaoh Amenhotep lV & wife, Queen Nefertiti. Sun god Aten
Howard Carter’s discovery in 1922
The unspoiled tomb of boy king Tutankhamen (Tut) from circa 1349 BC
Circa 1275 BC the beginning of a 40 year journey
The Israelites begin the Exodus out of Egypt led by Moses & his brother Aaron
Exodus
40 year journey by the Israelites out of Egypt toward the Dead Sea in Canaan by way of Sinai Peninsula, Kadesh & Petra
Troy, circa 1193 BC
King Priam’s city of Troy falls to Greeks led by Agamemnon. Retold Centuries later by Homer In the Iliad ( at least Achilles role, but not the Trojan Horse
What event is left out of The Iliad?
Odysseus’ plot of the Trojan Horse. Homer instead chronicles Achilles withdrawal & re-entering of the Trojan War
The Odyssey
Homer’s epic telling of Odysseus’s 10 year journey home after the Trojan War
Circa 1000 BC, classic underdog battle
David beats Goliath & succeeds Saul as King of Judea for 40 years, & writes many of the psalms
Who succeeded King David of Judea?
David’s son Solomon. After his death in 930 BC, Judea is split into Israel & Judea
Circa 814 BC, North African city
Carthage, founded by Phoenicia, a dominant force in trade since 1250 BC, with earlier city’s Tyra& Sidon (more or less present day Lebanon. The Phoenicians also invented the alphabet
First Olympics
776 BC: First Olympics held where rivers Alpheus and Cladeus meet at Olympia
Circa 772 BC: Ephesus
Construction begins on Temple to Artemis (Diana) that becomes one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
753 BC: what city is founded on the Tiber River?
753 BC: Rome is founded on the banks of the Tiber River by brothers Romulus and Remus, who have been suckled by a she-wolf
621 BC: Athenian politician
Draco establishes very severe laws, which include the death pen altyfor sometimes trivial offenses; “Draconian” now a synonym for overly-harsh laws
Circa 612 BC: Medes and the Chaldeans
12 years after the death of Assyria’s King Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian capital at Nineveh is destroyed by the Medes and the Chaldeans
6th century BC Persian faith
The Persian religious leader Zoroaster (AKA Zarathustra) will found a faith
whose sacred literature will be the Zend-Avesta; Zoroaster’s teachings will dominate Persian religious thoughtfor centuries
Circa 605·561 BC: Babylonian ruler,
Nebuchadnezzar rules Babylonia, conquers Jerusalem (and carries the Jews off as prisoners in what will be called The Babylonian Captivity), and builds the Hanging Gardens (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World); in the Old Testament Book of Daniel; Nebuchadnezzar is depicted as conceited and eventually going mad and eating grass
594 BC: Athenian law
594 BC: The Athenian lawgiver Solon grants commoners the vote in the legislature, called the Assembly
Sapho
Circa 590 BC: The Greek poet Sappho flourishes on-the island of Lesbos and celebrates the love of women for women
Lao-tse
Chinese philosopher Lab-tse sets down principles of conduct in his Tao Te Ching circa 565 BC
Circa 550 BC: The Lydian king
Croesus (pronounced Cree-sis) will invent metal coinage and will become a legendary figure associated with great wealth (rich as Croesus)
Cyrus the Great
546 BC: Persia’s Cyrus the Great defeats King Croesus and executes him, then defeats the Babylonians (both Nabonidus and, in 539 BC, his son, Belshazzar). Cyrus captures Babylon and allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem
King Croesus
Croesus (pronounced Cree-sis) will invent metal coinage and will become a legendary figure associated with great wealth (rich as Croesus)
Confucius
551-479 BC: Life of Confucius, who focuses on tradition and ethics in The Analects
Pythaoras
6th Century BC: Pythagoras develops the Pythagorean Theorem concerning right triangles
Circa 528 BC, India
Circa 528 BC: Buddhism has its beginnings in India where Siddhartha Gautama, also knownasBuddha,foundsthereligion–whichincludestheFourNobleTruthsandtheEightfold Path of Righteous Living
The battle of Marathon
490 BC: Battle of Marathon: A Persian army sent by Darius is defeated by Athenians. According to legend, Phideippides ran 22 miles–not 26–from the battlesite to Athens to announce the victor
Battle of Thermopylae
480 BC: Battle of Thermopylae: 200,000 Persians under Xerxes (son of Darius) eventually defeat a group of just 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians under Leonidas at this mountain pass (this battle allows the main Greek army to escape). The Persians eventually get to Athens and sack the city
480 BC the battle of Salamis
480 BC: Salamis: a key sea battle in which the Greeks under Themistocles defeat the Persian fleet (as 400 Greek boats ram more than 1000 Persian vessels in the Bay of Salamis) and Xerxes retreats to Persia
Aeschylus 484-460 BC
Circa 484-460 BC: Aeschylus becomes the first great ancient Greek tragedian with plays like Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, The Persians, and his Orestian Trilogy: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides
458 BC: Roman General Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
458 BC: Roman General Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus is summoned from his farm to guard Rome against an invading force of Aequians. In 16 days, he is named dictator of Rome by the Senate, raises an army, whips the Aequians, resigns his position as dictator, and returns to his farm
461 BC
Pericles
461 BC: A so-called Golden Age of Athens begins under Pericles: under his direction, the Acropolis is rebuilt after it had been destroyed in 480 BC by the Persians. Pericles appoints Ictinus and Callicrates to do the rebuilding
449 BC
Herodotus
Circa 449 BC: The Greek historian Herodotus becomes the Father of History by his system atic secular narrative of the Persian Wars of the 5th century BC
Circa 441 BC: Euripides
Circa 441 BC: Euripides becomes the next great Greek tragedian and will write such works as The Bacchae, Medea, Hippolytus, The Trojan Women, and lphigenia
430s BC: Greek sculptor
430s BC: Phidias earns his reputation as the greatest sculptor of ancient Greece: he will sculpt
. the statue of Athena in the Parthenon, the friezes of the Parthenon, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World)
Circa 435 BC: Sophocles
Circa 435 BC: Sophocles dominates Greek tragedy with his trilogy of plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedi pus at Colonus, and Antigone
Circa 431 BC: The Peloponnesian Wars begin
Circa 431 BC: The Peloponnesian Wars begin, as war between Athens and Sparta will last for the next 27 years. The Greek historian Thucydides will write his History ofthe Peloponnesian War and become the Father of Scientific History
Circa 429 BC: Greek physician
Circa 429 BC: Hippocrates is known as the top physician in ancient Greece and uses dissection
.and vivisection of animals to study anatomy. The physician’s oath is named for him as the Hippocratic Oath (“lswear by Apollo physician, by Asclepias, by Health, by Panacea, and by all thegodsandgoddesses..:”)
Circa 420 BC:
Greek comedy writer
Circa 420 BC: Aristophanes becomes ancient Greece’s first–and basically only–great writer of comedy with such works as Lysistrata (wives go on sex strike because husbands are always at war), The Birds, The Wasps, The Clouds, The Frogs
404 BC: Peloponnesian War
404 BC: Sparta wins the Peloponnesian War
399 BC: The Greek philosopher Socrates
399 BC: The Greek philosopher Socrates is condemned to drink hemlock for corrupting the youth of Athens–including his top pupil, Plato (who will write numerous dialogues in which Socrates is the central figure, including The Apology, which details Socrates’ death, and The Republic)
Circa 350 BC: Construction at Halicarnassus
Circa 350 BC: The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is built by Artemsia as a tribute to her dead husband, King Mausolus of Caria, and becomes one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Greek historian Thucydides
Greek historian Thucydides will write his History ofthe Peloponnesian War and become the Father of Scientific History
4th Century BC: Diogenes
4th Century BC: Diogenes preaches that the simple life is the best life, and dramatizes this by living in a bathtub. He also carries a lantern in daylight searching for an honest man
347 BC: the Academy
347 BC: Plato founds the Academy, which includes amongits students Aristotle
342 BC: Aristotle
342 BC: Aristotle returns to Macedon at the request of King Philip and becomes tutor to Alexander the Great; Aristotle will return to Athens in 335 BC, found the Lyceum, and write such works as The Poetics (rules for tragedy based on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex), The Metaphys ics, The Physics, and Politics
I
335 BC,
The Lyceum
founded by Aristotle in 335 BC upon his return to Athens
His works written there include: The Poetics (rules for tragedy based on Sophocles' Oedipus Rex), The Metaphysics, The Physics, and Politics
338 BC
Demosthenes
Athenian orator,
Known for the “Philippics,” brutal critics of Philip of Macedon
& practicing with a mouthful of pebbles to cure his stutter
336 BC: Philip of Macedon
336 BC: Philip of Macedon is assassinated at Aeges during the wedding feast of his daugh ter. He is succeeded by Alexander, who goes on to conquer the entire known world atop his horse Bucephalus (and found Alexandria in Egypt in 332 BC) before his death in 323 BC
Alexander’s horse
Bucephalus
330 BC: the theory of Democritus
330 BC: Democritus postulates a primitive atomic theory by saying that all matter is composed of tiny particles called atoms
330 BC
Ptolemy
330 BC: An ancient library that will become center of learning and contain as many as 700,000 scrolls–including much of Greek thought–is founded by Ptolemy at Alexandria. The sepa rate 400-foot-high Pharos–or lighthouse–at Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The first Roman aqueduct
312 BC: Appius Claudius Caecus begins construction of the first Roman aqueduct and also begins the road from Rome to Brundisium to be called The Appian Way
Circa 300
“Elements”
Circa 300 BC: Greek mathematician Euclid flourishes in Alexandria and writes 13 volumes on geometry called Elements. When Ptolemy of Egypt wanted to learn geometry by the simpleway–rather than by plowing through Elements–he asked Euclid for help. Euclid’sre sponse: “There is no royal road to Geometry.”
Circa 300 BC: Zeno of Citium
Circa 300 BC: Zeno of Citium founds Stoicism, urging that man should live according to reason
and be indifferent to pleasure and pain
Circa 280
Chares of Lindus
280 BC: The Colossus of Rhodes by the sculptor Chares of Lindus is completed after 12 years as a bronze statue 120 feet high of the god Helios in the harbor on the island of Rhodes (and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World); it is destroyed by an earthquake in 224 BC
280 BC
: King Pyrrhus
280BC: King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeats a Roman army, but with great loss of life for Pyrrhus’s troops (hence the phrase: “pyrrhic victory” –one attained at great cost)
260s BC: Archimedes
260s BC: Archimedes develops the Archimedian screw for raising water, develops the geomet ric lever (“Give me where to stand and I will move the earth”), and discovers law of specific gravity (“Eureka!”) while in his bathtub
216 BC: Battle of Cannae
216 BC: Hannibal victorious over Romans at Battle of Cannae, as 40,000 Carthagenian troops defeat a 70,000-man Roman force in Second Punic War
202 BC
theSecond Punic War
202 BC: Roman general Scipio Africanus defeats Carthagenian general Hannibal at Zama in North Africa in theSecond Punic War; Hannibal is also noted for taking elephants through the Alps to attack Rome. Hannibal poisons himself in 183 BC rather than be taken prisoner by Rome
13-volume Almagest
Second Century BC: Greco-Egyptian mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy flourishes.
He systematizes knowledge of Alexandrian men in his 13-volume Almagest and presented his geocentric theory of the universe that stood until Copernicus
150 BC
Delenda est Carthago” (Carthage must be destroyed).
150 BC: Cato the Censor ends all of his speeches to the Roman Senate–regardless of topic–with the statement: “Delenda est Carthago” (Carthage must be destroyed).
146 BC
Punic wars
Carthage falls to Rome in 146 BC in
the third and last of the Punic Wars and is razed. 50,000 Carthagenian men, women, and children are sold into slavery
73-71 BC: slave revolt In Roman Empire
73-71 BC: A slave revolt breaks out against the Roman Empire and is led by Thracian slave Spartacus, who early on takes Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Spartacus is defeated by Marcus Lucinius Crassus
60 BC:
Rome’s First Triumvirate
60 BC: Julius Caesar joins Pompey and Crassus to form Rome’s First Triumvirate
50s BC
("All Gaul is divided into three parts..."50s BC: Julius Caesar conquers Gaul and writes his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars (“All Gaul is divided into three parts…”)
49 BC
Alea acta. est,”–The die is cast–
49 BC: Against the ruling of the Roman Senate, Julius Caesar leads his troops across the Rubicon in a march on Rome (“Alea acta. est,”–The die is cast–he says as he plunges his horse into the river)
48 BC
Pompey
48 BC: Julius Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus, then goes to Egypt and meets Cleopatra
47 BC
Veni, Vidi, Vici”–I
47 BC: Julius Caesar defeats the King of Pontus in Asia Minor and sends back the noted message: “Veni, Vidi, Vici”–I came, I saw, I conquered
44 BC
the Ides of March (March 15)
44 BC: Julius Caesar is made dictator for life; he is shortly thereafter assassinated at the Senate on the Ides of March (March 15). Successes of his reign include overseeing the so called Julian calendar
43 BC
Rome’s Second Triumverate
43 BC: Octavian joins Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus to form Rome’s Second Triumverate
42 BC
Marc Antony at Philippi
42 BC: Cassius and Brutus are defeated at Philippi by Marc Antony and Octavian–and commits suicide
41 BC
Cleopatra
41 BC: Cleopatra, former mistress to Julius Caesar, begins relationship with Marc Antony
37 BC
Judea
37 BC: Beginning of the reign of Herod in Judea
31 BC:
battle at Actium-
31 BC: Octavian wins a major sea battle at Actium–and thus becomes ruler of entire Roman world–as Cleopatra escapes and Marc Antony retreats to Egypt. The Roman Senate (in 27 BC) will give Octavian the name Augustus Caesar and he will rule Rome until AD 14
30 BC
The fate of Antony & Cleopatra
30 BC: Antony commits suicide after hearing a false report of Cleopatra’s death; Cleopatra
. subsequently commits suicide by putting a poisonousasptoherneck
9 BC
The Aeneid
9 BC: Virgil writes the epic poem, The Aeneid about the founding of Rome by Aeneas, who leaves Carthage and his affair with Queen Dido to come to the Italian peninsula
“Of arms and the man I sing”),
Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid begins: “Of arms and the man I sing”
Circa 4 BC
Bethlehem
Circa 4 BC: The infant Jesus is born at Bethlehem to the carpenter Joseph and his wife Mary, who professes to be a virgin at the time of conception
335 BC
The Poetics
Aristotle’s written rules for tragedy based on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex
Circa AD 30
The Garden of Gethesmane
Where Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot for 30 silver pieces
Circa AD 30
Pontus Pilate
Roman governor who crucified Jesus
He released the prisoner, Barabbas instead of Jesus by the crowd’s decree
AD 30
The Crucifixion
Jesus is crucified by Pontius Pilate
Barabbas is chosen by the crowd to go free.
3 days after his death he is raised from the dead and eyewitnesses find his tomb emptY
AD 30
Joseph of Arimethea
In the Bible, he buries Jesus
according to later legend, he later brings the Holy Grail to England
AD 37:
Tiberius
Successor of Augustus, dies and is himself succeeded by his nephew Gaius Caesar, AKA Caligula
Roman ruler named after the soldier’s boots he wore
Gaius Caesar, named Caligula after the caligae, or soldiers’ boots, he has worn
Infamous for excesses during his three years as ruler such as making his horse (Incitatus) a Roman senator. He is assassinated in AD 41 and succeeded by Claudius.
AD 64
Fire
Nearly two-thirds of Rome is destroyed by fire (Nero, now emperor, does NOT fiddle while Rome burns, despite popular thought)
AD 67:
The apostle Paul
is executed on the Via Ostia just outside Rome.
once known as Saul of Tarsus
converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus
known for his New Testament epistles
AD 70
Jerusalem
Romans sack Jerusalem and destroy most of the Second Temple
One wall left standing will become known as The Wailing Wall (AKA: The Western Wall)
AD 73
Masada
15,000 Romans attack the mountaintop fortress at Masada against 1000 Jewish zealots. All but two women and five children kill themselves to escape capture
AD 79
Eruption
Mount Vesuvius erupts on the Bay of Naples, burying Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum
AD 80
Emperor Titus
The Colosseum is dedicated by Emperor Titus as a great Flavian amphitheater with seating for 50,000
Plutarch
Wrote Parallel Lives, biographies of Greeks and Romans (later used by William Shakespeare as the source for some of his plays)
He dies in AD 120:
AD 122
Northern Britain
Hadrian’s Wall is erected along 72 miles in northern Britain as a defense against Picts and other tribesmen.’
AD 161-180
Roman Empire
Marcus Aurelius is emperor of the Roman Empire
Writes Meditations, a compendium of his stoic philosophy;
Enacts systematic persecution of Christians,
his death in AD 180 marks the end of the Pax Romana, the period of peace that has existed under Roman rule for 200 years
Pax Romana
the period of peace that has existed under Roman rule for 200 years
Ended in AD 180 after the death of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Diophantus
Circa AD 250: Arithmetica by the Greek mathematician Diophantus at Alexandria provides the first written rules of algebra
The first written rules of algebra
Circa AD 250: Arithmetica by the Greek mathematician Diophantus at Alexandria
AD 312:
The Battle of Milvian Bridge (AKA Saxa Rubra)
north of Rome
gives Constantine victory over the despot Maxentius.
Prior to the battle, Constantine claims to have seen a flaming cross in the sky, with the words, “In hoc signo vinces” (by this sign you shall conquer). Three years later, the Arch of Constantine is erected outside the Colosseum to com memorate victory at Milvian Bridge
AD 315
The Arch of Constantine
- Commemorates Constantine’s victory over the despot Maxentius the battle Milvian Bridge In AD 312
- erected outside the Colosseum
AD 313:
the Edict of Milan
Mandates Rome returns property that had been confiscated from Christians–
and promotes toleration for Christians
