Achaemenid Persia
The Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great (c. 550-330 BCE): its conquests, kings and administration, until its fall to Alexander.
Category: States
- c. 550 BCECyrus overthrows the Medes
Around 550 BCE Cyrus II of Persia defeats the Median king Astyages and takes Ecbatana, founding the Achaemenid Empire. The Nabonidus Chronicle dates the conflict to 553-550.
- 546 BCECyrus conquers Lydia
Cyrus defeats Croesus of Lydia at Thymbra and takes Sardis, in 546 BCE by the article's reckoning; 547 was once common. Croesus's fate is disputed: Herodotus says he was spared.
- 545 BCEPersia captures Phocaea
In 545 BCE Persia captures the Ionian Greek city of Phocaea. Many Phocaeans flee to colonies in the west, including Massalia.
- October 539 BCECyrus takes Babylon
In October 539 BCE, Cyrus defeats the Babylonian army at Opis and enters Babylon on 29 October. The Cyrus Cylinder, inscribed afterwards, proclaims him "king of the four corners of the world".
- 525 BCECambyses II conquers Egypt
In spring 525 BCE Persian forces beat the Egyptians at Pelusium and take Memphis. By summer all Egypt is under Persian control. Cambyses dies in 522 as he hurries back to quell a revolt in Persia.
- 522 BCEDarius I seizes the throne
In 522 BCE Darius overthrows the usurper Gaumata and puts down revolts across the empire. His Behistun Inscription tells this story, which historians suspect conceals his own overthrow of Bardiya. He later reorganises the empire into about twenty satrapies.
- 499 BCEIonian Revolt
Led by Aristagoras of Miletus, the Greek cities of Ionia revolt against Persian rule in 499 BCE, backed by ships from Athens and Eretria. Persia crushes the revolt by 493, and its aftermath leads to the invasions of Greece.
- 498 BCESardis is burned
In 498 BCE Ionian and allied forces burn Sardis, the satrapal capital. Persian cavalry catches them at Ephesus, and Athens and Eretria withdraw.
- 494 BCEBattle of Lade
In 494 BCE Persia defeats the Ionian fleet off Lade, near Miletus, after Samian ships defect during the battle. Miletus is besieged and captured and the revolt is effectively over.
- 492 BCEMardonius's campaign in Thrace and Macedon
In 492 BCE Mardonius retakes Thrace and makes Macedon a fully subordinate part of the Persian empire. A storm off Mount Athos wrecks his fleet and he returns to Asia.
- 490 BCEBattle of Marathon
An Athenian army of about 9,000 under Miltiades, with 1,000 Plataeans, defeats the Persian landing at Marathon in 490 BCE, conventionally dated 12 September. Herodotus counts 192 Athenian dead and 6,400 Persian; modern estimates of Persian dead are lower.
- 490 BCEPersians burn Naxos and raze Eretria
In 490 BCE a Persian fleet under Datis and Artaphernes burns Naxos and takes the Cyclades. Eretria falls after a six-day siege when two citizens open its gates; the city is razed and its people enslaved.
- 486 BCEDarius dies; Xerxes becomes king
Darius dies in 486 BCE while preparing a second campaign against Greece, delayed by an Egyptian revolt. His son Xerxes, about 32, succeeds him in autumn and crushes the revolt. He later completes the Apadana and Gate of All Nations at Persepolis.
- 481 BCEThe Hellenic League is formed
In late autumn 481 BCE a congress at Corinth unites the Greek states resisting Persia, Athens and Sparta among them. The Spartan Eurybiades is given command of the fleet.
- 480 BCEBattle of Artemisium
While Thermopylae is fought, the Greek fleet under Eurybiades and Themistocles fights an inconclusive three-day battle with Persia off Artemisium. Storms wreck much of the Persian fleet. News of Thermopylae forces the Greeks to withdraw to Salamis.
- 480 BCEBattle of Thermopylae
A Greek force of about 7,000 under the Spartan king Leonidas holds the pass at Thermopylae for three days of fighting until a mountain path reveals their rear. Leonidas stays with his 300 Spartans and Thespians and dies. Sources differ on the date, from July to September 480.
- 480 BCEPersians sack Athens
In 480 BCE the Persians take Boeotia and Attica and burn Athens. Mardonius retakes and destroys it again in 479.
- April 480 BCEXerxes invades Greece
In April 480 BCE Xerxes's army crosses the Hellespont on bridges and marches through Thrace and Macedon into Thessaly, after Persia has dug a canal across the Athos peninsula. Herodotus's figures of millions of men are rejected; modern estimates are 100,000-300,000 and more.
- September 480 BCEBattle of Salamis
On 26 or 27 September 480 BCE, Themistocles lures the Persian fleet into the narrow strait off Salamis, where its numbers count for less. The Greeks win decisively and Xerxes withdraws to Asia, leaving Mardonius in Greece.
- 479 BCEGreeks take Sestos and Byzantium
The Greek counterattack takes Sestos in 479 BCE and Byzantium in 478, pushing Persia out of Europe.
- August 479 BCEBattle of Mycale
Herodotus places the Greek victory at Mycale, in Ionia, on the same day as Plataea. The Greeks land and rout the Persians, then burn their camp. Ionia rises again and Samos, Chios and Lesbos join the Hellenic alliance.
- August 479 BCEBattle of Plataea
On 27 or 28 August 479 BCE a Greek army under the Spartan regent Pausanias defeats Mardonius at Plataea, and Mardonius is killed. The Persians lose control of Attica and Boeotia and withdraw from Greece. Herodotus's casualty figures are not credited.
- 478 BCEThe Delian League is founded
In 478 BCE Athens leads a new alliance of Greek states against Persia after Sparta withdraws, with its treasury on Delos. Members provide ships or pay a tax, and most pay. It gradually becomes an Athenian empire.
- 472 BCEAeschylus stages The Persians
In 472 BCE Aeschylus, who fought at Marathon and Salamis, stages The Persians, the earliest surviving play, about the Persian defeat. It wins first prize.
- c. 466 BCEBattle of the Eurymedon
Cimon's Athenian-led fleet destroys a Persian fleet at the mouth of the Eurymedon in Pamphylia, then routs the Persian army on land. The date is 466 or 469 BCE. It keeps Persia out of the Aegean for years.
- August 465 BCEXerxes is assassinated
Artabanus, commander of the royal bodyguard, kills Xerxes in August 465 BCE with the help of a eunuch. Xerxes's son Artaxerxes I takes the throne. Sources differ on whether the crown prince Darius was killed first.
- c. 460 BCEAthens backs Inaros's revolt in Egypt
Around 460 BCE Athens sends ships to support the Egyptian rebel Inaros II against Persia. The expedition ends in a disastrous defeat and Inaros is executed.
- c. 449 BCEThe Peace of Callias (disputed)
Around 449 BCE Athens and Persia reportedly make peace through Callias: Ionian cities autonomous, no Persian warships in the Aegean. Whether the treaty existed is disputed, since Thucydides never mentions it. The Greco-Persian Wars fade out around this time.
- c. 430 BCEHerodotus writes the Histories
Herodotus of Halicarnassus writes his Histories, on the Greco-Persian Wars and the peoples around them, in the 430s-420s BCE. Cicero calls him the "Father of History", while critics called him a storyteller. Nothing in the text is dated after 430.
- 413 BCESparta fortifies Decelea; Persia backs Sparta
In 413 BCE Sparta fortifies Decelea, a short march from Athens, and Persia begins supporting it. The Decelean (Ionian) War follows.
- September 401 BCEBattle of Cunaxa; the March of the Ten Thousand
In 401 BCE Cyrus the Younger challenges his brother Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa. His Greek mercenaries win their wing but Cyrus is killed, ending the revolt. Stranded, the Ten Thousand march north to the Black Sea, as Xenophon describes in the Anabasis.
- 396 BCEAgesilaus campaigns against Persia
The Spartan king Agesilaus invades Persian Asia Minor in 396-394 BCE and beats Persian cavalry near Sardis in 395. Persian gold funds anti-Spartan Greek states, which forces his recall.
- 395 BCECorinthian War
From 395 to 387 BCE Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, funded by Persian gold, fight Sparta. Sparta wins at Nemea and Coronea (394), but Persia's fleet destroys the Spartan navy at Cnidus. The war ends with the King's Peace.
- 394 BCEBattle of Cnidus
In 394 BCE the Athenian Conon and the Persian satrap Pharnabazus destroy the Spartan fleet at Cnidus, ending Sparta's naval ambitions. Next year Conon, with Persian money and ships, helps Athens rebuild its Long Walls.
- 387 BCEThe King's Peace
In 387 BCE Artaxerxes II imposes a peace negotiated by the Spartan Antalcidas. Persia gets the Greek cities of Asia and Cyprus, other Greek cities are declared autonomous, and Thebes must dissolve the Boeotian League. Sparta enforces it.
- 353 BCEThe Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
After the satrap Mausolus dies in 353 BCE, his sister-wife Artemisia II commissions his tomb at Halicarnassus, about 43-45 metres high, with sculpture by four Greek artists. It becomes a Wonder of the World and gives us the word "mausoleum".
- May 334 BCEBattle of the Granicus
In May 334 BCE Alexander beats the Persian satraps at the Granicus river in the Troad. Cleitus the Black saves his life. Greek mercenaries in Persian service are largely killed or captured.
- November 333 BCEBattle of Issus
In November 333 BCE Alexander routs Darius III near Issus, and Darius flees, leaving his mother, wife and daughters in Alexander's hands. Ancient army numbers are far inflated. The victory opens Syria and Phoenicia.
- January 332 BCESiege of Tyre
From January to July 332 BCE Alexander besieges island Tyre, building a causeway about a kilometre long that still survives. Thousands of Tyrians die and some thousands are sold into slavery. Figures vary by source.
- October 1, 331 BCEBattle of Gaugamela
On 1 October 331 BCE Alexander defeats Darius III near Gaugamela, in modern Iraqi Kurdistan, and Darius flees. Babylon surrenders. The battle breaks the Achaemenid Empire. Ancient army sizes are unreliable.
- 330 BCEPersepolis is burned
Alexander takes Persepolis in 330 BCE and, after months there, a fire destroys its palaces, thought to have started in Xerxes's. Sources disagree on whether it was a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the Acropolis; Thais is named in later accounts.
- July 330 BCEDarius III is murdered
In July 330 BCE Bessus, satrap of Bactria, and other nobles wound Darius III and abandon him, as Alexander closes in. Alexander gives him a royal funeral. Bessus takes the name Artaxerxes V; Alexander later has him executed.
- 324 BCEThe Susa weddings
In 324 BCE at Susa Alexander marries Stateira, daughter of Darius III, and perhaps Parysatis, and about eighty of his companions wed Persian and Median noblewomen. Historians now doubt that Macedonians widely resented the unions.