480s BC

This article concerns the period 489 BC – 480 BC.

Events

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489 BC

By place

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Greece
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  • After his great victory in the Battle of Marathon, Miltiades leads a naval expedition to Paros to pay off a private score. However, the expedition is unsuccessful and, on his return, he is fined in a prosecution led by Xanthippus and put in prison where he dies of wounds received at Paros.
  • The Athenian soldier and statesman, Aristides (the Just), is made chief archon of Athens.

488 BC

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By place

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Sicily
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Rome
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Greece
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487 BC

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By place

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Greece
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  • The island of Aegina and the city of Athens go to war. The island has earned the enmity of Athens by earlier submitting to the Persians. The Spartan King, Leotychidas, tries unsuccessfully to arrange a truce in the war.
  • The Athenian Archonship becomes elective by lot from all the citizens, an important milestone in the move towards radical Athenian democracy. There are nine archons and a secretary. Three of the archons have special functions: the basileus, or sovereign; the polemarch (originally a military commander); and the archon eponymous (chief magistrate), who gave his name to the year.
  • First known use of ostracism, an instrument created in 508 by Cleisthenes which enabled the electorate to banish for ten years any citizen deemed to be a threat to democracy. It was intended, therefore, as a safeguard against tyranny. An ostracism could be held annually providing a quorum of 6,000 was achieved but, apparently, the Assembly declined to invoke it until 487 when there was a popular reaction against Hipparchos the Pisistradid who had been the peace party archon in 496. He was the first of several citizens to be ostracised through the fifth century.[1]
Rome
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  • Wars are fought between Rome and each of the Volsci and the Hernici. Rome prevails in both disputes.
Kush
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486 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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  • Egypt revolts against Persian rule upon the death of king Darius I. The revolts, probably led by Libyans of the western Delta, are crushed the next year by Xerxes, who reduces Egypt to the status of a conquered province.
Roman Republic
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China
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By topic

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Art
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  • The construction of a relief in the Apadana, a ceremonial complex at Persepolis, is finished. It shows Darius and Xerxes receiving tribute and is now kept in the Iranbustan Museum in Tehran.

485 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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Sicily
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  • Gelo, the tyrant of Gela, takes advantage of an appeal by the descendants of the first colonist of Syracuse, the Gamoroi, who had held power until they were expelled by the Killichiroi, the lower class of the city. He makes himself master of that city, leaving his brother Hieron to control Gela.

484 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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  • Xerxes I quells the Egyptian revolt against Persian rule. He ravages the Delta region in the process and then appoints his brother Achaemenes satrap (governor) of Egypt.
  • Despite an attempt at rebellion, the land and city of Babylon remains solidly under Persian rule.
Greece
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Rome
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= By topic =
Literature
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483 BC

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By place

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Persian empire
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  • Xerxes I of Persia is encouraged by his cousin and brother-in-law, Mardonius, supported by a strong party of exiled Greeks, to take revenge for the defeat that Darius I suffered at the hands of the Greeks at Marathon in 490 BC. In response, Xerxes prepares for a major expedition to crush the Greeks. To avoid a repeat of the significant losses to the Persian fleet that occurred in 492 BC, Xerxes has a canal cut through the promontory of Mount Athos.
Greece
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  • The Athenian archon Themistocles realises that the Greeks need to be able to beat the Persians at sea. To carry out this strategy, however, Athens needs far more warships (that is to say the newly developed, specialised triremes) than the 70 it has. Themistocles is initially opposed by other Athenian leaders. However, when the state-owned silver mines at Laurium become the site of a rich strike, Themistocles persuades the assembly, instead of "declaring a dividend," to devote the whole surplus to increasing the navy to a proposed 200 ships.
India
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  • Following the death of Gautama Buddha, the relics associated with his cremation were divided amongst royal families and his disciples, then interned in 8 reliquaries. Each reliquary was then encased in its own burial mound, called a stupa (approximate date).[citation needed]
Sicily
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482 BC

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By place

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Greece
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  • The Athenian archon Themistocles secures the ostracism of his opponents and becomes the political leader of Athens. The Athenian soldier and statesman, Aristides, is one of those ostracised due to his opposition to Themistocles' naval policy.[6][7]
China
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Rome
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481 BC

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By place

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Persian Empire
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Greece
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  • The Congress at the Isthmus of Corinth, under the presidency of Sparta, brings together a number of the Greek city states, who agree to the end of the war between Athens and Aegina. They also discuss the threat from the Persians. Athens is unwilling to place her forces under Sparta and its king Leonidas. Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse, wants high command, but Sparta and Athens refuse. However, during the Congress, Gelo has to withdraw due to Carthage's plans to invade Sicily. Finally, Themistocles agrees that Athens' navy serve under a Spartan admiral to achieve the unity of the Greek states. Nevertheless, Thebes and Thessaly are unwilling to support Athens against the Persians and Crete decides to remain neutral.
China
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Rome
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480 BC

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By place

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Greece
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Rome
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Sicily
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  • Xerxes encourages the Carthaginians to attack the Greeks in Sicily. Under the Carthaginian military leader, Hamilcar, Carthage sends across a large army.
  • The Greek city of Himera in Sicily, in its quarrel with Akragas, enlists Carthaginian support. With the help of Gelo, the tyrant of Syracusae, and Theron of Akragas, the Carthaginians are defeated in the Battle of Himera. After the defeat, Hamilcar kills himself.
Persian empire
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  • The Imperial treasury at the Persepolis Palace is completed after a building time of thirty years.

By topic

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Arts
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Births

487 BC

485 BC

  • Herodotus, Greek historian, is estimated to be born this year.[13]
  • Some sources place the birth of Euripides in this year, though the more traditional date is 480.[14]

484 BC

481 BC

480 BC

Deaths

489 BC

486 BC

485 BC

484 BC

483 BC

481 BC

480 BC

  1. ^ Bury & Meiggs, page 164.
  2. ^ Needham, Joseph; Ling, Wang; Lu, Guizhen; Needham, Joseph (2006). Civil engineering and nautics. Science and civilisation in China / by Joseph Needham Vol. 4, Physics and physical technology (Reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 271–272. ISBN 978-0-521-07060-7.
  3. ^ Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Heleen; Kuhrt, Amélie (2016-03-07). "Xerxes I". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.6916. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  4. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita, 2.42
  5. ^ Freeman, Charles (1999). The Greek achievement: the Foundation of the Western World. New York, NY: Viking. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-670-88515-2.
  6. ^ "Plutarch • Life of Themistocles". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  7. ^ Richard, Carl J. (2003). Twelve Greeks and Romans who changed the world. Internet Archive. Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7425-2790-4.
  8. ^ Durrant, Stephen W.; Li, Wai-yee; Schaberg, David (2016). Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan: Commentary on the “Spring and Autumn Annals.”. University of Washington Press. OCLC 950901588.
  9. ^ 1. Handa, 2. Yuzhang, 1. Lin, 2. Cao (2010). Tales from 5000 years of Chinese History, Volume 1. Better Link Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-60220-112-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 2, chapter 42". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  11. ^ "Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 2, chapter 42". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  12. ^ Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1999-03-13). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge University Press. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8.
  13. ^ Baragwanath, Emily; Bakker, Mathieu de (2009-12-14), "Herodotus", Oxford Bibliographies, pp. 9780195389661–0018, doi:10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0018
  14. ^ "Introduction: The Life of Euripides", Brill's Companion to the Reception of Euripides, BRILL, p. 12, 2015-01-01, retrieved 2022-09-23
  15. ^ Smith, William, ed. (1873). "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Hero'dotus". www.perseus.tufts.edu. London: John Murray. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  16. ^ Boyce, Mary (1982-01-01), "Darius the Great (522-486 B.c.)", A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenians, Brill, pp. 90–131, doi:10.1163/9789004293908_008, ISBN 978-90-04-29390-8, retrieved 2023-09-07
  17. ^ "Heraclitus". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.