istoryworld
Events relating to rome
Numbers are written in Egyptian records using the decimal system, on the same principle as that used much later in Rome
The traditional date for the first athletic contest at Olympia
This year is later selected by Roman scholars as the date of the founding of Rome, becoming the first year (AUC 1) in Roman chronology
The Etruscans establish Italy's first civilization, in the region between the Arno and the Tiber
The Homeric texts, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are written down - probably in Ionia
The Greeks make the Phoenician alphabet much more flexible by the addition of vowels, from alpha to omega
The island of Sicily is colonized from the eastern Mediterranean by both Phoenicians and Greeks
The inhabitants of Messenia revolt against Spartan rule and are reduced, in retaliation, to the status of serfs or helots
The Areopagus, named from the hill on Athens where it meets, is the council through which the nobles keep power in their own hands
Frenzied dances, in honour of the god Dionysus, become part of Greek theatre - deriving probably from the northeast, in Thrace
The painters of Greek vases develop the black-figure style, with the scene depicted in black silhouette against a red ground
The murals of Etruscan tombs, such as the Tomb of the Lionesses in Tarquinia, give a lively glimpse of an earlier tradition in Greek art
An Etruscan dynasty rules in Rome and Etruscan influence is now dominant throughout central Italy
The hoplite - a Greek citizen, heavily armed in bronze and leather - proves a formidable fighting man
The phalanx, though not originally devised in Greece, is a devastating formation on the battlefield when composed of hoplites
Thespis, traditionally considered the first actor, wins the drama competition in Athens
The Greek colonists of Paestum, in southern Italy, build the first of their three superb temples
The Greek mathematician Pythagoras establishes himself, along with his followers, in southern Italy
According to legend, the Etruscans are driven from Rome by popular outrage after the rape of Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius
The Roman senate becomes an executive body with two of its members elected annually as consuls, or joint heads of state
Cleisthenes, brought to power by popular support, puts into effect a major programme of political reform in Athens
The followers of Pythagoras discover the mathematical basis of the octave
The Greeks add a third bank of oars to their war galleys, turning the bireme into a trireme
The Persian fleet secures the Greek island of Euboea before making the short crossing to Marathon on the mainland – where they await the Greeks
At Marathon the Athenian hoplites, heavily outnumbered, win a spectacular victory against the Persians – of whom the survivors escape in their ships
