Region: Southern Europe · Coordinates: 37.972, 23.724 · 102 events
| Year | Source | Account |
|---|---|---|
| 1225 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | After Aegeus's death he unites the people of Attica into one city and one citizenry tradition |
| 632 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Cylon's followers who took refuge in the temple are killed, and the pollution long troubles Athens |
| 632 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Cylon, an Olympic victor, gets troops from Theagenes, tyrant of Megara, and seizes the Athenian Acropolis |
| 594 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Amid the turmoil the people turn to Solon and make him mediator |
| 561 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Peisistratus wounds himself, appears in the agora and seizes the tyranny |
| 513 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Hipparchus is killed by Aristogeiton and Harmodius |
| 510 BC | Herodotus, Histories | The Alcmaeonids bribe the Delphic oracle so that Sparta liberates Athens; Sparta sends Anchimolius, son of Aster, with an army to expel the Pisistratids tradition |
| 510 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Sparta sends King Cleomenes overland with a larger army; he defeats the Thessalian cavalry, enters Athens, and besieges Hippias' faction inside the Pelasgian wall; when Hippias' children are captured, Hippias agrees to leave Attica within five days |
| 508 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Athens, freed of its tyrants, becomes far stronger than before |
| 508 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Isagoras summons Cleomenes, who takes the Acropolis; the Athenians besiege them for two days tradition |
| 498 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Athens votes to send twenty ships to Ionia |
| 482 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | The nature of ostracism is explained and the banishment of Aristides is described |
| 481 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Themistocles becomes general and tries to put the citizens on triremes to face the enemy at sea |
| 480 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Themistocles interprets the Delphic oracle of the 'wooden wall' as ships and builds 200 ships with silver from Laurion |
| 480 BC | Herodotus, Histories | At the request of Athens, the fleet enters Salamis and the citizens evacuate |
| 480 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Xerxes passes through Boeotia, burns Athens, besieges the Acropolis from the Areopagus hill, and takes it |
| 480 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | During Xerxes' invasion the Athenians abandon their city and board their ships, becoming a seafaring people |
| 479 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Alexander of Macedon brings Mardonius' peace proposal, but Athens refuses |
| 479 BC | Herodotus, Histories | Mardonius retakes Athens, burns it, and tears down its walls, houses, and temples |
| 479 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | He deceives the Spartan ephors and rebuilds the walls of Athens |
| 478 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | On Themistocles' advice, Athens hastily rebuilds its walls and completes them |
| 461 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Returning home, Athens breaks the alliance against the Medes and allies with Argos, Sparta's enemy, and Thessaly |
| 458 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens begins building the two long walls to Phaleron and Piraeus |
| 454 BC | Livy, History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita) | Envoys are sent to Athens to copy Solon's laws and to study the institutions, customs and laws of other Greek states tradition |
| 447 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Pericles launches building projects including the Acropolis |
| 434 BC | Diodorus Siculus, Library of History | Meton announced at Athens a table of astronomical cycles (a calendar system). |
| 433 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | After two assemblies, Athens makes a defensive alliance with Corcyra (not joining in attack) |
| 432 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Sparta's first embassy demands that Athens drive out "the curse of the goddess" (the Cylon affair) |
| 432 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens counters by demanding that Sparta drive out the curses of Taenarus and the "goddess of the Brazen House" tradition |
| 432 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Sparta's ultimatum: peace will last if Athens leaves Greece independent |
| 432 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | On Pericles' advice, Athens refuses to take any orders and proposes lawful arbitration; the envoys go home |
| 431 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The Spartan herald Melesippus is sent to Athens but is refused an audience |
| 431 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Pericles advises the Athenians not to go out and fight against the invasion but to stay inside the city |
| 431 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The Athenians move their families and belongings from the countryside into the city and send their livestock to Euboea |
| 431 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | An Athenian fleet of 100 ships sets out to sail around the Peloponnese |
| 431 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens makes an alliance with the Thracian king Sitalces (mediated by Nymphodorus) |
| 431 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | A public funeral for the war dead, with Pericles' funeral oration (2.35-46) |
| 430 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Plague breaks out in Athens right after the invasion |
| 430 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The Athenians blame Pericles and sue for peace; Pericles' speech (2.60-64) |
| 430 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Pericles is fined, but soon elected general again |
| 430 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Spartan envoys and Aristeus, captured in Thrace, are executed in Athens without trial |
| 429 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Pericles catches the plague and gradually wastes away |
| 429 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Beacons are lit and Athens panics; the next day it defends Piraeus and Salamis with all its forces |
| 429 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | In early spring Phormio returns to Athens with captured ships and prisoners |
| 428 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The escapees reach Athens via the mountain road past Erythrae and Hysiae |
| 427 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens resolves to put all adult men of Mytilene to death, then reverses itself and reopens the debate (speeches of Cleon and Diodotus) |
| 427 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The plague returns and lasts over a year (4,400 hoplites and 300 cavalry die) |
| 425 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens sends out 40 prepared ships to Sicily (commanders Eurymedon and Sophocles) |
| 425 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Cleon persuades Athens to demand the surrender of the men on the island and the return of Nisaea and other places, and peace is refused |
| 425 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Cleon boasts he will bring in the Spartans on the island within 20 days, and Nicias yields the command |
| 425 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The blockade lasted 72 days, and Cleon, as promised, brings the prisoners to Athens within 20 days |
| 424 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens punishes the generals back from Sicily: two banished and one fined |
| 423 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Sparta and Athens conclude a one-year truce (14th of Elaphebolion) |
| 422 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Cleon sets out on a campaign toward Thrace with 1,200 infantry, 300 cavalry and 30 ships |
| 421 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Peace of Nicias: a 50-year treaty is concluded (including the return of Amphipolis) |
| 420 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | When Spartan envoys report the demolition of Panactum and the prisoners, Athens grows angry and sends them away |
| 420 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens concludes a 100-year alliance with Argos, Mantinea and Elis |
| 416 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens resolves to launch a second Sicilian expedition with a larger fleet, not knowing the size of the island or its population |
| 415 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Alcibiades is accused of mutilating the statues and profaning the Mysteries |
| 415 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | The expedition sails with around 140 triremes |
| 415 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | After seeing 60 talents of Egestaean silver, the assembly votes to send 60 ships and appoint three generals |
| 415 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Nicias, thinking exaggerated force requirements would make them give up, demands 100 ships and over 5,000 hoplites |
| 415 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | In a single night most of the Herms in the city of Athens have their faces mutilated |
| 415 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Alcibiades is accused of profaning the Mysteries but sails first, and it is decided he will be tried after his return |
| 414 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens refuses Nicias' resignation and elects Demosthenes and Eurymedon as reinforcement generals |
| 414 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Eurymedon sets out first around the winter solstice with 10 ships and 120 talents of silver |
| 412 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Athens lifts the penalty on using the 1,000-talent reserve and strengthens its fleet |
| 411 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Peisander's faction assassinates the popular leader Androcles and spreads word that only 5,000 will take part in politics |
| 411 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The 400 enter the council house with daggers hidden, pay the councillors their wages and dismiss them |
| 411 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | Phrynichus is assassinated in the marketplace, and Theramenes' faction takes action |
| 411 BC | Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War | The loss of Euboea causes extreme panic, and the assembly on the Pnyx abolishes the 400 and votes for a government of the 5,000 and Alcibiades' recall |
| 406 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | Right after the Apaturia festival, at the Athenian assembly, Callixeinus's motion to try the six generals together is carried. |
| 405 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | Agis and Pausanias camp at the Academy of Athens, and Lysander blockades Piraeus. |
| 404 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Lysander comes up with two hundred ships and joins the kings' land army in Attica |
| 404 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | On the 16th of Munychion he takes over Athens's walls and ships (said to be the same day as the Salamis victory) |
| 403 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | The fifteen Spartan envoys and Pausanias conclude a reconciliation treaty. The people of the Piraeus climb the Acropolis and sacrifice. |
| 400 BC | Diodorus Siculus, Library of History | In Athens, Socrates was accused by Anytus and Meletus and sentenced to death. |
| 395 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | After a speech by a Theban envoy, the Athenian assembly votes unanimously to help Thebes. |
| 371 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | Thebes asks Athens for reinforcements, but the Athenian council is cold. Jason, pretending to prepare triremes, goes overland to Boeotia. |
| 369 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | In the Athenian assembly, envoys from Laconia, Corinth, and Phlius appeal for help to Sparta, and it is resolved to send Iphicrates as general. |
| 369 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | Laconia and Athens discuss exchanging the command of the army and navy; Procles appeals, and Cephisodotus replies. |
| 366 BC | Xenophon, Hellenica | Lycomedes persuades ten thousand Arcadian representatives to form an alliance with Athens, but he is assassinated on the way back. |
| 335 BC | Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander | When Athens sent envoys, Alexander demanded the surrender of Demosthenes and others, then withdrew the demand and banished only Charidemus, who fled to Darius. |
| 322 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Athens is made to accept a Macedonian garrison |
| 318 BC | Diodorus Siculus, Library of History | Athens concluded peace on condition that it keep its city and territory. |
| 318 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | On the 19th of Munychion Phocion drinks poison in prison |
| 295 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Having won Athens, Demetrius soon plans an attack on Sparta |
| 200 BC | Polybius, Histories | Attalus visits Athens (200 BC) |
| 200 BC | Polybius, Histories | Athens votes for war against Philip |
| 200 BC | Polybius, Histories | Roman envoys warn Philip not to invade Greece |
| 86 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | After checking the wall's weak points at night, Sulla takes Athens |
| 44 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Brutus goes out to sea and sails to Athens |
| 42 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Antony enters Greece with a large army to collect money from the eastern provinces |
| 39 BC | Plutarch's Parallel Lives | Antony winters in Athens and hears news of Ventidius's first victory |
| AD 128 | Historia Augusta | Soon after returning from Africa he leaves for the East; via Athens he dedicates the Temple of Olympian Zeus and his own altar, and in Asia a temple named after himself |
| AD 176 | Cassius Dio, Roman History | At Athens Marcus was initiated into the Mysteries, favored the Athenians and established state-paid chairs for teachers of every branch of learning |
| AD 176 | Historia Augusta | After settling the East he comes to Athens and is initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries |
| AD 267 | Historia Augusta | The Goths plunder Cyzicus, Asia and all of Achaea until the Athenians, under the historian Dexippus, defeat them, and then roam Epirus, Macedonia and Boeotia tradition |
| AD 267 | Zosimus, New History | The Scythians who had been harassing Greece take Athens, and Gallienus advances to stop those in Thrace. |
| AD 1435 | Sphrantzes, Chronicle | Antonio Lazaris Komnenos, lord of Athens and Thebes, dies. |
| AD 1455 | Sphrantzes, Chronicle | The army of the Ottoman ruler (written Amerath) occupies Athens. |
| AD 1466 | Sphrantzes, Chronicle | Capello comes again to Athens and takes control of the whole city. |