Ancient Greece had a rich and eventful history. Some of the events of ancient Greece included founding the Olympics, many wars fought with outside countries and between Greek city-states, and intellectual discoveries such as the development of philosophy and the sciences.

Some Major Events in Ancient Greece

Some major events in the history of Greek are the Olympic games and the rise of Greek religious institutions; Sparta and Athens; the Persian Wars; Athenian imperialism; the Peloponnesian War; the development of Greek philosophy; Macedonian conquests; and Hellenistic empires.

Formation of Greek City States

About 2000 B.C. or shortly thereafter, the first Indo-European Greek tribes, collectively called Achaeans, entered Greece, where they absorbed the earlier settlers and ruled from strongly fortified citadels at Mycenae, Pylos, Athens, and other sites.

The first and longest phase of Aegean civilization, which ended about 1450 B.C., is called Minoan after the legendary Cretan King Minos. Crete was the center of Minoan civilization, which spread to the Aegean Islands, the coast of Asia Minor, and mainland Greece.

In 624 BC the legislative practices of Drakontas took place and in 594 BC Solon was chosen to govern by both quarreling groups of the rich and poor. Then history moved on with the tyranny of Peisistratos in the middle of the sixth century, the murder of Ipparchos in 514 BC and the important reformations of Kleisthenis in 508 BC which set the basis for the Athenian Democracy to emerge.

Loustinianos becoming an emperor in 482-565 played a very important role in the prevention of the ancient Greek world. From the era of emperor Herakleitos (574-640) a long period of obscurity and rapacious invasions started for Athens.

The Greeks were the first to start the Summer Games in 776 BC (some 3000 years ago) in the plain of Olympia in Peloponnese. In 393 AD, the Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I abolished the Games because of their pagan influences. Some of the famous ancient Olympians were Acanthus of Sparta, Chionis of Sparta, Cynisca of Sparta, Leonidas of Rhodes, Leonidas of Rhodes among others.

In 356 BC Alexander the Great, son of Philip II, is born. In 333 BC – Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeats the Persians at Issus and is given Egypt by the Persian Satrap where he builds a capital at Alexandria.

More info on: Timeline ks2