Classical Antiquity

Classical Antiquity

Timeline

Roman Kingdom

Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th century AD)

Greece

Hellenistic period (323 BC to 146 BC)

Classical Antiquity

is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea,

• The republican period of Ancient Rome began with the overthrow of the Monarchy c. 509 BC and lasted over 450 years until its subversion.

According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus.

• The Archaic period followed the Greek Dark Ages, and saw significant advancements in political theory, and the rise of democracy, philosophy, theatre, poetry, as well as the revitalisation of the written language.

• The unification of Italy under Roman hegemony was a gradual process, brought about in a series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries, the Samnite Wars, Latin War, and Pyrrhic War.

Classical Greece entered the Hellenistic period with the rise of Macedon and the conquests of Alexander the Great. Greek becomes the lingua franca far beyond Greece itself, and Hellenistic culture interacts with the cultures of Persia, Central Asia, India and Egypt.

Significant advances are made in the sciences

(geography, astronomy, mathematics)

The Hellenistic period ended with the rise of the Roman Republic to a super-regional power in the 2nd century BC and the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC.

• Comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world.

• In pottery, the Archaic period sees the development of the Orientalizing style

• Roman victory in the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars established Rome as a super-regional power by the 2nd century BC, followed up by the acquisition of Greece and Asia Minor.

7 BC

6 BC

8 BC

5 - 1st BC

9 BC

Roman Republic (5th to 1st centuries BC)

Greek Alphabet

Archaic period (8th to 6th centuries BC)

Iron Age Italy

Classical Greece (5th to 4th centuries BC)

starts with the adoption of Phoenician letter forms and continues to the present day.

• In the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC.

The earliest known fragmentary Greek inscriptions date from this time, 770–750 BC, and they match Phoenician letter forms of c. 800–750 BC.

• The fall of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.

• The Etruscans had established political control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite.

Chronology of Adoption

Diodorus' account

Herodotus' account

• The republican period of Ancient Rome began with the overthrow of the Monarchy c. 509 BC and lasted over 450 years until its subversion, through a series of civil wars, into the Principate form of government and the Imperial period.

• During the half millennium of the Republic, Rome rose from a regional power of the Latium to the dominant force in Italy and beyond. The unification of Italy under Roman hegemony was a gradual process, brought about in a series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries

• The Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC), concluded by the Peace of Callias gave not only way to the liberation of Greece, Macedon, Thrace, and Ionia from Persian rule,

According to legends recounted by Herodotus, the alphabet was first introduced to Greece by a Phoenician named Cadmus

Some ancient Greek scholars argued that the Greek alphabet should not be attributed to the Phoenician alphabet. Diodorus Siculus in his Historical Library, Book 5, suggests that the Phoenicians merely changed the form and shape of earlier letters

• The Etruscans apparently lost power in the area by the late 6th century BC, and at this point, the Italic tribes reinvented their government by creating a republic, with much greater restraints on the ability of rulers to exercise power.

Hyginus' account

Plutarch's account

Hyginus recounts the following legend about the introduction of Phoenician letters to Greece:

In his book On the malice of Herodotus, Plutarch criticizes Herodotus for prejudice and misrepresentation. Furthermore, he argues that Gephyraei were Euboeans or Eretrians and he doubts the reliability of Herodotus' sources.

The palaestra of Olympia, a place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes