The notion of a sovereign state arises in the 16th century with the development of modern diplomacy. For earlier times, the term "sovereign state" is an anachronism. What corresponded to sovereign states in the medieval and ancient period were monarchs ruling By the Grace of God, de-facto feudal or imperial autocrats, or de-facto independent nations or tribal confederations.
This is a list of sovereign states that existed between 500 BC and 401 BC.
| Sovereign state | Years |
|---|---|
| Achaemenid Empire | 550 - 330 BC |
| Adena culture | 1000 - 200 BC |
| Ammon – Kingdom of Ammon | c.10th century - 332 BC |
| Anga | |
| Athens | 510 - 322 BC |
| Avanti | |
| Bithynia | |
| Cappadocia | |
| Carthage | 650 - 146 BC |
| Chavín culture | 900 - 200 BC |
| Chedi | |
| Chen – State of Chen | 855 - 479 BC |
| Chera Kingdom | 5th century BC - 1102 AD |
| Chola | |
| Chorrera | 1800 - 300 BC |
| Chu | 1030 - 223 BC |
| Colchis | |
| Corinth | |
| Cyrene | |
| Dʿmt | 700 - 400 BC |
| Edom | |
| Ethiopia – Ethiopian Empire | 980 BC - 1974 |
| Gandhara | |
| Gojoseon – Ancient Korean kingdom | 2333 - 108 BC |
| Han – State of Han | 403 - 230 BC |
| Kalinga | |
| Kamboja – Kamboja Kingdom | |
| Kasi – Kasi Kingdom | |
| Kikata – Kikata Kingdom | |
| Kosala | |
| Kuru | |
| Kush – Kingdom of Kush | 1070 BC - 350 AD |
| Lu – State of Lu | 856 - 256 BC |
| Lycaonia | 8th century - 200 BC |
| Macedonia | 8th century - 146 BC |
| Mahajanapadas | |
| Malla | |
| Mannai | |
| Maya civilization | |
| Minaea | |
| Moab | |
| Mysia | |
| Nanda Empire | 424 - 321 BC |
| Olmec | 1400 - 400 BC |
| Paphlagonia | |
| Panchala | |
| Pandya | |
| Paracas culture | 600 - 175 BC |
| Pisidia | |
| Qi – State of Qi | 1046 - 241 BC |
| Qin – State of Qin | 845 BC - 221 AD |
| Roman Republic | 509 - 27 BC |
| Saba | |
| Scythia | 8th century BC - 2nd century AD |
| Sparta | 11th century - 195 BC |
| Surasena | |
| Ta Netjeru | |
| Thebes | |
| Urartu – Kingdom of Urartu | 860 - 590 BC |
| Vajji | |
| Văn Lang | 2879 - 258 BC |
| Vatsa | |
| Yan – State of Yan | 865 - 222 BC |
| Zapotec civilization | |
| Zheng – State of Zheng | 806 - 375 BC |
| Zhou – Zhou Dynasty | 1045 - 256 BC |