480s BC

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Millennium: 1st millennium BC
Centuries: 6th century BC5th century BC4th century BC
Decades: 510s BC 500s BC 490s BC480s BC470s BC 460s BC 450s BC
Years: 489 BC 488 BC 487 BC 486 BC 485 BC 484 BC 483 BC 482 BC 481 BC 480 BC
Categories: Births – Deaths – Architecture
Establishments – Disestablishments

480s BC: events by year

Contents: 489 BC 488 BC 487 BC 486 BC 485 BC 484 BC 483 BC 482 BC 481 BC 480 BC

489 BC


By place

Greece

  • After his great victory in the Battle of Marathon, Miltiades leads a naval expedition to Paros to pay off a private score. However, the expedition is unsuccessful and, on his return, he is fined in a prosecution led by Xanthippus and put in prison where he dies of wounds received at Paros.
  • The Athenian soldier and statesman, Aristides "the Just", is made chief archon of Athens.

488 BC


By place

Greece

Sicily

487 BC


By place

Greece

  • The island of Aegina and the city of Athens go to war. The island has earned the enmity of Athens by earlier submitting to the Persians. The Spartan King, Leotychidas, tries unsuccessfully to arrange a truce in the war.
  • The Athenian Archonship becomes elective by lot from all the citizens, an important milestone in the move towards radical Athenian democracy. There are nine archons and a secretary. Three of the archons have special functions: the basileus, or sovereign; the polemarch (originally a military commander); and the archon eponymous (chief magistrate), who gave his name to the year.

486 BC


By place

Persian Empire

  • Egypt revolts against Persian rule upon the death of king Darius I. The revolts, probably led by Libyans of the western Delta, are crushed the next year by Xerxes, who reduces Egypt to the status of a conquered province.

Roman Republic

China

By topic

Art

  • The construction of a relief in the Apadana, a ceremonial complex at Persepolis, is finished. It shows Darius and Xerxes receiving tribute and is now kept in the Iranbustan Museum in Tehran.

485 BC


By place

Persian Empire

Sicily

  • Gelo, the tyrant of Gela, takes advantage of an appeal by the descendants of the first colonist of Syracuse, the Gamoroi, who had held power until they were expelled by the Killichiroi, the lower class of the city, and makes himself master of that city, leaving his brother Hieron to control Gela.

484 BC


By place

Persian Empire

  • Xerxes I quells the Egyptian revolt against Persian rule. He ravages the Delta region in the process and then appoints his brother Achaemenes satrap (governor) of Egypt.
  • Despite an attempt at rebellion, the land and city of Babylon remains solidly under Persian rule.

Greece

By topic

Literature

  • The Athenian playwright, Aeschylus, wins first prize in drama at the Dionysia festival.

483 BC


By place

Persian empire

  • Xerxes I of Persia is encouraged by his cousin and brother-in-law, Mardonius, supported by a strong party of exiled Greeks, to take revenge for the defeat that Darius I suffered at the hands of the Greeks at Marathon in 490 BC. In response, Xerxes prepares for a major expedition to crush the Greeks. To avoid a repeat of the significant losses to the Persian fleet that occurred in 492 BC, Xerxes has a canal cut through the promontory of Mount Athos.

Greece

  • The Athenian archon Themistocles realises that the Greeks need to be able to beat the Persians at sea. To carry out this strategy, however, Athens needs far more warships (that is to say the newly developed, specialised triremes) than the 70 it has. Themistocles is initially opposed by other Athenian leaders. However, when the state-owned silver mines at Laurium become the site of a rich strike, Themistocles persuades the assembly, instead of "declaring a dividend," to devote the whole surplus to increasing the navy to a proposed 200 ships.

India

  • The Buddhist relics are divided into 8 portions and placed in 8 reliquaries. Each reliquary is then encased in its own burial mound, called stupa. King Ashoka opens the original 8 stupas and divides their relics among many more stupas, probably including the one at Sanchi (approximate date).

Sicily

  • Gelo, the tyrant of Syracuse conquers the nearby Sicilian cities of Euboea and Megara Hyblaea, selling their common people into slavery and bringing their oligarchs to Syracuse.

482 BC


By place

Greece

  • The Athenian archon Themistocles secures the ostracism of his opponents and becomes the political leader of Athens. The Athenian soldier and statesman, Aristides, is one of those ostracised due to his opposition to Themistocles' naval policy.

China

481 BC


By place

Persian Empire

Greece

  • The Congress at the Isthmus of Corinth, under the presidency of Sparta, brings together a number of the Greek city states, who agree to the end of the war between Athens and Aegina. They also discuss the threat from the Persians. Athens is unwilling to place her forces under Sparta and its king Leonidas. Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse, wants high command, but Sparta and Athens refuse. However, during the Congress, Gelo has to withdraw due to Carthage's plans to invade Sicily. Finally, Themistocles agrees that Athens' navy serve under a Spartan admiral to achieve the unity of the Greek states. Nevertheless, Thebes and Thessaly are unwilling to support Athens against the Persians and Crete decides to remain neutral.

China

480 BC

By place

Greece

Roman Republic

Sicily

  • Xerxes encourages the Carthaginians to attack the Greeks in Sicily. Under the Carthaginian military leader, Hamilcar, Carthage sends across a large army.
  • The Greek city of Himera in Sicily, in its quarrel with Akragas, enlists Carthaginian support. With the help of Gelo, the tyrant of Syracusae, and Theron of Akragas, the Carthaginians are defeated in the Battle of Himera. After the defeat, Hamilcar kills himself.

Persian empire

  • The Imperial treasury at the Persepolis Palace is completed after a building time of thirty years.

By topic

Arts

Births

Deaths

References

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