Ancient World
Nazca Lines: The Giant Desert Geoglyphs of Southern Peru
Hundreds of geoglyphs survive in the desert, protected since 1994 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still being discovered today.
Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
Ancient World
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
Ancient World
Sun Tzu and The Art of War: China's Classic of Military Strategy
The Art of War became the most influential military treatise of East Asia and, after its translation from 1772 onward, one of the best-known strategy books in the world.
Ancient World
Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC): The Spark of the Persian Wars
Persian victory; the revolt was crushed after the naval Battle of Lade and the sack of Miletus in 494 BC, and Darius turned against Athens and Eretria.
Ancient World
First Secession of the Plebs (494 BC) and the Tribunes
The plebeians returned after the patricians agreed to create sacrosanct tribunes of the plebs to protect them, opening the Conflict of the Orders.
Ancient World
Battle of Marathon (490 BC): How Athens Stopped Persia
Athenian victory; the first Persian invasion of Greece was repelled.
Ancient World
Pataliputra: Capital of Magadha, the Mauryas and the Guptas
Pataliputra became the political centre of ancient India and one of the largest cities in the world.
Ancient World
Ostracism in Athens (487 BC): Voting to Exile Leaders
A democratic procedure that exiled about a dozen known politicians for ten years before falling out of use in the late 5th century BC.
Ancient World
Naqsh-e Rostam: Tombs of the Persian Kings and Sasanian Reliefs
Naqsh-e Rostam became the royal necropolis of the Achaemenid kings and, centuries later, a stage on which Sasanian rulers proclaimed their legitimacy and victories.
Ancient World
Battle of Himera (480 BC): Sicilian Greeks Defeat Carthage
Decisive Greek victory; Hamilcar was killed, Carthage paid an indemnity and did not invade Greek Sicily again until 409 BC.
Ancient World
Battle of Artemisium (480 BC): The Sea Fight Beside Thermopylae
Indecisive; both fleets suffered heavy losses, and the Greeks withdrew to Salamis after news that Thermopylae had fallen.
Ancient World
Battle of Salamis (480 BC): The Naval Victory That Saved Greece
Decisive Greek victory; the Persian fleet was crippled and Xerxes returned to Asia, leaving an army that was defeated at Plataea in 479 BC.
Ancient World
Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC): Leonidas and the 300
Persian victory; after three days the Greek position was outflanked and Leonidas' rearguard was destroyed, opening central Greece to Xerxes.