Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
King Jangsu raised a giant inscribed stone recording his father's deeds; it is the longest surviving inscription from early Korea and a key, much-debated source for the region's history.
The kingdom became the strongest successor state in Gaul but lost almost all its Gallic lands to the Franks after the Battle of Vouillé in 507.
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' became the first king of a dynasty of sixteen rulers that governed Copán for nearly four centuries.
A royal-sponsored Buddhist monastery grew into Asia's leading centre of learning for some seven centuries.
The Vandals and Alans took Carthage in 439 and founded a kingdom in North Africa that lasted until 534.
A keyhole-shaped mound about 486 metres long was raised for a Yamato great king; it is now part of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group World Heritage Site.
The discovery of a richly buried, tattooed woman with symbols of rule showed that women could hold high political and religious office in Moche society.
Tactical stalemate and strategic success for Aetius; Theodoric I was killed and Attila withdrew from Gaul.
The Vandals plundered Rome for about two weeks and carried off its treasures and thousands of captives, including the empress Eudoxia and her daughters, to Carthage.
The Northern Wei carved about 45 major caves with more than 51,000 statues, creating one of the earliest great centres of Buddhist rock-cut art in China.
Odoacer deposed the last emperor in Italy and ruled as king; no new Western emperor was appointed, and the Eastern emperor in Constantinople became the only Roman emperor.
A short-lived royal capital that later became a monastery and is now one of South Asia's best-preserved ancient urban sites.
