Ancient World
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC): Athens Against Sparta
Spartan victory; Athens surrendered in 404 BC, lost its empire, fleet and walls, and was briefly ruled by the Thirty Tyrants.
Region
Europe
Ancient World
Herodotus and the Histories (c. 430 BC): The First Historian
The Histories became the first great prose history in Western literature and earned Herodotus the title father of history.
Ancient World
Plague of Athens (430 BC): The Epidemic That Killed Pericles
An epidemic that killed an estimated quarter to a third of the population of Athens, including Pericles, and weakened the city in the Peloponnesian War.
Ancient World
Battle of Pylos and Sphacteria (425 BC): The Spartans Surrender
Athenian victory; 292 Spartan and allied hoplites, about 120 of them full Spartan citizens, surrendered and were taken to Athens as hostages.
Ancient World
Erechtheion and the Caryatids (421 BC): Temple on the Acropolis
A uniquely shaped Ionic temple was completed on the Acropolis; its six Caryatid columns became one of the most copied motifs in Western architecture.
Ancient World
Peace of Nicias (421 BC): The Fragile Truce of Athens and Sparta
A fifty-year peace ended the Archidamian War, but key terms were never carried out and open war resumed by 414-413 BC.
Ancient World
Siege of Melos (416 BC): The Melian Dialogue and Its Aftermath
Melos surrendered to Athens; its men of military age were killed, its women and children enslaved, and 500 Athenian settlers took over the island.
Ancient World
Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC): Athens' Disaster at Syracuse
Total Athenian defeat: the army and fleet sent to Sicily were destroyed, and Athens never fully recovered its strength in the Peloponnesian War.
Ancient World
Battle of Arginusae (406 BC): Victory, Then the Generals' Trial
Athenian naval victory that relieved Mytilene, followed by the controversial execution of six victorious generals in Athens.
Ancient World
Battle of Aegospotami (405 BC): Lysander Destroys Athens' Fleet
Decisive Spartan victory: about 170 Athenian ships were captured, Athens was besieged and surrendered in 404 BC, ending the Peloponnesian War.
Ancient World
Thirty Tyrants (404-403 BC): Oligarchy and Terror in Athens
The oligarchy collapsed after about eight months of rule; democracy was restored in 403 BC under a general amnesty.
Ancient World
Diogenes of Sinope (c. 404 BC): The Cynic Philosopher in a Jar
Diogenes became the model of the Cynic way of life, whose ideals of self-sufficiency and living according to nature strongly influenced Stoicism.