Ancient world
Stories from before the year 500.
Era
Continent
Showing 234 of 234
Alexander the GreatKing of Macedon from 336 to 323 BC- AAshokaMauryan emperor from 269 to 232 BCE
Julius CaesarRoman general and dictator (100–44 BC)
CleopatraPharaoh of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC
AugustusRoman emperor from 27 BC to AD 14- Ancient EgyptCradle of civilization in North Africa
Indus Valley CivilizationBronze Age civilisation in South Asia
SumerAncient Mesopotamian civilization from 3300 to 1900 BC- PhoeniciaAncient Semitic maritime civilization
Ancient GreeceGreek civilization from 1200 BC to 600 AD- JapanCountry in East Asia
Ancient RomeRoman civilisation from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD
Achaemenid EmpireAncient Iranian empire, 550–330 BC
ConfuciusChinese philosopher (c. 551 – c. 479 BCE)- Gupta EmpireAncient Indian empire (c. 3rd century CE – 575 CE)
- Han dynastyImperial dynasty in China (202 BC – 220 AD)
SocratesGreek philosopher (c. 470–399 BC)
CiceroRoman statesman and lawyer (106–43 BC)
Maya civilizationMesoamerican civilization (c. 2000 BC – 1697 AD)
Byzantine EmpireContinuation of the Roman Empire (330–1453)
Virgil1st-century-BC Roman poet
ArchimedesGreek mathematician and physicist (c. 287 – 212 BC)
Jesus Christ1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader
DelhiMegacity and union territory of India
JerusalemCity in the Southern Levant
LondonCapital of England and the United Kingdom- PParisCapital and largest city of France
RomeCapital and largest city of Italy
Old Kingdom of EgyptPeriod in ancient Egyptian history (c. 2686–2181 BC)- Middle Kingdom of EgyptReunified ancient Egypt (c. 2000-1700 BC)
New Kingdom of EgyptPeriod in ancient Egyptian history (c. 1570–1069 BC)- Ptolemaic KingdomHellenistic-era Greek state in Egypt (305–30 BC)
- VValley of the KingsNecropolis in ancient Egypt
Kingdom of AksumPolity in Africa and Arabia before 960
Ancient CarthagePhoenician city-state and empire
Punic WarsWars between Rome and Carthage (264–146 BC)
Kingdom of KushAncient kingdom in Nubia, Africa- Land of PuntAncient trading confederation in the Horn of Africa (2500 BCE – 980 BCE)
- OlmecasEarliest known major Mesoamerican civilization
AtropateneAncient Iranian kingdom (c. 323 BC – 226 AD)- Caucasian AlbaniaAncient state in the Caucasus
- ElamAncient pre-Iranian civilization between 3200 and 539 BC
- Kingdom of IberiaAncient Georgian kingdom of Kartli
MedesAncient Iranian people- Parthian EmpireIranian empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
- RRoman–Persian Wars
- Sasanian EmpireLast pre-Islamic Iranian empire (224–651 AD)
Gojoseon? – 108 BC state in East Asia
Jin dynastyChinese dynasty
Northern and Southern dynastiesPeriod in Chinese history from 420 to 589- Shang dynastyChinese dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC)
- Qin dynastyFirst imperial dynasty in China (221–206 BC)
- Spring and Autumn periodPeriod in Chinese history (c. 770 – c. 481 BCE)
- Xia dynastyTraditional first dynasty in Chinese history
- XXiongnuEurasian steppe confederation (3rd c. BC – 1st c. AD)
Zhou dynastyChinese dynasty from c. 1046 to 256 BC
PhidiasGreek sculptor, painter and architect (c.480–430 BC)
Qu YuanChinese poet (c.340–278 BCE)
Tao YuanmingChinese poet (365–427)
AristophanesClassical Athenian comic playwright (c. 446 – c. 386 BC)
HoraceRoman lyric poet (65–8 BC)- GGothsEarly Germanic people
Battle of Thermopylae480 BC engagement of the Greco-Persian Wars
Ptolemaic dynastyMacedonian Greek royal family which ruled Egypt
Peloponnesian WarWar between Athens and Sparta (431–404 BC)
Greco-Persian WarsSeries of conflicts in the 5th century BC- Second Punic WarWar between Rome and Carthage, 218 to 201 BC
Battle of Marathon490 BC battle in the Greco-Persian Wars
Battle of ActiumNaval battle between Octavian and Mark Antony/Cleopatra (31 BC)- Battle of the Teutoburg ForestRoman defeat by Germanic tribes in 9 AD
Battle of Salamis480 BC naval battle of the Greco-Persian Wars
Battle of CannaeLargest battle of the Second Punic War (216 BC)
First Punic WarWar between Rome and Carthage (264–241 BC)- HHephthalites5th–8th-century nomadic confederation in Central Asia
Battle of GaugamelaMajor battle of the Wars of Alexander the Great (331 BC)
Third Punic WarWar between Rome and Carthage (149–146 BC)
Year of the Four EmperorsBattles for succession to rule the Roman Empire (AD 69)
Gallic War58–50 BC conflict between Rome and Gallic tribes- KKassitesPeople of the ancient Near East
Battle of the Maureaco FieldsPart of the Hunnic invasion of the Roman province of Gaul
Great Fire of RomeConflagration in Ancient Rome (AD 64)
Battle of ZamaFinal battle of the Second Punic War (202 BC)
Xin dynastyChinese imperial dynasty from 9 to 23 AD
Third Servile War73–71 BCE Roman slave rebellion
Battle of Kadesh1274 BC Egyptian-Hittite battle
Battle of Issus333 BC battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III
Battle of PlataeaLand battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece (479 BC)- Battle of AdrianopleBattle between Eastern Roman Empire and Goths (378)
- GhassanidsChristian Arab tribe
Battle of AlesiaPart of the Gallic Wars
Battle of the HydaspesPart of the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great- MMuisca peopleIndigenous people of Colombia
- Battle of ChaeroneaBattle during the expansion of Macedonia
Battle of CarrhaePart of the Roman–Parthian Wars- Caesar's Civil WarWar in the Roman Republic (49–45 BC)
- AAntigonid dynastyDynasty of Hellenistic kings
Hasmonean dynastyDynasty of Judea (140–37 BC)- Third Dynasty of UrRoyal dynasty in Mesopotamia
Battle of the GranicusBattle fought between Alexander the Great and the Achaemenids
Indo-ScythiansNomadic Iranian peoples of Saka and Scythian origin
Pallava dynastySouth Indian dynasty (275–897)
Battle of PharsalusPart of Caesar's Civil War (48 BC)- SabaeansAncient South Arabian kingdom
- Samnite WarsThree wars between the Roman Republic and the Samnites in Central Italy, 343–290 BC
Battle of the Milvian Bridge312 AD battle in the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy
Battle of Lake Trasimene217 BC battle of the Second Punic War
Macedonian WarsConflicts between Rome and various Greek kingdoms (214–148 BC)
Pandya dynastyAncient Tamil dynasty of South India
XianbeiPara-Mongolic ancient people- Ionian RevoltMilitary rebellions by Greek cities in Asia Minor against Persian rule (499 BC–493 BC)
- CCorinthian WarAncient Greek war (395–387 BC)
Antonine PlagueDisease outbreak (165–180 CE)
LakhmidsArab monarchy (c. 268–602)
Battle of the TrebiaFirst major battle of the Second Punic War- Argead dynastyFirst dynasty of the Macedonian Kingdom
- Social War of 91-87 BCEWar between Rome and its Italian allies
- Imperial House of JapanJapanese imperial family
Yellow Turban RebellionPeasant revolt against the Eastern Han dynasty- WWestern ZhouDynastic era in China (c. 1046 – 771 BC)
Year of the Five EmperorsAD 193 in the Roman Empire
Attalid dynastyGreek state during the Hellenistic period
Battle of PhilippiBattle of the Roman civil war
Battle of LeuctraThebes' victory against Sparta in 371 BC
410 sack of RomeSiege and sack of Rome by the Visigoths- MMithridatic WarsConflicts between Rome and Pontus (88–63 BC)
Battle of MycaleBattle that decisively ended Xerxes's invasion of Greece (479 BC)- Sotho peopleBantu ethnic group
- Battle of MegiddoBattle between Egypt and Canaanite rebels
Battle of Red CliffsBattle on the Yangtze River (208 AD)
Battle of Ipsus301 BC battle of the Wars of the Diadochi in Phrygia (modern Turkey)
Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79Volcanic eruption in Italy
Battle of Cynoscephalae197 BC Roman victory in the Second Macedonian War
Roman–Seleucid WarWar between Rome and the Seleucid Empire, 192–188 BC
Liu Song dynastyChinese ruling dynasty from 420 to 479- Second Macedonian WarWar between Rome and Macedonia, 200–197 BC
Battle of the Frigidus394 AD battle between Theodosius and Eugenius
Battle of Edessa260 Sasanian victory over Rome- Battle of PydnaBattle of the Third Macedonian War in 168 BC
- Pyrrhic WarWar fought by Pyrrhus of Epirus in Italy and Sicily against Rome and Carthage
Southern QiChinese ruling dynasty from 479 to 502- TTrajan's Dacian Wars101–106 AD pair of Roman wars against Dacia
- First Macedonian WarWar between Rome and Macedonia, 214–205 BC
Jugurthine War2nd-century BC war between the Kingdom of Numidia and the Roman Republic
Battle of Magnesia190/89 BCE battle in which Rome and Pergamon defeated the Seleucids
Marcomannic Wars166–180 AD series of Roman wars with Danubian tribes
Syrian WarsConflict between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Lamian WarWar fought in Greece in 323–322 BCE
Jewish–Roman WarsSeries of revolts by the Jews against the Roman Empire between 66 and 135 AD- BrigantesBritish tribe of the Iron Age and Roman era
Battle of ArtemisiumPart of the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC
Kanva dynastyEighth ruling dynasty of Magadha (73–28 BCE)
Minoan eruptionMajor volcanic eruption around 1600 BC
Battle of TicinusBattle between Carthaginian and Romans forces in 218 BC
Siege of TyreBy the Macedonians under Alexander the Great- Sasanian dynastyFounding house of the Sasanian Empire (224–651)
Battle of Cunaxa401 BC battle between Cyrus the Younger and Artaxerxes II- AArtaxiad DynastyRuling dynasty of ancient Armenia from 189 BC to 12 AD
Battle of Cape EcnomusNaval battle of the First Punic War; possibly the largest in history- Arsacid dynasty of ArmeniaDynasty that ruled Armenia from 12 to 428
- TThird Macedonian WarWar between Rome and Macedonia, 171–168 BC
- BBattle of AegospotamiNaval battle in the Peloponnesian War
Battle of Mons GraupiusAD 83 Roman victory in modern Scotland- VVasconesPre-Roman tribe, namesake ancestors of the Basques
- IIllyro-Roman WarsWars in the Mediterranean, 229–168 BC
Plague of CyprianPandemic in the Roman Empire (AD 249–262)
Eastern ZhouSecond half of the Zhou dynasty (c. 770 – 256 BC)
Battle of MundaFinal battle of Caesar's Civil War in present-day southern Spain, 45 BC
Wars of Alexander the GreatConflicts of Alexander the Great (336–323 BC)
Battle of the AlliaBattle between Gauls and Roman Republic, c. 387 BC
Plague of Athens430 BC epidemic in Athens, Greece
Battle of ThapsusBattle of Caesar's civil war (46 BCE)- BBattle of Beneventum275 BC Battle of the Pyrrhic war
Battle of AvarayrBattle between Christian Armenians and the Sasanian Empire (451 CE)- Latin War4th-century BC conflict between the Roman Republic and neighboring Latin peoples of Italy
- Battle of HeracleaBattle in 280 BC between the Romans and Pyrrhus of Epirus
- Battle of Nedao5th-century internal battle in the Hunnic Empire
- Cimbrian WarConflict between Rome and Germanic & Celtic tribes (113–101 BCE)
Assassination of Julius Caesar44 BC murder in Rome
ShakyaRepublican tribe confederacy in Iron-Age India- Battle of the Persian Gate on the MountainPart of the Wars of Alexander the Great
MinaeansAncient Yemeni kingdom- RRoman–Parthian WarsSeries of conflicts between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
- Gothic War of 376–382Conflict between the Roman Empire and various Gothic tribes
Sack of RomeSack of Rome by the Vandals (455)- First Mithridatic WarWar between Rome and Pontus, 89–85 BC
Battle of MylaeNaval battle in 260 BC- Wars of the DiadochiWars between Alexander the Great's successors
First Servile WarAncient Roman slave rebellion (135–132 BCE)
SumeriansAncient Mesopotamian civilization from 3300 to 1900 BC- Battle of ArausioBattle during the Cimbrian War (105 BC)
- BBattle of NaissusBattle between the Goths and the Romans under Emperor Gallienus (268/269)
- BBattle of the Aegates IslandsNaval battle between Carthage and Rome in 241 BC
- Arsacid dynasty of ParthiaIranian empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
Former Qin4th century state in northern China- Western Ganga dynastyRuling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India
- BBattle of BadonBritish 6th-century battle
Battle of RaphiaBattle of the Syrian Wars (217 BC)
Battle of CarchemishAncient battle in the region of Syria- Seleucid dynastyRoyal family of the Seleucid Empire
Kalinga War261 BCE conflict in ancient India
Caesar's invasions of BritainMilitary campaigns in 55 and 54 BC- Battle of Asculum279 BC battle of the Pyrrhic War
Battle of Adrianople (324)Constantine I's victory over Licinius- Battle of the Metaurus207 BC battle during the Second Punic War
- Battle of Ilipa206 BC Second Punic War Roman victory in Spain
Storegga SlidesPrehistoric landslide off Norway- BBattle of StrasbourgBattle fought in AD 357
Battle of AbritusBattle between Romans and Gothic and Scythian tribesmen (251)
Final War of the Roman RepublicWar between Mark Antony and Octavian, 32–30 BC
Battle of LadeNaval battle during the Ionian Revolt (494 BC)- OOkjeoFormer tribal state in Korea
Siege of CarthageMain engagement of the Third Punic War- BBattle of MegiddoBattle between Egypt and Judah
Battle of Agrigentum262 BC naval battle between Carthage and Rome- Battle of ZelaBattle between the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Pontus (47 BC)
Battle of HimeraBattle of the Sicilian Wars
Diocletianic PersecutionPersecution of Christians in the Roman Empire (303–313)
Battle of MuyeMid-10th Century BCE conquest of the Shang by Predynastic Zhou- WWestern SatrapsIndo-Scythian rulers of western and central India (35-415 CE)
Battle of Tigranocerta69 BC battle between Rome and Armenia- Liberators' Civil WarRoman civil war after Caesar's assassination (43–42 BC)
Battle of TolbiacConflict dispute between the Franks and the Alamanni
Uluburun shipwreck14th-century BCE Mediterranean shipwreck
Battle of GuanduBattle between warlords Cao Cao and Yuan Shao (200)
Second Persian invasion of Greece480–479 BC phase of the Greco-Persian Wars
Third Mithridatic WarWar between Rome and Mithridates, 73–63 BC- BBattle of Drepana249 BC Carthaginian naval victory in the First Punic War
Battle of BibracteHelvetii v. Rome, Gallic Wars, 58 BC
Battle of Aquae SextiaeBattle during the Cimbrian War (102 BC)- Banu NadirJewish Arabian tribe that lived in Medina
Battle of VercellaeBattle during the Cimbrian War (101 BC)
Battle of QarqarBattle of the Assyrian conquest of Aram in 853 BC- TrinovantesCeltic tribe between modern-day Anglia and the Thames Estuary
Shishunaga dynastySecond ruling dynasty of Magadha (413–345 BCE)