The Classical World — Complete Timeline
The complete Phase 2 timeline covering the classical world from 600 BCE to 500 CE — Greece, Rome, India, China, and the birth of world religions.
Birth of Confucius
The philosopher whose teachings will shape East Asian civilization for over two millennia is born in the state of Lu.
The Buddha achieves enlightenment
Siddhartha Gautama attains bodhi, articulates the Four Noble Truths, and founds one of the world's great religions.
Roman Republic established
Romans expel their last king and create a system of shared governance that will endure for nearly five centuries.
Democracy born in Athens
Cleisthenes' reforms create the world's first democratic system of government.
Persian Wars — Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis
Greece repels two massive Persian invasions, preserving independence and launching Athens' Golden Age.
Golden Age of Athens
Socrates teaches, Sophocles writes, the Parthenon rises — an extraordinary concentration of achievement in a single city.
Alexander conquers the known world
Alexander the Great destroys the Persian Empire and creates a Hellenistic world stretching from Egypt to India.
Maurya Empire unifies India
Chandragupta Maurya founds India's first great empire, eventually encompassing most of the subcontinent.
Ashoka embraces nonviolence
After the devastating conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka renounces war and promotes Buddhist principles across his empire.
Qin Shi Huang unifies China
China's first emperor standardizes writing, currency, and measures — forging a unified state that will endure for millennia.
Silk Road opens
Zhang Qian's missions to Central Asia establish the trade network connecting China to the Mediterranean.
Assassination of Julius Caesar
Caesar's murder on the Ides of March triggers civil wars that end the Roman Republic.
Roman Empire begins under Augustus
Augustus establishes the Principate, inaugurating the Pax Romana — two centuries of relative peace and prosperity.
Christianity begins
The crucifixion of Jesus and his followers' proclamation of resurrection launch a faith that will transform the world.
Paper invented in China
Cai Lun standardizes papermaking — a technology that will eventually revolutionize communication worldwide.
Christianity legalized in the Roman Empire
Constantine's Edict of Milan ends persecution and begins Christianity's transformation into an imperial religion.
Gupta Golden Age begins in India
The Gupta Empire presides over India's Golden Age — the decimal system, zero, and extraordinary achievements in art and literature.
Teotihuacan at its peak
With up to 200,000 inhabitants, Teotihuacan is one of the largest cities in the world — a Mesoamerican metropolis of pyramids and planned streets.
Visigoths sack Rome
Rome falls to a foreign enemy for the first time in 800 years, signaling the Western Empire's accelerating decline.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The last Western emperor is deposed, ending over five centuries of Roman imperial rule in the West.