This page is divided into two sections:
A Chronological View of Greek History
A-Z of Greek History
A Chronological View of Greek History
| 6500 BC | first farming begins in Greece and the Aegean, beginning of European Neolithic period |
| 3200-2000 BC | early Cycladic civilization in the Aegean |
| 3000 BC | Neolithic culture replaced by Bronze Age/ construction of walled citadels in the Mediterranean |
| 2000 BC | Indo-Europeans invade and settle in the Peloponnese, Minoan civilization flourishes on mainland Greece, sails used for the first time of boats in the Aegean |
| 1730 BC | Earthquake destroys royal palaces on Crete |
| 1700-1600 BC | the Telchines (=Minoans) arrive on Rhodes, Kasos, and Telos from Crete. The Carians arrive on Kos, Nisyros, and Kalymnos from Asia Minor. The Pelasgians arrive on Syme. |
| 1650 BC | Linear A script |
| 1500 BC | Volcano on Santorini erupts, the first Mycenaeans arrive on the Dodecanese from the Greek mainland/ Linear B script |
| 1450 BC | first destruction of Minoan Crete |
| 1200 BC | Destruction of Mycenaean civilization by the Sea Peoples. 150 years of Dark Age begins under these sub-Myceneans/ Second destruction of Minoan Crete |
| 1050 BC | Dorian Invasion, collapse of the Mycenaean civilization. The Dorians came from the North and settled in the South. They also settled in Lakedaimonia at about this time. |
| 1000 BC | iron industry established in the Aegean |
| 900 BC | end of the Greek Dark Age, beginning of the Geometric period |
| 9th Century BC | the first city-states in the Dodecanese (Lindos, Kamiros, and Ialysos) formed a military alliance centred at the sanctuary of Apollo on Rhodes |
| 826 BC | the Arabs establish themselves in Crete |
| 776 BC | 1st Olympic Games held in Greece |
| 750 BC | the spread of Greek colonization throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea/Homer's Iliad and Hesiod's poetry first written down |
| 700 BC | beginning of the Archaic period in Greece (until 500BC) |
| 690 BC | Etruscan script developed from Greek |
| 650 BC | rise of the Tyrants, reforms of the Lykourgos in Sparta/first Greek coins/rise of Greek lyric poetry |
| 640 BC | Kylon, an Athenian nobleman won an event at the Olympic Games |
| 624 BC | Drakon codifies Athenian law (Date sometimes given as 621/0 BC) |
| 600 BC | Greek colony of Massalia (Marseilles) founded |
| 594/3 BC | Solon is appointed and reforms Drakon's laws in Athens |
| 585 BC | Greek rationalist philosophy begins |
| 514 BC | the tyrannicides; the assassination of Hipparchos by Harmodios and Aristogeiton, attempted assassination of his brother Hippias |
| 510 BC | Kleisthenes persuades the Spartans to drive Hippias out of Athens |
| 505 BC | Kleisthenes founds democracy in Athens |
| 500 BC | end of the Archaic period in Greece |
| 5th Century BC | Persian invasions. The Persians are defeated at Plataea, Marathon, Mycale, and Salamis |
| 494 BC | Persians suppress Ionian revolt |
| 490 BC | Persian invasion of Greece defeated at Marathon |
| 480 BC | Persians defeated at the Battles of Salamis and Plataiai |
| 479 BC | the end of the Persian Wars, the Dodecanese join the Athenian League |
| 479-338 BC | period of Greek Classical Culture |
| 478 BC | formation of the Confederacy of Athenian leadership/Confederacy of Deloa |
| 449 BC | Peace of Kallas - a temporary halt to the fighting between the Athenians and the Persians |
| 460-446 BC | First Peloponnesian War |
| 431-404 BC | Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens |
| 450 BC | Apogee of Athens |
| 413 BC | the destruction of the Athenian fleet in Sicily, the Dodecanese leave the Athenian League |
| 409 BC | Carthage sends embassy to Athens |
| 408 BC | creation of new city in Rhodes |
| 4th Century BC | -Peloponnesian War between
Sparta and Athens -Macedonians and Thebans take control of Greece |
| 371 BC | Battle of Leuctra, defeat of the Spartans |
| 356 BC | Philip of Macedon rules Macedon |
| 357-355 BC | Social War and Sacred War |
| 350 BC | Mausoleum built at Halikarnassos |
| 349 BC | Philip of Macedon invades Chalkidike |
| 338 BC | Battle of Chaironeia - Macedonian victory over Greece |
| 336 BC | the assassination of Philip of Macedon at Pella/Alexander the Great takes over the Macedonian throne |
| 334 BC | Alexander the Great invades the Persian Empire/Battle of Granikos Persians defeated by Alexander the Great |
| 333 BC | Macedonian victory at Issos |
| 332 BC | Alexander the Great conquers Egypt |
| 331 BC | Persians defeated at Gaugemela |
| 330 BC | Persepolis captured |
| 329-329 BC | Alexander the Great campaigns in Bactria and Soglia |
| 326 BC | Macedonian victory at Hydaspes |
| 317 BC | Philip III of Macedon assassinated |
| 308 BC | deaths of Alexander IV and Roxana |
| 307 BC | Athens captured by Antigonos |
| 281 BC | Battle of Korupedion, Lysimachos defeated by Seleukos/Seleukos assassinated |
| 277 BC | Celtic armies defeated at Lysimacheia |
| 197 BC | The Romans gain control from the Macedonians |
| 86 BC | The Roman general Sulla destroys Piraeus |
| 42 BC | Cassius destroys Rhodes |
| 269 AD | The Goths raided the islands of the Aegean |
| 324 AD | Byzantium founded by Constantine the Great |
| 330 AD | formal inauguration of Byzantium |
| 395 AD | the Aegean islands came under control of the eastern Roman Empire |
| 515 AD | an earthquake destroys nearly half the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean including the city of Rhodes |
| 7th Century AD | Library of Alexandria destroyed by fire |
| 654 AD | the Arabs occupied Rhodes and broke up the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes and sold the bronze as scrap |
| 718 AD | Byzantine warships set out from Rhodes to do battle with the Saracens |
| 807 AD | Byzantine warships set out from Rhodes to do battle with the Arabs |
| 1082 AD | Alexios Komnenos granted the Venetians the right to establish a commercial naval base on Rhodes |
| 1101 AD | Richard the Lionheart stopped for a while at Rhodes |
| 1204 AD | the sack of Constantinople (for the 1st time) during the Fourth Crusade |
| 1204-1261 AD | Latin rule of Constantinople |
| 1207 AD | Marco Sandolo founded the Duchy of Naxos |
| 1309 BC | A Genoese adventurer sells Rhodes to the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem |
| 1333 AD | Lesvos comes under control of the Gatteluso family |
| 1387 AD | the Ionian Islands are brought under Venetian rule |
| 1453 AD | Byzantium/Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks (2nd time) led by Mehmet the Conqueror/ the inhabitants of Samos escape to Chios/Crete gives refuge to exiles fleeing the Turks |
| 1462 AD | Lesvos conquered by the Ottoman Turks |
| 1480 AD | unsuccessful siege of Rhodes by the Ottoman Turks |
| 15th Century AD - 19th Century AD | Greece under Turkish rule |
| 1521 AD (or 1523?) |
Rhodes falls to a 100,000+ force of Ottoman Turks. The Knights of St John withdraw to Malta |
| 1538 AD | the coasts of Crete are attacked by the pirate Khair-ed-din Barbarossa |
| 1566 AD | the fall of Chios, leading to control of all the east Aegean islands by the Ottoman Turks |
| 1626 AD | a famine on Crete reduces the population by a fifth |
| 1645 AD | Chania falls to the Ottoman Turk |
| 1669 AD | Irakleion and then the whole of Crete falls to the Ottoman Turks |
| 1797 AD | the Ionian Islands are brought under French rule |
| 1809 AD | Ahmet Agas besieges Kalymnos for 36 days inorder to try and make the islanders accept Ottoman judicial power |
| 1821 AD | Greek uprising, declaration of national independence |
| 1822 AD | Ottoman Turks suppress a revolt on Chios |
| 1830 AD | Independence/the Cyclades become part of independent Greece |
| 1831 AD | Jean Kapodistria is assassinated |
| 1832 AD | a 17 year old Bavarian prince, Otto is made King of Greece by the French, English, and Russians |
| 1834 AD | Athens becomes the new national capital |
| 1864 AD | the Ionian Islands become part of independent Greece. They had been a British Protectorate since the Napoleonic Wars |
| 1878 AD | British rule of Cyprus begins |
| 1912 AD | the Dodecanese Islands are liberated from the Turks during their war with the Italians / King Constantine leads a victorious Greek army against the Turks in Macedonia and liberates thousands of Greeks |
| 1911-14 AD | Greece took the side of the Germans in the rivalry between Germany and Britain in the Balkans |
| 1912-13 AD | the Balkan Wars |
| 1913 AD | Crete and the Northeast Aegean Islands become part of independent Greece/the Turks leave their fortress at Yannina/King George assasinated by a Macedonian in Thessaloniki |
| 1915 AD | King Constantine fires Eleftherios Venizelos twice from his office as Prime Minister |
| 1917 AD | King Constantine abdicates (for the 1st time) and his son King Alexander takes over until he dies three years later from blood poisoning caused by a monkey bite. |
| 1922 AD | Greek forces heavily defeated in Asia Minor. A million Greeks who had lived on the Turkish side of the Aegean had to leave their homes and flooded into Greece. / September: King Constantine forced to abdicate (for the 2nd time). |
| 1923 AD | the exchange of Greek and Turkish populations (the Greco-Turkish population exchange) / King George II (King Constantine's) son takes over. |
| 1924 AD | Republic established / King George II kicked out. |
| 1927 AD | First air connection between Athens and the islands |
| 1935 AD | Restoration of the monarchy - King George II returns from exile after a failed military uprising/a royalist putsch led by General Kondylis. He was able to return to power after a rigged referendum |
| 1936 AD | Metaxas seizes power and establishes his quasi-Fascist dictatorship |
| 1939-45 AD | World War II |
| 1941 AD | German Stukas bomb Piraeus |
AD 1942 EAM's operation against the viaduct of Gorgopotamus
AD 1943 Italian surrender - the Dodecanese taken over by the Germans / John Rallis becomes Prime Minister
AD 1944 April: George Papandreou is brought to Egypt, the seat of the government in exile / May: a meeting in Lebanon, a coalition government is set up - the British promise that the Communists will be part of the coalition / September: the British persuade ELAS not to enter and occupy Athens. Instead, the Britsh march in as liberators / The government in exile return to Greece and George Papandreou is made Prime Minister / October 12: Liberation / 3 December: Clash in Athens between the Greek Communist Party and British troops, EAM organized a demonstration asking George Papandreou to keep his promise of self-rule - 28 people died.
AD 1945-46 the White Terror against the Left
AD 1946-49 Civil War
AD 1947 Incorporation of the Dodecanese islands into the Greek state, the Italians give the Dodecanese back to the Greeks / the Americans take over from the British, and the Truman Doctrine is born: 'The United States must help Greece safeguard her democratic regime.'
AD 1950 January: elections - swing away from the Right to the Centre, but no single party could command a majority in Parliament. Afterwards four governments collapsed
AD 1952 November: elections - General Papagos elected as leader of the government
AD 1955 October: General Papagos died
AD 1960 Cyprus becomes a state on August 16, end of British rule
AD 1961 election
AD 1963 May: the murder of Grigorios Lambrakis, a left-wing deputy in Thessaloniki, November: elections: George Papandreou's Centre Union emerged as the largest party, with the balance of power being held by the United Democratic Left. Constantine Karamanlis left Greece for an 11-year exile.
AD 1964 Another election: George Papandreou emerged as outright winner
AD 1965 July: political crisis
AD 1967-1974 the Colonel's Dictatorship
AD 1967 April 21st: Military Coup, colonels' junta/December: failed coup attempt forces King Constantine to flee
AD 1974 Restoration of democracy. Action by the Turkish army causes Cyprus to be divided into two
AD 1969 Abolition of the monarchy
AD 1972 the year when every Greek community finally got electricity
AD1999 earthquake in Athens
A-Z of Greek History
| Abasgians, the | [not yet ready] |
| Abbasids, the | [not yet ready] |
| Achaeans, the | another name for the Mycenaeans |
| Achaemenid Persia | the Achaemenids lived in iran 2,500 years ago |
| acropoleis | [not yet ready] |
| acropolis | [not yet ready] |
| Alans | [not yet ready] |
| Albanians, the | colonized the Aegean islands since the 14th Century |
| andartes | [not yet ready] |
| apella | a hoplite assembly |
| Apogee of Athens | [not yet ready] |
| Arabs, the | established themselves in Crete in 826 BC |
| Archaic Period, the | c.700-500 BC |
| Areopagus | (a council that met on the hill of Ares) [not yet ready] |
| arkhontes | [not yet ready] |
| Armenians, the | [not yet ready] |
| Athenian Empire, the | 8th Century BC |
| Athenian League, the | [not yet ready] |
| Axis, the | [not yet ready] |
| Balkan Confederation | [not yet ready] |
| Balkan Entente Pact | 1934 [not yet ready] |
| Balkan Union | [not yet ready] |
| Balkan Wars, the | 1912-13 [not yet ready] |
| basileus | a king |
| boule | a council |
| British Army, the | protected Axis collaborators [not yet ready] |
| British protectorate, the | 1945 [not yet ready] |
| Bronze Age, the | [not yet ready] |
| Byzantine Empire, the | the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, based in Byzantium. It was founded in AD324 by Constantine the Great. It was inaugurated as the New Rome, but differed from its imperial model (Old Rome) in that it was a Christian rather than a Pagan city, and it had a mainly Greek rather a Latin culture. It became more important than Old Rome, becoming the capital of an independent state and outlasting its model by 1000 years before falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. |
| Byzantine Era, the | [not yet ready] |
| Carians, the | an ancient people from Asia Minor |
| Catalans, the | [not yet ready] |
| Chaironeia, Battle of | 338 BC - Macedonian victory over Greece |
| children (removal of) | the Greek communists moved 20,000 Greek children for education and protection to socialist countries after the end of the Civil War |
| chrysobull | [not yet ready] |
| CIA, the | [not yet ready] |
| city-state (polis) | [not yet ready] |
| Civil War | 1946-9 AD [not yet ready] |
| Classic(al) Age, the | 5th-4th Centuries BC |
| Cold War, the | [not yet ready] |
| Colossus of Rhodes | a giant bronze statue of the Sun god, built in 304BC by the sculptor Chares of Lindos. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It collapsed in an earthquake 66 years after being built. Although Ptolemy of Egypt offered 3000 talents to rebuild it, the Rhodeans never restored it. |
| Comnenian emperors, the | [not yet ready] |
| Confederacy of Athenian leadership | [not yet ready] |
| corsair | [not yet ready] |
| Croats, the | [not yet ready] |
| Dark Age, the | [not yet ready] |
| Deme of Rhodes | the three city-states of Rhodes united by Dorieus |
| Democratic Army, the | left-wing army in the Civil War, led by Markos Vafiades |
| demoi | village units |
| demokratia | the rule of the people |
| demos | city, the ordinary people |
| Diaspora, the | [not yet ready] |
| diobol | an ancient coin of Ialyssos |
| Dorian Hexapolis, the | an alliance formed between Lindos, Kamiros, Ialyssos, Kos, Knidos, and Halikarnassos |
| Dorians, the | another name for the Mycenaeans |
| EAM | the National Liberation Front in the Civil War |
| Early Helladic period, the | [not yet ready] |
| Early Historic Period, the | [not yet ready] |
| Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople | [not yet ready] |
| ekklesia | an assembly, a church |
| ELAS | the National Popular Army of Liberation, the military wing of EAM |
| English, the | [not yet ready] |
| enosis | the Greek-Cypriot campaign for union with Greece |
| EOKA | [not yet ready] |
| ephoroi | five executive officers who were elected annually and had control of political power in Sparta |
| Epon | a resistance organization during WWII |
| Era of the Knights, the | [not yet ready] |
| eunomia | the Spartan idea of 'good order' |
| Eupatridae | 'sons of good fathers', an aristocratic group of ancient Athens |
| European Community, the | [not yet ready] |
| European Union, the | [not yet ready] |
| Fatimids, the | [not yet ready] |
| Franks, the | [not yet ready] |
| French, the | [not yet ready] |
| French Revolution, the | [not yet ready] |
| Genoese, the | once rulers of Corfu [not yet ready] |
| Geometric(al) Period, the | [not yet ready] |
| Germans, the | [not yet ready] |
| gerousia | a Spartan council |
| Golden Age of Greece, the | [not yet ready] |
| Goths, the | [not yet ready] |
| Granikos, Battle of | (334 BC) Persians defeated by Alexander the Great |
| Great Idea, the | [not yet ready] |
| Greeks, the | [not yet ready] |
| Helepolis | a huge siege tower built for Demetrios Poliorketes by the architect Epimachos |
| Hellenes | the name Greeks adopted for themselves during the Dark Age |
| Hellenistic Era, the | [not yet ready] |
| Hellenization | [not yet ready] |
| helots | [not yet ready] |
| Heroic Age, the | [not yet ready] |
| Hittites, the | [not yet ready] |
| hoplite | a heavily-armed soldier, a citizen who carried a hoplon. Hoplites stood in formation to form a row of shields known as a phalanx. Originally only the land-owning classes carried hoplons, but later all citizens were armed with them. |
| hoplon | a type of heavy curved shield carried by a hoplite |
| Indo-Europeans | [not yet ready] |
| Ionians, the | the main colonists of Asia Minor |
Italian Occupation [not yet ready]
Italians, the [not yet ready]
Justinian's Code a codification of Roman Law, carried out in Byzantium by Justinian. See also Theodosian Code
kastra citadels
Keros-Seros Culture c. 2800-2300 BC
Khaganate of Tmutorokan [not yet ready]
Khazars [not yet ready]
KKE the Greek Communist Party
Knights of St John a military order which after the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 were based in Cyprus since 1291. In 1309 they bought Rhodes from a Genoese adventurer who had been given the property as a fief by the Byzantine emperor. There were three classes: knights, chaplains, and serving brothers (aka fighting squires). The official language of the order was Latin, and later French.
Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem see Knights of St John
krypteia a Spartan secret society
Lakedaimonia also Lakonia the land of the Spartans
Lakonia another name for Lakedaimonia
Late Minoan I period 1750-1450 BC
Latins, the [not yet ready]
Lebanon Agreement, the a failed attempt by the British to restore the monarchy and right-wing government by achieving unanimity between guerilla leaders and politicians of the resistance
Leuctra, Battle of 371 BC, the defeat of Sparta
Lombards, the [not yet ready]
Lusignan [not yet ready]
Lykourgos [not yet ready]
Macedonian Question, the [not yet ready]
maquis [not yet ready]
Marathon, Battle of 490BC - Persian invasion of Greece defeated
megaron a royal palace
Messenians, the [not yet ready]
Middle Helladic period, the [not yet ready]
Middle Minoan III period [not yet ready]
Minoan culture the name given to Bronze Age Cretan culture by the Archaeologist Arthur Evans. The name comes from Minos, the mythical king of Crete.
Minoans, the [not yet ready]
Modern Greece [not yet ready]
Mycenaean civilization an early Greek civilization named after the citadel at Mycenae
Mycenaeans, the also known as the Achaeans or Dorians [not yet ready]
Napoleonic Wars, the [not yet ready]
National Independence [not yet ready]
National Liberation Front, the see EAM
National Popular Army of Liberation see ELAS
NATO Greece is a member of NATO
navicularii Roman shipowners
Neapolitans, the once rulers of Corfu [not yet ready]
Neolithic period, the [not yet ready]
New Rome another name for Byzantium. Compare Old Rome
New Stone Age another name for the Neolithic period
Nicaea, the Empire of the Byzantine government-in-exile
Normans, the once rulers of Corfu [not yet ready]
obai [not yet ready]
Old Rome imperial Rome. Compare New Rome
Old Stone Age another name for the Paleolithic period
oligarchy = the rule of the few
Operation Pericles a plan to fix the 1961 elections for the Right. The centrist leader George Papandreou blamed the monarchy and broke off relations with the King.
Ottoman Empire, the [not yet ready]
Ottoman Turks, the dominated the Aegean islands from the 15th to the 18th Century
Paleolithic period [not yet ready]
Panhellenic League established by Alexander the Great
Paris Reparations Committee estimated that WWII caused $8,500 million of devastation in Greece
Patzinaks, the [not yet ready]
pax minoica peace imposed on the Aegean by the Minoans
Peloponnesian War, the First 460-446 BC
Peloponnesian War, the a war from 431-404 BC between the Spartans and Athens. The war started because the city-states on the Greek mainland wanted to resist Athenian imperialism. Athens was eventually defeated when the Persians lent their support to the Spartans. Following this defeat, the Athenian Empire fell and a puppet regime, known as the Thirty Tyrants, was put into power in Athens.
Pelsagians, the a pre-Greek people
perioikoi [not yet ready]
Persians, the [not yet ready]
Persian Wars, the [not yet ready]
phalanx a formation of hoplites into a wall of shields
Phanariots, the the 18th century intellectuals of the Fanari area of Constantinople, who surrounded the Patriarchate
Phoenicians, the [not yet ready]
pirates [not yet ready]
Plataiai, Battle of 480 BC - Persians defeated [not yet ready]
polis = city-state, city
polites = citizen
politeuma = political system
politike = politics
Prehistoric Period, the [not yet ready]
politismos = culture
Provençals, the [not yet ready]
Radical Organisation, the a resistance group during WWII
Rhodian Law the earliest form of marine law
Richard the Lionheart [not yet ready]
Roman Era, the [not yet ready]
Roman Greece [not yet ready]
Romans, the [not yet ready]
Russians, the [not yet ready]
Sacred War, the [not yet ready]
Salamis, Battle of 480 BC - Persians defeated
Saracens, the [not yet ready]
Sarakatsans, the [not yet ready]
Sea Peoples, the [not yet ready]
Security Battalions, the an anti-Communist militia
Seljuks, the/the Seljuk Turks [not yet ready]
Septinsular Republic, the [not yet ready]
Serbs, the [not yet ready]
Sicilians, the once rulers of Corfu [not yet ready]
Siphniots the inhabitants of Síphnos
slater an ancient coin of Lindos and of Rhodes
Slavs, the [not yet ready]
Social War, the [not yet ready]
SOE [not yet ready]
Spaniards, the [not yet ready]
Sparta a city-state
Spartans, the [not yet ready]
Spartiatai Spartan citizens. They were an elite section of the population who had full political rights.
Stone Age, the [not yet ready]
Sublime Port, the [not yet ready]
Sub-Mycenaeans [not yet ready]
Sybarites, the inhabitants of a prosperous city of Great Greece
taksim the partition of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey
Telchines, the the Minoans from Crete
themes administrative units
Theodosian Code, the a codificiation of Roman Law, carried out in Byzantium
Thirty Tyrants, the a puppet regime supported by the Spartans, put into power at the end of the Peloponnesian War.
trireme an ancient Greek warship with three rows of oarsmen below and hoplites standing on the deck above
Trojan Wars, the [not yet ready]
Truman Doctrine, the [not yet ready]
Turkish occupation [not yet ready]
Turks, the [not yet ready]
Tyrants, the [not yet ready]
Vandals, the [not yet ready]
Venetians, the once rulers of Corfu
Vlachs, the [not yet ready]
White Terror, the [not yet ready]