The 1st millennium BC, also known as the last millennium BC, was the period of time lasting from the years

1000 BC The 1000s BC is a decade which lasted from 1009 BC to 1000 BC. Events and trends * 1006 BC—David becomes king of the ancient United Kingdom of Israel (traditional date). * Earliest evidence of farming in the Kenya highlands. * c. 1000 BC—I ...

1 BC Year 1 BC was a common year starting on Friday or Saturday in the Julian calendar (the sources differ; see leap year error for further information) and a leap year starting on Thursday in the proleptic Julian calendar. It was also a leap year s ...

(

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

1st First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

centuries BC; in astronomy: JD – ). It encompasses the Iron Age in the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

and sees the transition from the Ancient Near East to classical antiquity. World population roughly doubled over the course of the millennium, from about 100 million to about 200–250 million.Klein Goldewijk, K. , A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011). The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years, Global Ecology and Biogeography20(1): 73–86.
pbl.nl
. Goldewijk et al. (2011) estimate 188 million as of AD 1, citing a literature range of 170 million (low) to 300 million (high). Out of the estimated 188M, 116M are estimated for Asia (East, South/Southeast and Central Asia, excluding Western Asia), 44M for Europe and the Near East, 15M for Africa (including Egypt and Roman North Africa), 12M for Mesoamerica and South America. North America and Oceania were at or below one million. Jean-Noël Biraben, "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes", ''Population'' 34-1 (1979), 13–25 (p. 22) estimats c. 100 million at 1200 BC and c. 250 million at AD

/ref>

Overview

The Neo-Assyrian Empire dominates the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

in the early centuries of the millennium, supplanted by the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

in the 6th century. Ancient Egypt is in decline, and

falls Falls may refer to: Places * Waterfalls or rapids * Falls, North Carolina, USA * Falls, West Virginia, USA Other uses * The ropes or wires, fed through davits, that are used to secure and lower a ship's lifeboats. * Falls (surname) * The sepa ...

to the Achaemenids in 525 BC. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...

and peaks with the conquest of the Achaemenids and the subsequent flourishing of Hellenistic civilization (4th to 2nd centuries). The Roman Republic supplants the Etruscans and then the Carthaginians (5th to 3rd centuries). The close of the millennium sees the rise of the Roman Empire. The early Celts dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. In East Africa, the Nubian Empire and Aksum arise. In South Asia, the

Vedic civilization The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betwe ...

gives rise to the

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

. The Scythians dominate Central Asia. In China, the Zhou dynasty rules the Chinese heartland at the beginning of the millennium. The decline of the Zhou dynasty during

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

and the Warring States period sees the rise of such philosophical and spiritual traditions as Confucianism and Taoism. Towards the close of the millennium, the Han Dynasty extends Chinese power towards Central Asia, where it borders on Indo-Greek and Iranian states. Japan is in the Yayoi period. The Olmec civilization declines, and the Maya and Zapotec civilizations emerge in Mesoamerica. The Chavín culture flourishes in Peru. The first millennium BC is the formative period of the classical world religions, with the development of early Judaism and Zoroastrianism in the

, and Vedic religion and Vedanta, Jainism and Buddhism in India. Early literature develops in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Tamil and Chinese. The term Axial Age, coined by Karl Jaspers, is intended to express the crucial importance of the period of c. the 8th to 2nd centuries BC in world history. World population more than doubled over the course of the millennium, from about an estimated 50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million. Close to 90% of world population at the end of the first millennium BC lived in the Iron Age civilizations of the Old World (Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Graeco- Indo-Scythian and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

kingdoms, Han China). The population of the Americas was below 20 million, concentrated in Mesoamerica ( Epi-Olmec culture); that of

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

was likely below 10 million. The population of Oceania was likely less than one million people.

Ancient history

Timeline

10th century BC The 10th century BC comprises the years from 1000 BC to 901 BC. This period followed the Late Bronze Age collapse in the Near East, and the century saw the Early Iron Age take hold there. The Greek Dark Ages which had come about in 1200 BC cont ...

**Near East: Neo-Assyrian Empire **Near East:

Shoshenq I Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (Egyptian ''ššnq''; reigned c. 943–922 BC)—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq Ifor discussion of the spelling, see Shoshenq—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-secon ...

invades Canaan **Aegean: Helladic period ends * 9th century BC ** Chavín culture in Peru ** Egypt:

872 BC This article concerns the period 879 BC – 870 BC. Events and trends *879 BC—Death of Zhou yi wang, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China. *879 BC—Kalhu is dedicated. Some historians say that Assurnasirpal II gives a banquet for 69,574 persons ...

: Nile floods the Temple of Luxor **Egypt:

836 BC This article concerns the period 839 BC – 830 BC. Events and trends * 836 BC—Shalmaneser III of Assyria leads an expedition against the Tabareni. * 836 BC—Civil war breaks out in Egypt. Significant people * Adad-nirari III, king of Assy ...

: Civil war in Egypt ** North Africa:

814 BC Events * Carthage is founded by Phoenician colonists from modern-day Lebanon, led by queen Dido. The city developed into a maritime power that dominated the Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, s ...

: Carthage founded **

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

: 841 BC– 828 BC Gonghe Regency * 8th century BC ** 727 BC: Egypt: Kushite invasion (

25th dynasty The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, the Black Pharaohs, or the Napatans, after their capital Napata, was the last dynasty of th ...

) **

771 BC Events *End of the Western Zhou Dynasty in China as Western barbarian tribes sack the capital Hao. The King Zhou you wang is killed. Crown Prince Ji Yi Jiu escapes to the East where he will reign as Zhou ping wang. Births Romulus and Remus Dea ...

: China:

**Near East: 727 BC: Death of Tiglath-Pileser III,

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

secedes from Assyria **Near East: 722 BC:

Sargon II Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is general ...

takes Samaria; Assyrian captivity of the Israelites. **Greece:

Archaic Greece Archaic Greece was the period in Greek history lasting from circa 800 BC to the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, following the Greek Dark Ages and succeeded by the Classical period. In the archaic period, Greeks settled across the ...

, Greek alphabet **Greece: Homer ** 776 BC: Greece: First Olympiad ** 753 BC: Europe: foundation of Rome * 7th century BC Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal - king riding killing lion

Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal - king riding killing lion

** 671 BC: Assyrian conquest of Egypt **Near East: 631 BC: Death of

Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (Neo-Assyrian language, Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Ashur (god), Ashur is the creator of the heir") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king o ...

, decline of the Assyrian Empire *

6th century BC The 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC. In Western Asia, the first half of this century was dominated by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which had risen to power late in the previous century after succes ...

**Egypt:

592 BC The year 592 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as year 162 ''Ab urbe condita'' . The denomination 592 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

: Psamtik II sacks Napata **Sudan: Aspelta moves the Kushite capital to Meroe **Near East:

539 BC The year 539 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as year 215 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 539 BC for this year has been used since the early-medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

: Achaemenid conquest of Babylon under

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

**South Asia: Śramaṇa movement and "second urbanisation" **South Asia: Early Buddhism **Europe:

509 BC __NOTOC__ The year 509 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Republic it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Brutus and Collatinus (or, less frequently, year 245 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

: Roman Republic *

5th century BC The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. This century saw the establishment of Pataliputra as a capital of the Magadha Empire. This city would later become the ruling capital of different Indian king ...

**China:

479 BC __NOTOC__ Year 479 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Rutilus (or, less frequently, year 275 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 479 BC for this year has ...

: death of Confucius **China:

476 BC __NOTOC__ Year 476 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rutilus and Structus (or, less frequently, year 278 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 476 BC for this year has be ...

: Warring States period **China:

486 BC __NOTOC__ Year 486 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Viscellinus and Rutilus (or, less frequently, year 268 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 486 BC for this year h ...

: Grand Canal construction begins **Near East: Second Temple Judaism, redaction of the Hebrew Bible ** Greece: beginning of the classical period ( Greece in the 5th century BC). ** Greece: Greco-Persian Wars ( Battle of Marathon,

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting o ...

) ** Greece: 440 BC: Herodotus' ''

Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...

'' ** Greece:

431 BC __NOTOC__ Year 431 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, to Romans it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cincinnatus and Mento (or, less frequently, year 323 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 431 BC for thi ...

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

**Oceania: Austronesian expansion reaches Western Polynesia *

4th century BC The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects ...

**Greece: 395 BC:

Corinthian War The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, backed by the Achaemenid Empire. The war was caused by dissatisfaction with ...

**Egypt:

343 BC __NOTOC__ Year 343 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corvus and Arvina (or, less frequently, year 411 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 343 BC for this year has been u ...

: Achaemenid conquest World in 323 BCE

**Greece/Asia/Egypt: 330s BC: conquests of Alexander the Great, end of the Achaemenid Empire, Macedonian Empire, beginning of the Hellenistic period **South Asia:

Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

3rd century BC In the Mediterranean Basin, the first few decades of this century were characterized by a balance of power between the Greek Hellenistic kingdoms in the east, and the great mercantile power of Carthage in the west. This balance was shattered ...

**China: Qin Unified China **China:

206 BC 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

: Han Dynasty **South Asia:

261 BC __NOTOC__ Year 261 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Crassus (or, less frequently, year 493 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 261 BC for this year has been ...

Kalinga war The Kalinga War (ended )Le Huu Phuoc, Buddhist Architecture, Grafikol 2009, p.30 was fought in ancient India between the Maurya Empire under Ashoka and the state of Kalinga, an independent feudal kingdom located on the east coast, in the pre ...

**Rome: Roman expansion in Italy **Rome/Carthage:

Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Roman Republic, Rome and Ancient Carthage, Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and i ...

***

264 BC __NOTOC__ Year 264 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caudex and Flaccus (or, less frequently, year 490 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 264 BC for this year has been ...

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

***

218 BC __NOTOC__ Year 218 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Longus (or, less frequently, year 536 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 218 BC for this year has been ...

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

2nd century BC The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, although depending on the region being studied, other terms may be more suitable. It is also considered to be ...

**Rome/Carthage:

149 BC __NOTOC__ Year 149 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Censorinus and Manilius (or, less frequently, year 605 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 149 BC for ...

Third Punic War, Roman province of Africa Statue-Augustus (cropped)

**Rome/Greece:

146 BC __NOTOC__ Year 146 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Achaicus (or, less frequently, year 608 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 146 BC for this year has be ...

Battle of Corinth, beginning of the Roman era **South Asia:

185 BC __NOTOC__ Year 185 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pulcher and Puditanus (or, less frequently, year 569 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 185 BC for this year has bee ...

: Fall of the

**China: Confucianism became the state ideology of China *

1st century BC The 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero; however, astronomical year numberi ...

**China: 91 BC: Records of the Grand Historian finished **Rome/Europe: 58–50 BC Gallic Wars **Rome: 32/30 BC: Final War of the Roman Republic ( Battle of Actium) **Rome/Egypt: 31 BC: Roman conquest of Egypt **Rome/Europe/West Asia/Africa: 27 BC: Roman Empire

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

*8th century BC ** Greek alphabet, the first alphabet with vowels. *7th century BC ** Trireme *6th century BC ** paved trackway **

Pythagorean theorem In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite t ...

** Monotheism *5th century BC **

Blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

China ** Atomism ** crossbow ** siege engine *4th century BC ** formal grammar ** Kyrenia ship *3rd century BC ** Lighthouse of Alexandria **Malleable Cast iron China ** buoyancy (

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists ...

) ** Spherical earth ** water clock ** Qin built and unified various sections of the Great Wall of China. ** Qin built Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army. *2nd century BC ** Antikythera mechanism

Literature

;Greco-Roman literature Archaic period * Homer (late 8th or early 7th c.), '' Iliad'', '' Odyssey'' *

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

(8th to 7th c.), '' Theogony'' and '' Works and Days'' *

Archilochus Archilochus (; grc-gre, Ἀρχίλοχος ''Arkhilokhos''; c. 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Greek lyric poet of the Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the ea ...

(7th century), Greek poet *

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

, (late 7th to early 6th c.), Greek poet * Ibycus * Alcaeus of Mytilene * Aesop's Fables Classical period * Aeschylus (c. 525–455 BC), Greek playwright * Herodotus (484–425 BC), ''

'' * Euripides (c. 480–406 BC), Greek playwright * Xenophon: '' Anabasis'', '' Cyropaedia'' * Aristotle (384–322 BC),

corpus Aristotelicum The Corpus Aristotelicum is the collection of Aristotle's works that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission. These texts, as opposed to Aristotle's works that were lost or intentionally destroyed, are technical ph ...

Hellenistic to Roman period * Septuagint * Apollonius of Rhodes: '' Argonautica'' * Callimachus (310/305-240 B.C.), lyric poet *

Manetho Manetho (; grc-koi, Μανέθων ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος) is believed to have been an Egyptian priest from Sebennytos ( cop, Ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ, translit=Čemnouti) who lived in the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the early third ...

: '' Aegyptiaca'' * Theocritus, lyric poet * Euclid: ''

Elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...

'' *

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...

: ''

Dyskolos ''Dyskolos'' ( el, , , translated as ''The Grouch'', ''The Misanthrope'', ''The Curmudgeon'', ''The Bad-tempered Man'' or ''Old Cantankerous'') is an Ancient Greek comedy by Menander, the only one of his plays, and of the whole New Comedy, th ...

'' * Theophrastus: '' Enquiry into Plants'' * Old Latin

Livius Andronicus Lucius Livius Andronicus (; el, Λούκιος Λίβιος Ανδρόνικος; c. 284 – c. 204 BC) was a Greco-Roman dramatist and epic poet of the Old Latin period during the Roman Republic. He began as an educator in the service of a n ...

Gnaeus Naevius Gnaeus Naevius (; c. 270 – c. 201 BC) was a Roman epic poet and dramatist of the Old Latin period. He had a notable literary career at Rome until his satiric comments delivered in comedy angered the Metellus family, one of whom was consul. A ...

, Plautus, Quintus Fabius Pictor, Lucius Cincius Alimentus * Classical Latin: Cicero,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

, Virgil, Lucretius, Livy, Catullus ;Chinese literature *''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

'' (date unknown, between the 10th and 4th centuries BC) * '' Classic of Poetry (Shījīng)'', '' Classic of Documents (Shūjīng)'' (authentic portions), '' Classic of Changes (I Ching)'' * '' Spring and Autumn Annals (Chūnqiū)'' (722–481 BC, chronicles of the state of Lu) * Confucius: ''

Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...

(Lúnyǔ)'' * '' Classic of Rites (Lǐjì)'' * '' Commentaries of Zuo (Zuǒzhuàn)'' *

Laozi Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state ...

(or Lao Tzu): '' Tao Te Ching'' * Zhuangzi: '' Zhuangzi (book)'' *

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...

: ''

'' ;Sanskrit literature * Vedic Sanskrit: Vedas,

Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...

s * Vedanga *

Mukhya Upanishads Principal Upanishads, also known as Mukhya Upanishads, are the most ancient and widely studied Upanishads of Hinduism. Composed between 800 BCE to the start of common era, these texts are connected to the Vedic tradition. Content The Principal U ...

*early layers of the

Sanskrit epics Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...

(c. 3rd century BC to 4th century AD) ;Hebrew * c. 8th to 7th c.: the Book of Nahum,

Book of Hosea The Book of Hosea ( hbo, , Sēfer Hōšēaʿ) is collected as one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Tanakh, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. According to the traditional order of most Heb ...

Book of Amos The Book of Amos is the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the second in the Greek Septuagint tradition. Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto ...

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

* c. 6th c.: Psalms * c. 5th century: redaction of the Torah * 3rd century:

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...

* 2nd century: Book of Wisdom ;Avestan * '' Yasht'', Avesta, Vendidad ;Other (2nd to 1st century BC) ; * Pali literature: Tipitaka *Tamil : Sangam literature *Aramaic: Book of Daniel

Overview

Ancient history

Timeline

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Literature

Archaeology

Astronomy

Centuries and decades

References