This article is about the specific polity Athenai and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
It was one of the most important poleis of Ancient Greece. Its core territory was Attica.
Establishment
January 752 BC: Athens, already existing since the 4th Century BC, creates an oligarchical political system: the power of the king devolves to three archons (called Eponymos, Polemarch and Basileus), wich are elected every ten years and are part of the Eupatridae (the local nobility).
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states.
1.1.Ionian Revolt
Were a series of revolts of Greek city-states of Asia Minor against Achaemenid rule.
1.1.1.Persian counter-offensive agains the rebel Poleis
Were a series of military offensives by the Achaemenids to reconquere rebel territories in Asia Minor.
January 492 BC: The Gallipoli Peninsula was abandoned to the Persians in 493 BC.
1.2.First Persian invasion of Greece
Were a series of campaigns of Achaemenid ruler Darius the Great against the poleis of Greece resulting in Persian occupation of Thrace but also in the Persian defeat in Greece proper.
January 490 BC: The Persians besiege and destroy Eretria.
October 490 BC: The Persian defeat at Marathon ended for the time being the Persian invasion of Greece.
February 489 BC: The Persian fleet, led by King Darius I, approached Delos, a sacred island in the Aegean Sea. The Delians, fearing the Persian invasion, abandoned their homes and sought refuge in nearby Athenai. This event marked the beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars.
January 488 BC: The colony was established about 450 BC, during the first Athenian empire, and was retained by Athens (with brief exceptions) for the next six centuries.
1.2.1.Datis and Artaphernes' campaign
Was the military campaign of Achaemenid generals Datis and Artapherne during the First Persian Invasion of Greece.
February 489 BC: In -489, the Persian fleet, led by King Darius I, sailed to Naxos to punish the Naxians for their resistance to the failed expedition led by Mardonius a decade earlier. The territory of Naxos was then taken over by Athenai.
1.3.Second Persian invasion of Greece
Was an unsuccesful military campaign waged by Achaemenid King Xerxes I that sought to conquer all of Greece.
October 480 BC: The Persian victory at Thermopylae (480 BC) meant that all Boeotia fell to Xerxes.
October 480 BC: Athens, with the whole of Attica, fell to the Achaemenid Empire in September 480 BC.
January 479 BC: With the Allies now dug in across the isthmus, there was therefore little chance of the Persians conquering the rest of Greece by land. In summary, if Xerxes could destroy the Allied navy, he would be in a strong position to force a Greek surrender; this seemed the only hope of concluding the campaign in that season. Conversely by avoiding destruction, or as Themistocles hoped, by destroying the Persian fleet, the Greeks could avoid conquest. Partly as a result of subterfuge on the part of Themistocles, the navies finally engaged in the cramped Straits of Salamis. The Greek fleet attacked, and scored a decisive victory. All of the Persian forces abandoned Attica, with Mardonius over-wintering in Boeotia and Thessaly. Some Athenians were thus able to return to their burnt-out city for the winter.
April 479 BC: After the failed Greek uprising against the Persian rule, the Athenians, led by Themistocles, abandoned their city once more in -479. The Persians, under the command of Xerxes I, then regained control of Athens and Attica.
July 479 BC: Mardonius, a Persian general, retreated to Boeotia near Plataea in -479, attempting to lure the Allied army led by the Athenian general Pausanias into open terrain to leverage his cavalry advantage.
September 479 BC: The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle between the Achaemenid Empire and the Greek Poleis during the second Persian invasion of Greece. The Persian infantry proved no match for the heavily armoured Greek hoplites, and the Spartans broke through to General Mardonius's bodyguard and killed him. The Persian force thus dissolved and 40,000 troops managed to escape to Thessaly. The Persians also left territories occupied in Athenai.
1.4.Greek reconquests after the Second Persian Invasion of Greece
The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale during the Second Persian Invasion of Greece encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and the Persians lost all of their territories in Europe.
August 479 BC: After the Battle of Mycale in -479, the islands of Samos, Chios, and Lesbos joined the Delian League, an alliance led by Athenian statesman and general, Themistocles. The league was formed to defend against the Persian Empire and promote Athenian interests in the Aegean region.
August 479 BC: The immediate result of the victory at Mycale was a second revolt amongst the Greek cities of Asia Minor. The Samians and Milesians had actively fought against the Persians at Mycale, thus openly declaring their rebellion.
October 479 BC: The Persian governor, Artayctes, had not prepared for a siege, not believing that the Allies would attack. The Athenians therefore were able to lay a siege around Sestos. The Persians fled at night from the least guarded area of the city. The Athenians were thus able to take possession of the city.
January 477 BC: The Persians were defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC.
January 477 BC: The Greek fleet then sailed to Byzantium, which they besieged and captured.
1.5.Wars of the Delian League
Were a series of campaigns fought between the Delian League of Athens and her allies (and later subjects), and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.
January 477 BC: After the capture of Byzantium, the Spartans elected not to continue the war effort, and a new alliance, commonly known as the Delian League, was formed, with Athens very much the dominant power.
January 477 BC: Athenai was conquered by the Spartan Pausanias in 478 BC.
January 477 BC: Athenai became part of the Delian League, founded in 478 BC.
Was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world.
2.1.Second Phase - Deceleian War
Was the second phase of the Peloponnesian War, where Sparta allied with Persia against Athens, which capitulated and lost its empire.
January 403 BC: In the 5th century BC, Athenai was a member of the Attic-Delic Sea League, led by the powerful Athenian Empire. This league was formed to protect against Persian invasions and maintain Athenian dominance in the region.
January 403 BC: Toward the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians were weakened enough that the Persians were able to retake several territories.
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.
January 394 BC: Sparta conquered the islands of Scyros, Imbros, and Lemnos
January 392 BC: Athens took advantage of its possession of new walls (built with the help of the Persians) and a fleet to seize the islands of Scyros, Imbros, and Lemnos.
March 392 BC: Kythera was occupied by Athens from 393 to 387/386, during the Corinthian War.
January 389 BC: Pydna was conquered by the Athenians.
January 388 BC: In 389 BC, the Athenians attacked the island of Aegina, off the coast of Attica.
January 387 BC: The Locrians appealed to Thebes for assistance, and the Thebans invaded Phocian territory.
3.1.The King's Peace / Peace of Antalcidas
Was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece.
January 385 BC: The territory of Corinth was occupied by Athens from 393 to 387/386 during the Corinthian War. In -386, the territory was taken over by Sparta, marking a significant shift in power dynamics in ancient Greece.
Creation of the Second Athenian League (a league of ancient Greece).
January 377 BC: In 378 BC, Athens founded the Second Athenian League, a maritime confederation of Aegean city-states headed by Athens.
Was a war between the Second Athenian League and the allied city-states of Chios, Rhodes, Cos and Byzantion.
January 354 BC: The Second Athenian League ceased to exist in 355 BC following the Social War.
The Eretrians rebelled again in 349 BC becoming independent from Athens.
January 348 BC: The Eretrians rebelled against Athens in 349 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Posideion (Euboia) in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Eretria in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Dion (Euboia) in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Grynchai in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Histiaia/Oreos in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Orobiai in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Athenai Diades in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Styra in 341 BC.
January 340 BC: The Athenians under Demosthenes recaptured Chalkis (Euboia) in 341 BC.
Expansion of Macedonia under King Philip II.
January 339 BC: In 340 BC the Macedonians took over the island of Skyros.
January 337 BC: It was eventually ceded to Philip in 338 BC.
7.1.Third Sacred War
Was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians.
7.1.1.Peace of Philocrates
The Peace of Philocrates aknowledged the territorial conquests of Macedonia in Phocis and Thrace.
January 345 BC: On July 19, Philip II of Macedon made a truce with Phalaikos, the ruler of Phocis. As part of the agreement, Phalaikos surrendered the region to Macedonia.
7.2.Philip II's campaign in Greece (Fourth Sacred War)
Was the military campaign of Macedonia king Philip II in Greece during the Fourth Sacred War.
August 338 BC: Euboea ceased to be part of the Athenian sphere of influence after the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC).
August 338 BC: The ccupation of the Rhineland imposed by the Treaty if Versailles began in January 1919. French, British, Belgian and initially also American troops were involved.
August 338 BC: Athenai was subjugated by Philip II.
August 338 BC: The Island of Limnos is conquered by Macedonia.
Were a series of conflicts that were fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule his empire following his death.
8.1.Third War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian Generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander fight against Antigonus.
September 312 BC: Ptolemaic march in Chalkis, Oropos, Attica, Boeotia and Locris.
October 312 BC: Ptolemy (the nephew of general of Antigonus I Monophthalmus) marches through Chalkis and Oropos, as well as Attica, Boeotia and Locris freeing these regions from the occupation of the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
8.2.Consolidation of the borders after the Third War of the Diadochi
Were a series of events and military operations after the Third war of the Diadochi that led to the consolidation of the borders between the successor states of the Macedonian Empire.
January 296 BC: Zipoites establishes the Kingdom of Bithynia.
8.3.Fourth War of the Diadochi
Was a war between Macedonian generals that saw Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander fight against Antigonus and Demetrios.
April 304 BC: Military offensive of Cassander in Aetolia and in Athens.
September 304 BC: Demetrios (Antigonid Dynasty) liberates Chalkidiki, Boeotia, and Aetolia.
Was fought by King Philip V of Macedon, the Aetolian League, many Cretan cities (of which Olous and Hierapytna were the most important) and Spartan pirates against the forces of Rhodes and later Attalus I of Pergamum, Byzantium, Cyzicus, Athens, and Knossos.
January 200 BC: Philip Macedon seized the cities of Iasos, Bargylia, Euromus and Pedasa in quick succession.
January 699 BC: Athens succeeded in bringing the other towns of Attica under its rule. This process of synoikismos - the bringing together into one home - created the largest and wealthiest state on the Greek mainland.
January 599 BC: Eleusis was an independent city-state until the 7th century BC, when it entered the Attic state by allying itself with Athens.
January 599 BC: Salamis became an Athenian possession in the time of Solon or Peisistratos, following the war between Athens and Megara around 600 BC.
January 559 BC: Statesman Miltiades the Elder established Athenian control over the entire peninsula of Thracian Chersonesos (Gallipoli Peninsula).
January 509 BC: In 510 BC, Lemnos was reconquered by Miltiades the Younger, who was the tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese. After this, Lemnos became an Athenian possession until it was absorbed by the Macedonian empire.
January 505 BC: Athens invaded Chalcis in 506 BC and settled 4,000 Attic Greeks on their lands.
January 499 BC: It later passed under Athenian control, and was a member of the Delian League.
January 499 BC: At the end of the VIIth century BC, Athens conquered the island of Euboea.
January 402 BC: The peninsula subsequently reverted to the Athenians.
January 399 BC: Thasos conquered back by Athens.
Disestablishment
January 145 BC: The Greek peninsula fell to the Roman Republic after the Battle of Corinth (146 BC), when Macedonia became a Roman province.
Selected Sources
Fine, J.V.A. (1983): The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History, Harvard University Press, pp. 311-312
Hansen, M. G. / Nielsen, T. H. (2004): An inventory of archaic and classic polities, Oxford University Press, p. 1356-1359, p. 111-113
Herodotus, The Histories, IX.66
Spence, I. (2002): Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, Scarecrow Press, p. XXII
Spence, I. (2002): Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, Scarecrow Press, p. XXIII
Spence, I. (2002): Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, Scarecrow Press, p. XXXI
Spence, I. (2002): Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, Scarecrow Press, pp. XXII-XXIII
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, pp.11-14
Xenophon: Hellenica 3.5.3-5
Athenai
