istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Citium, in Cyprus, is the first of many Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean
The traditional date for the first athletic contest at Olympia
This year is later selected by Roman scholars as the date of the founding of Rome, becoming the first year (AUC 1) in Roman chronology
Ionia emerges as a political entity, forming a league of twelve Greek cities in Asia Minor
The Etruscans establish Italy's first civilization, in the region between the Arno and the Tiber
The Homeric texts, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are written down - probably in Ionia
The inhabitants of Sparta organize their society on military lines and consider themselves the descendants of the Dorians
Wrestling is included in the Olympic games, followed by a terrifying form of all-in wrestling from 652 BC
The Greeks make the Phoenician alphabet much more flexible by the addition of vowels, from alpha to omega
The island of Sicily is colonized from the eastern Mediterranean by both Phoenicians and Greeks
Boxing is included in the Olympic games, with each bout going on until one fighter gives up
Byzantium (the future Constantinople) is founded as a colony of Megara, a Greek city-state
The Greek city states make a habit of consulting the oracle at Delphi, hoping mainly for reassurance
The capitals of Greek pillars are by now in the two basic patterns of Doric and Ionic
The Areopagus, named from the hill on Athens where it meets, is the council through which the nobles keep power in their own hands
Hereditary aristocrats hold nearly all political power and own most of the land in Attica
Frenzied dances, in honour of the god Dionysus, become part of Greek theatre - deriving probably from the northeast, in Thrace
The free smallholding peasants of Attica fall increasingly into debt, compelled to pay a sixth of all their produce to a creditor
Solon is elected archon in Athens, immediately cancelling the debts of the peasants of Attica and making it illegal to enslave a debtor
Solon makes every Athenian citizen a member of the ecclesia, responsible for the election of archons, thus laying the first cornerstone of Athenian democracy
Thales of Miletus, traditionally the first philosopher, is credited with the prediction of a solar eclipse
Peisistratos seizes power in Athens and rules as a benevolent dictator for more than thirty years
The painters of Greek vases develop the black-figure style, with the scene depicted in black silhouette against a red ground
