Classical antiquity is the period of Mediterranean history centered on the civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, usually dated from the 8th century BCE until the 3rd century CE or the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It begins with the early Greek city-states and the composition of the Homeric poems, and includes the Persian Wars, the rise of Athens, the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Roman Republic and the empire. The period gave the Western world its foundations in philosophy, democracy, law, science, architecture and literature. Its end is conventionally linked to the economic and political crises of the late empire, the rise of Christianity and the later migrations that transformed the Roman world.
Before and after
- from c. 814 BCE to 146 BCEAncient Carthage
- from c. 808 BCE to 167 BCEMacedonia
- from 9th century BCE to 4th century BCEAchaemenid dynasty
- 9th century BCEConstruction of Roman Forum
- from 8th century BCE to 3rd centuryClassical antiquity
- from c. 800 BCE to 800 CEHerrera Period
- c. 782 BCEOrigins of Yerevan
- from c. 782 BCE to 595 BCEConstruction of Erebuni Fortress
- from c. 776 BCE to 500 CEAncient Olympic Games
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- c. 1,200 BCEIron Age
- c. 700s BCEConstruction of Great Wall of China
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Parthenon
- from 206 BCE to 220 CEHan dynasty
- 81 CEConstruction of Colosseum
- from 476 CE to 1492Middle Ages
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.