The world in the 5th century BCE

In the 5th century BCE (500 to 401 BCE), the timeline shows 65 states, empires and colonies and 144 peoples across 12 regions. The most significant include Carthage, Roman Republic, Greek city-states, Achaemenid Empire and Athens.

Previous: 6th century BCE Next: 4th century BCE

Events

• 500 BCE Iron smelting in the Great Lakes, Central and Southern Africa. Furnaces of the Urewe culture around Lake Victoria are producing iron by about 500 BCE, among the earliest ironworking south of the Sahara.
• 500 BCE Iron smelting in West Africa, North and West Africa. Furnaces at Nok sites in Nigeria and at Taruga smelt iron by about 500 BCE, one of the earliest iron industries south of the Sahara.
• 500 BCE Dong Son bronze drums, Southeast Asia. Red River valley smiths cast large decorated bronze drums, traded as prestige goods across mainland and island Southeast Asia.
• 500 BCE Monte Albán founded, Mesoamerica and Caribbean. Zapotec communities of the Valley of Oaxaca build a new capital on a mountaintop, one of the first cities in Mesoamerica.
• 483 BCE Death of the Buddha, South Asia. Siddhartha Gautama dies at Kushinagar after decades of teaching in Magadha and Kosala. The traditional date is about 483 BCE, and many scholars now prefer about 400 BCE.
• 480 BCE Battle of Salamis, Europe. The Athenian-led Greek fleet destroys Xerxes' navy in the straits off Salamis, turning back the Persian invasion of Greece.

Central and Southern Africa

• Western Bantu-speaking farmers c. 1000 BCE to 1400 CE
• Eastern Bantu-speaking farmers c. 1000 BCE to 1300 CE
• Central African forest foragers c. 3200 BCE to the present
• San hunter-gatherers c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Khoisan hunter-gatherers c. 3200 BCE to 1100 CE
• Pastoral Neolithic herders c. 3000 BCE to 700 CE
• Bantu farmers of the Congo basin c. 500 BCE to 1500 CE
• Urewe culture c. 500 BCE to 600 CE
• East African hunter-gatherers c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Lower Congo hunter-gatherers c. 3200 BCE to 500 CE
• Great Lakes hunter-gatherers c. 3200 BCE to 500 CE
• Pre-settlement Madagascar c. 3200 BCE to 400 CE

North and West Africa

• Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE
• Nok culture c. 1500 BCE to 1 CE
• Kingdom of Kush (Napatan period) c. 785 to 300 BCE
• Amazigh (Berber) tribes c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Cushitic-speaking pastoralists c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Medjay, Blemmyes and Beja nomads c. 2300 BCE to the present
• Sahelian cereal farmers c. 1500 BCE to the present
• West African yam and oil palm farmers c. 1500 BCE to the present
• Chadic-speaking farmers c. 1000 BCE to the present
• Sao culture c. 500 BCE to 1600 CE
• Tichitt culture c. 2200 to 400 BCE
• Garamantes c. 500 BCE to 700 CE
• D'mt c. 980 to 400 BCE
• Cyrene and the Greek Pentapolis 631 to 96 BCE
• Late Period of Egypt 664 to 332 BCE
• Achaemenid Egypt 525 to 404 BCE

Europe

• Roman Republic 509 to 27 BCE
• Greek city-states c. 800 to 338 BCE
• Athens 508 to 322 BCE
• Gaelic Ireland c. 500 BCE to 1607 CE
• Nuragic civilization c. 1800 to 238 BCE
• Nordic Bronze Age c. 1700 to 500 BCE
• Iron Age Britons c. 800 BCE to 43 CE
• Gauls c. 800 to 50 BCE
• Sparta c. 900 to 192 BCE
• Etruscan civilization c. 720 to 90 BCE
• Kingdom of Macedon c. 700 to 168 BCE
• Syracuse c. 734 to 212 BCE
• Scythians c. 700 to 250 BCE
• La Tene culture c. 450 to 50 BCE
• Hallstatt culture c. 800 to 450 BCE
• Sami people c. 1000 BCE to the present
• Volga Finnic peoples c. 1800 BCE to 1100 CE
• Baltic Finnic tribes c. 1500 BCE to 1250 CE
• Basques (Vascones) c. 500 BCE to the present
• Baltic tribes c. 1000 BCE to 1290 CE
• Thracians c. 1200 BCE to 46 CE
• Talayotic culture c. 1300 to 123 BCE
• Illyrians c. 1000 BCE to 9 CE
• Italic peoples c. 1000 to 88 BCE
• Bosporan Kingdom c. 480 BCE to 370 CE
• Lusatian culture c. 1300 to 500 BCE
• Getae and Dacians c. 500 BCE to 106 CE
• Jastorf culture c. 600 to 1 BCE
• Iberians c. 600 to 19 BCE
• Phoenician colonies in Iberia c. 800 to 237 BCE
• Massalia c. 600 to 49 BCE
• Aquitani c. 600 to 56 BCE
• Celtiberians c. 600 to 72 BCE
• Odrysian Kingdom c. 480 BCE to 46 CE
• Pre-Roman Iron Age (Scandinavia) c. 500 BCE to 1 CE
• Magna Graecia c. 750 to 272 BCE
• Carthaginian Sicily and Sardinia c. 550 to 238 BCE

Middle East

• Achaemenid Empire 550 to 330 BCE
• Kingdom of Saba c. 1000 BCE to 275 CE
• Greek cities of Asia Minor c. 1050 to 129 BCE
• Phoenician city-states c. 1200 to 332 BCE
• Arab Bedouin tribes c. 900 BCE to the present
• Aramaic-speaking Mesopotamians c. 1100 BCE to 700 CE
• Kingdom of Hadramawt c. 800 BCE to 300 CE
• Kingdom of Qataban c. 800 BCE to 200 CE
• Gerrha c. 650 BCE to 300 CE
• Kingdom of Ma'in c. 800 to 100 BCE
• Tyre c. 1000 to 332 BCE
• Qedarites c. 800 to 300 BCE
• Dedan and Lihyan c. 600 to 100 BCE
• Colchis c. 600 to 101 BCE
• Orontid Armenia c. 570 to 200 BCE
• Achaemenid Anatolia 546 to 334 BCE
• Achaemenid Transeuphratia 539 to 332 BCE

South Asia

• Kuru Kingdom c. 1200 to 500 BCE
• Achaemenid eastern satrapies c. 535 to 330 BCE
• Magadha (Haryanka dynasty) c. 544 to 413 BCE
• Munda-speaking peoples c. 1500 BCE to the present
• Tibeto-Burman hill peoples c. 1000 BCE to the present
• Vedda people c. 900 BCE to the present
• Eastern Iranian peoples c. 1500 BCE to 1000 CE
• Gandhara grave culture c. 1600 to 500 BCE
• Megalithic culture of the Deccan c. 1200 to 100 BCE
• Iron Age villages of western India c. 1200 to 200 BCE
• Indo-Aryan clans of the Punjab c. 1100 to 320 BCE
• Panchala c. 1100 to 350 BCE
• Tamil Iron Age c. 1000 to 300 BCE
• Early Iron Age Sri Lanka c. 900 to 377 BCE
• Northern Black Polished Ware culture c. 700 to 200 BCE
• Avanti c. 600 to 350 BCE
• Vajji confederacy c. 700 to 468 BCE
• Kosala c. 700 to 475 BCE
• Shakya republic c. 650 to 480 BCE
• Shishunaga dynasty c. 413 to 345 BCE

Central and North Asia

• Sogdiana c. 545 BCE to 722 CE
• Saka c. 800 BCE to 100 CE
• Pazyryk culture c. 600 to 250 BCE
• Bactria (Achaemenid satrapy) c. 545 to 330 BCE
• Uralic hunter-fishers of western Siberia c. 3200 BCE to 1000 CE
• Yukaghir peoples c. 1000 BCE to the present
• Chukchi, Koryak and Itelmen peoples c. 1000 BCE to the present
• Yaz culture c. 1500 to 500 BCE
• Ancient Chorasmia c. 600 BCE to 305 CE
• Subeixi culture c. 1000 to 100 BCE
• Slab grave culture c. 1100 to 300 BCE
• Tagar culture c. 800 to 200 BCE
• Massagetae c. 600 to 100 BCE
• Donghu c. 700 to 209 BCE

East Asia

• Jomon culture c. 3200 to 300 BCE
• Chu c. 1030 to 223 BCE
• Gojoseon c. 700 to 108 BCE
• Qin (Zhou state) c. 770 to 221 BCE
• Eastern Zhou 770 to 256 BCE
• Formosan Austronesian peoples c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Qiang peoples c. 1300 BCE to the present
• Sushen and Yilou c. 1100 BCE to 400 CE
• Baiyue peoples c. 1000 BCE to 200 CE
• Mumun pottery period c. 1500 to 300 BCE
• Zhangzhung c. 500 BCE to 644 CE
• Shu kingdom (Jinsha) c. 1150 to 316 BCE
• Qi c. 1046 to 221 BCE
• Yan c. 1046 to 222 BCE
• Lu c. 1042 to 249 BCE
• Jin (Zhou state) c. 1033 to 376 BCE
• Yue c. 510 to 306 BCE
• Zhao 403 to 222 BCE
• Wei 403 to 225 BCE
• Han (Zhou state) 403 to 230 BCE
• Wu 585 to 473 BCE

Southeast Asia

• Austronesian peoples c. 2200 BCE to 900 CE
• Austroasiatic rice farmers c. 2000 BCE to 500 CE
• Ban Chiang culture c. 2000 BCE to 200 CE
• Austroasiatic rice farmers of the Mekong c. 2000 BCE to 100 CE
• Austronesian peoples of Sumatra and Malaya c. 1500 BCE to 500 CE
• Austronesian farmers of Java and Wallacea c. 1500 BCE to 400 CE
• Dong Son culture c. 1000 BCE to 100 CE
• Philippine Negrito foragers c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Orang Asli (Semang and Senoi) c. 2000 BCE to the present
• Dayak peoples of Borneo c. 1000 BCE to the present
• Neolithic and Bronze Age farmers of Burma c. 2000 to 200 BCE
• Sa Huynh culture c. 1000 BCE to 200 CE
• Plain of Jars culture c. 500 BCE to 500 CE
• Van Lang c. 700 to 258 BCE

North America

• Dorset culture c. 500 BCE to 1300 CE
• Adena culture c. 500 BCE to 100 CE
• Unangan (Aleut) peoples c. 2500 BCE to the present
• California Archaic hunter-gatherers c. 3200 BCE to 500 CE
• Shield Archaic c. 3200 to 500 BCE
• Plains Archaic hunters c. 3200 to 500 BCE
• Dene (Northern Athabaskan) peoples c. 500 BCE to the present
• Locarno Beach and Marpole cultures c. 1800 BCE to 500 CE
• Basketmaker culture c. 1500 BCE to 750 CE
• Early Agricultural period farmers c. 2100 BCE to 50 CE
• Pre-Dorset c. 2500 to 500 BCE
• Woodland period cultures c. 1000 BCE to 1000 CE
• Norton tradition c. 1000 BCE to 800 CE
• Laurel complex c. 500 BCE to 1000 CE
• Plains Woodland cultures c. 500 BCE to 900 CE

Mesoamerica and Caribbean

• Olmec civilization c. 1600 to 400 BCE
• Chibchan chiefdoms (Costa Rica and Panama) c. 500 BCE to 1570 CE
• Zapotec state (Monte Albán) c. 500 BCE to 850 CE
• Saladoid culture c. 500 BCE to 600 CE
• El Mirador c. 600 BCE to 150 CE
• La Venta phase (Olmec) c. 900 to 400 BCE
• Casimiroid culture c. 3200 to 200 BCE
• Ortoiroid culture c. 3200 to 400 BCE
• Guayabo de Turrialba c. 1000 BCE to 1400 CE
• Early farmers of the northern deserts c. 1500 BCE to 700 CE
• Greater Nicoya cultures c. 500 BCE to 1522 CE
• Kaminaljuyu c. 800 BCE to 800 CE
• Cuicuilco c. 800 BCE to 250 CE
• San José Mogote c. 1500 to 500 BCE
• Tlatilco culture c. 1200 to 400 BCE
• Izapa c. 600 BCE to 100 CE

South America

• Chavín culture c. 900 to 200 BCE
• Paracas culture c. 800 BCE to 100 CE
• Fuegian canoe peoples (Yaghan, Kawésqar) c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Sambaqui shell-mound builders c. 3200 BCE to 1000 CE
• Interior Archaic hunter-gatherers c. 3200 to 500 BCE
• Pampas and Patagonian Archaic hunters c. 3200 to 500 BCE
• Mayo-Chinchipe culture c. 3200 to 500 BCE
• Barrancoid culture c. 1000 BCE to 1000 CE
• Chiripa culture c. 1500 to 100 BCE
• Upano valley settlements c. 500 BCE to 600 CE
• Formative cultures of northwest Argentina c. 500 BCE to 600 CE
• Chorrera culture c. 1300 to 300 BCE
• Tumaco-La Tolita culture c. 600 BCE to 400 CE
• Cupisnique culture c. 1500 to 500 BCE

Oceania

• Aboriginal Australian peoples c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Lapita culture c. 1600 to 500 BCE
• Papuan farmers and foragers c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Kuk Swamp agriculture c. 3200 to 500 BCE
• Ancestral Polynesian society c. 850 BCE to 1000 CE
• Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples c. 3200 BCE to the present
• Uninhabited c. 3200 BCE to 1280 CE
• Uninhabited c. 3200 BCE to 1000 CE
• Uninhabited c. 3200 to 100 BCE
• Torres Strait Islanders c. 500 BCE to the present
• Island Melanesian societies c. 500 BCE to the present
• Pre-Latte Chamorro c. 1500 BCE to 900 CE
• Fijian chiefdoms c. 500 BCE to 1874 CE