A constant complaint about these web-pages is that they provide insufficient historical background material. People want some idea of what's going on. This is an initial attempt, be it ever so humble, to address this...

12 billion years ago. The Big Bang. The universe as we know it comes into existence. The entire universe seems to be less than 3 times as old as the earth.

4.5 billion years ago. The Big Whack. The early earth is struck by a small planet, probably one quarter the size of Earth. Collision ejecta forms the Moon. The earth and moon form a "double planet". This collision may have enabled life-as-we-know-it, due to the resulting plate tectonics, mountain chains, oceans, and a self-regulating planetary eco-system. Earth is the only planet in the solar system with mountain chains...

3.8 billion years ago. Single-cell life (bacteria) forms almost "as-soon-as-possible", details unclear... Life at bacteria level may be widespread throughout the universe, forming and living in very harsh places.

550 million years ago. The Cambrian Explosion. All the known animal types (phyla) suddenly appear in less than 100 million years. Since life existed for about 3.5 billion years without animals evolving, perhaps complex animal life does not inevitably arise from "microbial" life. Apollo lunar samples indicate that a series of asteroids or comets likely hit Earth at an unusually high rate at this time. Also at this time, global warning due to volcanos may have finally ended a "Snowball Earth" - a condition where the entire globe is covered in deep ice. [1]

380-350 million years ago. Life moves onto land.

320-200 million years ago. Sex evolves.

253 million years ago. The Permian extinction. An asteroid or comet 4 to 8 miles across kills 95% of all the species on earth and triggers massive volcanic activity. This event kills the trilobytes and enables dinosaurs to take over the earth. [1]

65 million years ago. Dinosaurs are killed by an impact event near the Yucatan. Mammals come into their own. The comet/asteroid was likely around 5 kilometers in diameter.

17 million years ago. An impact event (likely in Argentina) causes a great die-off and starts a long cycle of Ice Ages which only ends recently.... The comet/asteroid was likely around 1 kilometer in diameter.

6-7 million years ago. As water becomes locked in the polar caps, mean sea level falls. The Mediterranean becomes a desert. The Black sea becomes a fresh water lake, considerably smaller than its present size.

5 million years ago. The Atlantic floods the Mediterranean via the Straits of Gibraltar.

5 million years ago. The Rift Valley forms in Africa, altering African weather patterns. West of the Rift remains jungle, while east of the Rift becomes open savannah. It is likely that human ancestors were trapped on the east side of the Rift, while chimpanzees (our closest related species) were trapped on the west. Those on the east had to adapt to new open range conditions (fewer trees), which likely encouraged walking upright, running, loss of hair, etc..

3 - 2 million years ago. Human evolution is sent into overdrive by planetary cooling. Humans likely increasingly adopted hunting to cope. [1]

2.5 million years ago. First evidence of tools used by human ancestors (Homo Erectus) at roughly this time.

1.5 million years ago. First evidence of stone axes used by Homo Erectus.

400,000 to 350,000 years ago. First paints (apparently body paints). [1]

200,000 to 150,000 years ago. Best current guess as to time anatomically modern humans (Homo Sapiens) arise.

135,000 years ago. Best current estimate for the domestication of dogs (based on genetic divergence, and independent of the following estimate for the evolution of human language). This suggests that modern humans and dogs may have evolved together from the start. Genetic evidence apparently indicates dogs were domesticated independently in 4 places around the same time.

132,000 years ago. Best current guess (based primarily on language evolution rates) as to when human language (speech) first occurred. This was likely tied to evolution of brain and speech mechanisms, providing the basis for consciousness and, in effect, forming modern humans (Homo Sapiens).

140,000 to 40,000 years ago. Earliest known human habitations.

100,000 years ago. Humans first move out of Africa.

70,000 years ago. One current theory holds that there were as few as 15,000 people alive at this time due to the severe Ice Age that resulted from the eruption of Mount Toba, Sumatra, which caused the coldest millennia on record. Apparently geneticists now are becoming confident that humans almost went extinct around this time.

70,000 years ago. Humans first enter Greece.

50,000 years ago. Humans first enter Australia.

50,000 years ago. A 20 Megaton-equivalent impact forms Meteor crater in Arizona. The meteor was around 150 feet in diameter.

45,000 years ago. First modern "Europeans". It appears that all caucasians are descended from only 7 women and 10 men (who probably didn't live at the same time) [1] [2]

35,000 years ago. First paintings (cave art). [1]

40,000 to 25,000 years ago. Development of boats and precursors to agriculture arise in the vicinity, if not the basin, of the Black Sea.

40,000 years ago. This is often given as the date of the cognitive explosion. Based on art, artifacts, and burial goods, these people mentally and perhaps in terms of cultural potentiality seem equivalent in capacity to a modern person.

28,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Neanderthals disappear from the record; the last are apparently in the Balkans and Spain.

27,000 years ago. Earliest known textiles (weaving) used in cloth clothing (found in central europe). [1]

20,000 years ago. The last Glacial Maximum (Ice Age peak). The coasts were around 800 miles farther out "to sea"; Britain was connected to Europe (much of the channel and southern North Sea was dry); Siberia and North America were linked by a dry land bridge.

20,000 years ago. The likely first migration of peoples into North America. South American sites indicate that, unlike people in latter waves (which displaced them), these first settlers were likely similar to the original black population of Australia and New Guinea.

14,500 years ago and 11,400 years ago. Warming trends causes two "melting spurts".

13,000 years ago. Sustained agriculture is invented in what is now Syria in response to severe drought.

12,000 years ago. Permanent villages practicing agriculture using domesticated plants are common.

11,500 years ago. Likely time of the immigration of "eskimo-related" peoples that became the native population of the western hemisphere.

10,500 years ago. Oldest known glazed pottery (found in Japan).

9,000 years ago. Sheep and goats are domesticated.

7,600 years ago. Cattle and pigs are domesticated.

6,000 years ago. The teeth of the Dereivka Cult Stallion (a stallion in a grave) show clear evidence of use of a bit. It does not appear that horses were widely domesticated at this time.

6200 B.C.. Start of a mini-Ice Age. Sea-level falls.

5600 B.C.. The Black Sea floods (The Flood) as the Ice Ages come to an end and the Bosphoros drops below the rising sea level. The Black Sea grows around a quarter of a mile a day for 1 to 2 years. The Black Sea basin, which was ``prime'' agricultural land, is heavily inhabited, and the people radiate outward in the greatest ecological catastrophe in recorded human history. Gilgamesh, the oldest known written story, records these events. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

4000 B.C.. The horse becomes widely domesticated (very late, compared to other domesticated animals). The horse apparently was applied immediately to warfare. The horse had immense geopolitical impact on world history. Military use of the horse likely lead to the spread of what are now called the Indo-European languages (and people) from Ireland to India. The original language, referred to as PIE (Proto Indo-European), probably developed between 5000-3000 BC in the "horse-country" north of the Black Sea, where the horse was domesticated. Lithuanian is probably the closest modern language to PIE.

3200 B.C.. The first known use of numerals, found on Sumerian tablets. Apparently, they are tax records...

3200 B.C. First known use of the wheel. Rather than riding horses, carts were used to haul upper class spear-men or archers. Horsecollars allowing horses to apply real power were not in use. [1]

3000-2700 B.C.. Gilgamesh is written down. This is the first known written story, and contains a description of the Black Sea flood (The Flood). The author of one of the versions signed his tablets, so Shin-eqi-unninni is the earliest known human author. "That city was ancient, (as were) the gods within it, when their heart led the great gods to produce the flood... Wall, reflect! Man ... Tear down (this) house, build a ship! Give up possessions, seek thou life. Despise property and keep the soul alive. Aboard the ship take thou the seed of all living things. The ship that thou shalt build, Her dimensions shall be to measure. Equal shall be her width and her length. ... I understood, and I said to Ea, my lord: 'Behold, my lord, what thou hast thus ordered, I shall be honoured to carry out... The little ones carried bitumen, While the grown ones brought all else that was needful. On the fifth day I laid her framework. One (whole) acre was her floor space..." [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

3000 B.C.. Egypt unified around this time, the start of the Archaic Period.

2660 B.C.. First Egyptian pyramid. [1]

2560 B.C.. The Great Pyramid of Cheops is built.

2500 B.C.. Start of the Egyptian Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3-6).

2330-2180 B.C.. Sixth Egyptian dynasty.

2200-1300 B.C.. Stonehenge is built. Computer simulation reveals it to be designed to predict lunar eclipses.

2000 B.C.. The fast, 2-wheeled light battle chariot (with spoked wheels) is developed and dominates battle on flat, level ground. Typically it would be manned by one driver and one archer.

2000 B.C.. Start of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (Dynasties 11-13).

2000 B.C.. The first alphabet is apparently developed around this time in central Egypt. Phonetics-based alphabets make literacy much easier than systems based on ideograms (picture-writing).

1972 B.C.. First Hammurabi on throne of Babylon.

1750 B.C.. Hammurabi's Eye-for-an-eye laws are codified.

1600 B.C. - 100 A.D.. The Iron Age.

1595 B.C.. Hittites (who speak a derivative of PIE) capture Babylon, using that new-fangled iron-sword technology.

1500 B.C.. Start of the Egyptian New Kingdom (Dynasties 18-20). Nefertiti was queen during the 18th dynasty.

1470 B.C. The Santorini Volcano eruption destroys the island of Thera in the Aegean, probably destroying the Minoan civilization on Crete. The tsunami was 300 feet high. This likely is the basis of the Atlantis legend.

1353 B.C. - 1336 B.C.. Reign of Akhenaten, possibly the first monotheistic ruler. Nefertiti was Akhenaten's wife. Up to this time, the Egyptians worshiped a pantheon of gods, with Amen the chief god (similar to Odin). For reasons unknown, Akhenaten moved his capital and made the only significant god Ra, the Sun god. Akhenaten's son Tutankhaten restored Amen (he is the "King Tut", whose tomb, discovered in the 1920s, rekindled much interest in Egyptology). [1] [2] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

1300 B.C. Egyptians enshrine "tons" of fossils at Qau.

1250 B.C.. Date given for the Greek attack on Troy, led by Agamemnon, as told in The Iliad. The Greeks had arrived very late on the shores of the Mediterranean and were considered primitives by the older and more sophisticated civilizations in the area.

900 B.C. First recorded use of cavalry (soldiers on horse-back, not in chariots).

800 B.C. The Iliad, attributed to the blind poet Homer, is written down. This is the oldest work of Western literature; it was a prior oral tradition. Modern astronomical computer simulations indicate that the Iliad was primarily an extensive mnemonic device for recording astronomical data - detailed star relationships and star motion (star rise/set). It is also the greatest literary glorification of war ever recorded. It reflects an individual warrior ethic of a tribal people. `...As when the stars shine clear, and the moon is bright - there is not a breath of air, nor a peak, nor glade nor jutting headland but it stands out in the radiance that breaks from the serene of heaven; the stars can all of them be told...   Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus's son Achilleus and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Greeks, hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hell strong souls of heros, but gave their bodies to the delicate feasting of dogs and birds... '

800 B.C.. Celts (originally a central European people) begin to immigrate into the British isles.

800 B.C. Traditional date for the founding of Carthage in North Africa by Queen Dido (legend declares she was fleeing Tyre (in Lebanon) and her evil brother King Pygmalion). Mathematicians are fond of the story that, when told she could have as much land in Carthage as she could surround with a cow-hide, she formed a very thin rope from the hide and made a large circle.

700 B.C. Scythian gold and art burst upon the Greeks. The Scythians were a nomadic "horse-people" who ranged from the Ukraine to western China (the Gobi desert); their culture lasted from around 800 B.C. to 300 A.D. The Scythians, who spoke a language related to Iranian, supplied much of the gold in the early Mediterrannean world. They traveled in large groups to the Gobi, where large sandstorms would often reveal gold deposits. Also revealed were the large fields of dinosaur fossils in the Gobi, and the Scythian's more-or-less accurate identification of fossilized Protoceratops as giant 4-legged "birds" became the basis of the widespread acceptance of griffins in the ancient world. The Scythians and Greeks considered griffons ordinary animals, not mythic or supernatural creatures. The Scythians used griffins as a tatoo motif, and their gold jewelry is as good as any modern artwork. Many Montague shields have included golden griffons (as does this site). Early farmers, miners, and irrigators often found fossils, which were variously attributed to giants, dragons, and sea monsters. Chinese farmers were always finding "dragon bones". Widespread bivalve fossils in limestone probably contributed to the common assumption of the universal flood. Scythian tales of fossil bones and nests in conjunction with gold deposits probably contributed to the idea of dragons and such guarding treasure hoards. It is likely that the Scythians established the "silk-road", reaching from the Black Sea to China. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

776 B.C.. First Olympics games.

753 B.C.. Traditional date for the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. Rome is strategically located on the Tiber river, close enough to reach the sea, but far enough inland to be supplied (and cleaned) by a large flow of fresh water. [1] [2]

725 B.C.. The Messenian war. Sparta conquers Messenia. This wouldn't be of interest, except in 640 BC Messenia revolted and almost destroyed Sparta. Sparta found itself trying to rule a deeply hostile population ten times its size. The Spartan solution was to make their entire society a full-time standing-army, with every citizen trained from birth to serve. Conquered people become helots, or slaves. Later, Sparta made alliances with cities that accepted Spartan leadership. Sparta was strategically located in the center of the peninsula that forms the bottom of Greece. By 631 BC, Sparta was the strongest Greek city-state. The Spartan's had probably the world's first real literate, professional army. Instructions to generals in the field were encoded by wrapping message strips around sticks of secret width (corresponding letters would line up). Amazingly, the Spartan army probably never had more than 5,000 men. Perhaps because "all hands were needed", Spartan society treated female citizens with great equality. Conversely, children of either sex who were considered weak were killed. Spartan government easily holds the record for historical longevity; the same constitution (which it was illegal to write down) operated for half a millennia. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

675 B.C. The Greek Aristeas goes along with a Scythian treak to the Altai (Golden) mountains in Siberia on the western side of the Gobi desert. [1] [2] [3] [4]

600 B.C.. Routine minting of coins in China.

600 B.C.. Start of the Egyptian Late Period (Dynasties 26-31).

600 B.C. Around this time the Old Testament is written, with a purpose perhaps typical of religious works motivating tribal survival in a world of constant tribal warfare: "Your God is a man of war...(Exod 15:3) ... When you advance on a city to attack it, make an offer of peace. If the city accepts the offer and opens its gates to you, then all the people in it shall be put to forced labour and shall serve you. If it does not make peace with you but offers battle, you shall besiege it, when your God gives it unto your hand you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and little ones, the cattle, everything else in the city... you shall take as booty for yourselves, and you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all of the cities which are far from you... you shall utterly destroy them... as the Lord your God has commanded. (Deut 20:10)."

600 B.C. The Greeks, poor in wealth and number, adopt the Phalanx around this time. Previously, even in the huge armies of early empires, soldiers usually fought individually, and the phalanx (or other packs of men with spears) was considered primitive. The phalanx was a "crew-served" weapon; like a tank, when used correctly it could defeat much larger armies. Members of a phalanx, called Hoplites, wore perhaps the heaviest armor ever used by infantry, over 70 pounds of half-inch bronze armor, besides huge multi-strapped shields. They formed a locked, packed rectangle 8 to 16 men deep, with the men behind the front line pushing the front lines, bracing their shields on their shoulders, and using their spears to form a thick "anti-arrow" canopy or push on shields. Although hoplites carried a small iron sword, the principle weapon was an 8 foot pole with a spear on one end and a spike on the other (the spike could be brought down on enemy soldiers in front). Think of the hoplites as lashed together forming a raft or embedded in a matrix. Actual fighting was done by the first 3 or 4 rows; the other rows pushed. An enemy soldier in front of the phalanx could be reached by 10 spears, and the phalanx typically charged at a fast trot (its only maneuver). The phalanx was unstoppable on the battlefield except by another phalanx. The phalanx trapped the men in the front line into actually fighting to the death. Once battle was joined, a phalanx could not be maneuvered, and it realistically only worked on flat farmland. No real command structure existed, or was needed. Because men try to pull under the shield of the man to their right, a charging phalanx always drifted right and hit first with its right-most men. The bravest (or most foolhardy) were thus placed to the right, while the more cautious (or outright cowardly) had a tendency to the left (military use of right-wing and left-wing is far older than the political appellation). The commander of a phalanx took the rightmost position and tried to steer the charge (he was often killed). The Greeks lacked tactical subtlety, on spotting an enemy phalanx, the other would form up, charge, and "ram", with the battle often ending in minutes. The first to loose cohesion and break up lost. The constant battles between neighboring cities may have resembled duels more than battles, and may have been less dangerous than a modern American football game. The hoplites claimed they fought to protect their fields and citizenship. Fighting in the phalanx was an obligation of land-owning and gave hoplites the right to participate in government; some say the whole system maintained the power of the hoplites; but since the phalanx required and enforced cooperation and deemphasized "the hero", it may have enabled the rise of representative government. Conversely, the Spartans, amongst its foremost practitioners, had perhaps the most extreme military-aristocracy every to wield the power of government. The disciplined Spartans were able to shift a phalanx laterally hard-right immediately before contact, and then rotate counter-clockwise into the weak left wing of the enemy phalanx, destroying the enemy from the side. [1] [2] [3]

558-529 B.C.. Cyrus the Great creates a Persian Empire that reaches from Egypt to northern Afghanistan. Apparently, this empire was created using cavalry that fought on horse-back (not chariot); Xenophon noted that the Persians had not had horse-soldiers before Cyrus, and that the new horse soldiers were very effective: "... no man dared face them."

556 B.C. The Jews are expelled from Palestine (the Diaspora).

508 B.C. Popular democracy adopted in Athens. Previous to 506 B.C., Athens was a client of Persia, thus protecting itself from Sparta.

500 B.C. Greeks start to mint coins. [1]

490 B.C.. Greek victory over Persians at Battle of Marathon. `Stranger, go tell the Spartans that here we lie, faithful to their laws.'

480 B.C. Greek naval victory over Persians at Battle of Salamis halts expansion of the Persian Empire in the direction of Europe (and East and West go their own ways). The Persians launch the largest amphibious operation ever up to this time, against what they perceive to be a weak, divided enemy with no grasp of strategy and only a single tactic. Between 300 and 400 Greek galleys fight 700 to 1,400 Persian vessels. The Greeks, who have paid little attention to naval power, become fascinated with naval strategy. The 50 years that follow become known as the Greek Golden Age. "It were indeed a monstrous thing if, after conquering and enslaving ... mighty nations... we should then allow the Greeks ... to escape our revenge.... We know the manner of their battle - we know how weak their power is... these very Greeks are wont to wage war against one another in the most foolish way... even the conquerors depart with great loss."

478 B.C. Democratic Athens forms the Delian League, which becomes an Athenian empire serving Athen's commercial interests. In the early 480s the Laurium silver mines, owned by the city of Athens, struck it rich, financing building a navy of 200 triremes of a new type.

460-444 B.C. The First Peloponnesian war, a reaction by Sparta, who leads the Peloponnesian League, to the growing power of Athens. A draw.

430-404 B.C.. Peloponnesian war. An epic struggle. Athens, the rapacious democratic naval commercial empire, fights Sparta, the despotic infantry-power military theocracy. The seapower vs. landpower war is a standoff until Sparta finally obtains Persian financial assistance in building a navy, and wins. The phalanx is surprisingly rarely used, perhaps because both sides understand them well and are not willing to let battles depend on the chance results of one charge. Thucydides, a minor general defeated honorably in one of the minor campaigns (like most defeated generals he was exiled), writes History of the Peloponnesian War, and is thus considered the father of detailed, objective history. His book is surprisingly similar to a modern textbook (a modern printing is over 550 pages!). He reaches the conclusion that victory in epic struggles between two large alliances, such as in the Peloponnesian war, goes to the side that can raise the most capital over the long term. "Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war... not as an essay which is to win applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time... And it may well be that my history will seem less easy to read because of the absence in it of a romantic element. It will be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are judged useful by these who want to understand clearly the events which happened, and which, (human nature being what it is) will at some time or other and in much the same way, be repeated in the future... I lived through the whole of it, being of an age to understand what was happening, and I put my mind to the subject so as to get an accurate view of it." [1]

429 B.C.. The Great Plague in Athens.

425 B.C.. Herodotus writes The Histories, the oldest surviving work of Greek prose and the first "Western" history. Herodotus became known as the "father of history". He tried to be objective, although was inclined to fancy. He had traveled extensively with the Scythians. One of his most important topics was the rise of the Persian empire at the expense of Greek cities in what is now Turkey. "These are the researches of Herodotus... which he publishes in the hope of preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory..." [1] [2] [3]

415-413 B.C.. The Sicilian Expedition opens another theater of the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians, with the war in their favor, gamble on achieving total victory by destroying Sparta's grain supply, which comes from its colony of Syracuse in Sicily. Over 30,000 men (with 10,000 hoplites) and 207 triremes are sent to Sicily, where they are all completely lost. Athens never really recovers.

405 B.C. Lysander victorious at the Battle of Aegospotami. It is the Spartans, with their Persian-financed navy, that finally cuts off the Athenian's grain supply (which comes from the Crimea, that is, the northern coast of the Black Sea). The Athenian fleet is actually caught drawn up on land in a narrow harbor where there is no room to maneuver. The Spartans win the Peloponnesian War.

401 B.C.. The March of The Ten Thousand after the Battle of Cunaxa, under the command of Xenophon, a student of Socrates exiled from Athens. This is one of the most famous military retreats in history. Ten thousand Greek mercenaries hired by a Persian prince to capture the Persian throne had the battle won when their employer rushed to the forefront and was killed by a random arrow. The mercenary army fought its way out of a hostile Persia. Xenophon later wrote a number of important histories, providing the Greeks with an insight into the Persian world. [1] [2] [3] [4]

399 B.C.. Trial and death of Socrates.

396 B.C.. Rome conquers Veii and doubles its territory. Veii, one of the last Etruscan strongholds, was located only 12 miles north of Rome on the Tiber river. The Romans did not incorporate Veii, they destroyed it. Rome was on its way... [1] [2]

390 B.C.. Rome is sacked by the Gauls. This had no direct lasting physical effect, but caused Rome to adopt a more militaristic long-term outlook.

390's B.C. Around this time, Xenophon, the mercenary general, writes what is considered a "minor work" among his other writings, but might be the most influential book ever written in the West: Treatise on Horsemanship. An estimated 40,000 books have been written on horsemanship. Philip of Macedon follows Xenophon's advice and buys 20,000 Scythian mares, which become the ancestors of the horses in the Greek, Roman, and Arab world. Scythia is the land on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Philip adopts the phalanx, lightens the soldier's armor, adopts 14-foot pikes, and forms the phalanx into larger battalions of 1500 men. [1]

387 B.C.. Plato founds his school, the Academy, in Athens. Plato defines the communist utopian ideal in The Republic. Private property is to be eliminated: "And is not that the best-ordered State in which the greatest number of persons apply the terms "mine" and "not mine" in the same way to the same thing?"; and "are not money and virtue like the two scales of a balance: as one goes up the other goes down?". [1]

338 B.C. Philip of Macedon conquers the Greeks at Battle of Chaeronea. His son Alexander, mounted on his famous horse Bucephalus, "earns his spurs"...

335 B.C.. Aristotle founds his school in Athens, the Lyceum, as a rival school to the Academy. Aristotle's Politics directly challenges Plato's communistic vision: "property ... is no part of a state." This intellectual battle is to rage for the better part of the next 2,500 years in Western civilization, until it is, in effect, put to direct test.

334 B.C.. The son of Philip of Macedon, Alexander (the Great), begins his campaign to conquer the world, and thus end the Persian threat. Alexander was taught by Aristotle, and the Iliad was Alexander's constant inspiration - he kept a copy under his pillow. He conquered what is now the area from Greece to the Himalayas (Turkey, Egypt, "the Levant", Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Punjab). His army had around 40,000 men, of which around 5,000 were cavalry. This army integrated the large Macedonian phalanx, Scythian cavalry (around 1,800 formed the crack Companions), light infantry (3,000 crack troops), and a "corps" of Cretan archers. The cavalry did not use stirrups and fought by throwing small javelins and using curved scimitars designed for slicing the enemy without imparting great force on the rider. Double-ended lances with "break-off" heads were also used; these were guided to impact, after one use they were flipped and the other end used. Alexander used the superior scouting and harrying ability of his cavalry to choose the battleground. He commanded the phalanx on the right-wing with the light infantry to his right and the cavalry to their right; his ideal battle tied up the enemy line with a phalanx charge, used a cavalry charge in "flying wedge" to open a critical hole at a weak spot, perhaps near the enemy commanders, and then used the light infantry to guide phalanxes into the hole to penetrate and then destroy the enemy line. Often the combined phalanxes could attack at a hard "right slant" and roll sideways up the enemy line. After the enemy panicked and broke, the real killing occurred, with the Companions riding down and killing the enemy infantry from behind. The West was never to forget Alexander's conquest, or the example of what a small but technically superior army could achieve. In Alexander's entire conquest, only 700 of his men were killed by the sword in battle - that's military superiority. "First of all, I shall begin my speech with Philip, my father, as is only fair. Philip took you over when you were helpless vagabonds, mostly clothed in skins, feeding a few animals on the mountains and engaged in their defense in unsuccessful fighting... He gave you cloaks to wear instead of skins, he brought you down from the mountains... he made you city dwellers and established the order that comes from good laws... He gained recognition as leader ... over the whole of the rest of Greece... These services which my father rendered you, great as they are when considered by themselves alone, are actually small in comparison to our own." [1] [2] [3]

329 B.C.. Under Alexander, a Buddhist/Greek culture is established in Afghanistan in the kingdom of the Hindu Kush. This is the only real West/East fusion culture; it's historical importance may be greatly under-appreciated.

323 B.C. to 31 B.C. . The Hellenistic Period follows the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC (probably by typhoid, although common myth has it as a drinking binge). Greek thought and culture dominates the Western world; perhaps due to the military adventures of Alexander it is a very worldly, open, and questing culture. Alexander's empire immediately fractures (6 generals divide up the spoils). In Egypt, Ptolemy rules. Within 100 years, Alexandria (at the mouth of the Nile) becomes the center of the Greek intellectual world, and the teachings of Aristotle dominate the West for a millennia (it doesn't hurt to have a student who conquers the world). Alexander becomes one of the great tragic figures of history. While brilliant, capable of treating his conquered enemies well, and considerate of women, by the end of his life, similar to his father, he was becoming a mean drunk. Alexander apparently looked like a blond playboy and is often assumed to have been gay because of his celibate lifestyle, but this may underestimate his emotional conflict with his parents - both his parents were exceptionally strong-willed and controlling; Philip had other wives and treated Alexander's mother poorly, when Philip died Alexander's mother (who was "senior") had his youngest wife (who was pregnant) executed by being publicly dragged into a fire; Alexander's mother was apparently constantly badgering Alexander to have sex with courtesans... Apparently the Macedonian court was seething with lethal sexuality...

322 B.C.. End of democracy in Athens.

300 B.C.. The Babalonians invent zero. This apparently occured rather naturally, because the Babalonians started to record numbers by, in effect, directly recording the state of an abacus on clay, which meant they had to record "empty slots".

300 B.C.. Antioch is founded. Antioch became the third most important city in the Roman Empire (after Rome and Constantinople). Antioch was a strategically placed river port that acted as Rome's hub in the Middle East. Far Antioch was latter to become a great crusader goal.

266 B.C.. Rome completes the conquest of all Italy. Roman military advantage resulted from a full-time professional standing-army (organized into Legions) with a well-defined command structure capable of maintaining unit cohesion on the battlefield (even when soldiers fought individually). Legions were capable of executing maneuvers in the midst of battle with units of all sizes. Legions contained 5,300 men each, with 120 horses per legion that were used only for scouting, messages, and light escort. Later, Ala were formed, which were regiments of around 500 horsemen organized into troops of 32 men. Unlike many of their adversaries, who occasionally went to war, Rome evolved a culture and economy requiring continuous military operations, that is, military campaigns of conquest were the normal state of affairs, indeed, were required to pay for the large standing Army. Superior force, intelligence, and logistics was achieved by building roads; these may have been the ultimate Roman weapon. Many of the roads in much of Europe and Britain today reflect old Roman roads (some Roman roads are still in use). The first "modern" road is considered to be Romand Appian way, constructed in 312 BC. Since it was necessary to know where a Legion was on a road, 1000 "left!" marching steps was defined as a mile; by counting cadence a Legion could keep track of its location. Roman roads were also designed for ox-cart use. Horse collars were still not in use. Oxen can haul heavy loads (very slowly) without collars; horses would choke. Oxen require significant infrastructure (close-spaced wells along the roads) that may have contributed to the uniformity and cohesion of Roman society. Since Rome had to expand, it let conquered peoples into its Army. Unlike many who used mercenaries for a single campaign, Rome required soldiers to fight until they were 40, after which the entire Legion was retired to the same area (usually recently conquered), with a farm for every surviving Legionaire. Because of the size of its Army and its economic war footing, Rome could loose all the battles and still win the war - win or loose, new Legions just kept coming down the road until there were no more enemy soldiers left.

264-241 B.C.. First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Carthage was a city in what is now Libya in North Africa. Carthage was founded by the Phoenicans (thus, "Punic"), who were originally from Lebanon (many were perhaps refugees from Assyrian and Persian rule in Lebanon). Carthage was the hub of a rich and growing Mediterranean sea-trading empire. Rome and Carthage, each expanding, finally fell into an epic conflict over Sicily. On land, Carthage paid mercenaries to fight. Rome tried to invade Carthage, but was defeated by a brilliant Spartan mercenary general at the battle of Tunes in 255 B.C. At first Rome had no idea how to fight a sea-power, but then the Romans (who are often considered laggards in innovation) built 5 navies in a row, each consisting of around 160 barges with huge ship-sized "drop-down" bridges that allowed them to land "marines" on enemy ships and fight infantry battles at sea. These awkward ships were very dangerous to their own crews. The 5th fleet finally prevailed, but Rome had suffered the greatest losses ever incurred in history at sea (over 600 warships and 1000 transports lost). [1]. Rome had won ugly, got Sicily, and imposed a harsh peace treaty on Carthage. The Carthaginians crucified their loosing admiral. Rome begun to pay more attention to naval affairs. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [tutorial]

221 B.C. China is unified under a single emperor.

218-201 B.C.. Second Punic war. Carthage, smarting from defeat, rebuilt its economy to a scale that inspired fear in Rome. Roman and Carthaginian expansion again collided (this time mostly in Spain). In 218 B.C.. Hannibal (a Carthaginian), starting from Spain, crossed the Alps with elephants to invade Italy from the North. Hannibal, with his largely mercenary army, consistently defeated Roman armies. In 216 B.C., at the Battle of Cannae (one of the most famous battles in history), Hannibal annihilated a larger Roman army via a "double envelopment". The Romans thought they had broken through the middle of the Carthaginian lines, but Hannibal had actually pulled the Romans into the middle so that they could be surrounded on all sides. Hannibal's victory was mitigated by Roman military engineering; he could not force the walls of Rome. Hannibal was one of the "Great Captains"; the Romans adopted a strategy of avoiding battle against Hannibal and instead slowly attacked his supply lines. Roman general Scipio Africanus defeated the Carthaginians in Spain, and then invaded North Africa. In 202 B.C. Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal near Carthage at the Battle of Zama. Harsh peace terms were imposed on Carthage, which was stripped of all power and reduced to an occupied city.

214 B.C.. Great Wall of China completed.

206 B.C.-220 A.D.. Han dynasty in China.

149-146 B.C.. Third Punic war. This was essentially a pretext to destroy Carthage. The war consisted primarily of a 3 year siege of the city, after which Carthage was completely destroyed and its soil plowed with salt to make it uninhabitable. Roman Senator Cato the Elder had ended all his speeches with: "Carthage must be destroyed!" [1]

146 B.C.. Greece becomes a Roman colony. The Romans defeat the phalanx because they can maneuver large bodies of troops rapidly on the battlefield without losing cohesion or discipline; when a phalanx charges they can simply get out of the way and hit its flanks. [1] [2] [3]

128 B.C.. The Chinese purchase Persian studs in Afghanistan as they decide to modernize their cavalry to fight central-asians on their own terms.

106 B.C.. Cicero is born.

91 B.C. to 88 B.C.. The Social War. Roman slaves and subject peoples (some 35 tribes, called socii) revolt - not to throw off Roman rule, but to become full citizens of Rome. This is one of the great Civil Wars in history (forming Rome in the same manner as the U.S. Civil War). Rome, unable to directly defeat the revolt, granted the rights in question to those not fighting. The rebellion was thus quelled without rebel victory, but the goals of citizenship were largely achieved. In the year 84 B.C a census counted 910,000 adult male citizens (roughly twice the number of previous citizens). [1] [2] [3]

54 B.C.-100 A.D.. Romans conquer Britain. In 56 B.C., Julius Caesar conducted a very large "reconnaissance in force" through Britain. He had no cavalry, was constantly harried by Celtic cavalry, and was forced to ineffectually withdraw. In 55 B.C. he returned with 2,000 horsemen from Gaul (France), and readily defeated organized resistance.

82-78 B.C.. Dictatorship of Sulla.

73 B.C.. The Slave Revolt in Rome, lead by slave-gladiator Spartacus. The revolutionaries initially sheltered in the volcanic crater of Vesuvius. After the revolt was defeated, over 6,000 revolutionaries were crucified along the Appian way. [1] [2] A fairly good movie was made based on this revolt; it contains probably the best reenactment of a Legion attack. [1] [2]

63 B.C.. Conspiracy of Catiline.

60 B.C.. First Triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Cassus.

59 B.C.. Julius Caesar made Consul of Rome.

58-51 B.C.. Conquest of Gaul (France) by Julius Caesar.

50 B.C.. Celts have become well established in Britain.

49-48 B.C.. Civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey; ends with Pompey murdered in Egypt.

43 B.C.. Roman empire begins to annex Britain.

44 B.C.. The Scythians are gelding horses.

44 B.C.. Julius Caesar assassinated.

43 B.C.. Second Triumvirate of Augustus, Antony, and Lepidus.

43 B.C.. Cicero assassinated.

31 B.C.. Battle of Actium. Antony is defeated and Augustus Caesar becomes sole Emperor of Rome and is declared both god and son of god (the Emperor was made high-priest). Augustus had 25 legions. "Augustus - god, son of god, savior!"

31 B.C.. Antony and Cleopatra die. Cleopatra is the last of the Greek Ptolomy rulers of Egypt.

9. Battle of Teutoburger. Three Roman legions plus colonial administrators (over 20,000 men) are lured into ambush, strung-out in heavy forest where they have no military advantage. They are completely destroyed by German tribesmen in 3 days. There are almost no Roman survivors. Many of the Germans were probably very familiar with the Roman military, and may have fought for it. The Roman commander charged with pacifying Germany was a sensitive sort, who had tried to demonstrate to the Germans the advantages of Roman rule by adjudicating German conflicts with Roman lawyers. After about a year of co-habitation, the German leaders, who were probably all too aware of Roman assimilation plans, struck... The Germans were especially careful to kill all the lawyers. The image of a German tribesman holding up the tongue of a Roman lawyer ("Finally, Viper, you've stopped hissing!") was apparently still evocative 1500 years latter in the Reformation. This was the first major total defeat of Rome at the hands of "barbarians". Augustus Caesar became rattled, and Rome ceased major expansion and adopted a defensive strategy, with a German border defined by the Rhine river. Northern and Southern Europe went separate ways, as did Europe east and west of the Rhine. "Varus, Varus, where are my legions?" [1] [2]

14-37. Tiberius rules with an evil hand; assassinated by suffocation.

30. Jesus put to death.

37-41. Caligula rules; his name is still used as a synonym for demented debauchery. Assassinated. "Are you the god-haters who do not believe me to be a god...?"

41-54. Claudius rules; poisoned by his wife after he adopts her prior son Nero.

50. London founded by Romans as military river crossing.

50-300. Gnosticism battles Christianity for religious supremacy in the Roman world, essentially shaping Christianity. The Gnostic ("self-awareness") religion, perhaps influenced by attempts to understand drug experiences, was essentially the 1960's hippie counter-culture - drugs, free sex, "it's all relative", and ... "licentiousness". Gnostics believed reality was all in the mind, and our mind is God, but our ideas are in error, so God (ourselves) has fractured into good and evil. Evil (the world) exists because our ideas are bad; if we could be good enough and have a pure enough mind, the purity of our thought and the power of love would change reality itself (or it would disappear), and we would become a whole, complete God again. ("The development of Christian doctrine was to a large extent a reaction against Gnosticism".) Based on gnosis (mystic self-knowledge), Gnosticism inherently rejects any specific written doctrine. The history of Jewish persecution may have resulted in ever increasing influence of the Gnostic ideal within Judaism. Ironically, after the introduction of printing, access to early Christian attacks on Gnosticism influenced nihilistic "modern" intellectuals, such as Goethe, Hegel, and Jung, contributing to radical fascistic/communistic ideas... setting the stage, and closing the circle, on the "60's ideal". Gnosticism, sometimes called Dualism, is apparently one of the oldest and most widespread human metaphysical ideas; it proves particularly attractive to those who work with words, such as students, teachers, lawyers, politicians, entertainers... Gnosticism appears strongly in numerous current variations and traditions (from early Freudian psychology to the New Soviet Man). "How can anyone say that this world is not a clear image, beautifully formed, of the Divine? ... Abandon the search for God and the creation... God created humanity, humanity created god... humans make gods, and worship their creations... It would be appropriate for gods to worship human beings... Learn the sources of sorrow, joy, love, hate... If you carefully pursue these matters you will find God in yourself... what you shall see, you shall become... Having seen the light... and the good that was within me, I became divine." [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

50. Petronius writes Satyricon, the oldest existing novel of which a more-or-less complete version exists. [1] [2]

54-68. Nero rules, commits suicide to avoid assassination; the last of the line of Caesar.

60-100. The 4 Gospels of the New Testament are written (in Greek) by Mark (the Rebel), Matthew (the Rabbi), Luke (the Chronicler), and John (the Mystic). Greek is the universal language of the intellectual Roman empire; Matthew and Luke were active in Antioch, where the name "Christian" is first applied. Early Christianity and Gnosticism had much in common, which perhaps is why they fought so over the differences... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, one-to-one, and the Word was God... And the Word came to be flesh. (John 1.1,1.16) ... Take care that your hearts do not grow heavy in carousing and in drinking and in worldly care... (Luke 21.34)." [1]

61. Queen Boadicea's revolt (the Rebellion of Iceni) is crushed, and the Druids are massacred on the island of Anglesey in the Irish sea. The Iceni were a Celtic tribe in what is now east England (East Anglia).

64. Rome burns down. The fire rages for over a week. Christians are conveniently blamed for starting the fire and are massacred; however the Christians "spin" this into a sign that the promised end is at hand. This is the famous "Nero fiddled while Rome burned."

66. The Jews revolt (and are crushed by Vespasian). [1]

69. The Year of the Three Emperors, after Nero dies in 68. Political violence and chaos. A year of civil war. Vespasian wins.

69-79. Vespasian proves an able emperor; builds the Coliseum (finished in 80), captures Jerusalem. The Coliseum could hold 70,000 people. Vespasian seems to have been a pragmatic sort with little truck in the idea of the Emperor as god, his deathbed remark was: "Alas, I believe I am about to become a god!".

70. Temple in Jerusalem destroyed.

96-180. The Five Good Emperors. Each of these was adopted by his predecessor.

100-400. Roman military rule of Britain. Britain is already a rich, cushy province. Mining, including coal, is already a source of great wealth. People in Britain are greatly amused by Roman sophisticates constant marveling at central-heating supplied by "burning rocks" (peat and coal).

100. Magic! Astrology! Numerology! Crystal power! Pyramids! Alchemy! Somewhere around this time Corpus Hermeticum (or Corpus Hermetica) was written. These ideas, a loose collection of 17 or more tracts from a much larger literature, are called Hermetics, or the Greek Mysteries. Corpus claimed to predate all other writing and come directly from Thoth, Egyptian god of writing (in Greek, Hermes Trismegistus). The various authors are unknown. Corpus apparently preserves knowledge of various old Egyptian priesthoods or even old shamanistic beliefs (Egyptian teachings were being stamped out by the Romans). Hermetic's power came from the visible ``table-top'' chemical reactions of alchemy and the usefulness/desirability of folk medicines (drugs). Hermetics probably survived because it was elitist (practiced only by the Adept, or Master), non-threatening, contained useful "facts", and was secretive. Hermetic magic spells were simple substitution ciphers for chemical reactions and herbal medicines; the Revelations that rewarded the successful student were the code books that made the memorized "magic spells" useful (examples: snake's head = leach; blood of a Titan = lettuce). Hermetic writings reflect a flourishing drug and herb trade between Rome, China, India, and Malaysia. Corpus itself was Platonic and Gnostic flavored. Corpus had a great impact when "discovered" later at the start of the Renaissance, especially Alchemy; much of the European fascination with "the Ancients" came from Corpus. "Where would matter be placed if it existed apart from God, who is infinite? ... Believe that nothing is impossible for you; think yourself immortal and capable of understanding all, all arts, all sciences, the nature of every living being... Men pull up the roots of plants and they determine the properties of their juices. They examine the natures of stones and they cut open those animals lacking the power of reason." [1] [2] [3] [4]

105. The Chinese invent paper.

212. Archimedes, supposedly lost in thought studying a geometry problem, is killed by a Roman soldier when the Romans take the Greek colony of Syracuse in Sicily.

250. Origen (origin), the greatest early Greek Christian theologian, writes Contra Celsum, a very influential book, attacking those who claimed that the miracles of Jesus were simply "normal" magic (ala alchemy). This was a powerful criticism, because it was well-known that a magic spell could be applied by whoever knew the key, independent of moral considerations. Origen, from Alexandria, was a prolific scholar; he essentially founded Christian theology as an intellectual pursuit, layed the foundation for defeat of the gnostics, and made Christianity intellectually fashionable. His De Pricipiis defined detailed Christian doctrine. Origen's father was a Christian preacher martyred when Origen was a teenager; Origen knew the religious and philosophical works of the day cold. Origen was supported by a rich woman, and later another powerful woman enabled Origen to hold forth in the Roman court. He attempted to reconcile Christianity and Greek Platonic philosophy, with results that apparently left many uneasy but were very powerful. Origen wrote some 6000 ``works'', but no complete version of his major books survive. His surviving papers reveal a glib academic mind: ``There are realities so great that they find a rank superior to humanity and our mortal nature; they are impossible for our rational and mortal race to understand... To what person of intelligence, I ask, will the account seem logically consistent that says there was a `first day' in which also `evening' and `morning' are named... For those who posit atoms, we are in agreement, because all these arguments are proof that corporeal substance is completely mutable... Anyone can see in how short a time this religion has grown, making progress by the ... deaths of ... its adherents...'' Interpreting Matthew, Origin castrated himself, a common practice of the time among those who worshiped mother-goddesses such as Cybele: ``There are eunuchs born that way from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs made so by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.'' (Matthew 19.12). [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

300. End of routine trade on the Scythian silk-road. [1]

303. Armenia becomes the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

313. The Edict of Milan makes Christianity the official church of the Roman empire. The force of government is applied to the elimination of all rivals. Early Christianity was one religion of many (Emperor worship just wasn't working, it was obviously too easy for assassins to kill god); The rise of Christianity to power in the Roman world was apparently due to its enthusiastic reception by women, primarily upper-class women with powerful connections. Women had always played an important role in Roman religion; the Vestal Virgin priestesses handled many mundane affairs, such as the disposition of wills. Christianity, with its emphasis on purity, chastity, equality, and denial (essentially, a code of chivalry) was widely attractive to women of all classes in the debauched and hedonistic Rome of Caligula and Nero... The image of rich daughters of the upper class calmly going to their death in the Coliseum reciting their Christian beliefs was explosive.

324-330. The Roman capitol is moved to Byzantium and Constantine creates the new city of Constantinople as the capital of a new Christian empire. Both Constantine and his sister Constantia were probably born on the English-Scottish border at York. Constantia, who was wife of one Emperor and sister of another, was a great advocate of early Christianity.

325. The Arian Controversy, the first deep division in Christianity, is resolved when the Council of Nicaea adopts the Nicene Creed and the principle of the Trinity. This becomes the basic definition of Christianity. The Nicean Council was called by Roman emperor Constantine, who viewed religious heresy as treason. The Romans had learned that secret religions invariably became secret politcal factions. The Arian controversy violently tore the Roman Christian world from around 318 onward. It was a dispute over the nature of Jesus. Arius, Presbyter of Alexandria, held that Jesus was an ordinary man that had led such a holy life that God had made him a God; the opposing Trinitarians held that Jesus had always been part of a single God. Arianism had an obvious appeal to those of a Gnostic bent; the opposition probably feared that Arianism was a Gnostic attempt to hijack Christianity. Constantia was the leading secular advocate of Arianism. The Arian controversy did not really end until 383, when the concept of the Trinity (with the Holy Ghost) was fully established and accepted. Unitarianism is probably the closest thing today to Arianism. [1] [2] [3] [4]

367-517. Celtic (Irish), Angle, and Saxon attacks on Roman Britain.

369. Roman emperor Theodosius attempts to reassert Roman control of Britain.

370-375. A large volcanic event (perhaps in the Krakatoa area) may have disrupted weather patterns sufficiently to contribute significantly to dislocations in global populations and the decline of classical Mediterranean culture.

376. Visigoths cross the Danube and move south into Rome.

378. The Battle of Adrianople. Two hundred thousand desperate Visigoth (Thervingi) refugees seek asylum as a group in the Roman empire due to attacks by the Huns. The Romans allow them to stay (in what is now Bulgaria) and profit handsomely as the starving Visigoths are having to sell their children into slavery for food. Although expected to act as a defense buffer for Rome, the Visigoths soon begin to raid for food and realize their strength. Attempts to assert Roman authority lead to battle. Surprisingly, the Roman legions are annihilated and the emperor killed. The Visigoths take no prisoners. The emperor's body is never found. The Visigoths were recent "converts" to Arian Christianity and had been invited into Rome originally by an Arian emperor. This battle was fatal to Arian Christianity. Goth military superiority results from the use of massed cavalry (50,000 horsemen). The Goths can defeat the Romans in open battle, but cannot force entrance into walled towns. This battle establishes the superiority of cavalry over infantry, which is to last over a thousand years. Rome has no defense against "horse-barbarians" "It is the end of all humanity, the end of the world." [1]

394. Last known Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions, on the island of Philae.

397. Augustine publishes the Confessions.

409. Last Roman legion leaves Britain.

410. Visigoths sack Rome. This is often given as the date of the start of the Dark Ages.

429-439. The Vandals (a German tribe from Denmark) pressured by Goths and Romans, move through Spain and cross the Straight of Gibraltar to Africa. They proceed to roll east across the North African coast, capturing and looting the rich Roman possessions, including the city of Hippo, in which St. Augustine lived (he died in the siege). The North African coast is the Roman "breadbasket", its wheat can easily be moved to ships, which can then feed the empire. This is the fall of an empire...

446. Last Roman-British appeal to help from Rome.

449. Approximate start of major invasion of Britain by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

450. Rome and Britain no longer in contact; the Dark Ages have descended...

450. Metal stirrups in use in central Asia. The first written mention of the stirrup occurs in China in 477 A.D. Routine use of the stirrup apparently did not occur in Europe until the 700's, although the Scythians had apparently "always" known about, and occasionally used, stirrups.

451. Battle of Chalons (Catalaunia). Goth tribes and the Romans combine forces to defeat Attila the Hun.

455. The Vandals sack Rome.

455. Gothic tribes defeat the Huns at the Nedeao river, and they disappear from history.

469. Visigoths begin their conquest of Spain.

470. Saxons begin to settle in eastern England (Sussex).

517. Victory of Arthur over Roman-Britains at Badon.

529. Benedictine religious order founded.

529. The Academy in Athens is closed by Roman emperor Justinian, closing the final door on classic Greek thought...

533. An army from the Eastern Roman empire easily recaptures North Africa from the Vandals, who, dispersed and assimilated, have disappeared as a distinctive force.

535-536. Perhaps the largest volcanic eruption in recorded human history occurred, significantly changing global climate, perhaps triggering the chaos and population movements of the following 100-250 years that formed the worst period of the Dark Ages (The Dark Age Disaster). The volcano may have been near Krakatoa; one current theory holds that this eruption separated Java and Sumatra. This climate change caused crop and range failure, reducing the grass available to horses, thus unsettling old power structures. In the next 200 years the power of Rome and Persia was destroyed, Asian tribes steadily attacked all others, Islam was launched, and numerous bubonic plague outbreaks occurred. "The sun gave forth its light without brightness like the moon during this whole year." [1] [2] [3]

535-545. Mongolia suffers the coldest climate in 1,900 years.

Tree rings confirm the disaster. Another theory with some evidence is that comet showers pounded the earth during this period, with 540 being the date of maximum impact: [1]

536. Slav refugees pour across the Danube. The Lombards (a German tribe from Slovakia) invade northern Italy; in 25 years they take over all of northern Italy and control much of the rest.

541-717. Numerous back-to-back outbreaks of bubonic plague reduce the population of the cities in the classical world to probably only 20% of the population in 540. These plague outbreaks are likely caused by disruption in rat population dynamics due to heavy rainfall. The plague spread out of east Africa. Farming in east Africa is nearly totally destroyed (the cattle herders are less effected by rat populations).

552. The Turks in Mongolia throw off their Avar overlords. The Avars are typical "horse-rulers" who have ruled Mongolia for around 150 years, extracting tribute from the more settled native Turkic population. The weather leaves Avar horses with insufficient grass, fatally weakening Avar power. The Avar refugees begin a 3,000 mile march to Europe, moving as a massive refugee convoy that picks up many other refugees.

568. The Avars, who have marched 3,000 miles in 16 years, establish a new empire in the "horse-country" of central Hungary. The Avars rapidly revert to their "horse-ruler" empire building, extracting tribute from large Slav populations and intimidating the Romans. Avar military superiority results from not-so-secret mastery of military application of the stirrup}.

572. The Avars get the Romans to pay tribute. Essentially, the Avars demand money "or else". The "or else" is always a large raid by a "horse-army" that destroys a region or major city; the Avars seem to have specialized in large raids designed to do economic damage rather than lead to heavy battle.

596. St. Augustine arrives in Kent.

602. Revolt in Constantinople. Thirty years of paying Avar tribute has weakened Byzantium power, a political faction called "the Greens" revolts, the army mutinies...

603-630. The Persian War. Roman revolutionaries invite the Persians to invade. Rome is crushed in 604 at the Battle of Arzamon. General rebellion breaks out, and Avars and Slavs invade as well. In 614 the Persians capture Jerusalem and massacre Christians. By the end of the war Rome has lost 70% of its territory, and Roman will is defeatist. However, Byzantine military engineering holds (the castle walls of Constantinople), a peace is worked out with Persia, and the Persians withdraw. One effect of the long Persian occupation is that the relationship between Rome and Jews is irrevocably sundered, as the Jews had hailed the Persians as anti-Christian liberators. Romans respond by massacring Jews as traitors. The Koran and Arab power arise in the chaos and power vacumn of this war.

610-620. Slavs flood unprotected Roman Greece, fundamentally changing population demographics.

610-625. Mohammed begins to preach, and writes the Koran. After an initial defeat by Meccan horse, the Mohammedans form a "central-asian horse army", further south than before; it is devastatingly effective. The Muslim faith is established "by the footprints of the Arabian horse", in a band through Morocco, North Africa, the Middle East, India, and Malaysia. "The Evil One dare not enter into a tent in which a pure-bred horse is kept... every night an angel comes down to each horse... and asks Allah's blessing on him... As many grains of barley as you give your horse, so that many sins shall be forgiven of you."

617. Christianity is officially adopted in Northumbria.

619-906. Chinese Tang Dynasty.

629. Muslims Arabs first defeat the Romans at the Battle of Mu'ta.

630. The Khazars, the "westmost" Turks, establish a "horse-empire" spreading from Poland to Central Asia (Khazakstan), containing large Slav and Magyar populations. Red-headed Khazars were apparently common; the Khazars seem to have been distant descendents of the Scythians. Many refugees from the Persian War and Arab conquests may have fled to the Khazars. Kiev is founded by the Khazars. [1] [2]

630-829. Saxon kings (mostly in eastern England).

633. Muslim Arabs invade both Rome and Persia, and take Damascus at the critical Battle of Jabiya-Yarmuk, where Rome suffers 20,000 casualties. Roman power and political will collapses.

640. Muslims conquer Persia at the Battle of Nehavend (the "Victory of Victories").

642. Muslims complete the conquest of Egypt.

654. Arabs conquer Afghanistan.

664. Roman Christianity, as opposed to local churches, adopted in Britain at Synod of Whitby.

700-941. Viking raids, Vikings settle in Normandy and eastern England (the Danelaws).

711. Muslims begin their invasion of Spain, to weak resistance. The Arabs landed 12,000 horses at Gibraltar. Out of the entire invading force, only 12 of the officers were from Arabia, the rest were from North Africa, primarily Morocco. These forces were called Moors. Many of the Moroccan troops consisted of a more-or-less caucasian Berber tribe, called the Rif. A bitter Spanish colonial war against the Rif was to precede the Spanish Civil War over a millennia latter.

725-750. Bulan, the Khazar king, deliberately pursuing a policy of neutrality, adopts Judaism as the common Khazar state religion. The Khazars abutted both the Roman and Arab empires. Judaism was adopted as the most neutral "common denominator". The state religion was a basic Judaism based on the Old Testament (not Rabinic Law or the Talmud). Bulan publicly made representatives of the world religions debate for 3 days, then asked the Christian and the Arab representatives separately which of the others they disliked the least (they both said Judaism, as he had expected). In 800 Khazar King Obadiah reformed the resulting religion and established links with other Jewish traditions. The converted Khazars became the bulk of the Ashkenazim Jews (north-east European Jews), the largest Jewish population. Turkic Khazar priests became Jewish priests by "discovering" that they were descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel... In the course of 80 years of war from 737 to 861, the powerful Khazar state exhausted itself but stopped the Arabs from advancing north through the Caucasus into Europe. The Caucasus thus became a northern boundary for Islam, as it is today. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

731. The Venerable Bede writes Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and apparently invents the use of B.C. and A.D. to date events in christian history. There is no year zero; the difficulty caused by this in calculating time spans is noted...

732. Charles Martel defeats the Moors at Poitiers (Tours). The Arabs were essentially light cavalry raiders; they had no infantry. Apparently the Frank infantry, with heavy "anti-arrow" armor, formed a massive phalanx-like structure against which the light cavalry had little effect: "standing as a belt of ice frozen together and not to be dissolved."

751. The first printed book, the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (presumably block-printed).

793. The Lindisfarne Viking raid starts the Viking attack on the British isles.

800. Beowulf, the oldest known Old English epic poem, is recorded (the movie The 13th Warrior is a loose version of Beowulf).

800. Charlemagne is crowned Emperor of the West.

829. The king of Wessex, Egbert, becomes the first king of England.

841. Viking traders create the city of Dublin.

845. Major Viking attack on Paris.

862. The Scandinavian Rus (Reds) Vikings begin their exapansion in Russia; their slogan (presumably aimed at the Slavs they wish to enlist) is "Pay nothing to the Khazars!". [1] [2] [3]

870. The Danes defeat Alfred the Great at Ashdown.

871. Iceland is settled by "Vikings" (norwegian farmers).

878. A victory of Arthur over the Danes.

886. The Danelaw is established in northern England.

891. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun.

911. Rollo the Viking becomes first Duke of Normandy (effectively his Viking army is given control of the Seine river valley, with the understanding that they will stop further Viking expeditions from coming down the Seine to attack Paris).

930. The Althing is established in Iceland. This is considered the world's oldest existing representative assembly.

920-973. English resurgent against Danes and Scots.

962. Otto I is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

965. The Rus defeat the Khazars. This was a naval battle.

973. Coronation of Edgar. Since this coronation, England has had a continuous history of coronation.

980. Major Viking attack on England.

991. The Danegeld (a Danelaw tax) is first levied.

969. The Arabs establish Cairo as their capital.

1000-1100:

1000-1034. Danish empire, mostly due to Canute, unites elements of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and England. With death of last Danish king, the English throne reverts to Englishman Edward the Confessor.

1035. William the Bastard becomes Duke of Normandy.

1054-1056. The final Great Schism between the western and eastern (orthodox) church. Differences betwen Greek and Latin Christians becomes irreconcilable, the two Churches go their separate ways. [1]

1065. Westminster Abbey is completed.

1066. The Battle of Hastings. King Harold is defeated and killed by William and his Norman army at Hastings (near the south coast of England). Around 3 weeks earlier Harold and his army had defeated an attack on the north coast of England by Harold Hardrada of Norway. Hardrada was a `Viking character' that had once served as Byzantine general in charge of Sicily; he was old and apparently wanted to die in battle. We perhaps will never know if he and William arranged to give Harold a one-two punch... William had 1,000 heavy cavalry in addition to archers. King Harold's Saxons fought in a shield-square using 5-foot battle-axes. A feigned retreat broke the cohesion of the square, as the axe-men rushed to pursue. "The phalanx of axemen had been decisively beaten by William's combination of archers and cavalry."

1066-1072. The Norman conquest. A number of brutal campaigns, that include invasions by king Malcolm of Scotland and king Swein of Denmark. A small foreign aristocracy takes over a rich, ethnically different country...

1066-1100. The Norman Kings, William the Conqueror, William Rufus, and Henry I. Since the Normans also rule Normandy and Maine, England becomes a "continental" player.

1068-1200. Initial Norman conquest of Wales. Much of this conquest involved extensive castle construction.

1071. Battle of Manzikert.

1076. Normans capture Salerno (in Sicily).

1086. The Domesday Book takes a complete inventory of England. Written records are to provide feudalism a new style of centralized government. The Domesday book records that there are 5,624 water-wheel powered mills in England (one for every 50 households).

1085. The reconquesta starts in Spain as "mini-Crusades". Toledo is captured from the Moors.

1094. The great Spanish hero of the reconquesta, El Cid, takes Valentia. This victory is famous because the wounded El Cid died before the critical encounter, but, as he had commanded, he was mounted dead on his famous war-horse Babieca, who lead a charge at the critical moment, thus leading the Spaniards to victory. [1] [2] [3] [4]

1095-1099. The First Crusade.

1100-1200:

1100. The Song of Roland is written.

1110. The English Exchequer is founded under Henry I. This is England's first government deparment, and it lasted until 1833. The Chancellor of the Exchequer today would be called the Ministry of Finance. The Exchequer itself was a large checkered "table-cloth" that could be used as multiple abacci by users gathered around the table. It was used for tax accounting. Twice a year the Lower Exchequer collected tallies from the Sherifs of each county. The tallies were strips of wood on which taxes paid were marked by a notch, and the tally strip was then split in two lengthwise, with the taxpayer keeping one half and the Exchequer the other. The Upper Exchequer then audited the taxes delivered.

1116. The University of Bologna, the oldest European university, is founded.

1118. Knights Templar founded.

1120. The White Ship disaster. Much of the younger Norman nobility is killed when their ship, on a voyage from Normandy to England in a festive mood, is capsized by the poor racing seamanship of a drunken crew.

1135-1148. Norman civil war between Stephen and Matilda (sometimes given as 1139-1153.

1134. First known use of the decimal (Arabic) number system outside of a "textbook". The inscription 1134 Annoy Domini appears on a Norman coin made in Norman Sicily.

1147-1149. The Second Crusade.

1150. The population of England is around 1.5 million.

1150-1200. The University of Paris forms (it is not yet officially recognized).

1152. Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.

1170. Thomas Becket is murdered at Canterbury.

1180. Stern rudders in use.

1185. First recorded windmills.

1187. Saladin conquers Jerusalem.

1189. The Mongolian tribes become unified under Genghis Khan. In the next 100 years the Mongols rapidly built almost a "world-empire". Unlike previous Asiatic horse-empires, triggered by factors such as weather, Genghis Khan deliberately set out to conquer the world. The Mongols were illiterate; their military superiority relied on a population that lived in the saddle and could rapidly move and assemble huge "horse-armies". These armies fought entirely on horseback using the Mongolian composite bow. These bows were made from glued layers of bone and sinew, and were as effective as any bows ever built (including the English longbow). The Mongols favorite tactic was to lure an entire army into a large kill-zone (perhaps by a feigned retreat), and then ambush it from behind hills and enclose it in a huge U or circle of tens-of-thousands of horse-archers, who would use the range of their bows to rain huge barrages down on the enemy, galloping in and out constantly, guiding their horses with only their legs, using both hands to fire arrows, both while rotating "in" and "out" to get more arrows. The Mongols were exceptionally mobile. During the winters, when major rivers froze in much of Asia, the horse-armies used the rivers as giant "interstate highways". They routinely moved 80 miles a day, and when pressed could move 120. Every man in these armies had 10 horses, all of which were mares (dummies were sometimes mounted on the excess horses). Mongol armies in the field could survive indefinitely on mare's blood and mare's milk. Horse dung was burned for fuel, blood was stored in horse-intestines, and meat was tenderized for eating raw by riding on thin strips between saddle and saddle-pad. You could sometimes smell a Mongol army at 20 miles. Mongols could sleep on horse-back, and often stayed in the saddle for days. The Horde was rigidly organized by powers of 10. Ten men formed a troop, 10 troops a squadron, 10 squadrons a regiment, and 10 regiments a division. A division thus had 10,000 men and 100,000 horses. Men from different tribes were deliberately mixed together so no unit would have an ethnic preponderance. Mongols were not sensitive towards their horses. Mongol ponies were selected for toughness and trained by a near "test-to-destruction". Two out of every 5 Mongol horses died during training.

1190. Magnetic compass in use in the West for ship navigation.

1190. Third Crusade

1195. Office of Justice of the Peace established.

1200-1300:

1200. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury and key player in the Magna Carta, invents the Chapter and Verse system for "organizing" the bible.

1201. Fourth Crusade begins. In 1204 these crusaders sacked Constantinople.

1202. Fibonacci publishes Liber Abaci, introducing "arabic numerals", the decimal system, and zero. Finonacci's father was an Italian trader who delt with North Africa, where Foibonacci had become familiar with Arab arithmetic. The decimal system with zero was rapidly adopted by Italian businessmen.