Zoom in Zoom out Play Years per second1 10 100
Broad overview · linear · 10,000 BCE to the present ← Drag left / right to pan
→ Focused window: 401 BCE – 600 CE. Arrow keys step one year; Shift + arrow steps ten. 1 BCE is followed by 1 CE. Earlier / deep history
Cosmos Billions of years: estimated ages, not BCE years. Earth and life Billions and millions of years: geological evidence, with uncertainty. Human prehistory Thousands of years: humans and complex cultures long before cities. Civilisations BCE/CE calendar: 1 BCE is followed by 1 CE, with no year zero.
Human calendar: a linear date axis, separate from geological and cosmic age estimates.
Regions Date axis Browsable cards
All dated subjects · 56 ★ Key moments · 11
Stars highlight selected learning anchors; all dated subjects remain available.
Shared linear date axis · duration bars are clipped to the focused window. Numbered markers collect nearby point events; select one to reveal them. Zoom or drag the pan rail above for detail.
500 CE
Europe Classical Greece c. 510 BCE – 323 BCE
Roman Republic c. 509 BCE – 27 BCE
Socrates c. 470 BCE – 399 BCE
Aspasia of Miletus c. 470 BCE – 400 BCE
Aristotle 384 BCE – 322 BCE
Alexander the Great 356 BCE – 323 BCE
Archimedes of Syracuse c. 287 BCE – 212 BCE
Julius Caesar 100 BCE – 44 BCE
Roman Empire (West) c. 27 BCE – 476 CE
Marcus Aurelius 121 CE – 180 CE
Diocletian 244 CE – 311 CE
Constantine the Great c. 272 CE – 337 CE
Justinian I 482 CE – 565 CE
Empress Theodora c. 500 CE – 548 CE
▲
Middle East & Africa ★ Kush and the royal centres of Meroë c. 800 BCE – 400 CE
Achaemenid Persia c. 550 BCE – 330 BCE
★ Persepolis: an Achaemenid royal centre c. 518 BCE – 330 BCE
Euclid c. 325 BCE – 265 BCE
Hannibal Barca 247 BCE – 183 BCE
Cleopatra VII — lifetime 69 BCE – 30 BCE
Cleopatra VII 69 BCE – 30 BCE
★ Cleopatra VII — reign 51 BCE – 30 BCE
Jesus of Nazareth c. 4 BCE – 30 CE
★ Aksum: a kingdom linked to the Red Sea c. 1 CE – 800 CE
Hypatia of Alexandria c. 360 CE – 415 CE
Prophet Muhammad 570 CE – 632 CE
▲
Asia ◆ ◆
Chandragupta Maurya c. 350 BCE – 295 BCE
Ashoka the Great c. 304 BCE – 232 BCE
Qin Shi Huang 259 BCE – 210 BCE
Qin dynasty & first Great Wall c. 221 BCE – 206 BCE
Han dynasty c. 206 BCE – 220 CE
★ Silk Roads: routes connecting regions c. 200 BCE – 1,600 CE
Kushan Gandhara: cultures meeting in art c. 1 CE – 300 CE
★ Nalanda: a long-lived centre of learning c. 400 CE – 1,300 CE
Aryabhata 476 CE – 550 CE
▲
Americas Chavín: a ceremonial centre in the Andes c. 1,500 BCE – 300 BCE
Olmec civilisation c. 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE
★ Tikal: a Maya city and its wider landscape c. 600 BCE – 900 CE
Teotihuacan: an ancient monumental city c. 1 CE – 700 CE
Classic Maya c. 250 CE – 900 CE
★ Mesa Verde: an Ancestral Pueblo landscape c. 450 CE – 1,300 CE
★ Tiwanaku: a centre in the southern Andes c. 500 CE – 900 CE
▲
Oceania & Pacific Catalogue gap: no records loaded in this date window.
Global / region not catalogued ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Classical Antiquity 800 BCE – 500 CE
Medieval World 500 CE – 1,500 CE
▲
Compare history
Before, after, or at the same time? Pin two to four subjects. Your pins stay with you as you navigate; the URL restores this comparison.
Replace pins with a preset:
Stonehenge phases & Great Pyramid Cleopatra: life, reign & Bronze Age in Britain Shaolin foundation & Cultural Revolution
0 of 4 subjects pinned.
Choose a preset or search to start comparing.