Pyrgos Archaeological Museum · History

Elis: Milestones in History

Explore key events in Greek history alongside the history of Elis. Follow the milestones from antiquity to the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods.

The milestones bring together the wider historical context and developments in Elis and the Peloponnese. Local developments are highlighted in bold.

Antiquity

  1. Early 11th century BC

    1000 BC: Beginning of the First Greek Colonisation

    First unification of Elis under Oxylus

  2. 776 BC

    Mid-8th century BC: Beginning of the Second Greek Colonisation. Emergence of the city-state

    Reorganisation of the Olympic Games by Iphitus

  3. 688 BC

    Pisa assumes control of the sanctuary of Olympia

  4. 600 BC

    Construction of the Temple of Hera. Emergence of the Doric order

  5. 490 BC

    First Persian invasion (Battle of Marathon)

  6. 480 BC

    Second Persian invasion (Battle of Thermopylae)

  7. 471 BC

    Second unification of Elis. Establishment of a democratic constitution

  8. 471 – 456 BC

    Construction of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia

  9. 431 – 404 BC

    Peloponnesian War

  10. 399 – 369 BC

    Period of autonomy of the cities of Triphylia

  11. 336 BC

    Alexander becomes King of Macedon. Beginning of the Panhellenic campaign against the Persians

  12. 323 BC

    Death of Alexander the Great

    Foundation of the fortified settlements of Triphylia

  13. 301 BC

    Battle of Ipsus. Formation of the four Hellenistic kingdoms

  14. 271 BC

    Tyranny of Aristotimus in Elis

    Development of Alexandrian Koine and its adoption as the official language of the eastern Mediterranean

  15. 218 BC

    Philip V invades Elis

  16. 191 BC

    Elis joins the Achaean League

  17. 146 BC

    Destruction of Corinth by the Romans

  18. 87 BC

    Sulla plunders the sanctuary of Olympia

  19. 267 AD

    Herulian invasion

Byzantine & post-Byzantine periods

  1. 313 AD

    Edict of Toleration

  2. 324

    Inauguration of Constantinople

    Elis forms part of the Roman province of Achaea, with Corinth as its capital.

  3. 391

    Theodosius I issues an edict against paganism

    Official abolition of the Olympic Games

  4. 395

    Division of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires

  5. 396

    The Visigoths, led by Alaric, invade the Peloponnese

  6. 5th–7th centuries

    Spread of Christianity

  7. 435

    Theodosius II abolishes pagan sanctuaries, including Olympia, and converts them into Christian places of worship

  8. 551

    A powerful earthquake strikes the north-western Peloponnese. The harbour of Pheia is submerged and the church at Olympia is destroyed.

  9. 587

    Slavs enter the Peloponnese

  10. 7th–9th centuries

    The Byzantine Dark Ages

    Economic decline. Archaeological finds and historical evidence from Elis become scarce.

  11. 726 – 843

    Iconoclasm

  12. 805

    Byzantine authority is restored in the Peloponnese. Earliest mention of the Theme of the Peloponnese

  13. 1204

    Constantinople is captured by the Franks of the Fourth Crusade

  14. 1205

    The Frankish knights William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I of Villehardouin establish the Principality of Achaea

  15. 1220 – 1223

    Geoffrey I of Villehardouin builds Chlemoutsi Castle

  16. 1261

    The Byzantines recapture Constantinople

  17. 1267

    Treaty of Viterbo. The Villehardouin dynasty becomes subordinate to the Angevin kings of Naples

  18. 1430

    Constantine Palaiologos brings the Principality of Achaea to an end

  19. 1453

    Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks

  20. 1460

    The Ottoman Turks overthrow the Despotate of the Morea

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