History of political thought/Timelines

495 BCE Pericles (495-429) - Athenian statesman and advcate of democracy

469 Socrates (469-384) - Athenian philosopher who is credited with laying the foundations of western philosophy; sentenced to death in Athens for heresy.

450 The Twelve Tables[1] - the first recorded statement of Roman Law

431 The Pelopponesian War[2] (431-404) between Athens and Sparta

428 Plato (428-347) Athenian philosopher, recorder of Socratic dialogue and critic of democracy

427 The Mytilene Debate[3] - that led to the Athenian decision to execute all the men on the rebellious island of Mytilene

384 Aristotle (384-322) pupil of Plato, author of The Politics

341 Epicurus (341-271) founder of Hedonism[4]

331 Zeno of Citium (331-261) founder of Stoicism

106 BCE Cicero (106-43 BCE) statesman of the Roman republic, Stoic and opponent of dictatorship

49 BCE Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon[5] prompting the Roman Civil War[6] of 49-46 BCE, which led to a transition from republic to empire.

204 CE Plotinus[7] (204-270 CE) - founder of Neoplatonism[8] and originator of the Great Chain of Being[9]

313 Edict of Milan[10] - established religious freedom in the Roman Empire.

325 First Council of Nicea[11] - the first of the ecumenical councils[12]

354 CE Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Neoplatonist African Bishop and leading philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church

381 Council of Constantinople - that approved the Nicene Creed[13] - the official statement of Christian belief

410 Sack of Rome[14] the first invasion of imperial Rome - which survived further attacks until 610 CE in the form of its Eastern Empire[15]

533 Corpus Jurus Civilis[16]: a compendium of Roman Law promulgated by the emperor Justinian[17]

570 Muhammad (570-632) Arab prophet and founder of Islam

800s Written collections of Hadith[18] (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) are compiled.

1126 Averroës (Abu'l-Walid Ibn Rushd)[19] (1126-1198) interpretor of Aristotle, leading Islamic philospher

1215 Magna Carta[20][21] - statement of civil rights and fundamental document of the English constitution.

1225 Thomas Aquinas (1224-74) Catholic theologian and philosopher, author of Summa Theologica, defender of the creed of papal supremacy[22].

1469 Machiavelli (1469-1527) Pragmatic Florentine political advisor, famous for his amoral approach to the exercise of authority.

1588 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

1632 John Locke (1632-1704)

1643 English Civil War [23] (1643-6).

1648 Treaty of Westphalia[24]

1688 Glorious Revolution

1711 David Hume (1711-1776)

1712 Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

1724 Immanuel Kant[25] (1724-1804)

1729 Edmund Burke[26] (1720-1797)

1737 Thomas Paine[27] (1737-1809)

1748 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) founder of Utilitarianism.

1751 James Madison (1751-1836)

1774 American Revolution

1776 Declaration of Independence by the United States of America

1789 Storming of the Bastille and start of the French Revolution

1806 John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

1818 Karl Marx (1818-1883]]