When was 600 bc

Comedy plays were more popular than tragedies. In the Roman theater, slaves served as actors. Unlike Greek theater, women were permitted to appear on stage but they did not play important roles.

The Roman theater competed for the audiences that attended chariot races, gladiator contests and public executions. This brought about the need for impressive public theaters. For the next two centuries, Romans built about structures. Eventually, plays included stage violence and crude humor.

Christians disapproved and closed down all of the theaters. Ancient Theater B. Kids Work! Share to Google Classroom. Grades: 3 4 5. After a long siege Jerusalem is taken by Nebuchadnezzar and the city, including Solomon's Temple, is destroyed. Go to Nebuchadnezzar II c. The Jews, taken into captivity in Babylon, form the first community of the Diaspora. Go to diaspora in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed.

Thales of Miletus, traditionally the first philosopher, is credited with the prediction of a solar eclipse. Go to Thales of Miletus fl. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II begins a siege of Tyre which lasts for thirteen years before the city capitulates.

Nebuchadnezzar builds the hanging gardens of Babylon, supposedly to comfort a homesick wife. The synagogue, as a simple place of Jewish worship, develops during the Babylonian captivity.

The Iranian prophet Zoroaster teaches that there is one god, Ahura Mazda. Anaximander, a pupil of Thales, develops bold theories about the formation of the earth and the beginning of life. Go to Anaximander —c. Peisistratos seizes power in Athens and rules as a benevolent dictator for more than thirty years.

Go to Pisistratus c. The painters of Greek vases develop the black-figure style, with the scene depicted in black silhouette against a red ground. The Sinhalese, after moving south through India, cross into Sri Lanka. The optimistic concept of the Messiah is part of the Jewish response to captivity in Babylon.

The Greeks develop the Babylonian theme of the zodiac, naming it the zodiakos kyklos or circle of animals. Go to zodiac in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. The Indian physician Susruta pioneers plastic surgery of the nose. Cyrus, king of the Persians, takes Ecbatana, capital city of the Medes, and establishes the first Persian empire. Go to Cyrus the Great c.

The city-states of the Peloponnese unite in a defensive league under Spartan leadership. Croesus builds a spectacular temple at Ephesus in honour of Artemis, or Diana. Go to Ephesus in World Encyclopedia 1 ed. The murals of Etruscan tombs, such as the Tomb of the Lionesses in Tarquinia, give a lively glimpse of an earlier tradition in Greek art. Polo originates in the Persian empire, probably as part of the training of the imperial cavalry.

An Etruscan dynasty rules in Rome and Etruscan influence is now dominant throughout central Italy. Indian medical theory maintains that the body consists of three humours - spirit, phlegm and bile.

The hoplite - a Greek citizen, heavily armed in bronze and leather - proves a formidable fighting man. Go to hoplite in A Dictionary of World History 2 ed. The phalanx, though not originally devised in Greece, is a devastating formation on the battlefield when composed of hoplites.

K'ung-fu-tzu, or Confucius, teaches a practical philosophy which will profoundly influence Chinese history. Larache is founded as a Carthaginian colony on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Aramaic, a Semitic language from Syria, becomes the lingua franca of the Middle East. The Greek city states pioneer the use of citizen armies, made up of free men who bring their own fighting equipment. Sardis, the capital city of the Lydian ruler Croesus, is taken by the Persians.

Cyrus annexes the Greek territory of Ionia as part of his empire, giving Persia a presence on the Aegean. A Persian army captures Babylon and brings it into the empire of Cyrus the Great. Returning to Jerusalem, the Jews begin to rebuild the Temple. Thespis, traditionally considered the first actor, wins the drama competition in Athens.

Cyrus the Great is buried in an austerely impressive tomb at Pasagardae, in Persia. The Greek colonists of Paestum, in southern Italy, build the first of their three superb temples. The Greek mathematician Pythagoras establishes himself, along with his followers, in southern Italy. Go to Pythagoras c. The Phoenician cities, liberated from Babylonian rule, willingly accept inclusion in the Persian empire. The Athenian ruler Peisistratos dies and is peacefully succeeded by his son, Hippias.

The Persians defeat an Egyptian army at Pelusium and then capture Memphis. Darius I wins the Persian throne and ushers in the heyday of the Achaemenid empire. Darius starts to build a spectacular new palace and capital at Persepolis. Go to Darius I c. The Chinese become the first people to cast iron, after developing a furnace which can reach a very high temperature. The Athenian ruler Hippias is toppled by the nobles of Attica, with the help of Sparta. Hecateus, a geographer in Miletus, produces a map showing the Greek idea of the known world.

According to legend, the Etruscans are driven from Rome by popular outrage after the rape of Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius. The Roman senate becomes an executive body with two of its members elected annually as consuls, or joint heads of state. Cleisthenes, brought to power by popular support, puts into effect a major programme of political reform in Athens. Cleisthenes gives every Athenian citizen a voice in the demos , the local council at village or town level.

A Persian rug, woven with a knotted pile, is placed in the tomb of a Scythian chieftain and survives to this day. The 10, elite troops of the Persian empire, known as the Immortals, demonstrate the power of a professional standing army.

The Greeks are intrigued by the iron-attracting property of a mineral which they find in the district of Magnesia. Go to magnetite in A Dictionary of Chemistry 6 ed. The secret of lacquer, the sap of a tree which can be hardened by moisture, is discovered in China. The great network of roads built by Darius I has at its centre the mile royal road from Susa to Sardis. The Isthmian games at Corinth are by now a regular event, as are the Pythian games and the Nemean games.

The Greeks observe the strange effect of electricity, seen when amber known to them as electron is rubbed.