World map in 323 BC

Border history

The interactive map lets you inspect named territories in 323 BC and compare them to earlier or later snapshots on the timeline.

Biographical context

Meet figures alive in, or close to, 323 BC and move from political geography to the people connected to the period.

Era-based reading

The related chronicles below provide long-form reading tied closely to the classical period.

323 BC – 322 BC

Lamian War

Athens and Greek allies vs Macedon (Antipater)

Upon Alexander the Great's death, Athens led a Greek revolt against Macedonian rule. After initial successes, the Greeks were crushed at Crannon, ending the last serious bid for Greek independence for over a century.

Key battles and events: Siege of Lamia (323 BC); Battle of Crannon (322 BC)

334 BC – 323 BC

Conquests of Alexander the Great

Macedon vs Achaemenid Empire

Alexander's relentless campaign from Greece to India — toppling the Persian Empire and creating the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen.

Key battles and events: Granicus (334 BC); Issus (333 BC)

343 BC – 290 BC

Samnite Wars

Roman Republic vs Samnite Confederation

Three wars between Rome and the Samnites for control of central and southern Italy. Rome's eventual victory secured dominance over the Italian peninsula and laid the foundation for its Mediterranean empire.

Key battles and events: Battle of the Caudine Forks (321 BC); Battle of Sentinum (295 BC)

400 BC – 900 AD

Maya City-State Wars

Tikal vs Calakmul vs Caracol vs Dos Pilas vs Palenque vs Copán vs other Maya polities

Over a millennium of warfare among rival Classic Maya polities, dominated by the Tikal–Calakmul superpower rivalry and a web of proxy conflicts that shaped Classic Maya civilization.

Key battles and events: Caracol sack of Tikal (562 CE); Dos Pilas campaigns against Tikal (648–761 CE)

475 BC – 221 BC

Warring States Period

State of Qin vs States of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Wei & Han

Seven major Chinese states fought for supremacy over 250 years of escalating warfare, ending when the State of Qin conquered all rivals and unified China under the first imperial dynasty in 221 BC.

Key battles and events: Battle of Guiling (354 BC); Battle of Maling (342 BC)

480 BC – 307 BC

Sicilian Wars

Greek city-states of Sicily vs Carthage

A series of wars between Greek colonies in Sicily — led by Syracuse — and Carthage for control of the island. These conflicts shaped the western Mediterranean balance of power for two centuries before Rome's rise.

Key battles and events: Battle of Himera (480 BC); Siege of Syracuse (415-413 BC)

509 BC – 264 BC

Roman–Etruscan Wars

Roman Republic vs Etruscan city-states

Centuries of intermittent conflict between Rome and the Etruscan civilization. Rome's conquest of Veii in 396 BC was a turning point, and by 264 BC all Etruscan cities had been absorbed into the Roman state.

Key battles and events: Battle of the Cremera (477 BC); Siege of Veii (406–396 BC)

Macedon

Alexander the Great

356 BC – 323 BC

Undefeated military commander, conqueror of the Persian Empire, founder of over twenty cities

Greece

Aristotle

384 BC – 322 BC

Philosopher, scientist, tutor of Alexander the Great, founder of the Lyceum

Greece

Plato

c. 428 BC – c. 348 BC

Philosopher, founder of the Academy, author of the Republic and the Dialogues

Greece

Socrates

c. 470 BC – 399 BC

Philosopher, founder of Western ethics, inventor of the Socratic method

India

Chandragupta Maurya

c. 340 BC – c. 297 BC

Founding the Maurya Empire, unifying India, defeating Seleucus Nicator, Arthashastra statecraft

Built 331 BC · Africa

Alexandria

Mediterranean trading hub founded by Alexander the Great

Built 350 BC · Asia

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Elaborate tomb of Mausolus, destroyed by earthquakes

Built 400 BC · Africa

Axum

Ancient capital of the Aksumite Empire with towering obelisks

Built 400 BC · Africa

Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion

Most sacred site in Ethiopian Orthodoxy in Axum, claimed to house the Ark of the Covenant

Built 400 BC · Europe

Ostia Antica

Ancient Rome's main port city at the mouth of the Tiber, remarkably preserved with apartment blocks, baths, theaters, and vivid mosaics

Built 400 BC · Asia

Yoshinogari

Largest Yayoi-period settlement in Japan, a fortified moat-encircled village on Kyushu revealing early Japanese state formation

Macedon · Conqueror

Alexander the Great

Heir at 20. Pharaoh at 24. Master of Asia at 30. Dead at 32.

The king who conquered the known world before the age of thirty — from Macedonia to Egypt to the borders of India.

Greece · Philosopher

Aristotle

The Man Who Catalogued the World

The philosopher who catalogued the world — from logic to biology, politics to poetry. Plato's greatest student, Alexander's tutor, and the mind that shaped Western thought for two thousand years.

Greece · Philosopher

Plato

The Philosopher Who Invented the West

The philosopher who founded the Academy, wrote the Republic, and shaped every branch of Western thought for two and a half thousand years — from the streets of wartime Athens to the courts of Sicilian tyrants.

Greece · Philosopher

Socrates

The Man Who Knew Nothing

The stonemason’s son who never wrote a word, yet became the most influential philosopher in Western history — condemned to death by the democracy he loved for the crime of asking questions.