阳金猴年 (male Iron-
Monkey) −353 or −734 or −1506 — to — 阴金鸡年 (female Iron-
Rooster) −352 or −733 or −1505
Year 480 BC was a year of the
pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Cincinnatus (or, less frequently, year 274 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 480 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the
Anno Dominicalendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Events
By place
Greece
May – King Xerxes I of Persia marches from Sardis and onto Thrace and Macedonia.
The Greek congress decides to send a force of 10,000 Greeks, including hoplites and cavalry, to the
Vale of Tempe, through which they believe the Persian army will pass. The force includes
Lacedaemonians led by Euanetos and
Athenians under
Themistocles. Warned by
Alexander I of Macedon that the vale can be bypassed elsewhere and that the army of Xerxes is overwhelming, the Greeks decide not to try to hold there and vacate the vale.
August 20 or
September 8-10 – The
Battle of Thermopylae ends in victory for the
Persians under Xerxes. His army engulfs a force of 300
Spartans and 700
Thespiae under the
Spartan King,
Leonidas I. The
Greeks under Leonidas resist the advance through
Thermopylae of Xerxes' vast army. For two days Leonidas and his troops withstand the
Persian attacks; he then orders most of his troops to retreat, and he and his 300-member royal guard fight to the last man.
King
Alexander I of Macedon is obliged to accompany Xerxes in a campaign through
Greece, though he secretly aids the Greek allies. With Xerxes' apparent acquiescence, Alexander seizes the Greek
colony of
Pydna and advances his frontiers eastward to the
Strymon, taking in
Crestonia and
Bisaltia, along with the rich silver deposits of Mount Dysorus.
August – The
Persians achieve a naval victory over the
Greeks in an
engagement fought near
Artemisium, a promontory on the north coast of
Euboea. The Greek fleet holds its own against the
Persians in three days of fighting but withdraws southward when news comes of the defeat at
Thermopylae.
September 22 – The
Battle of Salamis brings victory to the
Greeks, whose
Athenian general
Themistocles lures the
Persians into the Bay of Salamis, between the
Athenian port-city of
Piraeus and the island of
Salamis. The Greek
triremes then attack furiously, ramming or sinking many
Persianvessels and boarding others. The
Greeks sink about 200
Persianvessels while losing only about 40 of their own. The rest of the
Persian fleet is scattered, and as a result Xerxes has to postpone his planned land offensives for a year, a delay that gives the Greek city-states time to unite against him.
Aeschylus fights on the winning side.
An eclipse of the sun discourages the Greek army from following up the victory of
Salamis. Xerxes returns to
Persia leaving behind an army under
Mardonius, which winters in
Thessaly.
Rome
The Romans achieve a significant
victory against
Veii after a close-fought battle. Tensions between the Roman classes flare during the battle.
Quintus Fabius and the consul
Manlius perish in the fighting.
Xerxes encourages the Carthaginians to attack the Greeks in Sicily. Under the Carthaginian military leader,
Hamilcar,
Carthage sends across a large army.
The Greek city of
Himera in
Sicily, in its quarrel with
Akragas, enlists Carthaginian support. With the help of
Gelo, the
tyrant of
Syracusae, and Theron of Akragas, the Carthaginians are defeated in the
Battle of Himera. After the defeat, Hamilcar kills himself.
Persian empire
The Imperial treasury at the
Persepolis Palace is completed after a building time of thirty years.