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| Millennia: | 1st millennium BC |
| Centuries: | 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC |
| Decades: | 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC 520s BC 510s BC |
| Years: | 549 BC 548 BC 547 BC 546 BC 545 BC 544 BC 543 BC 542 BC 541 BC 540 BC |
| Categories: | Births - Deaths - State leaders - Sovereign states Establishments - Disestablishments |
Events and trends
- 546 BC — Croesus, Lydian king, is defeated by Cyrus of Persia near the River Halys.
- 546 BC — Cyrus of Persia completes his conquest of Lydia, and makes Pasargadae his capital.
- 546 BC — Cyrus the Great establishes a garrison in Sardis and incorporates the Greek cities of Ionia in Asia Minor into Persian Empire. Thus he gains the important ports that look out to the Mediterranean world.
- 544 BC — People of Teos migrate to Abdera, Thrace to escape the yoke of Persia.
- 544 BC — Zhou Jing Wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
- 543 BC — North Indian Prince Vijaya invades Ceylon and establishes a Sri Lankan dynasty.
- 543 BC — Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, purifies the island of Delos (approximate date).
- 543 BC — Guided by the Chinese statesman Zi Chan, the State of Zheng institutes a formal code of law.
- c. 543 BC — Buddha dies
- 540 BC — Cyrus the Great attacked Babylonia.
- 540 BC — Greek city of Elea of southern Italy founded (approximate date).
- 540 BC — Persians conquer Lycian city of Xanthos now in southern Turkey (approximate date).
- c. 540 BC — Amasis Painter makes Dionysos with maenads, black-figure decoration on an amphora. It is now at Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris.
- c. 540 BC — Exekias makes The suicide of Ajax, black-figure decoration on a amphora. It is now at Chateau-Musee, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Significant people
- 549 BC — Birth of Darius I
- 547 BC — Death of Croesus?
- 546 BC — Death of Anaximander, Greek philosopher (approximate date)
- 545 BC — Death of Zhou ling wang, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China
- 544 BC — Birth of Sun Tzu
- 543 BC — Death of Gautama Buddha (traditional in Thailand and elsewhere — basis of the Thai solar calendar)
- 543 BC — Death of Thales, Greek philosopher
- 540 BC — Amyntas I becomes king of Macedonia (approximate date)
- Amasis Painter, Greek painter
- Exekias, Greek painter
