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518 BCE

This year falls in the Iron Age (c. 1200–500 BCE). Iron tools and weapons spread, and new powers rise, among them Assyria, Babylon, the Zhou dynasty in China and the Greek city-states. Alphabets and coined money spread, and the Persian Empire is founded in the sixth century BCE.

Within fifteen years

Philosopher · Classical antiquity · ItalyParmenidesc. 515–c. 450 BCGreek thinker of Elea in southern Italy who argued, against the senses, that being is one, whole, and unchanging. His poem On Nature survives in large fragments. He lived about 515 to 450 BC and founded the Eleatic school.

Ruler · Iron Age · IranDarius Ir. 522–486 BCKing of Persia from 522 to 486 BC, who organized the empire Cyrus founded into a working state. He divided it into satrapies, built the Royal Road, and raised Persepolis. His reign saw the first clashes with mainland Greece, including the Persian defeat at Marathon in 490 BC.

Civilization · Classical antiquity · Roman RepublicRoman Republic509–27 BCEThe Roman Republic grew from a city state into the master of the Mediterranean. Its system of consuls, Senate, and assemblies balanced power for centuries. Civil wars destroyed it, and Augustus made himself emperor in 27 BCE.