The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of successive empires. The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the rise of Hellenism. The close of the millennium sees the rise of the Roman Empire. In South Asia, the Vedic civilization blends into the Maurya Empire. The early Celts dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. The Scythians dominate Central Asia. In China, Spring and Autumn Period sees the rise of Confucianism. Towards the close of the millennium, the Han Dynasty extends Chinese power towards Central Asia, where it borders on Indo-Greek and Iranian states. The Maya civilization rises in Central America. The religions of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism (Vedic religion and Vedanta), Jainism and Buddhism develop. Graeco-Roman Europe, India and China see the rise of literature. World population triples in the course of the millennium, reaching some 170 million people at its close.

Events

• The Iron Age spreads to Western Europe
• Egypt declined as a major power
• The Tanakh was written
• Buddhism was founded by Siddharta Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (6th century BC)
• Jainism was founded by Mahavira (6th century BC)
• Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and created the Persian Empire (6th century BC)
• Sparta and Athens fought the Peloponnesian War
• Darius the Great expanded the Persian Empire to its greatest reach, which extended from Greece, down towards Egypt, and east towards Pakistan (5th century BC)
• Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire (4th century BC)
• Hellenic Greek culture spread through the Mediterranean
• Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan Empire (4th century BC)
• Ashoka the Great expanded the Mauryan Empire to its greatest extent, after conquering most of the Indian subcontinent along with Afghanistan (3rd century BC)
• China was unified under the Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC)
• Celts invaded Western Europe
• The Roman Republic is established
• Rome and Carthage fought the Punic wars
• The Maya civilisation began

Significant persons

• David, Israelite king
• Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism
• Mahavira, founder of Jainism (6th century BC)
• Gautama Buddha, Hindu prince, founder of Buddhism (6th century BC)
• Lao Zi, Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism (6th century BC)
• Confucius, Chinese philosopher (6th century BC)
• Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire (6th century BC)
• Darius the Great, ruler of the Persian Empire (5th century BC)
• Pānini, Indian Sanskrit grammarian, world's first known linguist, considered the father of computing machines (7th-4th century BC)
• Homer, Greek poet (6th-3rd century BC)
• Isaiah, Hebrew prophet
• Jeremiah, Hebrew prophet
• Ezekiel, Hebrew prophet
• Pericles, Athenian statesman
• Socrates, Greek philosopher
• Plato, Greek philosopher
• Aristotle, Greek philosopher
• Alexander the Great, Macedonian conqueror (4th century BC)
• Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan empire (4th century BC)
• Ashoka the Great, ruler of the Mauryan empire (3rd century BC)
• Pingala, Indian mathematician, inventor of the binary number system and the concept of zero
• Qin Shihuang, first emperor of China (3rd century BC)
• Euclid, Alexandrian mathematician
• Archimedes, Greek scientist
• Cicero, Latin orator and philosopher
• Julius Caesar, Roman conqueror and dictator (c. 100 BC-44 BC)
• Virgil, Latin poet

Inventions, Discoveries, Introductions

• Iron use becomes widespread
• Buoyancy principle is discovered
• Geometry is developed
• Pythagorean theorem proved
• Eratosthenes proves that the earth is a sphere and estimates its diameter.
• The Phoenicians propagate the phonetic alphabet in the Mediterranean
• Many major religious and philosophical viewpoints are created, further explored or codified

Cultural landmarks

• The Axial Age (8th century BC - 2nd century BC), according to the theory of Karl Jaspers

Centuries and Decades

Millennia | 1st millennium BC

Iañ milved kt JK | 1 хилядолетие пр.н.е. | Mil·lenni I aC | 1. årtusinde f.Kr. | 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. | 1. aastatuhat eKr | 1η χιλιετία π.Χ. | I milenio adC | K. a. 1. milurtekoa | هزاره ۱ (پیش از میلاد) | Ier millénaire av. J.-C. | I millennio a.C. | 1. Joerdausend v. Chr. | 1 tūkstantmetis pr. m. e. | I. e. 1. évezred | 紀元前1千年紀 | 1. årtusen f.Kr. | I tysiąclecie p.n.e. | Primeiro milénio a.C. | Mileniul I î.Hr. | 1 тысячелетие до н. э. | 0000-talet f.Kr. (millennium) | Unang milenyo BC | MA 1. meñyıllıq | 前1千年