0080 BC-01-01 00:00:00

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

"Those who relied only upon theories and scholarship were obviously hunting the shadow, not the substance"

0338-01-06 00:00:00

Xenocrates becomes head of Plato's Academy

Xenocrates was head of the Academy for 25 years. He is credited with systematizing and disseminating Plato's teachings.

0387 BC-01-12 15:13:13

Plato opens Academy

After visiting several Greek colonies, Plato returns to Athens and founds his school in the grove of Academus.

0393 BC-11-08 13:03:44

Isocrates Opens School of Rhetoric

Isocrates' formal school pre-dates Plato's Academy and the Lyceum; here students learned rhetorical methods in preparation for political life.

0412 BC-11-01 17:38:37

OLIGARCHIC REVOLUTION

Today we see Athens as notable due to the fact that it was the first modern democracy; however, this democracy was far from the robust, firmly-established government system we think of today. Instead, the early days of democracy were marked by uncertainty. Could popular rule effectively administer the necessary functions of a state in extreme circumstances?

0415-09-04 21:02:40

Hypatia of Alexandria Murdered

0425 BC-10-13 00:00:00

Aristophanes begins career

Aristophanes, Athens' most popular comic playwright, pens the only Greek comedies surviving in full today.

0427 BC-01-01 00:00:00

Gorgias and Tisias Travel to Athens

Political tensions build in Sicily. Athenian-supported, democratic Leontini and Corinth-supported, oligarchic Syracuse are odds. Sicilian embassy is sent: Gorgias (of Leontini) and Tisias (of Syracuse) travel to Athens ... bringing sophistic rhetoric with them.

0430 BC-01-01 00:00:00

Pericles Delivers "Funeral Oration"

Military and political leader commemorates the dead, calls the living to action

0475 BC-01-01 15:56:21

The Warring State Period of Ancient China Begins

A golden age when hundreds of philosophy ideas and thoughts presented and discussed

0534 BC-03-01 00:00:00

Athenian Government Offers Prize for the City Dionysia

The Athenian government decides to reward a prize to the playwright of the best tragedy, altering the City Dionysia in a substantial way, and providing a platform for men like Euripides.

0551 BC-07-12 21:28:00

Confucius begins to teach

Confucius (551 – 479 BC) was a great Chinese educator, thinker, politician, philosopher, and founder of the Ru School of thought. The teachings of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, social relationship, justice and sincerity. These thoughts later further developed into a system of thoughts known as Confucianism. Many people compare Confucius’ influence in Chinese culture and history with the influence of Socrates in Western civilization. Confucius begins to teach at the age of 22 and it is believed that his own private school when he opens at the age of 30 is the earliest private educational institution in Chinese history. According to Lee (1977), given the highly hierarchical educational system in that period of time, one of the greatest educational contributions Confucius has made is that he absorbs students from different walks of life no matter whether they are from nobles or ordinary people. Confucius teaches his students “six arts” at school, which include: rites, music, archery, charioteering, reading and writing (with an emphasis on the beauty of writing form and poetry writing), and mathematics. Confucius’ rhetorical perspectives are deeply influenced by his philosophical views which emphasize morality and ethics. He sees the practice of rhetoric as a means of reconstructing an orderly and harmonious society. Reference “Confucius”. Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius Cho, Jai Hee. A Study of Contrastive Rhetoric between East Asian and North American Cultures as Demonstrated through Student Expository Essays from Korea and the United States. http://faculty.fullerton.edu/jcho/chapter2.htm Lee, Cyrus. “A Short History of State Higher Education in China.” In Chinese History Vol. 1: General and Ancient History, edited by Kuei-yung Chang 59-74. Taipei: China Academy. 1977 Lu, Xing. Rhetoric in Ancient China, Fifth to Third Century B.C.E.: A Comparison with Classical Greek Rhetoric. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. 1997. Print. “Six Arts”. Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Arts

0594 BC-11-01 00:00:00

Solon gets appointed Eponymous Archon

Solon being appointed mediator of warring upper and lower classes is considered the catalyst of democracy and political discourse in Athens

0600 BC-01-01 00:00:00

Siddhartha Gautauma, The Buddha, is Born, Receives Enlightenment, and Dies

Reported to have lived eighty years, the legacy of The Buddha's ideas continue to resonate in Buddhist rhetoric and religion.

0621 BC-10-09 09:05:43

Draco Establishes Written Laws

When he wrote the first constitution for Athens, Draco inadvertently established a system that relied on judicial rhetoric.

0776 BC-08-11 07:18:14

First Olympic Games

The first Olympic Games developed slowly from humble origins, but were a critically important touchstone in Greek culture and history.

0850 BC-01-01 07:18:14

Homer

Biographical info, secondary scholarship on Homeric Rhetoric, and consideration of Homer as one of our field's founders.

1045 BC-01-01 07:18:14

The Earliest Poems in the Book of Songs Were Composed

The Book of Songs is one of the earliest classics for rhetorical research for over three millennia.

1170-01-01 00:00:00

China's First Systematization of Writing "Rules"

Chen Kui composes "The Rules of Writing," considered the first recorded systematic approach to written composition in China.

1200 BC-08-11 07:18:14

Adbuction of Helen / Trojan War

Helen, deemed the most beautiful woman on Earth, is abducted by Paris of Troy, sparking the Trojan War.