Copyright � 2000-2001 Kevin Wheeler
Here are the Greek battles done so far. Each page will have 2 or more battles chronicled to a length that I have chosen. More will be added in the near future of course! The use of exact dates is the main focus.
And fortunately now we can more easily pinpoint dates due to computer analysis of eclipse events. The ancients often recorded the events as they happened and seem to have been aware of long past eclipses. One important one was August 15, 310 BC. However they are specific dates given in ancient sources that cannot be proved since no eclipses occurred. The Grecian calendar was lunar and drifted out of exactitude with the seasons, but was always close within 15 days or so. The new year of the Athenians was supposed to, at least it seems to us, start on the first new moon (dark moon) after the summer solstice. Other greek calendars began at various times of the year. So the Athenian calendar seems to have been adjusted properly. However, for this problem, it is more acceptable to overlook calendar error since the ancients believed their dates were correct. In many cases the original ancient calendars (including the Roman one in the early period) was out by only a few weeks at most. And descriptions of weather, solstices and equinoxes also help. Important Greek dates are given in Plutarch's "Life of Camillus"
So far I have made it to the start of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC). Also I have been asked to hurry this site up, so I will post the list of my unexplained battles with their dates. Thats what the site is about, enjoy!