The Revolt of Naxos crushed by Cimon during the expedition against the Persians.
Fall of the tyrants at Syracuse.
465. Murder of Xerxes I, by Artabanus, captain of his guard; accession of Artaxerxes I to the Persian throne.
464. Sparta destroyed by an earthquake which shook the whole of Laconia, opened great chasms in the ground, rolled down huge masses from the peaks of Taygetus, and threw Sparta into a heap of ruins. Not more than five houses are said to have remained standing. Twenty thousand persons lost their lives by the shock. The flower of the Spartan youth was slain by the overthrow of the building in which they were exercising.
464-455. The Messenian helots rise against the Spartans, taking advantage of the confusion caused by the earthquake. This was the beginning of the third Messenian war.
463. Mycenæ is reduced by the Argives, who enslave or drive away its inhabitants.
460. Birth of Hippocrates, in the island of Cos, who became known as the "Father of Medicine."
458.[E] Jews return from Babylonia to Jerusalem, under Ezra.
Esther, the Jewess, pleases King Ahasuerus and is made queen in place of Vashti. This was the origin of the Jewish festival of Purim, celebrated on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar (March).
Beginning of the Long Walls of Athens; built to protect the communication of the city with its port. One, four miles long, ran to the harbor of Phalerum, and others, four and one-half miles long, to the Piræus.