View source for 480 BC

=== By place ===

==== Greece ====
* May &ndash; King Xerxes I of Persia marches from Sardis and onto Thrace and Macedonia.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* The Greek congress decides to send a force of 10,000 Greeks, including hoplites and cavalry, to the [[Vale of Tempe]], through which they believe the Persian army will pass. The force includes [[Lacedaemon]]ians led by Euanetos and [[Athens|Athenians]] under [[Themistocles]]. Warned by [[Alexander I of Macedon]] that the vale can be bypassed elsewhere and that the army of Xerxes is overwhelming, the Greeks decide not to try to hold there and vacate the vale.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* [[August 20]] or [[September 8]]-10 &ndash; The [[Battle of Thermopylae]] ends in victory for the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] under Xerxes. His army engulfs a force of 300 [[Sparta]]ns and 700 [[Thespiae]] under the [[Sparta]]n King, [[Leonidas I]]. The [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] under Leonidas resist the advance through [[Thermopylae]] of Xerxes' vast army. For two days Leonidas and his troops withstand the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] attacks; he then orders most of his troops to retreat, and he and his 300-member royal guard fight to the last man.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* [[Pausanias the Regent|Pausanias]] becomes regent for King Leonidas' son, [[Pleistarchus]], after [[Leonidas I]] is killed at [[Thermopylae]]. Pausanias is a member of the [[Kings of Sparta|Agiad]] royal family, the son of King [[Cleombrotus (regent)|Cleombrotus]] and nephew of Leonidas.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* [[Phocis]] and the coasts of [[Euboea]] are devastated by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]]. [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] and most of [[Boeotia]] join Xerxes.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* King [[Alexander I of Macedon]] is obliged to accompany Xerxes in a campaign through [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], though he secretly aids the Greek allies. With Xerxes' apparent acquiescence, Alexander seizes the Greek [[colony]] of [[Pydna]] and advances his frontiers eastward to the [[Struma River|Strymon]], taking in [[Crestonia]] and [[Bisaltia]], along with the rich silver deposits of Mount Dysorus.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* The [[Athens|Athenian]] [[soldier]] and [[wikt:statesman|statesman]], [[Aristides]], as well as the former [[Athens|Athenian]] [[archon]] [[Xanthippus]], return from banishment in [[Aegina]] to serve under [[Themistocles]] against the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* August &ndash; The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] achieve a naval victory over the [[Greeks]] in an [[Battle of Artemisium|engagement]] fought near [[Artemisium]], a promontory on the north coast of [[Euboea]]. The Greek fleet holds its own against the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] in three days of fighting but withdraws southward when news comes of the defeat at [[Thermopylae]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* Breaking through the pass at [[Thermopylae]] from [[Macedon]]ia into [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] occupy [[Attica]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* [[September 21]] &ndash; The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] sack [[Athens]], whose citizens flee to [[Salamis Island|Salamis]] and then [[Peloponnese|Peloponnesus]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* [[September 22]] &ndash; The [[Battle of Salamis]] brings victory to the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]], whose [[Athens (polis)|Athenian]] general [[Themistocles]] lures the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] into the Bay of Salamis, between the [[Athens|Athenian]] port-city of [[Piraeus]] and the island of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]]. The Greek [[trireme]]s then attack furiously, ramming or sinking many [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] [[Ship|vessels]] and boarding others. The [[Greeks]] sink about 200 [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] [[Ship|vessels]] while losing only about 40 of their own. The rest of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] fleet is scattered, and as a result Xerxes has to postpone his planned land offensives for a year, a delay that gives the Greek city-states time to unite against him. [[Aeschylus]] fights on the winning side.
* An eclipse of the sun discourages the Greek army from following up the victory of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]]. Xerxes returns to [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] leaving behind an army under [[Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)|Mardonius]], which winters in [[Thessaly]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}

==== Rome ====
* The Romans achieve a significant [[Roman–Etruscan Wars#The Fabian war with Veii in 483-476 BC|victory]] against [[Veii]] after a close-fought battle.  Tensions between the Roman classes flare during the battle.  [[Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (consul 485 BC)|Quintus Fabius]] and the consul [[Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus|Manlius]] perish in the fighting.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* The tribune [[Titus Pontificius]] unsuccessfully advocates an [[agrarian law]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}

==== Sicily ====
* Xerxes encourages the Carthaginians to attack the Greeks in Sicily. Under the Carthaginian military leader, [[Hamilcar]], [[Carthage]] sends across a large army.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
* The Greek city of [[Himera]] in [[Sicily]], in its quarrel with [[Agrigento|Akragas]], enlists Carthaginian support. With the help of [[Gelo]], the [[tyrant]] of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracusae]], and Theron of Akragas, the Carthaginians are defeated in the [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera]]. After the defeat, Hamilcar kills himself.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}

==== Persian empire ====
* The Imperial treasury at the [[Persepolis]] Palace is completed after a building time of thirty years.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}