In the year of the world 2519, the first ship that appeared in Greece was brought from Egypt by Danaus, who arrived at Rhodes, and brought with him his fifty daughters.

The first Olympic games were celebrated at Olympia, in Greece, A. M. 2551.

The year following, the five firft books of Mofes, (called the Pentateuch) were written in the land of Moab, where he died foon after, aged

FIO.

In 2806, Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, was carried away by Paris, which, in 2811, gave rife to the Trojan war, and fiege of Troy by the Greeks, which continued ten years, when that city was taken and burnt.

In the year of the world 3000, the magnificent temple of Solomon, at Jerufalem, was finished

CHAP. LXVI.

MEMORABLE EVENTS FROM THE BUILDING OF

THE TEMPLE, TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

A.M.

3097

HOMER, the first profane writer and Greek poet, flourished. Hefiod, another famous Grecian poet, is fuppofed to have been nearly cotemporary with Homer. 3110 Money was first made of gold and filver at Argos.

3135 The city of Carthage, in Africa, was founded by queen Dido.

3251 The city of Rome, in Italy, was built by Romulus, first king of the Romans.

3284 The first eclipfe of the moon on record. 3404 Thales of Miletus travelled into Egypt, confulted the priests of Memphis, acquired the knowledge of geometry, astronomy and philofophy; returned to Greece, calculated eclipfes, gave general notions of the univerfe, and maintained that one fupreme intelligence regulates all its motions. Maps, globes, and the figns of the Zodiac, were, about this time, invented by Anaxamander, the scholar of Thales.

Sappho,

A.M.

Sappho, the Greek lyric poetefs, flourished at the fame period.

3442 The first comedy at Athens, was acted upon a moveable scaffold.

3470 The first tragedy was acted at Athens, on a waggon, by Thespis.

3507 Pythagoras, the founder of the Pythagorean philofophy in Greece, flourished; with whom Anacreon, the Greek lyric poet, was nearly contemporary.

3518 Æfchylus, the Greek tragic poet, first gained the prize of tragedy.

3569 Pindar, the Greek lyric poet, lived; and not many years after, flourished Herodotus, the first writer of profane history.

3604 Socrates, the founder of moral philosophy among the Greeks, who believed the immortality of the foul, a future ftate of rewards and punishments, and other fublime doctrines, was put to death by the Athenians. Of this, however, they foon repented, and erected to his memory a statue of brafs.

Confucius, the Chinese philofopher, lived at the fame time; and Thucydides, the Greek hiftorian, about ten years after.

A. M.

3645 Xenophon, the Greek philosopher and historian, flourished; and Plato, the disciple of Socrates, was almost contemporary with

him.

3673 Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, conquered Darius, king of Perfia, and other

nations of Afia. In 3681, he died at Babylon, and his empire was divided by his generals into four kingdoms.

3681 Demofthenes, the Athenian orator, poisoned himself.

3720 Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, employed seventy-two interpreters to translate

the Old Teftament into the Greek language, which is called the Septuagint.

3727 Theocritus, the firft Greek paftoral poet; Euclid, of Alexandria, in Egypt, the mathematician; and Epicurus, founder of the Epicurean philofophy in Greece, rendered themselves famous by their writings.

3796 Archimedes, the Greek geometrician, flourifhed.

3845 Terence of Carthage, the Latin comic poet, acquired great renown; as did alfo Diogenes, of Babylon, the ftoic philofopher. 3858 Carthage, the rival of Rome, was levelled with the ground.

3880 Poly

A. M,

3880 Polybius, of Greece, the Greek and Roman historian, published his much esteemed productions.

3952 Julius Cæfar made his first expedition into Britain; and five years after the battle of Pharfalia between Cæfar and Pompey was fought, in which the latter was defeated. 3953 Lucretius, the Roman poet, flourished. 3957 The Alexandrian library, confifting of 400,000 valuable books, was burnt by accident.

3959 The war of Africa happened, in which Cato killed himfelf. The folar year was alfo introduced by Cæfar.

3960 Cæfar, the greatest of the Roman conquerors, after having fought fifty pitched battles, and flain more than a million of men, and overturned the liberties of his country, was killed in the fenate house.

Diodorus Siculus, of Greece, the univerfal hiftorian, and Vitruvius, the Roman architect, lived at the fame time.

3960 Cicero, the Roman orator and philofopher, was put to death.

Cornelius Nepos, the

Roman biographer, publifhed his lives of

eminent men.

3970 Salluft, the Roman hiftorian, published his

elegant productions. His hiftory of Cati

line's confpiracy is admirably well written. 3973 The

G 6