Western Civilisation

From Athens to the Modern World

Much of the modern world was built on what grew out of Europe over nearly three thousand years. It started with three big things: reason from Athens, law from Rome and faith from Jerusalem.

  1. Ancient Greece

    c. 800 to 323 BC

    In the city-states of Greece, citizens started having a real say in how they were governed, and thinkers asked what makes a good life and a fair society. Western philosophy, history writing and theatre all trace back to here.

    c. 750 BC
    Homer’s great poems take shape
    508/7 BC
    Cleisthenes lays the groundwork for democracy in Athens
    480 BC
    The Greeks beat the Persian fleet at Salamis
    c. 387 BC
    Plato sets up his Academy in Athens

  2. The Glory of Rome

    509 BC to AD 476

    Rome was tough, practical and well organised. Its republic inspired later constitutions, its law became the backbone of law across much of Europe, and its roads and its language, Latin, tied a huge empire together.

    509 BC
    Traditional date for the start of the Roman Republic
    c. 450 BC
    The Twelve Tables put Roman law in writing for all to see
    27 BC
    Augustus becomes Rome’s first emperor
    AD 476
    The last Western Roman emperor is removed from power

  3. The Christian Faith

    c. AD 30 to 430

    Growing out of Judaism, Christianity taught that every person is made in the image of God. As it spread through the Roman world, it gave the West its ideas about charity, conscience and the worth of every human life.

    c. AD 30
    Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem
    AD 313
    The Edict of Milan lets Christians worship freely
    AD 325
    Church leaders meet at Nicaea to settle core beliefs
    AD 426
    Augustine finishes The City of God

  4. The Early Middle Ages

    c. 500 to 1000

    As Roman rule faded in the West, monks kept learning alive by copying out old books. In the East, the Byzantine Empire held on to Roman law and Greek learning, while new kingdoms took shape across Europe.

    c. 530s
    Benedict writes his rulebook for monks
    AD 534
    Emperor Justinian issues his revised code of Roman law
    AD 800
    Charlemagne is crowned emperor in Rome

  5. The High Middle Ages

    c. 1000 to 1300

    Europe built its great cathedrals, opened its first universities and established a big idea that has lasted ever since: even a king has to obey the law.

    1088
    Traditional founding date of the University of Bologna
    1215
    King John puts his seal to Magna Carta
    1265
    Simon de Montfort’s parliament includes town representatives
    c. 1265–74
    Thomas Aquinas writes the Summa Theologiae

  6. The Renaissance

    c. 1300 to 1600

    Scholars and artists went back to the Greek and Roman classics and created some of the finest art the world has seen. Then the printing press put books within reach of far more people than ever before.

    1436
    Brunelleschi completes the great dome of Florence
    c. 1455
    Gutenberg prints his Bible
    1512
    Michelangelo finishes the Sistine Chapel ceiling

  7. Reformation and Exploration

    c. 1500 to 1650

    Reformers put the Bible into everyday language and stood up for individual conscience. At the same time, European sailors crossed the world’s oceans and linked its continents as never before.

    1517
    Martin Luther puts forward his Ninety-five Theses
    1522
    Magellan’s expedition, led home by Elcano, finishes the first voyage around the world
    1611
    The King James Bible is published

  8. Science and Enlightenment

    c. 1543 to 1800

    Careful observation showed that nature follows laws, while new ideas about limited government, free markets and individual rights changed politics for good. Edmund Burke reminded people that freedom depends on institutions handed down over generations.

    1543
    Copernicus argues that the Earth goes around the Sun
    1687
    Newton publishes his Principia, setting out the laws of motion
    1689
    England’s Bill of Rights becomes law
    1776
    America declares independence and Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
    1790
    Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France

  9. Industry, Freedom and Reform

    1800 to 1914

    Steam power, better medicine and schooling changed everyday life. Driven by faith and conscience, campaigners fought to end slavery, and more people won the vote. Australia was among the world’s democratic pioneers.

    1807
    Britain bans its slave trade
    1833
    Britain passes the law abolishing slavery across most of its empire
    1856
    Victoria and South Australia bring in the secret ballot
    1894
    South Australian women win the right to vote and stand for parliament
    1901
    Australia becomes a nation at Federation

  10. War and Victory

    1914 to 1991

    Two world wars, along with Nazism and communism, both of which began in Europe, brought the West to its lowest point. Free nations stood firm, won through and went on to put people on the Moon.

    1915
    The Anzacs land at Gallipoli
    1945
    Allied victory ends the Second World War
    1969
    Apollo 11 puts the first people on the Moon
    1989
    The Berlin Wall comes down
    1991
    The Soviet Union collapses

The Inheritance

Like all of human history, this story includes conquest, slavery and cruelty. But it also gave the world parliaments, the rule of law, modern science and the belief that every person matters. And by those same standards, the West learned to own up to its mistakes and fix them.

That inheritance was hard won. It’s now up to us to know it, defend it and pass it on.

“…a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”Edmund Burke, 1790