491 BC

Centuries:	6th century BC · 5th century BC · 4th century BC
Decades:	520s BC 510s BC 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC
Years:	494 BC 493 BC 492 BC 491 BC 490 BC 489 BC 488 BC

[edit] Events

The Greek city of Aegina, fearing the loss of trade, submits to Persia. The Spartan king, Cleomenes I tries to punish Aegina for its submission to the Persians, but the other Spartan king, Demaratus, thwarts him.
Cleomenes I engineers the deposing of Spartan co-ruler Demaratus (and his replacement by Cleomenes’ cousin Leotychides) by bribing the oracle at Delphi to announce that this action was divine will. The two Spartan kings successfully capture the Persian collaborators in Aegina.

The construction begins of a relief in the Apadana, a ceremonial complex at Persepolis. The relief pictures Darius and Xerxes I receiving tribute and is now displayed in the Iranbustan Museum in Teheran.

Hippocrates, Tyrant of Gela, loses his life in a battle against the Siculi, the native Sicilian people. He is succeeded as Tyrant of Gela by Gelo, who had been his commander of cavalry.

During a famine in Rome, Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus advises that the people should not receive grain unless they would consent to the abolition of the office of tribune. For this, the tribunes have him condemned to exile. Coriolanus then takes refuge with the King of the Volsci and leads the Volscian army against Rome, turning back only in response to entreaties from his mother and his wife.

Burn, A.R., "The Pelican History of Greece", Penguin Books, England, 1987.
Hornblower, S. & Spawforth, T., ed. "Who's Who in the Classical World", Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000.
Mellersh, H.E.L., "Chronology of the Ancient World", Barrie & Jenkins, London, 1976.
Trager, J., "The People's Chronology", Aurum Press, London, 1992.
Sinnigen, W.G. & Boak, A.E.R., "A History of Rome to A.D. 565, MacMillan Publishing Co., New York, 1977.