479 BC
Events
By place
In 479 BC, when Persian soldiers besieged the Greek city of Potidaea, the tide retreated much further than usual, leaving a convenient invasion route, but this was not a stroke of luck. Before they had crossed halfway, the water returned in a wave higher than anyone had ever seen, drowning the attackers. The Potiidaeans believed they had been saved by the wrath of Poseidon, but what really saved them was likely the same phenomenon that has destroyed countless others: a tsunami.Rome
The Roman consul Caeso Fabius proposed an agrarian law to distribute land won in recent wars amongst the plebs, but this was rejected by the senate. Ongoing hostilities between Rome and the Aequi. No major battle is fought. Ongoing hostilities between Rome and Veii. The family of the Fabii requests and is granted sole responsibility for the war, and the Fabii march from Rome, establishing a fortified camp at the Cremera.Deaths
August 27: Mardonius, Persian general Confucius, Chinese philosopher