BC: Sardis sacked by Athenian and Ionian troops. 498 BC: Leontini subjugated by Hippocrates of Gela. 498 BC: Alexander I succeeds his father Amyntas I as king of Macedon. 496 BC: Battle of Lake Regillus: A legendary early Roman victory, won over either the Etruscans or the Latins. 496 BC: Sophocles is born. 495 BC: Temple to Mercury on the Circus Maximus in Rome is built. 494 BC: The Battle of Lade, where Persians take back Ionia. 494 BC: Two tribunes of the plebs and two plebeian aediles are elected for the first time in Rome: the office of the tribunate is established. 494 BC: The year Rome changed from an Aristocratic Republic to a Liberalized Republic. 493 BC: Piraeus, the port town of Athens, is founded. 493 BC: Coriolanus captures the Volscian town of Corioli for Rome. 492 BC: First expedition of King Darius I of Persia against Greece, under the leadership of his son-in-law Mardonius. This marks the start of the campaign that culminated in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. 492 BC: Ajatashartu overthrows his father Bimbisara to become king of Magadha. 491 BC: Leotychidas succeeds his cousin Demaratus as king of Sparta. 491 BC: Gelo becomes Tyrant of Gela. 490 BC: The Battle of Marathon, where Darius I of Persia is defeated by the Athenians and Plataeans under Miltiades 490 BC: Phidippides runs 40 kilometers from Marathon to Athens to announce the news of the Greek victory; origin of the marathon long-distance race. 480s BC 489 BC: Cities of Rhodes unite and start construction of the new city of Rhodes. 488 BC: Leonidas I succeeds his brother Cleomenes I as king of Sparta after Cleomenes is judged insane. 487 BC: Egypt revolts against the Persians. 487 BC: Aegina and Athens go to war. 487 BC: Athenian Archonship becomes elective by lot, an important milestone in the move towards radical Athenian democracy. 487 BC: Siaspiqa becomes ruler of the Kushite kingdom of Meroe. 486 BC: First part of the Grand Canal of China is built. 486 BC: Xerxes I succeeds Darius I as Great King of Persia. 486 BC: Egypt revolts against Persian rule. 486 BC: First Buddhist Council at Rejgaha, under the patronage of King Ajatashatru. Oral tradition established for the first time. 484 BC: Athenian playwright Aeschylus wins a poetry prize. 484 BC: Xerxes I abolishes the Kingdom of Babel and removes the golden