6th century BC
(7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC - other centuries)
(600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - other decades)
(2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD)
Events:
- Persians conquer Ancient Egypt, dominate eastern Mediterranean.
- Carthage's merchant empire slowly dominates the western Mediterranean
- Roman Republic founded
- Ruin of the Kingdom of Judah and the destruction of the First Temple (586 BC), return of the Jews several decades later.
- Buddha founds Buddhism in India. It became a major world religion.
- Dao de jing written (traditional date)
- Confucius formulates his ethical system of Confucianism, which proved highly influential in China
- Buddha
- Confucius
- Cyrus the Great king of Persia
- Thales Greek mathematician. has predicted an eclipse
- Pythagoras, Greek mathematician. See Pythagorean Theorem
