520s BC
Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC
Decades: 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC
Events
- 529 BC - Cambyses II succeeds his father Cyrus as ruler of Persia.
- 526 BC - Psammetichus III succeeds Amasis II as king of Egypt.
- 525 BC - Cambyses II, ruler of Persia, conquers Egypt. This is considered the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and the start of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty.
- 521 BC - Smerdis succeeds Cambyses II as ruler of Persia.
- 521 BC - Darius I succeeds Smerdis as ruler of Persia.
- 520 BC - Zhou dao wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China but dies before the end of the year.
- 520 BC - Cleomenes I succeeds Anaxandridas as king of Sparta. (approximate date).
Births
- 525 BC - Aeschylus, author of Greek tragedies (d. 456 BC)
- 522 BC - Pindar, Greek poet
Deaths
- 529 BC, July - Cyrus the Great, ruler of ancient Persia
- 527 BC - Pisistratus, Athenian general
- 525 BC - Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek philosopher (born 585 BC)
- 521 BC, March - Cambyses II, ruler of ancient Persia (suicide)
- 521 BC, October - Smerdis, ruler of ancient Persia