Year by year · 6th century BCE

585 BCE

585 BCE in world history: 4 events. 295 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 28 May

    Solar eclipse halts a battle between Lydia and Media

    According to Herodotus, day turned to night during a battle on the Halys river, and the armies made peace. Astronomers date the eclipse to 28 May 585 BCE, one of the earliest precisely dated events.

    HerodotusLydia

  2. 13 September

    Tarquinius Priscus celebrates a triumph over the Sabines

    Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, by Roman tradition the fifth king of Rome, celebrated a triumph after defeating the Sabines, who ceded the town of Collatia in the peace that followed. The story belongs to the semi-legendary period before the Republic.

    Tarquinius PriscusRoman triumph
ProfileState249 states with a known seat in 585 BCEOpen the atlas at 585 BCE →

In the profiles

  • Median EmpireWar with Lydia ends after the battle of the eclipse, fixing the Halys River frontier
  • Kingdom of LydiaAn eclipse ends the war with Media; the Halys becomes the frontier

All years → The 6th century BCE →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 585 BCE. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/585-bce
MLA
“585 BCE.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/585-bce. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “585 BCE.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/585-bce.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘585 BCE’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/585-bce (Accessed: ).