Rivalries in history

-----Rivalries in history-----

Cities, States, Kingdoms, and Superpowers have always competed with one another for dominance and power. 

From the origins to 1 AD

* I have not included India in this list, for I have already given an account in one of my older posts

Early dynastic Mesopotamia (2800-2200 BCE) : The city-states of Sumer : Ur, Uruk, Lagash, and Kish became warring states

Early dynastic Egypt (3000-2700 BCE) : Upper Egypt (Nile Valley) and Lower Egypt (Nile Delta) fought wars, with one king wearing the blue crown and the other, white crown. 

  Minoa Vs Myceane (2500-1420 BCE) : Two civilisations sprouted south of Greece in the Mediterranean and Myceane displaced the Minoan civilisation of Crete.

Egypt Vs Hyksos (1700-1500 BCE) : From the North, the Hyksos attacked Egypt and brought a period called the 'Second Intermediate Period'.

Egypt Vs Hittites (1600-1000 BCE) : From the North-East frontiers of Egypt, the Hittites attacked from Hatti and disrupted the rule of the Egyptian Pharoahs.

Assyria Vs Babylon  (900-700 BCE) : Assyria and Babylonia, both in Mesopotamia fought wars against one another.

Assyria Vs Media (620-600 BCE) : The bitter hatred between the Medians of Iran and Assyrians of Northern Mesopotamia brought them into conflict until Cyaxares of Media went into alliance with Babylon and other powers. Assyria finally fell and Babylonian Chaldeans took their place.

Neo-Babylonians (Chaldeans) Vs Media (625-550 BCE) : For a short period, Babylonia was the most powerful empire and Media was also ruled by powerful kings.

Media Vs Persia (590-550 BCE) : Cyrus the Great, Grandson of Astyages of Media defeated his grandfather in a siege and hence built the largest Empire ever seen till then.

Persia Vs Greek States (500-330 BCE) : During Emperor Darius's reign, the Persians tried invading Greece.  A result was the Battle of Marathon. Later, during Xerxes' reign, the Persians attacked Greece again and the Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis resulted in Persian defeat. During the time of Alexander the Great, he swore to destroy the Persian Empire and at Gaugamela, finally Darius III was defeated.


Athens Vs Sparta (430-404 BCE) : After the Battles with Persia, due to cultural differences the Classical Athenians and the War-like Spartans went to constant aggression and this conflict caused the Peloponnesian Wars finally causing the decline of the Golden Age of Athens.

Warring states of China (480-221 BCE) : After the fall of the Zhou dynasty in China, the Warring States period began with seven states consistently fighting for dominance. This ended when Qin Shi Huangdi conquered and unified China.

Romans Vs Carthaginians (264-146 BCE) : Romans rose in prominence and power. They were checked by the Carthaginians in Northern Africa and Western Asia. There was bitter rivalry for a century. Hannibal rose to prominence as a military leader during these conflicts known as the Punic Wars.

Romans Vs Macedonians (214-148 BCE) : With Rome rising, the Greek Antigonid rulers of Macedon fought wars against Rome by forming alliances with the Carthaginians and the Seleucids. The Macedonian wars happened simultaneously with the Seleucid and Carthaginian Wars.

Romans Vs Seleucids (192-188 BCE) : From Asia Minor to Persia, after the death of Alexander, the Seleucid Empire rose with Parthia to its east and North and the Roman territory in the West. Romans and Seleucids came to a direct combat in which they built alliances until finally Asia Minor fell to Rome.

Parthians Vs Seleucids (239-129 BCE) : From the East, there was a strong rivalry with the Parthians to the Seleucids,  The Seleucid Empire came to be held by the Parthians. This was majorly due to their being pushed away by competition in India.

Plebians Vs Patricians (509-27 BCE) : During the Roman Republic, two Consuls were elected, one from the Common sections of the society called Plebians, and the other- the aristocracy called the Patricians. This rivalry finally exploded with Marius and Sulla, the Plebian and Patrician representatives.

Romans Vs the Barbarians (throughout Roman History) : Though the Romans could dominate the Mediterranean, they could not control Northern and Eastern Europe an area raided by countless groups of unrelated people loosely called Barbarians. This conflict intensified during Caesar's Gallic Wars.

Events kept gaining importance from this period. So rivals increased in number and the atrocities due to rivalries were also very high.