Pitsunda, today a resort town in the Gagra district of modern Abkhazia, the breakaway republic of Georgia, situated on the shore of the Black Sea twenty-five kilometers south from Gagra, is founded by the Greeks in the fifth century BCE as a trade colony called Pityus or Pitiunt.

The Middle East: 453–442 BCE

The Peace of Callias and Persian Consolidation

In 449 BCE, Artaxerxes I concludes an agreement known as the Peace of Callias, named after the Athenian ambassador and Marathon veteran, Callias, who purportedly negotiates this accord. Although the historicity of a formal treaty remains debated, the arrangement effectively recognizes Athenian control and influence over the city-states of the Greek mainland and the islands of the Aegean Sea.

This peace marks a significant diplomatic moment, indicating Persian willingness to acknowledge, at least implicitly, a limit to its westward expansion. Artaxerxes's focus shifts inward, consolidating authority within existing imperial boundaries and continuing to address regional stability. The Persian Empire, though politically intact and still extensive, must manage ongoing tensions and administrative challenges in its far-flung satrapies, while recognizing practical limits to its imperial ambitions.

Mediterranean naval architects in the mid fifth century BCE, increase a ship's carrying capacity by building up its bulwarks.

Some ships by this time step two masts, with a sail hoisted on each.

These broad-beamed trading vessels are known as "round ships."

The Greeks increase their size.

Artaxerxes apparently concludes a peace treaty in 449 BCE with Athens, supposedly negotiated by Marathon veteran and ambassador Callias, and therefore called the “Peace of Callias.”

Treaty or no treaty, the Persians do, in fact, recognize the Athenian sphere of influence at this time.

Prakrit, which develops from Classical Sanskrit about 450 BCE, is the first of the so-called Middle Indic languages.

Near East (453–442 BCE): Yehud's Revival, Leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, and Ephesian Subjugation

Between 453 and 442 BCE, the Near East witnesses significant cultural and political developments, especially in the province of Yehud—the Aramaic name for the former Kingdom of Judah under Persian rule. During this era, the Judahite community, known increasingly as Yehudim or Jews, faces daunting challenges. Although the Temple in Jerusalem has been rebuilt, the Jewish inhabitants remain dispirited and vulnerable, confronting persistent threats from neighboring communities.

Into this period of uncertainty step influential leaders returning from exile. Most prominent among them is Nehemiah, an important official serving as cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I. Deeply troubled by reports of Jerusalem's desolation, Nehemiah obtains royal permission around 445 BCE to return and rebuild the city’s infrastructure. With Persian support, including official documents and an armed escort, Nehemiah galvanizes the local population, successfully reconstructing Jerusalem’s walls within fifty-two days despite regional hostility.

Accompanying these political developments are substantial religious reforms spearheaded by the learned priest Ezra, whose arrival in Jerusalem is traditionally placed in 458 BCE, though alternative chronologies suggest 428 BCE or even 398 BCE under the reign of Artaxerxes II. Ezra's mission emphasizes rigorous adherence to the Torah and imposes stringent measures against intermarriage with non-Jews, thereby strengthening religious identity and communal solidarity. A public ceremony of allegiance to the Torah further consolidates spiritual life and identity, effectively transforming Judahite society into the distinctly Jewish community known historically.

Concurrently, the city of Ephesus in southwestern Anatolia comes under the economic and political dominance of Athens after 454 BCE, regularly contributing tribute to the Athenian treasury. This shift reflects the broader dynamics of Greek influence and control extending into the coastal regions of Anatolia.

Thus, the Near East during this period is characterized by a profound transformation within Yehud, driven by powerful religious and political leadership, alongside shifting power relations and increased Greek influence in Anatolia.

The former kingdom of Judah, under Persian sponsorship, becomes Yehud, the Aramaic name of the province in the new Persian empire, and the Judahites become known as Yehudim, or Jews.

The Temple at Jerusalem has been rebuilt, but the Judahite community here is dispirited and defenseless against its neighbors.

Returning exiles—notably Nehemiah, an important official of the Persian court, and Ezra, a learned priest—provide leadership of the reviving Judaean center.

The currently most widely accepted period for arrival of Ezra in the "seventh year of Artaxerxes" is the second return of the exiles to Jerusalem (458 if the king is Artaxerxes I, or 428 if the year is read as his thirty-seventh instead of his seventh); whereas the mission of Nehemiah is generally considered to be 445-433 [return before the death of Artaxerxes]. An alternative period for the arrival of Ezra and a second return of exiles to Jerusalem is 398, if the king is Artaxerxes II).

Nehemiah, cupbearer to Persian king Artaxerxes I, had become distressed at news of the desolate condition of Jerusalem and obtained permission from Artaxerxes to journey to Palestine to help rebuild its ruined structures.

Provided with an escort and with documents that guarantee the assistance of Judah's Persian officials, he journeys to Jerusalem and arouses the people there to the necessity of repopulating the city and rebuilding its walls.

He encounters hostility from the local officials in neighboring districts, but in the space of fifty-two days the Judahites under his direction succeed in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.

The exiles consolidate spiritual life by a public ceremony of allegiance to the Torah and by stringent rules against mixed marriage.

Thus do the historical Judahites morph into the people known as Jews, the practitioners of what becomes the Jewish faith.

Ephesus appears as a regular tributary of Athens after 454 BCE.

The Second Sacred War, which takes place between 449 BCE and 448 BCE, results in an indirect confrontation between Athens and Sparta during the so-called First Peloponnesian War.

The result of the Second Sacred War is the reinstatement of Phocis in its former sovereign rights on the oracle of Delphi.

The First Peloponnesian War ends in an arrangement between Sparta and Athens ratified by the "Thirty Years' Peace".

Megara is returned to the Peloponnesian League, Troezen and Achaea become independent, Aegina is to be a tributary to Athens but autonomous, and disputes are to be settled by arbitration.

Macedon has begun to fall apart after the death of Alexander I in 454.

Macedonian tribes become almost completely autonomous, and are only loosely allied to the king.

Alcetas, the eldest son of Alexander I and an unknown queen, is a grandson of Amyntas I and Eurydice.

His brothers are Perdiccas II and Prince Philip(pus).

He is known for his alcohol dependence.

After six years as king, he is killed, together with his son Alexander, by his nephew Archelaus, a son of Perdiccas by an enslaved woman.

Alcetas's younger brother (Archelaus' father) Perdiccas then takes over the Macedonian throne.

Perdiccas’s son, a child of seven years, becomes the legitimate heir.