Yerevan is 29 years older than Rome.
The city traces itself to the Urartian fortress of Erebuni, founded in 782 BC, a date known not from legend but from King Argishti I's own cuneiform inscription.
The events
- Argishti I founds Erebuni782 BC · Erebuni (Yerevan). King Argishti I of Urartu built the fortress of Erebuni on the Arin Berd hill and recorded it in a cuneiform inscription. The fortress guarded Urartu's northern lands in the Ararat plain. Yerevan dates its history from it and celebrated its 2,800th anniversary in 2018.
- Founding of Romec. 753 BC · Palatine Hill. Roman tradition holds that Romulus founded the city on the Palatine Hill on 21 April 753 BC. Romans counted years 'from the founding of the City', and the small settlement grew into the centre of a vast empire.
More amazing facts
- 800 BC Sparta, tradition says, banned gold and silver coins and used heavy iron money instead.
- 776 BC · 753 BC The Olympic Games are older than Rome: the first were held in 776 BC, and by tradition the city was founded only 23 years later.
- 776 BC The first Olympic champion on record was a cook.
- 776 BC · 771 BC The first Olympic Games and the fall of China's Western Zhou are five years apart: the games traditionally date to 776 BC, and in 771 BC nomads sacked the Zhou capital, opening the Spring and Autumn period.
- 776 BC · 393 · 1896 The break in the Olympics lasted longer than the ancient Games themselves: they ran for about 1,170 years, traditionally from 776 BC to AD 393, and the next Games came only in 1896 — 1,503 years later.
- 776 BC · 100 BC The ancient Greek 'computer' had a dial for the Olympics.