332 BC
Egypt is conquered by Alexander the Great who founds its new capital of Alexandria. Alexandria becomes a great Hellenistic city under the reign of the Macedonian Greek dynasty of the Ptolemys.
31/30 BC
Egypt is added to the Roman Empire after the defeat at Actium of Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic queen.
AD 40/49
According to tradition, St. Mark brings Christianity to Egypt.
AD 313
Christianity is recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine.
AD 330
Constantine moves his capital eastward to the Greek-speaking city of Byzantium, which he renames Constantinople.
AD 395
Egypt becomes part of the eastern Empire, known to us now as the Byzantine Empire, when at the death of Emperor Theodosius, the Empire is divided between his two sons.
AD 451
Following the Council of Chalcedon, the Coptic church isolates itself on doctrinal grounds from other Christian churches.
AD 527 - 565
The Byzantine Empire reaches its zenith under Emperor Justinian.
AD 535
Justinian closes the Temple of Isis at Philae on Egypt's Nubian border.
618 - 28
Egypt is occupied by the Sassanian Persians.
640/42
Egypt is conquered by the Muslim Arabs.