Ancient History & Civilisation

TIME LINE

Dates in italics are traditional and legendary. Some traditional dates are judged likely to be historical. Some people and places are listed here whose names, to avoid an excess of detail, do not appear in the main text.

1084	Fall of Troy.
753	Romulus founds Rome.
c. 625	Earliest evidence of contact with the Etruscans.
753–715	Romulus.
715–673	Numa Pompilius.
673–642	Tullus Hostilius.
642–616	Ancus Marcius.
617–579	Tarquinius Priscus.
579–534	Servius Tullius.
534–510	Tarquinius Superbus.
509	Fall of the monarchy. First treaty with Carthage.
494	First secession.
493	Treaty of Spurius Cassius with the Latins.
491	Coriolanus marches on Rome.
From 486	Wars with the Aequi and Volsci from time to time over the next fifty years.
479	Battle of the Cremera; sacrifice of the Fabii.
474	Etruscans defeated off Cumae by Hiero I of Syracuse.
471	Concilium plebis and tribunes recognized.
451–450	Rule of the decemvirs. Twelve Tables published.
449	Secession. Valerio-Horatian laws. Rights of tribunes legally defined.
447	Quaestors elected by the People. Comitia tributa probably established.
445	Military tribunes with consular powers replace the consulship.
443	Censors appointed for the first time.
431	Dictatorship of Cincinnatus. Battle of Mons Algidus. Aequi decisively defeated.
396	Pay for soldiers introduced. Fall of Veii.
390 (or 387)	Battle of the Allia. Sack of Rome.
378	Construction of Rome’s Servian walls starts.
367	Licinio-Sextian Rogations passed. Consulship restored. Curule aediles elected for the first time.
366	First plebeian consul elected. First praetors elected.
358	Treaty with the Latins renewed.
356	First plebeian dictator.
354	Alliance with the Samnites.
348	Treaty with Carthage renewed.
343–341	First Samnite War.
340–338	Latins revolt. Latin League dissolved.
337	First plebeian praetor elected.
326–304	Second Samnite War.
323	Alexander’s death.
321	Roman defeat at the Caudine Forks.
312	Censorship of Appius Claudius.
298–290	Third Samnite War.
295	Battle of Sentinum.
287	Lex Hortensia makes resolutions of the concilium plebis binding on all citizens.
282	Tarentum attacks Roman naval squadron.
281	Rome attacks Tarentum, which seeks help from Pyrrhus of Epirus.
280–275	War with Pyrrhus.
279	Battle of Asculum.
278	Roman treaty with Carthage. Pyrrhus goes to Sicily.
276	Pyrrhus returns to Italy.
275	Pyrrhus defeated at Malventum, returns to Greece.
272	Surrender of Tarentum. Livius Andronicus brought to Rome.
264	First Punic War starts. Mamertines of Messana appeal to Rome for assistance against Carthage. Rome sends an expeditionary force. First gladiatorial show at Rome.
263	Hiero II changes sides, and allies Syracuse to Rome.
263/62	Sicilian city-states come under Roman control.
262/61	Siege and fall of Acragas.
261	The Carthaginian navy raids the Italian coast from Sardinia. Rome builds a fleet.
260	Naval victory off Mylae.
259	Hamilcar Barca campaigns in Sicily; also, fighting in Corsica and Sardinia.
258	Rome attacks Panormus. Carthaginians defeated off Sulci, in Sardinia.
257	Rome raids Malta and wins minor victory at Tyndaris.
256	Regulus defeats Carthaginian fleet at Ecnomus and sails to North Africa, where he defeats a Punic army and takes Tunis.
256/55	Peace negotiations fail.
255	Spartan Xanthippus leads Carthaginian army to victory near Tunis over Regulus, who is taken prisoner. Roman fleet victorious off Cape Bon. Survivors of Regulus’s army are rescued. Storm inflicts great losses on a Roman fleet.
255/54	Roman fleet rebuilt.
254	Rome captures Panormus; Carthage holds Drepana and sacks Acragas.
253	Rome fails to take Lilybaeum. Major Roman naval losses in a storm.
252	Rome captures Thermae Himerae and the Lipara Islands.
251/50	Hasdrubal defeated near Panormus.
250–241	Roman siege of Lilybaeum.
249	Carthage wins a great sea victory off Drepana over Claudius Pulcher. Heavy Roman losses in a storm near Camarina. Rome seizes Eryx.
248	Mutiny by Carthaginian mercenaries is put down.
248–244	Punic raids on the Italian coast.
247	Hamilcar Barca arrives in Sicily and sets up camp on Mount Heirkte.
244	Hamilcar captures Eryx.
242	New Roman fleet blockades Drepana and Lilybaeum.
242/41	Decisive Roman victory off the Aegates Islands.
241	Peace gives Rome control of Sicily. First Punic War ends.
241–237	Mercenary War at Carthage.
238–225	Invasion and annexation of Corsica and Sardinia.
236	Hamilcar Barca and his son Hannibal go to Spain. Barca launches a war of conquest.
231	Roman embassy to Hamilcar Barca in Spain.
229–228	First Illyrian War.
228	Hamilcar Barca killed in battle. His son-in-law, Hasdrubal, succeeds to his command.
226	Roman embassy to Hasdrubal in Spain. Ebro treaty.
225	Celtic invasion halted at Battle of Telamon.
221	Hasdrubal assassinated. Hannibal succeeds to the command. Saguntum appeals to Rome.
219	Second Illyrian War. Hannibal storms Saguntum.
218–201	Second Punic War.
218	Hannibal climbs the Alps and enters Italy. Battles of the Ticinus and the Trebia.
217	Battle of Lake Trasimene.
216	Fabius Maximus, dictator. Battle of Cannae. Large-scale defections in southern Italy; revolt of Capua.
215	Partial Roman recovery. Hiero of Syracuse dies.
214	Roman successes in Spain. Syracuse defects to the Carthaginians.
214–205	First Macedonian War.
213	Marcellus besieges Syracuse.
212	Hannibal takes Tarentum. Marcellus takes Syracuse. Scipios take Saguntum.
211	Hannibal marches on Rome. Capua recaptured. Scipios defeated and killed.
210	Young Scipio (later Africanus) arrives in Spain.
209	Scipio takes New Carthage.
208	Marcellus ambushed and killed. Scipio wins Battle of Baecula. Hasdrubal disengages and marches to Italy.
207	Hasdrubal defeated and killed at the Battle of the Metaurus.
206	Scipio wins Battle of Ilipa, leaves for Italy.
205	Scipio elected consul, wins African command. Scipio in Sicily.
204	Scipio lands in northern Africa. Ennius brought to Rome. Cult of Great Mother introduced in Rome.
203	Carthaginian and Numidian camps destroyed. Battle of the Great Plains. Peace negotiations. Hannibal recalled to Carthage.
202	Last dictator appointed before Sulla. Battle of Zama. Carthage capitulates. Fabius Pictor writes first prose history of Rome.
201	Rome negotiates peace treaty. Carthage becomes a client state.
200–196	Second Macedonian War.
197	Philip V of Macedon loses Battle of Cynoscephalae. Peace agreed with Philip.
196	Flamininus announces liberation of Greece at Corinth. Hannibal elected sufet at Carthage.
195	Hannibal exiled from Carthage. Masinissa begins encroachments on Punic territory.
194	Rome evacuates Greece.
192–189	War with Antiochus. Antiochus in Greece.
191	Battle of Thermopylae. Antiochus driven from Greece.
189	Antiochus loses battle of Magnesia to the Scipios.
188	Settlement of Asia.
187	Criticism of the Scipios.
186	Bacchanalian conspiracy.
184	Scipio withdraws from Rome. Cato elected censor.
181–179	First Celtiberian War in Spain.
179	Philip V of Macedon dies, succeeded by Perseus.
173	Embassy sent to arbitrate between Masinissa and Carthage.
172	Two plebeian consuls, for the first time.
172–167	Third Macedonian War.
168	Perseus defeated at Battle of Pydna.
167	Macedon divided into four republics. One thousand Achaeans deported to Italy (including Polybius).
166–159	Production of Terence’s comedies.
153–151	Second Celtiberian War.
151	Carthage declares war on Masinissa.
149–146	Third Punic War.
149	Publication of Cato’s Origines.
147	Macedon becomes a province.
146	Sack of Carthage. Africa becomes a province. War between Rome and the Achaean League. Sack of Corinth.
143–133	Third Celtiberian War.
133	Tiberius Gracchus elected tribune. Land-reform law passed and land commission created. Pergamum bequeathed to Rome by King Attalus III. Gracchus murdered by rioting senators. Scipio Aemilianus takes Numantia. Spain settled. Slave war in Sicily continues.
132	Special court set up to punish Gracchus’s supporters. Secret ballot for legislation votes in the People’s Assembly. Slave war in Sicily ended.
129	Scipio Aemilianus dies mysteriously.
125	Proposal to enfranchise the Latins fails.
123	Gaius Gracchus elected tribune for the first time. Proposes many laws this year and in 122. Tiberius’s land reform confirmed. Special courts barred from imposing death penalty unless approved by the People. Judicial reforms: extortion court juries to comprise equites only. Large overseas coloniae planned, including Junonia, on the site of Carthage. Grain supply and distribution improved. Many construction and road-building projects commissioned. Proposal to extend citizenship to all Italian allies rejected.
122	Gaius Gracchus elected tribune for the second time. Gracchus opposed by Tribune Marcus Livius Drusus. Fails to win reelection for 121. Senate passes the Final Decree (state of emergency) for the first time. Gracchus and followers defeated by force of senators and equites. Gracchus killed or commits suicide.
116	Problem of Jugurtha begins. Senatorial commission of inquiry partitions Numidian kingdom between Jugurtha and Adherbal.
112	Jugurtha besieges Adherbal, who surrenders and is put to death. Italian merchants in Numidia massacred. Rome declares war on Jugurtha.
111	Jugurtha surrenders but keeps his crown. Visits Rome, where he has a Numidian opponent murdered.
110	War with Jugurtha resumes.
109	Metellus campaigns against Jugurtha.
107	Marius, elected consul, replaces Metellus.
106	Marius advances into western Numidia. Bocchus, king of Mauretania, surrenders Jugurtha to Sulla.
105	Cimbri and Teutones defeat two Roman armies at Arausio, near the river Rhône.
104	Marius, Consul II, reorganizes Roman army equipment and tactics. Jugurtha starved to death after appearing in Marius’s triumph. Second Sicilian slave war.
103	Marius, Consul III, trains army in Gaul. Saturninus elected tribune, works in partnership with Marius. Land allotments in Africa assigned to Marius’s veterans.
102	Marius, Consul IV, defeats Teutones at Aquae Sextiae (Aix-en-Provence).
101	Marius, Consul V, and Catulus defeat Cimbri near Vercellae (Vercelli).
100	Saturninus, Tribune II. Marius, Consul VI, breaks with Saturninus. Rioting in Rome. Senate passes the Final Decree. Marius restores order. Saturninus and his followers lynched. Second Sicilian slave war ended.
98	Marius leaves politics and travels to Asia as a privatus.
97–92	Sulla, as proconsul of Asia, orders Mithridates, king of Pontus, out of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia. Mithridates obeys.
91	Marcus Livius Drusus, Jr., elected tribune. His plans to enfranchise the Italian allies fail. Drusus assassinated. War of the Allies (Social War) breaks out. Mithridates takes Bithynia. Aquillius incites invasion of Pontus.
90	Roman reverses in the Social War. Legislation grants Roman citizenship to Italian allies.
89	Roman victories in Social War.
88	Social War restricted to the Samnites, who yield. Sulla Consul I. Sulpicius Rufus, tribune, proposes to transfer command of war against Mithridates from Sulla to Marius. Sulla marches on Rome, captures the city, repealsSulpicius’s legislation. Marius flees to Africa. Mithridates overruns Asia Minor, orders massacre of Romans and Italians. Mithridates invited to “liberate” Greece.
87	Cinna and Marius seize Rome, massacre opponents. Sulla lands in Greece, besieges Athens.
86	Fall of Athens. Pontic army evacuates Greece after two defeats. Marius, Consul VII, dies. Cinna sends army to Asia (taken over by Sulla in 84).
85	Sulla negotiates peace treaty with Mithridates at Dardanus, near Troy.
84	New Italian citizens distributed among all the tribes. Cinna murdered by mutineers.
83	Sulla lands in Italy. Second Mithridatic War (to 82).
82	Civil war in Italy. Sulla wins battle of the Colline Gate. Proscriptions start.
81	Sulla appointed dictator, reforms the constitution and the criminal law.
80	Sulla Consul II.
79	Sulla resigns as dictator.
78	Sulla dies.
75 (or 74)	King Nicomedes bequeaths Bithynia to Rome.
74	Mithridates invades Bithynia. Lucullus given command against him.
73–71	Slave revolt in Italy, led by Spartacus.
68	After successful campaigning against Mithridates, Lucullus’s troops become restless.
67	Pompey given command against pirates, whom he clears from the Mediterranean.
66	Pompey given command against Mithridates.
63	Mithridates commits suicide. Cicero elected consul.
62	Pompey’s eastern settlement; he returns to Italy.
61	Senate refuses to confirm Pompey’s settlement and land allocations for his soldiers.
60	Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus agree alliance, known as the First Triumvirate.
59	Caesar elected consul.
58–50	Caesar’s conquest of Gaul.
49–45	Civil war.
48	Battle of Pharsalus.
44	Caesar assassinated.
43–33	Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus establish Second Triumvirate. Proscription. Cicero put to death.
32–31	Civil war.
31	Antony and Cleopatra defeated at the Battle of Actium.
30	Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide.
27	Octavian/Augustus establishes new constitutional settlement.
43	Invasion of Britannia.

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