Chronography of the Roman Empire, from Romulus to Byzantium
Also
Etruscans, Carthage, Germanic tribes
Page last
modified 25 January 2023
�The sick die here because they cannot sleep;
For when does sleep come in rented rooms? It costs a lot merely to sleep in
this city� Juvenal, Roman poet.
Box Index
0.0, John VIII Paleologus, 1425-48
-1.0,
John IV Cantacuzene, 1347-55
-2.0, Crusader asssualt on
Constantinople, 1203-04
-3.0,
John II Comnenus, 1118-43
20
August 1763, The
ruins of Pompeii were identified as such.
1
April 1748, Ruins
of Pompeii discovered by Spaniard, Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre. Excavations on
the site of Pompeii began.
1461, The last Byzantine outpost, at Trabzon,
fell to the Ottoman Turks.
29 May 1453. THE TURKS
CONQUERED CONSTANTINOPLE, following a siege of over a year.�
12 May 1453, The
Ottoman Sultan ordered the walls of Constantinople be bombarded with huge
cannon balls fired from an 8 metre long, 1.05 metre calibre, cannon.
6 April 1453, The Turkish
attack on Constantinople began. 80,000
Turkish troops were faced by just 7,000 in Constatinople, and the city�s
walls had been under-maintained for years due to lack of funds.
6 January 1449, Constantine XI was crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra. He was the last in a line of rulers that
can be traced to the founding of Rome.
0.0, John VIII Paleologus,
1425-48
31 October 1448, Byzantine Emperor John VIII
Paleologus died childless aged 57 after a 23-year reign. He was
succeeded by his 44-year-old brother who reigned until 1453 as Constantine XI
Paleologus, the last of the
Byzantine Emperors.
6 July 1439, Emperor John III of Constantinople (by then he
ruled very little outside Constantinople, Salonika and Morea, and was known in
western Europe as �Emperor of the Greeks�, not as he was officially, Roman
Emperor) travelled to an Ecumenical Council in Florence and accepted papal
primacy and union with Rome. The Decree of Union (Laetentur Caeli) formally uniting the Latin and Greek churches was issued. This was a last-ditch
attempt to save his dominions from the Ottoman Turkish advance. However the Greek
clergy rejected this union; there were too many fundamental differences of
doctrine between the two Churches. Those who had formally accepted the union
recanted upon return home. They preferred, in the words of a Byzantine
dignitary, �the power [in
Constantinople] of the Turkish turban rather than the Latin tiara.
21/
July 1425,
Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus died aged 75. He was
succeeded by his 35-year-old son who ruled until 1448 as John VIII Paleologus.
6 September 1422. Sultan Murad gave up besieging Constantinople.
1391, Byzantine Emperor John V
Paleologus died aged� 59. He
was succeeded by his 41-year-old son who ruled until 1425 as Emperor Manuel II
Paleologus.
10 October 1369, Byzantine Emperor John V Paleologus visited Rome.,
in an attempt to obtain Papal aid to repel the Ottoman Turks.
-1.0, John IV Cantacuzene,
1347-55
11 November 1355, Byzantine Emperor John VI
Cantacuzene was deposed and retired to a monastery after an 8-year rule
during which he imposed heavy taxes to pay for a foreign mercenary army. He was
succeeded by John
V Paleologus.
2/3/1354, The Ottoman Turks seized Gallipoli from
Byzantium.
21 May 1347, Former Byzantine rebel John Cantacuzenus became
co-Emoeror as John
VI Cantacuzenus, with John V Paleologus. This ended the civil war in
the Byzantine Empire that began with the death of Andronicus III
15/6/1341, Following the death of Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III,
aged 45, this day his 9-year-old son was challenged by his guardian, John Cantacuzene,
for the rulership.
2/3/1331, Ottoman ruler Orkhan took Nicea from the Byzantines.
11/6/1329, Ottoman Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of
Maltepe (Pelekanon)
See also Greece-Turkey,
1326 onwards
6 April 1326. Orkhan, son of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, captured Brusa from the Byzantines and made it his capital. By
1341 Orkhan had reinforced his influence in the Byzantine Empire by marrying
twice into it; first to Theodora, daughter of Byzantium�s new joint Emperor John Cantacuzene, whom he had lent
6,000 troops for his coup. Secondly, Orkhan�s new sister in law, Helen, married
the other joint Emperor and coup victim, John Paleologus.
2/2/1325, In Byzantium, Andronicus II Paleologus and his grandson Andronicus III
were crowned co-Emperors in an effort to ha;t the civil war.
27 July 1302, The Ottoman Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of
Bapheus, heralding the Turkish conquest
of Bithynia.
11 December 1282, Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Paleologus died. He
was succeeded by his son Andronicus II Paleologus, who renounced the
reconciliation with the western Catholic Church.
Restoration
of the Byzantine Empire, end of the Latin occupation
15 August 1261. Restoration of the Byzantine
Empire. Michael VIII Paleologus seized Constantinople,
ending the Latin empire and restoring the Byzantine Empire. The Greeks had
taken advantahge of the absence of the Venetian fleet to to cross the Bosphorus
and on 25 July 1261 Constantinople fell to the Greeks under Alexius
Stragopulos. Emperor Baldwin II (Latin ruler since 1228) was driven
out. The Paleologi Family now took
power, and ruled until 1453. Michael VIII Paleologus, aged 27, began a
21-year reign.
25 July 1261, Greek General Alexius Strategopoulos launched a surprise
attack on Constintinople, soon capturing it.
13/3/1261, The Genoese made the Treaty of Nymphaeum with the
Byzantines. Genoa undertook to help recover Byzantium from the Latins, in
return for trading concessions in the Byzantine lands formerly given to the
Venetians.
1/6/1216, Henry of Flanders, Latin Emperor of
Constantinople, died. He wa ssucceeded by Peter de Courtenay.
20 August 1206, Henry of Flanders was crowned Latin Emperor of
Constantinople, after the death of his brother Baldwin I in captivity in Bulgaria.
14 April 1205, Kaloyan of Bulgaria defeated and captured the
Latin Emperor Baldwin
outside Constantinople.
-2.0, Crusader asssualt on
Constantinople, 1203-04
16 May 1204, Baldwin, Count of Flanders, was crowned Latin
Emperor of Constantinople. In October 1204, Venice and Baldwin partitioned the
Byzantine Empire. Venice gained the Adriatic coast,� Rhodes and the Aegean Islands. Other
Crusaders held their territories as fiefs of Baldwin. The Fourth Crusade had
ended, never having reached the Holy Land, diverted from the aims of Pope Innocent
III by Venetian and Byzantine politics.
13 April 1204, The Crusaders captured Constantinople. Start of the Latin
Empire, 1204-1261. Venice had provided the shipping to carry the
Fourth Crusade eastwards, but in order to repay Venice the Crusaders were
obliged to seize, on behalf of Venice, the port of Zara on the Adriatic from
Christian Hungary. Meanwhile the exiled Byzantine Prince Alexius Angelus , son of the
deposed King
Isaac II, also offered to pay the Crusaders if they would restore
him to the Byzantine throne. In June 1203 therefore, the Crusaders arrived in
Constantinople and set up Alexius as Emperor. However in February 1204 Emperor Alexius
was murdered, and replaced by courtier Alexius Doucas, who told the Crusaders to
leave. Moreover the promised 200,000 Marks fee for installing Alexius Angelus
was never paid. The Crusaders responded by besieging and attacking
Constantinople. The Crusader nobleman Baldwin of Flanders was installed as Byzantine
ruler, but
most of Byzantium refused to recognise him, and the Empire fragmented into four
disunited States.
25 January 1204, Increasing resentment by
the Byzantine nobility against the Crusaders and thrir puppet rulers, Isaac II
and Alexius
IV. Alexius
Ducas Mourtzouphlous, son in law of Alexius III, mounted an
insurrection. Isaac
II was imprisoned and Alexius IV executed. Alexius Ducas now seized the
throne as Alexius
V. The Crusaders now planned an all-out assault on Constantinople.
1 August 1203, Alexius IV was officially
crowned co-Emperor of Byzantium, alomgside his father.
17 July 1203, The Crusader assault on
Constantinople began. The Crusader Army attacked by land from the west whilst
the venetian fleet assaulted the sea wall. Alexius III fled the city by night. The
Byzantine nobles released Isaac II from prison and restored him as
Emperor. Alexius
IV became co-emperor.
23/6/1203, The Crusader force arrived at Chalcedon, on
the Asiatic shore opposite Byzantium, then, despite efforts by Byzantium,
established a fortified camp at Galata. The Venetian fleet then forced its way
into the Bosphorus and then into the Golden Horn, the water between Galata and Constantinople.
Venice was seeking to recover lands lost in the Balkans; Pope Innocent III objected that
Christian Venetians were now killing other (Balkan) Christians.
15 November 1202, The Crusdaers took Zara
(now in Croatia) from Hungary and transferred it to Venice. The Crusaders
agreed to help deposed Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelus, an ally of Venice, regain
the throne.
For
more on the Crusades, see Christianity
8 April 1195, Emperor Isaac II Angelus was deposed whilst on
a hunting trip by his brother Alexius. Alexius now became Emperor Alexius III Angelus; he
captured Isaac
at Satgira, Macedonia, and blinded him.
1185, Emperor Isaac II Angelus began a
10-year reign. However he allowed the corruption to rerappear that his
predecessor Andronicus
had begun to eliminate. Under his rule the Byzantine Empire began to
disintegrate.
12/ September 1185, Byzantine Emperor Andronicus I Connenus was killed
in a riot in Constantinople. He was succeeded by Isaac II Angelus.
1183, Emperer Alexiius II Comnenus was
strangled by agents of his uncle and co-emperor; he now took sole power as Andronicus I
Comnenus.
1180, Emperor Manuel I Comnenus died
aged 60 after a 37-year reign. Continual conflict with the Normans had weakened
his empire financially. He was succeeded by his 12-year-old son who reigned
briefly, with his mother Maria of Antioch as Regent.
17
September 1176,
Emperor
Manuel of Byzantium was defeated by the Muslims, in the Crusades.�
-3.0, John II Comnenus,
1118-43
8 April 1143, John II Comnenus, Byzantine
Emperor, was killed accidentally, aged 55, after a 25-year reign. Hed was
succeeded by his 23 year old son, who reigned as Maunel I Comnenus until 1180.
15 August 1118, By\antine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus
died aged 70 after a 37-year reign. He was succeeded by his 30-year-old son who
ruled until 1143 as John II Comnenus.
13 September 1087, John II Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor, was born.
1082, Emperor Nicephorus III abdicated
under pressure from his 33-year old General, Alexius Comnenus, who then
assumed the throne as Emperor Alexius I Comnenus.
31/3/1078, Emperor Michael VII abdicated. He was replaced by a soldier who
began a 3-year reign as Nicephorus III Botaniates.
24 October 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV was deposed and imprisoned. Michael VII
Ducas succeeded him, and made an appeal for help, in vain, from the
Western Christian kingdoms.
26 August 1071. The armies of the Byzantine leader Emperor Romanus
Diogenes and the Turkish leader Mohammed Ibn Da�ud clashed at Manzikert, or
Malazagird, north of Lake Van. The Byzantines had entered Armenia with the
French and Normans, and some Turks from the Uzes tribe, and the Turkish leader
had to abandon a campaign in Syria and hurry north to meet this invasion. The
Turkish cavalry under Alp Arsalan routed the enemy. Ibn Da�ud
died on 24 November 1072.
1067, Byzantine Emperor Constantine X
Dukas died, aged 60. His widow Eudoxia Macrembolitissa married a
General, who ruled jointly with her until 1071 as Romanus IV Diogenes.
25 December 1059, Byzantine Emperor Isaac I Comnenus abdicated in
favour of a senior financial officer who began an 8-year reign as Constantine X
(Dukas). The new Emperor antagonised the army by shifting resources
towards the civil service, the church and scholars.
31 August 1057, Byzantine Emperor Michael IV Stratioticus
abdicated. The Comnenus Dynasty,
which endured until 1185, began in Byzantium with the reign of Isaac I
Comnenus, a military leader proclaimed ruler by the barons of
Anatolia.
21 August 1056, Byzantine Empress Theodora died, aged 76,
ending the Macedonian Dynasty that
had begun with the reign of Justinian the Great in 527. Theodora�s
successor, Michael
VI (Stratioticus) was overthrown in early 1057 by� a rebellion of the feudal barons of Anatolia.
11 January 1055, Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX died, aged 55,
leaving Theodora
to rule alone.
1050, The Byzantine Empress Zoe
died, aged 70. Her older sister Theodora, who had been co-Empress since 1042,
now ruled with Emperor Constantine IX. He spent large sums on public
buildings, but this profligacy weakened the economy.
12/6/1042, In Byzantium, Empress Zoe�s third husband, Constantine IX
Monomachus, became Emperor.
11 April 1034, Byzantine Emperor Romanus III died. He was succeeded by Michael IV,
who married Romanus�s
widow, Zoe.
15 December 1025, Byzantine Emperor Basil II (the Bulgar
Slayer) died. His brother, and previous co-Emperor, Constantine VIII, succeeded him.
1018, Bulgaria was now part of
the Byzantine Empire.
6 July 1014, Byzantine Emperor Basil II defeated the Bulgarian army,
after a 28-year war, under Tsar Samuel, then ordered the defeated 15,000
men to be blinded. Basil arranged for one eye of every hundredth
man to be spared so the army could find its way back to the Tsar.
995, The Byzantine Empire conquered Syria, capturing
Aleppo and Homs.
1 October 989,
Byzantine rebel usurper Bardas Phocas
surrendered.
14 September 987, Bardas Phocas proclaimed himself Byzantine
emperor.
24/3/979, Bardas Sclerus was defeated by the Byzantine
Army.
19/6/978,
Rebel Byzantine General Bardas Sclerus
defeated Byzantine Imperial forces in Anatolia.
10 January 976,
Byzantine co-Emperor John I Tzimisces
died aged 51 after returning from a second campaign against the Saracens. The
other co-Emperor, Basil II, then aged
20, now ruled alone until 1025.
14 April 972, Otto II was married to Theophano, niece of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimisces. This allied the �Western
Roman Empire� with Byzantium.
10 December 969,
Byzantine Emperor Nicephoras II Phocas
was murdered. He was succeeded by John I
Tzimisces.
28 October 969. After a prolonged siege,
Byzantium captured Antioch from the Arabs.
Reign of Romanus II
16 August 963, Nicephoras II Phocas was crowned Byzantine
Emperor.
963, Byzantine Emperor Romanus II, a dissolute ruler, died aged 25,
probably poisoned by his wife Theophano. He was
succeeded by his infant son, Basil II, who ruled
until 1025, with assistance from General
Nicephorus Phocas, at that time aged 41.
961, Byzantium recaptured Crete from
the Muslims.
968, Byzantine victory at Raban,
Syria.
Reign of Constantine VII
7 November 959, Byzantine
Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus died after
a reign of 47 years. He was succeeded by his son Romanus
II, who misruled for 4 years.
957, Byzantine General Nicephorus Phocas captrured
the Syrian city of Hadath.
16 December
944, Byzantine Emperor Romanus
I
was deposed by his sons.
927, As a famine hit the Byzantine
Empire, Emperor Constantine VII passed
laws to prevent largelandowners buying up the land of smallholders.
17 December
920, Romanus I
Lecapenus seized power in Byzantium and became co-Emperor with Constantine VII.
913, Byzantine Emperor Alexander II died, and was succeeded by
his 8-year-old nephew, son of the late Leo
VI, who ruled until 959 as Constantine
VII (Porphyrogenitus, �born to the purple�).
Reign of Leo VI
912, Byzantine Emperor Leo VI died after a 26-year reign. He was
succeeded by his brother Alexander II, who ruled
for less than a year.
29 July 904. The Arabs
sacked Thessalonica, the second greatest city of the Empire after Byzantium
itself, before withdrawing.
29 August 886, Byzantine
Emperor Basil I died after
a 19-year reign. He was succeeded by a son of the late Emperor Michael (by Basil�s widow, Eudocia); he reigned until 912 as Leo VI (The Wise).
24 September 867, Byzantine Emperor Michael III was murdered. His successor Basil I founded the Macedonian Dynasty.
23 April 866, The Logothete (senior government
official) Bardas was� murdered by Byzantine Emperor Michael III.
865, The
Vikings sacked Constantinople.
829, Byzantine
Emperor Michael II died. He
was succeeded by Theophilus, a
religious fanatic who ruled until 842.
25 December 820, Byzantine Emperor Leo V was murdered. He was succeeded by Michael II, who began the Amorian Dynasty.
2 October 811, Michael
I
was proclaimed Byzantine Emperor.
26 July 811, Battle
of Pliska. In May 811 Nicephorus and his son Stauracius led a Byzantine
Army into Bulgaria, to curb the rising power of the Bulgarians, which
Constantinople saw as a threat. Tsar Krum was unable to meet such an army head
on and attempted negotiations, but Byzantium spurned this offer, intent on
crushing the Bulgarians. Pliska fell easily to Nicephorus. The Byzantines
then terrorised the region, massacring people, and destroying crops and
animals. Having taught the Bulgarians a lesson, Nicephorus then turned back
home. His route took him through the narrow Verbiza pass, which Nicephorus neglected to scout out first. The
Bulgarians had laid a trap here; they sealed both ends of the gorge, then fell
upon the Byzantines.and on 26 July massacred them at this point. Only a few
returned to Constantiniple, and Nicephoirus was killed. Stauracius had to be carried home, paralysed by a neck
wound, and .he died of this after six months agony.
801, Empress Irene was deposed and replaced by Nicephorus I.
790, An army
mutiny and revolt against Empress Irene resulted
in her son, Constantine VI, becoming
Emperor.
780, Regency
of Irene began.
741, Byzantime
Emperor Leo III died aged
61 after a 24-year reign, having saved the Empire from Arab invasion (740). He
was succeeded by his 22-year-old son, who ruled as Constantine
V
(Copronymus) until
775.
740, Emperor Leo III defeated the Arabs at Amorium, halting their advance into
Asia Minor.
718, The Arab
fleet besieging Constantinople was destroyed by Leo
III, and the 13-month siege iof the city lifted.
15 August 717, Muslim forces attempted to
capture Constantinople, but were defeated �However Emperor
Theodosius was deposed and succeeded by the 37-year-old Emperor Leo III, who ruled until 741. This was the
start of the Isaurian Dynasty, which
endured until 802.
25/3/717, Emperor Theodosius III was
deposed.
716, Emperor Anastasius II (died 721) was deposed in an army mutiny.
He was succeeded by a former tax collector who became Emperor Theodosius; he proved to be an incapable
leader and was deposed in 717.
713, Byzantine
Emperor Philippicus was
deposed after a 2-year reign, after a defeat by the Arabs. He was succeeded by Anastasius II, who strengthened the army and
navy, and ruled until 716.
711, Philippicus instituted a rebellion against Justinian; on the assassination of Justinian, Philippicus declared
himself Emperor.
705, Byzantine
Emperor Justinian II (Rhinometus) regained
the throne, with Bulgar help, that he had lost in 695. He took severe revenge
on his opponents who had mutilated him, massacring many of them, and ruled
until 711.
695, Byzantine
Emperor Justinian II was
deposed by army officers, who cut off
his nose and exiled him to Kherson (Crimea). Leontius was made
Emperor.
674, The Arabs laid siege to Constantinople.
However the city�s defences proved impregnable, and the Theodosian Wells (built
under the reign of Emperor
Theodosius in the 5th century) provided a dependable water
supply. The Arabs resorted to starving the city by blocking supply routes,
forcing the Byzantine fleet to engage with the Arab ships. The Byzantines used
a weapon called �Greek Fire�, a flammable liquid beliebed to have been invented
by Kallinikos in
Constantinople in the early 670s. This liquid was squirted out of bronze tubes
directly at enemy ships; an early flamethrower. In 677 this weapon caused the
Arabs to retreat.
15 July 668, Byzantine Emperor Constans was assassinated in his bath. He
was succeeded by his sons Constantine IV Pogonatus, Heraclius, and Tiberius,
whom he had named as co-emperors.
641, Death of Heraclius.
15 August 636. The
Byzantine army was crushed by the Moslem Arabs at the Battle of Yarmuk, on the River
Yarmuk, east of the Sea of Galilee. The Arabs, who took Damascus in 635, now
controlled all of Syria. In 637 the Arabs destroyed the Persian army at the
Battle of Qadisiyya. Jerusalem was captured by
the Arabs in 638 under Caliph Umar.
630, Heraclius captured Jerusalem from the Persians.
10 August 629, The Avars admitted defeat and
called off their siege of Constantinople.
29/6/629, An Avar army with also many Germans, Slavs and
Bulgars began a siege of Constantinople.
10 July 626, Persian ships had allied with
Avar lad forces� in attacking Constantinople,
but this day had to withdraw, the Persians unable to land and the Avars
suffering food shortages. Avar migrations had steadily arrived in the Balkans
since ca. 600, albeit briefly halted by Byzantine emperor Phocas in 604. In 617
the Avars had made an assault on Constantinople, whilst Byzantium was
preoccupied with fighting Persia. However this day the Byzantine Navy managed
to see off the combined attack.
12/6/626, Heraclius,
Byzantium,� had advanced far into Persian
territory. He had crossed the Zab River, in what is now Kurdish Iraq, and was
threatening Chosroe�s palace at
Dastagird. At the Battle of Nineveh
this day, Rhahzadh, the
Sassanid commander, was killed. Chosroe II was killed
by his two sons, and Byzantium and Persia agreed a truce advantageous to
Byzantium, which gained territory. However the
weakening of the Persian Empire created an opportunity for Islamic expansion, which was to be the next foe for Byzantium to
contend with.
622, Rome won
the Battle of Issus, against Persia; the first of several victories under Heraclius.
5 October 610, The son of the military garrison
of Roman Africa,
Heraclius,
assassinated Phocas, who had
proved inept at fending off threats from the Avars to the north and the Persians
to the east, and made himself Emperor. Heraclius was a good
military leader, and gained the advantage over the Persians.
602, During a
further army rebellion led by army officer
Phocas, Emperor
Maurice was assassinated and Phocas became
Emperor. Chosroes II of Persia
took advantage of this crisis whilst the Avars
invaded from the north. Chosroes II took
control of Egypt and the Arabian peninsula.
588, Emperor Maurice faced a financial crisis, because
Tiberius�s overspending and militarily-ineffective campaigns against the
Persians, Lombards and Avars had emptied the treasury.This year, his
economising efforts led to a mutiny by the eastern army;there was a further
mutiny by the Balkans army in 593. Maurice installed
his father, Paul, as head
of the Senate, and made his brother in law Philippicus head of
the Palace Guard. This nepotism further
increased his unpopularity.
584, Maurice renewed the war with Persia,
appointing Philippicus to oversee
it. However the attack on Arzanene was disruoted by the defection of the Ghassanid Arabs.These former allies had been
alienated by the arrest of their King, al-Mundhir. The
mutiny of the eastern army in 588 stalled efforts further,and in 589 Byzantium lost the
town of Martyropolis (in what is now Turkey) to the Persians. However the
outbreak of civil war in Persia and a succession conflict saved Byzantium.
Martyropolis and Dara were regained in 592.
582, Emperor Maurice succeeded Tiberius II. He ruled until 602.
578, Emperor Justin died, insane. He was succeeded by
his general Tiberius as Tiberius II Constaninius.
1 April 568. King
Albion of the Lombards (King since 565, died 573), a Germanic
tribe, assembled an army that included his allies, 20,000 Saxons, in order
to cross the Alps and form a settlement in Italy. The Lombards may have been
invited to attack Italy by the Byzantine General
Narses. Milan was occupied by the Lombards on 4 September 569 and Lombard
rule established in northern Italy. The Avars overran what is now the Croatia / Zagreb region.
14 November 565, Byzantine Emperor Justinian I died after a 38-year reign (born
483); succeeded by his nephew, Justin II (died
578).
24 December 563, The church of Hagia Sofia,
Constantinople, was re-dedicated, after reconstruction (see 7 May 558).
559, Belisarius defeated a
Hun army near Constantinople.
554, Battle of Volturnus, on the banks of
the Volturnus River in Campania, Italy. The Franks, Goths and Alemanni formed
an alliance to stop the Byzantine advance in Italy. Narses, leading
the Byzantine forces. Heavily defeated the Franks and Giths, although Byzantine Emperor Justinian could not
claim toi rule all of Italy until 562.
552, King Totila, Ostrogoth, killed fighting Byzantium (King Narses) at the Battle of Taginae. In 553 Narses again took Rome and Naples for Byzantium.
550, The Ostrogoth King Totila reconquered
Rome.
548, Byzantine Empress Theodora (born 508) died.
17 December 546. The Ostrogothic King Totila captured Rome after a years siege. The city had
been deserted by all but 500 of its civilian inhabitants.� However the Byzantine commander Belisarius re-occupied the deserted city of Rome in 547 and rebuilt its
defences.
542, The Plague hit Constantinople, imported by rats from Egypt. Justinian�s
soldiers and the traders who fed them carried the Plague around the western
Mediterranean, and in 547 it reached Britain. The Plague bacillus probably existed
long before this in the Great Lakes area of Africa, and was endemic in the rat
population of Ethiopia. However the plague-bearing
fleas are only active between 59 F and 68 F so Egypt, hotter than this, created a heat
barrier to the disease. This barrier came down when several years of unusually cold weather
ensued in Egypt, perhaps caused by a comet tail or a volcanic eruption. Bubonic Plague
appeared in Egypt in 541, reaching Comstantinople a year later.
541, Emperor Justinian prepared plans to conquer Gaul
and Britain,
was was forced to abandon them when Plague struck.
540, Ostroghtic King Totila took Italy from Byzantium. Meanwhile a Persian army attacked and plundered the
Byzantine province of Syria.
539, Belisarius recovered the province of Istria from the Goths.
12/3/538, Vitiges realised
that Rome was not being starved, and the arrival of a Byzantine fleet in the
Tiber with 5,000 more men forced him to raise the siege. Vitiges then marched to Ravenna where he
besieged John the Sanguinary in Rimini.
27 December 537. Emperor Justinian of Constantinople opened the Church
of St Sophia, five years after building started. It was hailed as the finest
church in Christendom. It replaced an original church to St Sophia built by
Constantine in 330 but burnt down in the rebellion of 532. However this church
collapsed� on 7 May 558, severely
weakened by an earthquake in December 557. A third St Sophia was built, and
completed on 24 December 562. The dome was designed by the mathematician
Anthemius of Tralles, who is also said to have invented a device that used steam power to produce artificial
earthquakes.
21/3/537, Defenders of Rome using arrows, catapults and ballistae
inflicted heavy losses on the Goths besieging the city. The Goth forces under
King Witgis were now too depleted to keep a
continuous siege ring around the city.
2/3/537, Vitiges, leader of the Goths, began laying
siege to Rome.
9 December 536. The Byzantine commander Belisarius, having captured Naples earlier in 536, now took Rome from the Ostrogoths. In 534 Belisarius had defeated the Vandals
in north Africa.
24/3/536, Procopius, Cassiodirus and
other Roman historians recorded that a heavy dust cloud spread across Europe
from this day onwards. It was to stay put for 18 months, and in 539 another such
cloud stayed in the sky for several months. There were summer frosts and snow
showers as temperatures plummeted, and crops failed to ripen because of lack of
light and the cold. Widespread food shortages led to the Justinian Plague (541-3), named after the Roman Emperor of the
time, which wiped out a third of Europeans. The cause has been linked to a
series of huge volcanic eruptions in North America in 535-6, and again in 539
AD.
535, Justinian recovered the province of Albania, which had been overrun by the
Goths in the 4th and 5th centurie. He also recovered what
is now the Croatia / Zagreb region.
534, Malta taken by Byzantium (who held it
until 870).
End
of the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa; triumph of Byzantium
12/533, Battle of Tricameron. Gelimer, reinforced by Tzazo, now had 50,000 men, mainly cavalry. He now advanced on
Carthage. Belisarius, however,
attacked the Vandal forces before they were ready for battle, and despite being
greatly outnumbered he routed them. Tzazo was killed and
Gelimer fled. In 3/534 Gelimer surrendered, ending
rhe Vandal Kingdom.
15 September 533, Byzantine forces
under Belisarius occupied
Carthage.
13
September 533, At the Battle of Ad Decimum, near Carthage (Tunisia), Byzantine forces under Emperor Belisarus defeated the Vandal army under King Gelimer, and his brother Tzazo. The
Byzantimes captured North Africa from the Franks.
13 January 532, Major riot in Constantinople against Emperor Justinian I, caused by heavy taxes and corrupt
government.
531, Battle of
Callinicum. The Sassanids defeated the Byzantines, and forced them to pay an
annual tribute in return for an uneasy peace.
530, Battle of Dara. Belisarius, military commander of Byzantine Emperor Justinian, defeated the Sassanid Empire.
1 August 527, The Byzantine Emperor Justin I died aged 77. He was succeeded by Justinian I (Flavius Petrus) who began a 38-year reign, strongly influenced by his 19-year-old
wife Theodora, until her death in 545.
30 August 526, Theodoric
the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, died. He was succeeded by his 10 year old
grandson Athalaric, with his
grandmother Amalasuntha as Regent.
523, The
last recorded games in the Coliseum of Rome, a century after they were officially banned.
9 July 518. Death of the Roman Emperor Anastasius I, in Constantinople. Born no later than 430, he became Emperor at the death of Zeno, 491. He
reduced taxation but was so prudent financially he gained a reputation for
avarice and became unpopular. He fight with Persia, 502 � 505; neither side
gaining much by the time peace was made in 506. The Roman Balkan provinces
were overrun by Slavs and Bulgars; to protect Constantinople Anastasius built the �Anastasian Wall� in 512. He also had to deal with a
rebellion in the European provinces in 514-515, the rebels being assisted by
the Huns. He was succeeded by Emperor Justin I (died 527).
508, Theodora, wife of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, was born (died 548).
For later events in
Italy. see Italian history � Byzantium / Constantinople after 500 here
11 August 490, Theodoric defeated Odoacer at the
Battle of the Adda. Odoacer fled to Ravenna.
489, The Croatia / Zagreb region was conquered by the Ostrogoths.
30 September 489, Theodoric conquered
Verona.
28 August 489, Odoacer was defeated by Theodoric at the Battle of the Sontius (now, Isonzo).
480, The Visigoth Empire extended from Gibraltar to the Rhine,with its
capital at Toulouse.
25
January 477, King Gaiseric of the Vandals
died.
28 September 476, German
chieftain Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor.
474, Death of Leo I, Eastern Roman Emperor 457 � 474.
2 November 472, Olybrius died.
19 August 472, Ricimer died.
472, Ricimer, a Germanic General in the Roman
Army, killed the West Roman Emperor Anthermius and replaced him with Olybrius.
16/6/455. Rome was sacked and plundered by the Vandals, under Gaiseric, just 45 years
after it was conquered by the Visigoths.
Attila of the Huns
467, With Attila gone and
the Hun Empire disintegrating, Constantinople now felt it was possible to reconquer North Africa from
the Vandals, regaining Rome�s breadbasket. Roman admiral Basiliskos was sent with a fleet of one thousand ships to accomplish this (this
emptied the Constantinople Treasury). In Summer 468 Basiliskos approached the
North African coast. The breeze should have been westerly at this time of year,
but it shifted, trapping the Roman ships against the coast. The Vandals sent burning fireships into the
close-packed Roman fleet, which panicked and was heavily defeated.
19 October 439. The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, took Carthage. Gaiseric brought 80,000 people with him across the Straits of Gibraltar from
Spain in 429, including 15,000 soldiers; he then marched east along the North
African coast, looting the cites there. With the loss of its African territories Rome lost the
fertile wheat lands on which the Empire depended for its bread. Local Roman administrators remained and Roman law was maintained, to
the benefit of the Vandals, who lived in unaccustomed luxury in the Roman
villas. The Vandals were Arians and persecuted the Catholic Christians.
Gaiseric began to build a fleet of fast ships to dominate the western
Mediterranean.
20/6/451. Having mounted an invasion of Gaul, Attila and the Huns were defeated in the Battle of the Cataulanian Fields (Chalons) by a combined force of Romans,
Visigoths, and other barbarians, all under the command of Aetius. This joint effort succeeded in
preventing any further advance by the Huns into Europe. Attila, their
leader, burst a blood vessel during a drinking bout and died. Without Attila
the loose-knit Hun Empire began to disintegrate.
7 April 451, Attila's forces invaded Gaul and sacked Metz. The major cities Strasbourg, Worms, Mainz, Trier,
Cologne, Reims, Tournai, Cambrai, Amiens and Beauvais were destroyed by the
Huns.
28 July 450. Death of Emperor Theodosius II, who fell off his horse, after ruling for 42 years. He left no direct
heir.
441, The Huns,moving
south from what is now Romania, sacked Constantinople. The Huns then moved west
towards Greece.
Loss of north Africa
19
October 439. The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, took Carthage. Gaiseric brought 80,000 people with him across the Straits of
Gibraltar from Spain in 429, including 15,000 soldiers; he then marched east
along the North African coast, looting the cites there. With the loss of its African territories Rome lost the fertile wheat lands on which
the Empire depended for its bread. Local
Roman administrators remained and Roman law was maintained, to the benefit of
the Vandals, who lived in unaccustomed luxury in the Roman villas. The Vandals
were Arians and persecuted the Catholic Christians. Gaiseric began to build
a fleet of fast ships to dominate the western Mediterranean.
429, What is now Morocco (Roman, Mauretania) was overrun by the Vandals,
who took it from Roman rule, crossing over from Spain. 15 centuries of maritime
piracy from this region began. See also Islam for Morocco in the Islamic era.
425, Large areas of the Western
Roman Empire had been settled by Germanic
tribes. The Vandals in southern Spain. Huns in Pannonia. Ostrogoths in
Dalmatia. The Visigoths and Suevi in Portugal and northern Spain.
27/2/425. Emperor Theodosius II founded, in effect, the University of Constantinople. He
gathered a group of professors and gave them a monopoly over higher education
in the city.
23 October 424, Emperor Theodosius II nominated his cousin Valentinian,
aged 5, the imperial title nobilissimus Caesar ("most noble")
of the Western Roman Empire.
2 September 421, Roman Emperor Constantius III died.
416, The Goths continued westwards,
entering what is now Catalonia, Spain,
8 May 413, Honorius signed an edict providing tax relief
for the Italian provinces Tuscia, Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania,
and Calabria, who were plundered by the Visigoths.
Abandonment of
Britain, 383 - 446
446, Britons appealed, unsuccessfully,
to Aetius,
to help them fend off invading Saxons.
436, No Roman troops
were now left in Britain.
410, The last Roman
legions began to leave Britain, as they were needed to protect France and Italy
from Germanic invasions.
383, Roman legions began to leave Britain, see 410.
23 August 410. The Visigoths under Alaric I sacked Rome after a third siege. Alaric had been left embittered
by the Battle of the Frigidus River (6 September 394). Slaves opened the Salarian Gate and the Goths looted the city for
three days. It was the first time since 390 BC that Rome had fallen to an
enemy. This marked the decline of the Roman Empire. The Goths then continued
westwards through what is now southern France.
409, The Huns briefly invaded Greece.
However some of them were bribed by Aetius and switched sides to help the Romans
defend against further invasions.
13 October 409, The
Vandals, led by King Gunderic,
crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula. They received land from the Romans, in southern Spain. The Alans
occupied lands in Lusitania and the Suebi controlled parts of Gallaecia (modern
Portugal).
408, The Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius,
whose eunuch general Eutropius had been unable to prevent barbarian
invasions, died aged 31 after a 13-year reign. He was succeeded by his
7-year-old son who ruled until 450 as Emperor Theodosius II, but under the
domination of his sister Pulcheria.
23 August 408, Flavius Stilicho, soldier, was assassinated, on the
orders of Emperor Honorius, as Rome was under siege from the
Visigoths.
31 December 406. The Rhine, for long
the frontier of the Roman Empire, froze over in an exceptionally cold winter. A
wave of tribes, the Vandals, Sueves, and Alans, moved across and into Gaul.
23 August 406, Radagaisus, King of the Goths, was executed by
the Romans. He had attempted an invasion of Italy but was defeated by Stilicho.
Rome,
economic and political problems
405, The Coliseum in Rome was closed by Emperor Honorius in an austerity move,
as amusements were curbed.
1 January 404, Last known gladiatorial combat in Rome.
402, The Roman capital was moved to
Ravenna, a town in N E Italy protected by coastal marshes and once a centre for
the Ronan Adriatic fleet. Ravenna was more defensible; the Romans were fearful
of the growing power of the Visigoths.
6 April 402, Stilicho led the Romans to victory over the Visigoths at the Battle of Pollentia
(Piedmont).
401, The Visigoths invaded Italy,
moving north and west from Adrianople through what is now Serbia.
400, The
Roman Empire was facing serious economic difficulties. Once, Rome had been able
to support its pampered and idle nobility through a huge slave class, who
totalled one thord of the population. Meanwhile the poor non-slaves received a
daily allowance of 1.5 kg of bread, whilst meat, olive oil, and wine werevplentiful
and cheap, and ample water was supplied to Rome by its aqueducts. Entertainment
too was plentiful with the circus and cariot races laid on; there were also
theatres and dancing. However by the 5th century the remoter
provinces had become harder to control. This left no spare manpower for further
conquests, or a fresh supply of slaves. Furthermore, former slaves had escaed
and joined bands of outlaws, creating further burdens for the Roman State. The
Roman elite meanwhile were unwilling to pay the high taxes needed for defence
and maintenance of law and order.
400,The Huns, continuing their westward
migration, reached the Danube River in what is now western Romania and eastern
Serbia.
397, Stilichio drove out the Visigoths under Alaric
from Greece after a 2-year campaign.
395, The Huns continued moving west and south, and entered eastern Asia
Minor and the north east Mediterranean area.
17
January 395. Emperor
Theodosius
I died and was
succeeded by his two sons. The Empire
was once again divided; Arcadius, aged 17, husband of Eudoxia
(the daughter of Frankish leader Bauto), controlled the east from
Constantinople. Meanwhile �Honorius, aged 10, ruled the west from Milan (under the regentship of his
Vandal master of troops, Stilichio). The border between the east and
west crossed the Libyan Desert and the Balkans. Stilichio�s
daughter, Maria,
married Honorius in 398.
6 September 394, Battle
of Frigidus. Eugenius had seized power in Rome in 392 (Western Roman
Empire) and now wanted to forcibly reunite the Eastern Roman Empire (ruled from
Constantinople), with himself as head of a pagan Empire, worshipping the god
Jupiter. Emperor Theodosius Eastern ruler, set out to
stop him. Emperor Theodosius had the Visgoths under Alaric as allies, which he both needed but
also feared for their potential power might be turned against him one day.
The two armies met on the banks of the Frigidus River in the Slovenian
Mountains; Emperor Theodosius placed the Visigoths in his vanguard, however they
could not break Eugenius�s
lines,despite repated charges. With some 3,000 Visigoths killed, but Eugenius�s army scarcely damaged, Eugenuis was
poised for victory. However, supposedly in answer to the Christian Emperor
Theodosius prayers, a strong wind started up, blowing sand in Eugenius�s
soldiers� faces, a wind so strong that it reputedly turned back Eugenius�s
arrows in mid flight.
Eugenius was killed in battle
against the barbarian legions of Emperor Theodosius. The
Frankish general, Arbogast, escaped into the mountains but� committed suicide two days later.
393, Emperor Theodosius outlawed the Olympic Games, which has been held
for 1,000 years.
15 May 392, Roman Emperor Valentinian II was assassinated in
Gaul, at the instigation of his Frankish General Arbogast, who then set up Eugenius
as Emperor. Emperor Theodosius, enraged,
marched against Eugenius.
28 July 388, Theodosius I, Byzantine Emperor, defeated the Roman Emperor Maximus near Aquileia.
15 August 383. The
Byzantine Emperor Theodosius signed an agreement with the Visigoths giving them
land and political autonomy within the Empire, as foederati (non-Roman citizen allies of Rome) �under King Alaric I in return for military service. They
were allowed to settle south of the Danube. See 375.
19 January 379, The Roman Emperor Theodosius
assumed power at Sirmius.
9 August 378. The Romans
were defeated by the Visigoths under Fritigern
at the Second Battle of Adrianople
(Erdine, Turkey), Emperor Valens was killed. Rather than wait for Roman reinforcements under his
nephew Gratian, who was marching in from Rhaetia (Switzerland), Valens, reluctant to
share any credit for defeating the Visigoths , attacked prematurely with insufficient men to defeat them. The Roman Army
had also endured an 8-mile march in summer temperatures of 100 F to reach the Visigoths. In 376 the
Visigoths had been allowed to move into Roman territory to escape pressure from
the Huns. In 377 the Visigoths revolted against Rome and the Roman Emperor Valens
determined to subdue them. He attacked on 9 August 378 when the main body of
the Goth�s cavalry was away foraging, but suddenly the Goth�s cavalry
re-appeared on the battlefield. Two thirds of Valerian�s army was killed. That battle ushered in the supremacy, in
the Roman army, of the cavalry over the legions.
377, The Visigoths began a revolt against Rome, having been aliented
by the efforts of local Roman governors to strip their wealth.
376, The Goths moved southwards down the west coast of the Black
Sea towards Asia Minor, Adrianople, and Greece.
17 November 375, Emperor� Valentian I concluded an enduring peace with
the Alamanni
in Germany,
then marched into Illyrium to repel an invasion of the Quadi and the Sarmatians
on the Danube frontier. While negotiating with the Quadi, Valentinian, age 54, became
so enraged that he died in a fit of apoplexy at Brigetio (Hungary). Extreme
cruelty marked his 11-year reign but he founded schools and provided physicians
to serve the poor of Constantinople.
375,. The Huns began to move
westwards from Lake Baikal and the steppes of central Asia, conquering the Goths who in turn were driven westwards
and massed on the Danubian borders of the Roman Empire as refugees.
Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Alans are all Germanic tribes, warlike
themselves, who were nevertheless driven west by the Huns. The Visigoths sought
and were granted permission by the Romans to cross south-west over the lower
Danube. See 15 August 383.
Reign of Valentinian
17 November 375, Roman Emperor
Valerntinian died of apoplexy, aged 53, whilst attending a meeting
on the Danube. He had concluded an enduring peace with the Alamanni in Germany, then marched into Illyrium to repel an
invasion of the Quadi and the Sarmatians on the Danube frontier. While
negotiating with the Quadi, Valentinian became so enraged that he died in
a fit of apoplexy at Brigetio (Hungary). His reign had been cruel but he had
also founded schools and provided physicians for the poor of Constantinople.
His nominal successor was his 4-year-old son, Valentinian II. However the
boy�s half-brother Flavius Gratianus, aged 17, became real
Emperor and ruled as Emperor Gratian.
374, The present-day Swiss city of Basel was founded by Emperor
Valentinian.
370, Theodosius expelled the Picts and Scots from
Roman Britain.
367, The Great
Conspiracy; the Saxons, Irish and Attacotti joined with a revolt in the
garrisons along Hadrian�s Wall to seek independence from Rome.� This Conspiracy was defeated by Theodosius
in 370.
26/2/364. Valentinian
became Roman Emperor, succeeding Jovian who surrendered the gains of Diocletian
to the Persians. On 28/3/364 Valentinian appointed his brother Valens as
governor of the eastern Empire. For the first time the division of empire was accompanied
by a true division of resources and army between East and West.
Reign of Julian the Apostate
26/6/363. Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor, was killed
fighting the Persians. The Emperor Julian was determined to reinstate the
old Roman gods and eliminate Christianity. A cousin of Constantius II, he
declared himself a pagan in November
361 when Constantius
II died, leaving him as sole emperor. On 17/6/362 Julian
forbade� Christians from teaching grammar
or rhetoric. He was succeeded by the captain of his bodyguard, Flavius
Jovianus, who ruled for 7 months as the Emperor Jovian.
11 December 361, Following
the death of Constantius
II, his 30-year-old cousin Flavius Claudius Julianus was acknowledged by
Constantinople as sole Emperor. He entered the city this day to begin an
18-month reign as Emperor Julian.
Reign of Emperor Constantius II
3 November 361, Emperor
Constantius II died near Tarsus, Cilicia, aged 44.
25 August 357. Julian, who was made Caesar by his cousin Constantius II
on 6 November 355, defeated the Alemmani at Argentoratum, near Strasbourg and drove them back across the
Rhine.
19/2/356. Constantius II, ruler of
all of Rome (see 22 May 337), ordered all pagan temples in the Roman Empire to
be closed.
352, The Alemanni and the Franks
defeated the Roman Army, and took control of 40 towns along the River Rhine.
350, Constans was assassinated by
military commander Magnentius.
11 January 347, The Roman Emperor, Theodosius the Great, was born.
340, The Roman Empire again split into East and West, with Constans
as Emperor of the West and Constantiius II as Emperor of the East.
Reign of Emperor Constantine
22 May 337. Constantine,
born 27/2/274, died after a baptism
on his death bed at his villa near Ancyra in Nicomedia. His sons,
Constantine II and Constans, shared the west, whilst Constantius II. took
control of the eastern Empire. In March 340, Constans killed his brother Constantine II.
He was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. On 9
September 337 Constantine�s
at three Aquileia in northern Italy and became sole ruler of the west. However Constans
was himself murdered by the military commander Magnentius in 350, and in turn Magnentius
was defeated in Gaul by Constantius II, ruler of the eastern Empire,
at Mursa in 351.Once again Magnentius was defeated by Constantius II
in Gaul in 353, following which Magnentius committed suicide and Constantius II
was ruler of both east and west.
11 May 330. The Emperor Constantine
made Byzantium the new capital of
the Roman Empire, and renamed it Constantinople.
327, Constantine executed his son Crispus
for plotting against him.
25 July 325. Major celebrations were
held at Nicomedia, Asia Minor, to mark the twentieth year of Constantine
as Emperor. Also celebrated was Constantine�s victory over his former ally Licinius,
ruler of the eastern half of the Roman Emperor. The rift came when Licinius broke a promise to Constantine to tolerate
the Christian religion. Constantine defeated Licinius in 324 and captured
Byzantium.� The Council of Nicea closed this day.
18 September 323, Battle of Chrysopolis. Licinius had gathered a new army of some
60,000, but was defeated by Constantine I. Licinius fled, but in 324 he
surrendered, and was executed.
7/323. Battle of the Hellespont. Crispus,
eldest son of Constantine
I, defeated Licinius in a naval battle. Licinius managed
to escape to Chalcedon (now Kadikoy, eastern Bosphorus)� as the seige of Byzantium continued.
3 July 323, First Battle of Adrianople. Constantine I,
Western Roman Emperor, defeated Licinius, the Eastern Emperor. Licinius
fled to Byzantium, which was then besieged by Constantine.
3 December 321. Sunday
was made a day of rest throughout the Roman Empire. Under the
Edict of Milan, 3/2/313, Christianity
was now tolerated in the Empire. Persecution of Christians had begun
under Diocletian
in 303 and peaked under his successors Galerius and Maximian. Constantine, born in
Naissus in what is now Yugoslavia, was son of a Christian mother, Helena. When Constantine (born 274) became Emperor in 306
he followed the cult of Sol Invictis,
the Unconquered Sun. However in 312, whilst fighting Maxentius the son of Maximian, he
saw a cross of light superimposed on the sun. From then on Constantine
identified the sun with the God of the Christians. He ordered his men to fight
Maxentius with Christian symbols painted on their shields, and they won a famous victory at the Milvian Bridge
just outside Rome, on 28 October 312. Constantine became ruler of the western
Roman Empire.
8 October 314, Battle of Cibalae. Emperor Constantine defeated his
co-emperor Licinus,
who lost all the Balkans except for Thrace.
27/2/272, Roman
Emperor Constantine
was born in Naissus.
Constantine and Maxentius battle
for the role of Emperor � Constantine wins
28 October 312, Battle of Milvian Bridge. Maxentius
had been declared Emperor in Rome, with the backing of the Senate. However Constantine
was marching down from Gaul to claim title as Emperor. Constantine�s army was smaller,
its infantry tired from marching, and relied on cavalry, performing best on
open ground. Maxentius
had dismantled the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber to halt Constantine�s advance; Maxentius�
troops had to ford the Tiber to attack Constantine, this move put them in the
open, favouring Constantine�s
cavalry. Maxentius
fought in the name of Mars, the Roman God of War; Constantine saw a flaming cross in the sky
and fought in the name of Christianity. Constantine�s cavalry charged,
disrupting Maxentius�
ranks; Maxentius
was killed and his head paraded through Rome the next day on a spear.
25 July 306, Constantius died whilst quelling a rebellion
in Britain. Constantine,
son of Constantius,
now made a bid for leadership of the Western Empire, from Britain;� but he faced a rival in Rome, Maxentius.
31/3/250, Constantius, Western Roman Emperor, was born
in Illyricum.
Reign of Diocletian
3 December 311, Roman Emperor Diocletian died. Born in Salona, he was
Emperor 284 to 305. He defeated the Sarmatians and Carpi during several
campaigns between 285 and 299. He is perhaps best remembered for The Diocletianic Persecution (303�11),
the empire's largest and bloodiest official persecution of Christianity.
1 May 305. Diocletian, Emperor since 284, became the
first Roman Emperor to abdicate. He retired to a palace at Salona on the
Adriatic. There was now a division of responsibility, one emperor for the east
and one (Constantius,
the former deputy of Diocletian) for the west of the Empire.
24/2/303, Emperor Diocletian ordered a massive
persecution of the Christians. This was at the persuasion of the Thracian,
Galerius Valerius Maximanus.
297, Rome took the Kingdom of Armenia from Persia, also capturing the
Persian Harem. Galerius defeated the Persians, who were also compelled toi cede
western Mesopotamia and 5 provinces on the eastern bank. There was then peace
between Persia and Rome for 40 years.
286, The Roman Empire was partitioned into East and West by Diocletian.
21 July 285, Roman Emperor Diocletian appointed Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler
20 November 284, Roman soldier Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor by the army.
29 August 284, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Numerius was assassinated. He
was succeeded by General Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Jovius, a
39-year-old Illyrian. He began a 21-year despotic rule of the Eastern Roman
Empire whilst Marcus
Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius was to rule the West.
Reign
of Emperor Probus
282, Probus was assassinated at Sirmium, Illyria,
during a mutiny. His soldiers resented being ordered to work on civil
engineereing projects.
279, Probus expelled the Franks from Gaul
276, Probus became Emperor, after a brief 6-month
reign by Tacitus.
Reign
of Emperor Aurelius
275, Emperor Aurelian
was assassinated; succeeded by Tacitus.
274, The Romans under Aurelian
defeated a breakaway �Kingdom of the Gauls�
comprising modern-day France, Spain and Britain.
272, Aurelian
now moved against Palmyra, defeating Queen Zenobia�s forces at the
Battles of Immae and Emesa. Queen Zenobia was taken back to
Rome as a prisoner and paraded in Aurelian�s
triumph.
271, Aurelian
defeated the Marcomanni tribe, who
in 270 had advanced from Bohemia across the Danube; this re-establsihed Roman rule in the Balkans, although he could not
recover Dacia.. He also started to rebuid the walls of Rome this year
(completed in 276).
They were maintained until the unification of Italy in 1861, but were subsequently
neglected.
270, Emperor Aurelian (Lucius Domitius
Aurelianus) acceded after the Illyrian Enperor Claudius Gothicus had
died of plague this year and Gothicus� brother Quintillus had succeeded him,
but was deserted by his troops and committed suicide.
Reign of Gallienus
268, Enperor Gallienus was
assassinatedby his own soldiers at Medoilanum (Milan) whilst besieging the
Pretneder, Aureolus.
Aureolus
weas himself then slain by another Pretender, Marcus Aurelius Claudius, who
reigned as Emperor until 270.
267, Until now, King Odenathus of Palmyra was
content to rule as a client State of Rome. However this year he died and his
widow, Zenobia,
now proclaimed Palmyra independent of Rome. Rome was facing uprisings across Europe, in
Spain, Gaul, Germany and the Balkans, and was unable to stop Queen Zenobia extending her rule from Asia Minor
down into Egypt.
260, Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, son of Valerian,
became Emperor. He ruled until 268.
Reign of Emperor Valerian
260, Persia defeated another Roman army at the Battle of Edessa. Roman Emperor Valerian had marched against
Persia to win back lost border territories, but by the time the Romans reached
Edessa, in what is now south eastern Turkey, his troops were tired. They set up
camp in Edessa, which Shapur of Persia promptly besieged. Plague
struck the Roman Army, and when Valerian led a deputation to Shapur�s
camp to negotiate he and hs staff were taken prisoner, Valerian was held in a cage for
a year, and then killed.
258, The
Alemanni and Suevi invaded northern Italy, but were defeated by the Romans at
Milan.The breakaway �Kingdom of the Gauls�, comprising Britain, France and Spain, seceded from the Roman
Empire.
256, The
Franks crossed the Rhine, as the Alemanni reached Milan. Cities in the Roman Empire began to build walls
for their own defence as the frontiers of the Roman Empire crumbled.
The Empire wqas
also weakened by a Plague that lasted from 251 to 265.
253, Valerian
became Roman Emperor. He resolved to win back border territories which Persia
had taken from Rome.
253,The Goths invaded Asia Minor and
reached the gates of Thessalonica.
Reign of Emperor Decius
251, The Goths defeated the Romans at
the Battle of Abrittus. Joint Emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus were killed.
250, The Goths invaded Moesia
(present-day Serbia and Bulgaria).
249, Decius, proclaimed Emperor by
the Army, deposed and killed the incumbent Emperor Philip the Arab (Philippus) at Verona.
In 250 Decius
instituted a major persecution of Christians, in an attempt to reinforce the
traditional religion of Rome.
Reign of Emperor Philippus
248, The Roman Emperor Philippus hosted a great
festival with games to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the founding
of Rome in 753 BCE.
244, The Sassanid Persians
defeated a Roman army, killing Emperor Gordian III who was leading it. He was
succeeded by Emperor
Philip The Arab.
Reign of Emperor Gordian III
243, Gordian III defeated a Persian
army under Shapur
I at the Battle of Resaena.
242, Roman Emperor Gordian III
ceded control of the Cimmerian cities in the Bosphorus region to the
Ostrogoths.
238, North Africa rebelled
against Roman rule, starting half a century of conflict. Emperor Maximinius was
deposed, and the 80-year-old proconsul Marcus Antonius Gordianus Africanus as
Emperor. However supoorters of Maximinius besieged Gordianus at Carthage for 36
days. Gordianus,
hearing that his 46-year old son had died, committed suicide. Gordianus�
14-year-old grandson Marcus Antonius Gordianus III was then elected
Emperor. Maximinius
was then assassinated in 6/238 by the Praetorian Guard.
20/3/235, Maximinius Thrax, aged 62, was proclaimed
emperor. He had a Gothic father and an Alan mother. Maximinus a Thracian, was the first foreigner to hold the Roman
throne.
Reign
of Emperor Alexander Severus
18/3/235. The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius
Severus Alexander, was killed by his own troops after he had bought
off German invaders in Gaul. Born on 1 October 208 at Arca Caesarea, Phoenicia,
Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. In the early 230s he fought
against the Persians, returning to Rome in triumph in 233,having secured the
province of Mesopotamia. He improved the Empire
economically; luxury and extravagance at the Roman Court were reduced, the
standard of the coinage was raised, taxes were lightened, the lot of the
soldiers was improved, and literature, science, and art were encouraged,. He
instituted loan offices to lend money to the people at a reasonable rate of
interest.
230, Ardashir I of Persia invaded the
Roman province of Mesopotamia, but was
repulsed.
230, The Romans built a fort at Ghadames, western Libya.
Reign of Emperor Elagabulus
27/6/221. The 19 year old Emperor Elagabalus was
assassinated by a member of the Praetorian Guard. Alexander Severus became
Emperor.
8/6/218, Emperor Macrinus was assassinated near Antioch
after he tried to reduce the pay of the Roman soldiers. He was succeeded by Variua Avitus
Bassianus, a 14-year-old from Syria, a grand-nephew by marriage of
the late Septimus
Severus. He claimed to be a son of Caracalla, and named himself
Heliogabalus, or Elagabalus, from the name of the Syrian Sun King.
Reign of Emperor Caracalla.
8 April 217, Roman Emperor Caracalla was
assassinated after a bloody reign. He was succeeded by M Opellius Severus Macrinus, a
53-year-old from \Mauretania, as Emperor Macrinus.
212, Caracalla
granted citizenship to virtually all free�
inhabitants of the Empire.
4/2/211. The Emperor Septimus Severus died at York
aged 64 whilst fighting the Caledonian tribes. He was succeeded by his
eldest son Augustus,who
was called Caracalla
after the long hooded tunic he introduced from Gaul.
202, Rome banned female
gladiators.
19/2/197, The Battle of Lugdunum (Lyons, France). The Romans
under Septimus
Severus defeated Clodius Albinus.
14 April 194, Lucius Septimus Severus was crowned Emperor of
Rome.
9 April 194, Septimus Severus was proclaimed Roman Emperor
by the army in Illiricum.
28/3/193, The Roman Emperor Pertinax was assassinated.
Reign of Emperor Commodus
31 December 192, Emperor Commodus was
assassinated, see 27/3/180.
190, The Column of Marcus
Aurelius, Rome, was erected.
4 April 188, The Roman emperor Caracalla (211-17) was born at Lyons in Gaul.
180, The Roman attempt to subdue Scotland failed; Rome withdrew south of the Hadrians Wall.
17/3/180. Marcus Aurelius (Emperor from 161) died of the
plague. He was succeeded by his son Commodus. However Commodus fell prey to insanity
due to excessive power. He attempted to rename Rome as Colonia Aurelia Nova
Commodiana; also renaming the fleet, wheat, the legions, and the months of the
year. On 31 December 192 Commodus, who saw himself as the reincarnation
of Hercules, planned to sacrifice the new consuls on 1 January 193; the consul
had an athlete called Narcissus strangle Commodus in his bath. His death ended the Antonine Dynasty.
167, The smallpox / measles
epidemic reached Rome.
7/3/161. Emperor Antoninus died at Lorium and was replaced by
Emperor Marcus
Aurelius. Aurelius inherited a stable Empire but soon had to deal
with a Parthian invasion of Syria, and then the crowded Roman troop camps in
Syria provided the perfect place for an epidemic (probably smallpox or measles) to
break out.
21 April 147. Emperor Antoninus celebrated the 900th
anniversary of Rome� s foundation.
11 April 146, Birth of Roman Emperor Septimus Severis.
143. The Antonine Wall was
built in Britain, north of Hadrian�s wall. However in 165 the Romans retreated
back south to Hadrian�s wall.
140, The Roman theatre at
Verulamium (St Albans) was built.
See also Great Britain
138, Hadrian was succeeded as Emperor
by his adopted son Antoninus Pius.
10 July 138. Hadrian, who
became Emperor of Rome on 8 August 117, died at his villa on the Bay of
Naples. See 8 August 117.
127, Hadrian�s Wall, Britain, was completed (work began in 122). This
fixed the boundary between the Roman Empire and Caldedonia as a line from the
River Tyne to the Solway Firth.
125, The city of Aachen (Aix la Chapelle) was founded.
13 September 122, Construction of Hadrian�s Wall in Britain
began (completed 127).
26 April 121, Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, was born.
120, Hadrian,of Spanish origin, began
a seven-year tour of the Roman Empire, to gain first hand experience of the
provinces; he was the first Emperor to do this. He was also exceptional in that
he grew a beard, Greek style,and had Grecophile tendencies.
Reign of Emperor Trajan, 98-117
8 August 117. The Emperor Trajan died, and was succeeded by his adopted
son Hadrian.
See 24 January 76, and 10 July 138. Hadrian
abandoned the expansionist policy of Trajan and earlier
emperors and sought to stabilise the frontiers of Rome. To achieve
defensible frontiers the provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia were abandoned, although
there was as yet no thought of giving up Britain. Instead, Hadrian built a wall from the Solway Firth to the Tyne to keep out
the Picts. Work on building
this wall began in 122, and was completed in 130.
115, Jewish revolt in Cyrenecia
against Roman rule.
114, Rome took Mesopotamia from the
Parthians; however this land was too far from Rome to control, and was given up
3 years later. Rome tried 4 more times to occupy Mesopotamia and its
fertile land, each time to fail to hold it.
105, Trajan invaded the Danube region
for the second time (previously, 101-2 AD), to conquer and annex the Dacian territories. He founded the
Roman colonial city of Ulpia Trajana.
King
Deecebalus escaped but then committed suicide rather than be
humiliated by being paraded as a prisoner in Rome.
101, The Kingdom of Dacia was
conquered by Rome, reducing it to the status if a client state. This took Roman
control to the north and east of the Danube River. However Dacian King Decebalus
continually flouted the peace treaty terms with Rome, necessitating further
military incursions by the Romans.
99, An ambassador from India
arrived in Rome.
98, In Britain, the city of
Colonia Nervia Glevensis (Gloucester) was founded (named after Emperor Nerva).
25 January 98,� Nerva, Emperor of Rome, died.� He was succeeded by his son Trajan,
with whom he had ruled jointly for the last three months of his life.
Reign of Emperor Nerva, 96-98
18 September 96, Nerva (35 � 98) became Emperor
of Rome.� He purchased large areas of agricultural land in Italy and gave these
to the poor.�� He also reformed the
tax system and streamlined the Roman bureaucracy.� On this day Emperor Domitian was murdered, by
assassins in the pay of his wife, Domitilla. See 25 January 98
Reign od Domitian, 81-96
96, Domitian was assassinated.
23 August 93, Gnaeus Julius Agricola,
Roman general renowned for his conquests, died in Rome. In 83 AD he had won a decisive
victory against Caledonian tribes at the Battle of Mons Graupius, probably the
Killiecrankie Pass. Had he been able to
follow up this victory Rome might have conquered the whole of Britain up to the
northern end of Scotland. However to Rome, Caledonia (Scotland) and the
raids from its unsubdued tribes was a minor issue; the main problem then was
the Germanic threat from east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. Agricola
was recalled to Rome with Caledonia unconquered.
86, Rome was forced to withdraw a legion from
Scotland to deal with trouble in Dacia, in the Danube region (now Romania). King
Decebalus of
Dacia had crossed into the Roman territory of Moesia and killed the Governor
there. Domitian defeated the Dacians but did not occupy their territory, nor
depose Decebalus,leaving him in place to cause further trouble later on.� This left insuffieient strength to garrison
northern Scotland, which was evacuated by the Romans.
83, Battle of Mons Graupius; Roman forces defeated the Caledonni in
Scotland.
81, Arch of Titus erected in Rome, to commemorate the Roman victory in
Jerusalem.
13 September 81, Roman Emperor Titus died, aged 40, after a 2-year reign. He
was succeded by his 29-year old brother, Titus Flavius Domitianus, who ruled until 96
as Emperor
Domitian.
Reign of Emperor Titus, 79-81
80, The Coliseum, Rome, was opened; 3 months of celebrations marked its
inauguration. It was begun in 75 under the orders of Vespasian.
24 August 79. Vesuvius erupted, destroying the cities of
Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing 2,000 people.
23/6/79, Death of the Roman Emperor Vespasian
died, aged 69, after a 10-year reign. He was succeeded by his 38-year-old son, Flavius Sabinus
Vespasianus Titus. He ruled as Emperor Titus until 81.
Reign of Emperor Vespasian, 69-79
77, Agricola, Roman
Governor,extended Roman influence north to the mouth of the Clyde. He sent a
Roman naval squadron to explore the north of Scotland; they reached as far as
the Orkney and Shetland Isles.
76, Rome conquered Wales.
24 January 76. Birth of the Roman Emperor
Hadrian. See 8 August 117.
15 April 73, To escape enslavement the male Jewish
defenders of Masada, about to be
overwhelmed by the Romans, killed the women and children and then committed
suicide.
72, Construction work began on
the Coliseum, Rome.
8 September 70. Jerusalem
was stormed� by the Romans after a
two year siege. This ended a revolt by
the Jews that began in 66. Only in Masada did the Jews still hold out for a
while. See Judaism
20 December 69, Aulus Vitellius,
former Emperor of Rome, was dragged from his hiding place and assassinated. Vespasian
now ruled unchallenged, and held post until 79.
1 July 69 Vespasian was proclaimed
Emperor of Rome by the prefect of Egypt; this was supported by the Legate of
Syria and the Danubian legions. Vitellus gathered forces to
oppose Vespasian�s supporters. Vitellus was
defeated by Vespasian in the Second
Battle of Bedriacum, late October 69.
19 April 69, Aulus Vitellus sent two
legions to the Po Valley where they defeated supporters of Otto in the Battle of Bedriacum, near Cremona. The
Roman Emperor Otto then committed suicide. Vitellus
now faced a challenge from Titus Flavianus Sabinus Vespasianus,
59, Legate of Judea.
15 January 69, The Roma�
Emperor Galba was assassinated by Marcus
Salvius Otho, 36, a friend of the late Nero. Eight legions on the
Rhine had denied their allegiance to Galba
and claimed legate Aulus Vitellus, 54, as
Emperor instead. The Senate recognised Otho as Emperor.
68-69, The Helviticans (Swiss) rebelled, and
were crushed by Roman General Caecina.
Reign of Emperor Nero, 54-68
9/6/68. Nero
committed suicide, having been deserted by the Praetorian Guard and
lost favour with the Senate. His death ended the
Julio-Claudian line of Emperors that had ruled Rome for 128 years; he was
succeeded by Galba, who ruled for less
than 6 months before facing challenges to his leadership. Overall the year 69
saw four Roman Emperors.
60, Revolt in Britain by the Iceni under Boudicca agsinst Roman rule.
66, Nero sent two Roman soldiers to
explore the River Nile by boat. They got as far south as the Sudd, a huge swamp
the size of England before turning back.
18 July 64. The
great fire of Rome took place during the
reign of Nero (born 15 December 37, became emperor 13 October 54).
He played the lyre and was 50 miles away at his villa in Antium when he heard
the news. The fire destroyed 10 of the 14 districts of Rome and burned for 6
days. Nero was blamed for starting the fire, and to divert blame he said the Christians
had started it, putting them to death in cruel ways.
58, Armenia became a Roman protectorate.
Reign
of Emperor Claudius I, 41-54
13 October 54, Roman emperor Claudius I
died, aged 64, possibly after being poisoned by Agrippina, his wife and niece,
and was succeeded by Nero, Agrippina�s son by another marriage.
15 September 53, Marcus Ulpius
Traianus, the Emperor Trajan,
was born near Seville, Spain. He was the first Roman Emperor to be
born in the provinces.
24 October 51, Domitian, Emperor of Rome, was born.
51, The Romans captured Caractacus,leader
of the British resistance,
50, The city of Cologne
was founded by the Romans as Colonia Agrippina, on the site of Oppidum Ubiorum,
capital of the Ubii tribe. Roman Emperoro
Claudius fortified the settlement, where his niece and bride Agrippina was born in 15.
50, The Acqua Claudia, an aqueduct from
Campagna to Rome, was built.
48, The Romans invaded Wales,
completing their conquest of the country by 80.
45, The poor of Rome subsisted mainly
on bread, olives, wine and some fish, but little meat.
44, Rome annexed the Kingdom of Thrace.
43, Roman invasion of Britain. The British,
under Caractacus, were defeated at the Medway.
In 47 the
Roman forces paused at a line from the Severn to the Humber, establishing
military camps at Lincoln and Exeter, then pushed on north and west.
7 December 43, Death of Cicero, Roman statesman and writer.
40, Rome conquered Mauretania, the
region of Morocco and NWAlgeria. A revolt against Roman rule in Mauretania was
suppressed in 42.
25 January 41,� After a night of negotiation, Claudius was accepted as Emperor
by the Senate. He ruled until 54.
Reign of Emperor Caligula, 37-41
24 January 41, Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, was
assassinated, aged 28, by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards.
18/3/37,� The Roman Senate annulled �Tiberius's will and proclaimed Caligula
Roman Emperor.
16/3/37, Emperor Tiberius died, aged 78. He was succeeded by Gaius Caesar,
25, youngest son of Germanicus Caesar, nephew of Tiberius,
called Caligula
after his habit of wearing soldier�s boots, or caligulae. He was a cruel ruler.
Reign of Emperor Tiberius, 14-37
28 April 32, The Roman Emperor Otto was born.
15 December 37, Roman Emperor Nero was born.
18 October 31, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, plotter against Emperor
Tiberius, was executed in Rome.
21, Arminius (aged 38) was killed by
fellow German tribesmen, who objected to his assuming the title of King over
them.
26 May 17. The Romans under Germanicus won a major victory
over Arminius,
avenging their defeat of 9 BCE in the Teutoberg Forest.
2 January 17, The historian and poet Livy
died in Rome.
24 September 15, The Roman Emperor Aulus Vitellius
was born.
19 August 14. Death of the Roman Emperor Augustus, after a 41-year reign. He was born
in Rome on 23 September 63 BC. He was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius Caludius
Nero, aged 55. Tiberius ruled until 37 AD.
Reign of Emperor Augustus Caesar, 27 BCE - 14
31 August 12, Birth of Emperor Caligula.
18 November 9,
Birth of the Roman Emperor Vespasian.
Autumn 9. Three entire Roman legions under General Quintinius Varus were defeated by the
Germanic tribes under Arminius in the Teutoberg Forest. Varus
had set out from his base at Minden to winter quarters further west, probably
near modern-day Haltern, but was ambushed by Arminius�s forces, who caught
the Romans out of battle formation whilst marching in the forest. Half the
Roman force survived this ambush and marched south, only to find the route
blocked by German forces at Kalkreise. The Romans fled in disarray; a few were
sacrificed to German gods, most of the rest enslaved. A few Romans reached the
Roman fort at Aliso, where they held out until winter, the German tribes then
went home, allowing the Romans to march back to Roman territory, bringing news
of the disaster. The Romans had originally
hoped to push as far east as the Elbe; eliminating a salient into their
territory created by the Rhine-Danube boundary. The Rhine was then settled on
by the Romans as the boundary of their empire. See 26 May 17.
27 November 8, Death of Horace, Roman poet.
6, Revolt against Rome by tribes in
Illyricum (Yugoslavia region).
5, Lombard tribes on the
lower Elbe River were conquered by Rome.
9 BCE, Rome fought against the
Marcomanni tribe, led by Marcoboduus,in the
lower Danube region.
1 August 10
BCE. Roman Emperor Claudius I was born
in Lyons.
15 BCE, The upper Danube region was
conquered by the Romans.
21
September 19 BCE. The Roman poet Virgil, born 15
October 70 BC, died, after falling ill with sunstroke whilst on a journey to
Greece. His tomb in Naples became a shrine.
1 August 19
BCE, Claudius I, Roman
Emperor who invaded Britain in 43 AD, was born.
23 BCE, Rome invaded the Meroitic
Kingdom, in what is now northern Sudan.
25 BCE, Julius
Caesar began a conquest of what is now Switzerland, founding the Province
of Rhaetia. By 19 BCE the Romans had conquered Rhaetia and Noricum, taking the
border of the Roman Empire up to a line following the Rhine and Danube Rivers.
27 BCE, Augustus
Caesar, formerly Imperator
Caesar Octavianus, became Emperor.
30 BCE, Rome replaced its army of conscript soldiers with career
soldiers.
12 August 30 BCE, Cleopatra
died.
1 August 30 BCE,� Octavian Caesar captured Alexandria.
This marked the official annexation of Ancient Egypt to the Roman Republic. Egypt came to be a key grain supply area for the Roman Empire.
2 September 31 BCE. Octavian and his
general, Agrippa, defeated Mark Anthony and Cleopatra�s fleet off
Actium. Anthony followed Cleopatra to Egypt, to which she had
escaped with 60 ships. There, pursued by his enemies and deserted by his
troops, Anthony, aged 52, committed suicide in the
mistaken belief that Cleopatra had
already done likewise.
This
battle traditionally marks the end of the Roman Republic and the start of the
Roman Empire.
34 BCE, Dalmatia became
a Roman Province. Rome conquered what is now Croatia and the Zagreb region.
16 November 42 BCE. Tiberius, the second Emperor
of Rome, whose rule was marked by cruelty and debauchery, was born in Rome. He was the son of the
High Priest Tiberius Claudius Nero, and of Livia Drusilla, her husband�s cousin.
Second
Triumvirate Wars, 43-42 BCE
16 November 42 BCE, Second
Battle of Philippi. Antony again
attacked Brutus� camp,
whilst Octavian mounted a
distraction attack. The Republicans were routed; Brutus escaped with 4 legions but
committed suicide soon after, bringing the Second
Triumvirate Wars to a close. Octavian and Lepidus resumed governing the West whilst Antony ruled over the East. Antony met Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, in Cilicia, starting a love affair.
26 October 42 BCE, First Battle of Philppi. Antony mounted a suprose attack on the Republicans,
Brutus and Cassius, through a swamp.� Antony
successfully destroyed the camp but Brutus did much
damage to Antony�s forces.
Meanwhile Cassius committed
suicide, beleaving the Republicans hed been
defeated.
7 December 43 BCE. Cicero (Marcus Tullus),
the great Roman orator (born 106 BCE) was killed by a soldier, Herennius, as he attempted to flee by ship to Macedonia. He had fallen
into disfavour �for writing The Philippics, a series of attacks on Mark Anthony. In 44 BC he had been in a powerful
position, when Julius Caesar was assassinated,
but Cicero then opposed Caesar�s successor, Octavian.
10 October 43 BCE, The city of Lyons was founded by Lucius
Plancus.
Antony and Octavian fight to be the successor to
Julius Caesar; reach agreement at Bologna, 44-43 BCE. The Triumvirate
established
11/43 BCE, Octavian
travelled to Bologna where he reached an agreement with Antony and Lepidus to establish joint rule over
the Empire, and to punish the assassins of Julius Caesar.
8/43 BCE, Octavian
returned to Roma and forced the Senate to declare him Consul. He also gained
acknowledgement as Caesar�s heir, and made the Senate declare Caesar�s
assassins to be outlaws.
21 April 43 BCE, Battle of Mutina. Antony�s forces were again defeated by Hirtius,
although Hirtius
himself was killed. Antony retreated west into Transalpine Gaul to
join with Lepidus,
a supporter of Julius
Caesar. Decimus, meanwhile, was killed by brigands.
14 April 43 BCE, At the Battle of Forum Gallorum, Mark Anthony,
besieging Juluis
Caesar�s assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Mutina, defeated the
forces of Consul
Pansa, who was killed this day. However whilst celebrating victory, Antony�s
forces were subject to a surprise attack and routed by Hirtius. Antony rallied his forces and
regrouped at Mutina.
12/44 BCE, Antony
marched north to Cisalpine Gaul and besieged Brutus in Mutina (Modena). The
pro-Republican Consuls, Aulus, Hirtius and Pansa allied with Brutus
and Octavian.
11/44 BCE, Octavian
planned a temporary alliance with Decimus Brutus (whom he actually hated as an
assassin of his uncle Julius Caesar) in order to remove Antony and gain control of Rome. Octavian
therefore marched his forces north into Ciusalpine Gaul to link up with Brutus.
7/44 BCE, The
power struggle in Rome continued, with no punitive actions against
the assassins of Julius Caesar. Mark Antony, Caesar�s most trusted subordinate, campaigned for
retribution but to no effect. Republicans under Gaius Cassius
Longinus, a ringleader of the assassins of Julius Caesar and now Governor of
Syria, still planned to regain power. The 18-year-old Octavian (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)
considered himself the rightful heir of Julius Caesar but Mark Antony refused to acknowledge
his claim. Each side started to raise military forces for further combat.
Julius
Ceasar, 58 � 44 BC
Julius
Caesar assassinated, as too powerful, had become too ambitious, 44 BCE
15/3/44 BCE. Julius
Caesar murdered. He was born on 12 July 100 BC, but not by Caesarean
section as often claimed, although his surname does derive from the Latin �to
cut�. He made major conquests in his lifetime, and put down civil wars in Asia
and Spain; he was honoured like a god. But he was slain by his close associates
when he began claiming in name power he held in fact, and planning grand
projects such as the invasion of Parthia (Persia).
15/2/44 BCE, Julius Caesar
was appointed dictator for life.
1 January 44 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian
Calendar. The Julian 365-day calendar was based upon the Egyptian
calendar, and replaced an earlier 355-day calendar used by the Romans. The
Roman year began in March, and the 5th month, Qunitilis, was renamed
July after Julius
Caesar himself. Augustus then named the 6th month
after himself, too. The Calends was the first day of the month, and in longer
months of 31 days the Nones were on the 7th and the Ides on the 15th.
In shorter months the Ides and Nones fell on the 5th and 13th
days. The Romans also used an 8-day week with the days lettered A to H. For a
while this co-existed with the 7-day week, based on the Sun, Moon and 5 visible
planets. In 321 AD Emperor Constantine ruled that the 7-day week
alone was to be used.
17/3/45 BCE, Caesar
defeated an army assembled by Pompey�s sons at the Battle of Munda, near Montilla, Spain.
Caesar
secures North Africa from pro-Pompey forces, 47-46 BCE
46 BCE, North Africa was made a Roman Province. Vercingetorix, King of the Gauls,
was executed in Rome.
8 April 46 BCE, Julius Caesar defeated Scipio�s
Republican army at Thapsus
in north Africa. Desertions and illness had reduced Thapsus� forces to some 60,000.
North Africa was now secured for Caesar, but pro-Pompey forces remained in Spain.
10/47
BCE, Caesar,
having assembled an army of 25,000 in Sicily, now crossed to Tunisia to deal
with the last pro-Pompey forces there. He faced an army of
50,000 under Metellus
Scipio, along with another army almost equal in size under the Numidian King
Juba.
Caesar
defeats a an attempted secession by Pharnaces in Asia Minor, 48-47 BCE
5/47
BCE, Caesar
defated a larger force under Pharnaces at the Battle of Zela. Caesar
installed his ally Mithridates as Governor of Pharances� dominions.
4/47
BCE, Caesar
left Alexandria, collected reinforcements from Syria, the n marched north througnb
Asia Minor to confront Pharnaces.
10/48, In Asia Minor, King Pharnaces
had taken advantage of the Roman Civil war between Caesar and Pompey. Pharnaces
extended his Kingdom of Pontus to include the Crimea (Cimmeria) as well as
Pontus and Cappadocia (northern Turkey). This month Pharnaces defeated Domitius Calvinus
(subordinate of Caesar)
at the Battle of Nicopolis.
Caesar
almost defeated in Egypt but gains victory with Mithridates, 48-47 BCE
23/6/47 BCE, Queen Cleopatra gave birth to Caesarion,
who was probably the son of Julius Caesar.
1/47
BCE, Caesar,
facing great difficulties militarily, learnt of the arrival of his ally Mithridates
from Asia Minor at the Nile delta. Leaving a small garrison to hold Alexandria,
Caesar ,managed to evade Ptolemy�s naval blockade and join with Mithridates.
The Battle of the Nile was now fought in 2/47 BCE, in which Caesar and Mithridates defeated Ptolemy XII,
who was killed. Caesar
now relieved his besieged forces in Alexandria. Caesar engaged in an amorous affair
with Cleopatra,
and placed her still younger brother in charge, ruling as Ptolemy XIII.
8/48
BCE, Caesar
pursued Pompey
to Egypt. Caesar
had just 4,000 men. Caesar discovered that Pompey had been
assassinated by his associates, however Ptolemy XII, co-ruler with his sister Cleopatra,
raised an army against Caesar and besieged him with 20,000 men in part of
Alexandria. Caesar
managed to get reinforcements in by sea, despite a naval blockade. However Ptolemy�s
forces were getting the upper hand.
Caesar
defeats Pompey in Pharsala (Thessaly), 48 BCE
9 August 48 BCE. Battle of Pharsalus. Pompey finally decided to use his numerical
superiority to move against Caesar�s troops. Caesar got ready to fight. Caesar�s
left flank was secure against the steep bank of the Enipeus River but he was
vulnerable to the right, which he took care to reinforce as he advanced against
Pompey.
In a decisive bold action, Caesar charged into Pompey�s lines, then attacked
the flanks of Pompey�s
cavalry to his right, scattering them. Pompey fled, his army routed, escaping to
Egypt with just 30 horsemen. Caesar�s losses were 230 killed and 2,000 wounded;
however Pompey�s
forces suffered 15,000 dead and wounded, and 24,000 were taken prisoner. Greece
and Asia now declared loyalty to Caesar, leaving Egypt, north Africa and Spain
still supporting Pompey.� However on
landing in Egypt on 28 September 48 BC, Pompey was murdered on the orders of Ptolemy XII.
Caesar�s
forces continued to hunt down Pompey�s forces under his sons, finally
defeating them in Spain on 15/3/45 BC.
Caesar
attacks Pompey in Dyracchium (Durres, Albania) but is defeated; Caesar regroups
in Thessaly (Greece), 49-48 BCE
20 May 48 BCE, The Battle of Dyrrachium. Pompey in Dyrrachium, now running short of
water and fodder for his horses, broke out of Caesar�s siege without difficulty,
with his numerically-superior army. Caesar withdrew into Thessaly (central Greece).
However Pompey
failed to follow up this victory, but acted cautiously, leaving a strong
garrison in Dyrrachium. Caesar now regrouped in Thessaly, and now had
30,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, against Pompey�s 60,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry.
Both sides now faced each other across the Plain of Pharsalus (Farsala,
Thessaly); Caesar
attempted to lure Pompey into battle, but Pompey did not move.
2/48
BCE,� Antony managed to evade Pompey�s blockade of Brundisium
and crossed the Adriatic with his troops to join forces with Caesar
at Tirana. Pompey
still commanded the sea and maintained naval contact with his base at
Dyrrachium. Each side conducted minor skirmishes on land. Pompey decided to sit out Caesar�s
siege of Dyrarachium until his (Caeasar�s) army ran out of food; however Caeasar
managed to keep his army fed.
28 November 49 BCE, Caesar mustered every ship
available, and took 7 legions and a few cavalry, some 25,000 men in total.
Avoiding contact with Pompey�s fleet, he sailed south of Pompey�s
main base at Dyrrachium (Durres, Albania). Caesar
mow sailed back across the Adriatic to Brundisium (Brindisi, southern Italy) to
pick up Mark
Antony, however Pompey was now alerted to Caesar�s movements, and blockaded Antony
in Brundisium. Pompey
now mustered an army of 100,000 and moved north from Epirus (NW Greece) to
Dyrrachium. However Pompey�s troops were of inferior quality to Caesar�s
soldiers, and he made no� effort (January
48 BCE)� to exploit his 4:1 numerical
advantage by forcing a battle. In fact Caesar took the initiative, manoeuvring around
Dyrrachium.
Caesar
secures Italy and Marseilles against Pompey, 49 BCE
6 September 49 BCE, Caesar landed at Massilia
(Marseilles) from Spain, and the city surrendered to him. Domitius escaped by
sea. Caesar went to Rome and discovered his small fleet at Curicta (Krk,
Croatia) had been defeated.
24 July 49 BCE, Caesar�s legate, Gaius Curio,
had established Caeasar�s
authority in Sicily without trouble. However this day he was defeated by Pompey�s
forces under Attius
Varius, allied with Juba, King of Numidia. Pompey consolidated his
hold over Africa. Curio committed suicide rather than surrender.
Caesar�s
dispute with Pompey; Caesar defeats Pompey�s forces in Spain, 49 BCE
2 July 49 BCE. Caesar, having left Marcus Antonius in charge of Italy and
marched to Spain, defeated Pompey�s generals Afranius and Petreius at
Lerida north of the Ebro River.
9/3/49 BCE, Caesar left Rome to fight Pompey�s supporters in Spain.
10 January 49 BCE. Caesar crossed the Rubicon,
a small river marking the boundary between Gaul and Italy, as he marched on
Rome to fight his former ally Pompey. Pompey, fearing Caesar�s large army, fled
Italy for Greece along with most of the Senate.
7 January 49. BCE. The Senate
said it would declare Caesar a public enemy if he did not disband his
army.
Caesar�s
defeat of the Gauls, 58 � 52 BCE
3 October 52 BCE, Battle of Alesia: Caesar defeated the Gauls led by Vercingetorix
(who surrendered on October 3), breaking the back of the Gallic insurrection. The
final pacification of Gaul was completed the following year.
9/52 BCE. Rome
defeated an army in Gaul under Vercingetorix.
54 BCE, Cassivellaunus,
a major Belgic king in Britain, agreed to pay tribute to Rome.
26 August 55 BCE. Julius Caesar landed in Britain.
He was attempting to deter the Britons from giving military aid to the Gauls.
56 BCE, The Conference of Luca (now Lucca); Julius Caesar, Crassus and Pompey met to patch up their
differences and work together. However Crassus and Pompey had become wary of Caesar, as his power
grew after his victories in Gaul. The three arranged that Pompey
and Crassus
would hold the Consulship in 55 BCE, whilst Caesar continued his successful
campaign in Gaul; afterwards, Crassus would become Governor of Syria, from
where he would campaign against tha Parthians. However Crassus was killed in a major
Roman defeat by the Parthians in 53 BCE, and relations deteriorated between
Caesar
and
Pompey,
to the point
of civil war, see 49 BCE.
See also Great Britain
56 BCE, Revolt by the Veneti against Roman rule in Brittany.
57 BCE, Julius Caesar subdued the Belgae
and Nervae.
58 BCE, Julius Caesar began a conquest of Gaul.
At the Battle of Bibractae,
Helvitican tribes migrating into Gaul were defeated by the Romans under Julius Caesar.
Ceasar was in debt from having spent considerably to secure
popularity, and also at risk of prosecution
for use of soldiers to intimidate the opposition. A succesful military campaign
would therefore be highly useful to him at this point.
60 BCE, The Romans founded colonies in Switzerland.
29 September 61 BCE, September 29 � Pompey the Great celebrated his third triumph
for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars.
62 BCE, City of Florence
was founded.
5 January 62 BCE, The forces of the conspirator Catiline were defeated by the loyal Roman
armies of Antonius
Hybrida led by Gaius Antonius in the Battle of Pistoria.
63 BCE, The Romans under Pompey conquered Palestine, Asia Minor,
and Syria.
3 December 63 BCE, In Rome the conspirators in the failed Catiline revolt were executed. Lucius Sergius Catiline himself has already
fled but died in battle a month later. The episode exposed the discontent in
Rome with an oligarchic ruling elite.
23 September 63 BCE. Birth of the first Roman Emperor, Gaius
Octavius Caesar, adopted son
and heir of Julius
Caesar.
8 December 65 BCE. Horace, Roman poet, was born in Venusian Apulia.
68 BCE. Crete was captured by the Romans.
15 October 70 BCE, Virgil, Roman poet, was born.
72 BCE,
The Suevi,
a Germanic tribe, crossed the Rhone and�
invaded Gaul led by KingAriovistus.
73 BCE,
Rome�s Third
Servile War began as slaves revolted under the leadership of the
Thracian slave and gladiator, Spartcacus. He seized the Mount Vesuvius
region and gathered other slaves to his cause. He was defeated by Roman armies
in 72 BCE.
74 BCE,
Bithynia became a Roman province.
78 BCE,
Sulla died.
1 November 82 BCE, Conflict in Rome between democratic
reformist populares and wealthier
anti-reformist optimates. This
dispute had begun in 83 BC; in Autumn 82 BC an army of Samnites, under King Pontius
Telesinus, who favoured democratic reform, was laying siege to Rome
itself. Sulla outflanked the Samnites, and Telesinus
was killed; the Samnites then fled in disarray. Sulla then
became Dictator of Rome.
83 BCE,
Rome conquered Pontus.
13 January 86 BCE, Gaius Marius,
Roman soldier and politician, died.
88 BCE,
Upsrising against Roman rule in Athens.
90 � 89 BCE, Civil war in Rome; Sulla defeated Marius.
Second
Servile War 103 � 99 BCE
99 BCE, Rome�s Second
Servile War ended as Consul Aquilius finally put down stubborn resistance
by the slaves.
103
BCE, Romes Second
Servile War began as slaves revolted under the leadership of Tryphon
and Athenion.
Human slaves provided the power for much of Rome�s agriculture;they could follow
verbal orders, despite being less powerful and less docile than horses. The utility of horses was limited by the
lack of metal horseshoes or proper harnesses.
12 July 100 BCE. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was
born, but not by Caesarean section,
though his name does derive from the Latin �to cut�.
102 BCE, At the Battle of Aquae Sextiae
(Aix en Provence), Rome under Consul Gaius Marius
defeated the Teutones and Sciri tribes. These celtic-germanic tribes, wandering
across Europe pillaging, had been a thorn in the side for Rome, and had
previously defeated four Roman armies. Marius ambushed them with
his main army after attacking the tribes with a small detachment of his troops.
Subsequently, Marius introduced political reforms that
redistributed wealth to poorer citizens, the populares, ensuring their loyalty to Rome.
105 BCE, Rome defeated Jugurtha, King of Numidia (northern Algeria)l and brought him to Rome in
chains. He was executed in 104 BCE. Meanwhile, two Roman armies were defeated at Arausio, on the Rhone, by the Cimbri,
Celtic or Germanic tribes who had migrated westwards from the Alpine region.
106 BCE, Gaius
Marius was elected Consul, and sent to north Africa to fight Jugurtha.
3 January 106 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman
statesman, was born.
111 BCE,War broke out between Rome and Jugurtha, King of Numidia (northern Algeria). Jugurtha had acceded in 118 BCE.
123 BCE, As the cost of living soared in Rome, Gaius Gracchus began seeling
subsidised grain, for bread, from the State granaries.
126 BCE, Revolt against Roman rule in Sardinia.
First
Servile War 135 � 132 BCE
132
BCE, The First
Servile War, the revolt of
slaves in Sicily, ended as the Romans captured and executed the rebel
leader, Eunus.
135
BCE, Rome�s
First
Servile War began as slaves on the large Sicilian estates revolted
under the Syrian, Eunus, who styled himself King Antiochus. Roman armies
were sent to put down the rebellion.
133 BCE, Asia Minor (now Turkey)
came under Roman control. Rome conquered Spain.
133 BCE, Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus, aged 30, was elected Roman Tribune on a promise
of social reform. He tried to limit individual landholdings in an effort to
break up the large latifundia but largely failed.
144 BCE, Rome�s third aqueduct, the Marcia, was built.
149 � 146
BCE
Invasion of Greece
146
BCE, The Achaean War. Roman forces under Lucius Mumius
Achaicus invaded Greece and conquered Achaea and Corinth. The
Achaean army, consisting mainly of poorly-trained slaves, had earlier been
attmeptoing to force Sparta, then a Roman Protectorate, to join the Achaean
league.
147
BCE, Rome
sacked the city of Corinth. Greece came under Roman control. A Lusitainian
revolt led by Viriathus
was joined,from 144 BCE, by several Celto-Iberian tribes. However the revolt
petered out after Viriathus was killed in 140 BCE. The centre of
this revolt, Numantia, was finally recaptured by the Romans in 133 BCE after a
siege; the defenders were sold into slavery.
150 � 146
BCE, destruction of Carthage
129
BCE, Scipio the Younger, who destroyed
Carthage, died (born 185 BCE).
146
BCE, The
Romans destroyed Carthage, burning it and deprting its
population, ending the Third Punic War. Rome created the Province of Africa from former Carthaginian
territories.
149
BCE, The
Romans invaded North Africa and laid siege to Carthage, The
Carthaginians offered to surrender but refused to give up
the city.
150
BCE, Rome
again faced a threat from a resurgent Carthage, as the Carthaginians
attacked Numidia,
an ally of Rome. Carthage,under an earlier peace treaty,had to ask Rome�s
permission to wage war withinAfrica and was prohinited totally from waging war
outside Africa.. Masinna, the 88 year old king of Numidia, was now Rome�s ally.
Roman Censor Marcus
Porcius Cato famously urged �Delenda
est Carthago� (Carthage must be
destroyed).
186 � 155 Invasion of Yugoslavia area
149 BCE, Following the Fourth
Macedonian War, Macedonia became a Roman province.
155 BCE, Rome invaded Dalmatia.
186 BCE, Rome
conquered Illyria, which included modern-day Albania.
22/6/168 BCE, The Romans defeated the
Macedonians, who were led by Perseus, at Pydna.
1 January 153 BCE, 1st January became the
start of the civil year in Rome, rather than the traditional 15 March; a revolt
in Spain had forced the earlier accession of the Roman Consuls.
168 BCE Rome conquered Egypt.
170 BCE, The
first paved streets appeared in
Rome. They were passable in all weather and easier to keep clean, but traffic
noise was increased.
171 BCE, The
Macedonians under Perseus attacked Rome, starting the Third Macedonian War.
174 BCE, Rome
had now conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula, despite fierce resistance from
the Lusitanians (Portugal).
179 BCE, The
first stone bridge in Rome was
completed, the Pons Aemilius over the Tiber.
183 BCE, Hannibal,
born 246 BCE, poisoned himself at the court of King Prusia of Bithynia, who was
about to hand him over to the Romans.
183 BCE, Publius
Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Roman General and politician (born 233
BCE) died.
190 BCE, The Battle of Magnesia; Roman victory by Cornelius
Scipio over Antiochus III of Syria. The Syrians
surrendered their territory to Rome as far as the Taurus Mountains and agreed
to pay 15,000 talents over 12 years, also to surrender Hannibal to Rome (however he
escaped).
191 BCE,
Cisalpine Gaul became a Roman province.
197 BCE, At the Battle of Cynoscephalae in
Thessaly, the Romans under T Quinctius Flaminius defeated the Macedonians
under Philip
V. The Romans forced Philip V to surrender Greece to Rome, reduce his army to
5,00 men and his navy to five ships, promise not to make war without Rome�s
permission, and to pay Rome 1,000 talents over ten years.
201 BCE, Under surrender terms, Carthage handed over all her territories, including the Iberian
peninsula, to Rome. Carthage also agreed to pay Rome 200 talents
a year for 50 years, and not to make war without Rome�s permission. All but ten
of Carthage�s warships were destroyed.
19/10.202 BCE, Battle of Zama, Tunisia, end of the Second Punic War. The Romans under Scipio
defeated a combined force of Carthaginians and Numidians under Hannibal,
Carthage capitulated.
204 BCE, The
Romans under Cornelius
Scipio laid
siege to Carthage. The Carthaginians burnt alive 100 sons of noblemen in
an effort to appease their god, Molech, and raise the siege.
207 BCE, The Battle of Metaurus, Umbria, ended Carthaginian hopes of success in Italy. Hasdrubal attempted to get
reinforcements to Hannibal but failed; he was defeated by the Romans and
killed.
207 BCE. The Romans under Scipio the Elder heavily
defeated the Carthaginians at Baecula, now Bailen, in
southern Spain. The Roman conquest of southern Spain gave them control of the
area�s silver mines, which vastly increased the wealth available to pay
soldiers and make further conquests across Europe.
209 BCE, Rom conquered
Tarentum, a city in the heel of Italy.
211 BCE, Rome conquered Syracuse in Sicily.
212 BCE, Numidian chiefs rebelled against Carthage; rebellion suppressed by Hasdrubal.
213 BCE, The Romans constructed a large port at Adria, which operated until
the 12th century. Situated in the Po delta, it gave its name to the
Adriatic Sea; however by 1900 it was 14 miles inland from the sea.
2 August 216 BCE. Hannibal defeated the Romans at the
Battle of Cannae. The Phoenicians
originated in modern day Lebanon but grew rich on trade and expanded
throughout the western Mediterranean. Their original city was Sidon in Lebanon,
which was a wealthy trading entrepot by 1500 BC. From Sidon came the colony of
Tyre, 20 miles further south; Tyre came to eclipse Sidon. From Tyre trading
colonies were sent out across the Mediterranean, trading as far as �Tarshish�,
perhaps southern Spain or even Cornwall; Tarshish had many valuable metal
mines. Carthage was the foremost Phoenician colony of Tyre. Carthage, in
Tunisia, was founded around 814 BC. By 480 BC, when the Carthaginian
Himilco landed in tin-rich Cornwall, Carthage was a major power. Other Carthaginians
sailed around west Africa perhaps as far as Cameroon. There was conflict with
Greece and in 535 BC the Carthaginians, helped by
their Etruscan allies, drove the Greeks out of Corsica and Sardinia. A dispute
for control of Sicily continued. Meanwhile Rome was rising in power. In 246 BC
Rome started the First Punic War in an effort to gain Sicily and in 241 BC Rome
gained Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. The Carthaginians moved into
Spain and set up Cartagena or New Carthage. Carthage
again grew rich and there was further conflict with Rome in 218 BC. Hannibal
set off from Cartegana in Spain and marched through Spain Gaul and Italy with
nearly 40 elephants, defeating the
Romans at Cannae in 216 BC. Hannibal�s army wiped out a Roman force nearly
twice its size, killing 70,000 Romans whilst losing only 6,000 of its own men.
The Roman forces were less manoeuvrable than the Carthaginian
forces. Hannibal, however, lacked the
catapults and battering rams necessary to take Rome itself, so contented
himself with laying waste to the surrounding countryside, greatly increasing
food prices in Rome.
Rome continued to harass Hannibal
for the next 13 years, and when Rome invaded Carthage it
was abandoned by its allies; Rome occupied Spain and Sicily. Hannibal
was defeated by Rome in 202 BC at Zama,
south west of Carthage, and Hannibal
himself fled to King
Antiocus III of Syria in 195 BCE, Hannibal committed suicide in 183 BC, to avoid
extradition to Rome.
Carthage again prospered under peace
and once again became a threat to Rome. In 150 BC Rome found an excuse to
attack Carthage and besieged it for three years,
capturing it in 146 BC. The city was totally destroyed, and of its population
of 500,000, only 30,000 survived, to be sold into slavery. However the city was
rebuilt in 123 BCE and a century later Julius Caesar established a Roman colony
there. In 439 AD the city was razed by the Vandals
as Roman power waned. The Byzantine conquest revived Carthage but
in 698 the city fell to the Arabs,
who demolished it and used the stone to build Tunis. Some of Carthage�s
granite and marble was exported to build cathedrals in Pisa, Genoa, and perhaps
even Canterbury.
24/6/217 BCE, Carthaginian
forces, allied with Gauls, under Hannibal defeated the
Romans at Lake Trasimene, 10 miles
north west of Perusia. Some 16,000 Romans, including their commander Flaminius
were killed, the lake turned red with their blood.
218 BCE, The Second
Punic War began as the Carthaginians attacked
Rome�s allies on the Iberian Peninsula. Hannibal besieged and then
conquered the town of Sagunto, then crossed the Alps, defeating the Romans
first at the Ticino River and then a second time at the Trebbia River.
220 BCE, The Flaminian Way was completed between Rome and Rimini.
221 BCE, Hasdrubal
was assassinated. Control of the Carthaginian army now
passed to Hannibal, 26 year old son of the late Hamilcar
Barca.
222 BCE, Rome conquered northern Italy, including the city of Mediolanum (now Milan).
225 BCE, Rome defeated the Gauls near Telamon, Etruria, Italy..
228 BCE, Hamilcar Barca killed in battle. Command of the Carthaginian
army in the Iberian Peninsula passed to his son-in-law,
Hasdrubal.
228 BCE, Carthage founded the city of Carthago Nova, now
known as Cartagena.
238 BCE, Carthage began the conquest of Spain.
under Hamilcar
Barca, aged 33. Sardinia and Corsica conquered by Rome.
10/3/241 BCE, End of the First Punic War;
Hamilcar made peace with Rome. Carthage was
forced to cede all of Sicily to Rome.
246 BCE, Hamilcar Barca took control of Carthaginian
forces fighting Rome in Sicily.
249 BCE, Rome had now invaded most of
Sicily, except for the Drepana in western Sicily which still held out for Carthage.
254 BCE, Rome took Panormus, in Sicily, from the Carthaginians.
256 BCE, The Roman navy defeated Carthage at Cape Ecnomus. However the ineptitude of the Roman Consul, Regulus,
resulted in the failure of a Roman invasion of North Africa against Carthage.
260 BCE, Rome defeated Carthage at the naval Battle of Mylae, off the north coast of
Sicily. The Roman commander, Gaius Duilius Nepos, used quinquiremes, based on
the design of a Carthaginian
ship found stranded on the Italian coast; he also pioneered the use of
grappling irons and boarding bridges which enabled him to defeat the larger and
more manoeuvrable Carthaginian fleet. Rome
captured Corsica.
264 BCE, Rome sent soldiers to help the Mamertines
of southern Italy in their fight against Syracuse;
Syracuse was an ally of Carthage.
264 BCE, Appius
Claudius Pulcher defeated Hiero of Syracuse at Messana. Rome�s First Punic War
with Carthage began; it lasted until 241 BCE.
266 BCE, Rome conquered Calabria.
272 BCE, Rome subjected Tarentum; gained
control of central and southern Italy.
279 BCE, Pyrrhus
defeated Rome at Asaculum. However
he failed to follow up this victory and was defeated by Rome at Beneventum, and
left Italy in 275 BCE,
280 BCE, Pyrrhus,
King of Epirus, sent forces to aid Tarentum in its fight against Rome (282 �
272 BCE). Pyrrus defeated Rome at Heraclea.
283 BCE, Rome captured Corsica from Catthage, who had occupied it in around
500 BCE,
287 BCE, Full equality between the Patricians and Plebeians in Rome.
289 BCE, Rome defeated by the Senones (from Gaul) at Arretium. Defeat of the Senones
gave Rome control of all of northern Italy.
293 BCE, Rome defeated the Samnites at Aguilonia.
295 BCE, Battle of Sentium, A
coalition of Samnite warriors, Umbrians, Etruscans, and Celtic tribes from
northern Italy set out to check the inexorable rise of Rome. They amassed an
army twice the size of Rome�s. In response the Romnans mounted small
diversionary attacks on the Etruiscans and Umbrians, drawing away some of the
enemy, but this still left Rome outnumbered by some 40,000 or 50,000 men. The
Roman hero Decius Mus dived straight into the enemy ranks, inspiring his men to
attack. He was killed but the Romans perseverance paid off and the Romans
routed the enemy as they fled.
298 BCE, The Samnites attacked Rome and the Lucanians, starting the Third Samnite
War.
300 BCE, Plebeians
admitted to the priesthood.
304 BCE, After some years of conflict, Rome defeated the Samnites. End of the
Second Samnite War; Rome�s victory brought it no further territory.
310 BCE, Rome conquered the Etruscan town of Perusia (now Perugia).
312 BCE, Appius
Claudius Caecus constructed the Appian aqueduct; the first aqueduct
in Rome. He also began constructing the Appian
Way, which ran from Rome to Capua.
321 BCE, Rome was defeated by the Samnites at the Caudine Forks.
344 BCE, War started between Rome and the Latin League. Rome had been just one
of several cities in the Latin League (originally formed to fight the Etruscans in the 6th century BCE),
and had risen to prominence amongst these cities because of the leading riole
it had taken in fighting their common enemy, the Gauls. However the other Latin
cities now felt that Rome was taking dictatorial powers within the League;
Rome�s attitude was also alienating another former ally, the Campanians to the
south. When Rome refused to acknowledge the equal status of the other latin
cities, these joined with Campania in attacking Rome. At the Battle of Trifanum, near Mount
Vesuvius, the Roman hero Torquatus rode directly into the enemy ranks, causing
total confusion. Rome, with its allies the Samnites, routed the Latin League
and Campania, assuring Roman dominance in the region. Rome gave generous
terms,with many Latins being granted Roman citizenship. Rome absorbed the Latin
League, putting it on the road to dominance of all of Italy.
348 BCE, Rome and Carthage signed a trade
agreement.
360 BCE, Rome�s expansion was alarming
its neighbours; war started between Rome and the town of Tibur.
366 BCE, First Plebeian Council elected in Rome.
377 BCE, The city walls of Rome were rebuilt.
380 BCE, The Servian Walls were built to protect Rome.
387 BCE, Following the attack by the Gauls under Brennus, Rome was rebuilt.
18 July 390 BCE. The Romans suffered a
major defeat by the Gauls on the banks
of the River Allia, a small tributary of the Tiber, about 11 miles north of
Rome. Rome�s seasoned troops held the central position firm against the
Gallic attack, but the junior infantry on the flanks broke and ran, allowing
the Gauls to encircle the centre. The Gauls then attacked into Rome itself, and
an assault on the Capitol at night was only thwarted by the geese of Juno�s
temple sounding the alarm. The
Gauls then withdrew, apparently having suffered an outbreak of the Plague; they
negotiated an end to the conflict.
393 BCE, Rome conquered Veii, an imoortant Etruscan
city just west of Rome.
409 BCE, The Catharginians and Greeks began fighting for
possession of Sicily. They agreed to divide the island between them,
396 BCE, Rome captured the Etruscan
city of Veii, after a 10-year siege. This
ended any further significant Etruscan threat to Rome.
406 BCE, Rome started paying� its troops
a wage (instead of them relying on plunder). The Roman State also instituted
taxation at this time.
413 BCE, The Athenians attempted to invade Sicily, but their fleet was
destroyed.
439 BCE, The Plebeian Revolt in Rome; Plebeians won the right to
marry Patricians.
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was appointed dictator.
Ca. 450 BCE. Rome defeated the Sabines,
who had coveted Rome�s access to the sea and its salt works.
450 BCE, Rome conquered the Greek trading city of Tarentum, Italy.
493 BCE, Rome and the Latins formed an alliance, to fight the Etruscans.
496 BCE, Rome defeated the Latins at the Battle of Lake Regillus. Rome
signed its first treaty with Carthage.
494 BCE, Rome�s Plebeians threatened to withdraw from the city and set up
their own state. This would have severely weakened Rome as a military power.
They were persuaded back only by the promise of a tribune to represent their
interests within Rome.
504 BCE, Tarquinius
attenmpted to regain his position as King of Rome, but failed.
509 BCE, Rome overthrew its last (Etruscan-lineage)
King, Tarquinius, and became a Republic.
Tarquinius
had alienated the aristorcracy with his increasingly autocratic rule, and a group
led by Lucius
Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus (a cousin of King Tarquinius)
won over the army to their side and then barred the gates of Rome to King Tarquinius,
exiling him. The new Roman Republic was governed by two magistrates known as Consuls, who faced re-election by the
peopleevery year.
520 BCE, Tarquinius
began building the Capitol in Rome.
534 BCE, Rome�s last King, Tarquinius
Superbus, acceded to the throne.
534 BCE, Death of Servius Tullus, 6th and penultimate
King of Rome (578 � 534 BCE). He established a clsss system based on
property. He also built the first walls of Rome.
590 BCE,The first drainage system was installed in Rome.
Ca. 600 BCE Rome rose to prominence as it was settled by Etruscans. The Tiber was easily forded at
Rome, allowing access to the rich volcanic soils of Latium to the south.
616 BCE, Tarquinius
Priscus I, (Etruscan) 5th
King of Rome, acceded. He won a series of victories over the Sabines,
Latins and Etruscans, expanding Rome�s control.
617 BCE, Death of Ancus Marcus, 4th King of Rome (acceded 641 BCE). He founded Ostia,
the main port town for Rome.
642 BCE, Death of Tulius Hostilius, 3rd King of Rome.
658 BCE, Byzantium (later, Constantinople) was founded by Greek
colonists from Megara.
674 BCE, End of the reign of Numa Pompilius , 2nd King of Rome (acceded 716 BCE). Tulius Hostilius became King of
Rome.
713 BCE, King
Numa Pompilius of Rome reformed the calendar, adding the months of
January and February
21 April 753 BCE. Traditional date for the founding of Rome by the two twins, Romulus
and Remus.
814 BCE, Carthage
(Tunisia) was founded by the Phoenicians,
as a trading centre with Tyre (Lebanon).
850 BCE, Earliest settlement on the site of Rome.
900 BCE, The first towns in Italy were founded by the Etruscans,
migrants from Lydia (now western Turkey). They
utilised iron ore deposits ar0und Etruria to create strong weaponry.