Timeline of Ancient Rome

This is a Timeline of events concerning Ancient Rome, from the city foundation until the last attempt of the Roman Empire of the East to conquer Rome.

Note: After the 3rd century AD, the timeline is very incomplete – you can help Wikipedia by adding dates to it.

8th century BC

• 753 BC – Traditional date for the founding of Rome by Romulus; Rome as a kingdom
• 753/715 BC – reign of Romulus
• 715/673 BC – reign of Numa Pompilius: creation of the Roman senate and the priestly offices

7th century BC

• 673/642 BC – reign of Tullus Hostilius: building of the Curia Hostilia – the senate-house
• 642/617 BC – reign of Ancus Marcius
• 617/578 BC – reign of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus: building of the Circus Maximus, Rome gets the first system of sewers; first census

6th century BC

• 578/534 BC – reign of Servius Tullius: defined the sacred boundary of Rome – the pomerium
• 534/509 BC – reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last Roman king: builds temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
• 509 BC – Roman Republic begins: expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus: first consuls are Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus
• 508 BC – The office of pontifex maximus (high priest) is created

5th century BC

• 496 BC – Rome defeats the Latin League at the battle of Lake Regillus
• 494 BC – Two tribunes of the plebs and two plebeian aediles are elected for the first time
• 459 BC – The college of the tribune of the Plebs is raised from two to ten tribunes
• 451 BC – The Decemviri publishes the Twelve Tables of Roman law
• 447 BC – Assembly of the People created: two quaestors elected for the first time
• 445 BC –
  • The office of consul is replaced by an assembly of military tribune with consular powers
  • Marriage between patricians and plebeians allowed
• 443 BC – Censors elected for the first time
• 421 BC – Number of quaestors raised from 2 to 4; office opened to plebeians

4th century BC

• 396 BC –
  • Rome conquers the Etruscans
  • Roman soldiers earn their first salary
• 390 BC – The Gauls defeat the Roman army at the battle of the Allia; sack of Rome by the Gauls
• 375/371 BC – Anarchy years: no magistrates elected
• 367 BC – The consulship restored in its original form
• 366 BC –
  • Elected the first non-patrician consul: Lucius Sextius Sextinus
  • Office of Praetor urbanus created
• 351 BC – Elected the first non-patrician censor
• 343/341 BC – First Samnite war
• 342 BC – Lex Genucia: no man can hold the same office before 10 years have elapsed from the first election
• 338 BC – Latin League dissolved after yet another rebellion
• 326/304 BC – Second Samnite war
• 300 BC – Lex Ogulnia: priesthoods opened to plebeians

3rd century BC

• 298/290 BC – Third Samnite war
• 283 BC – Rome defeats the Etruscans and the Boii (a Gallic tribe) in the Battle of Lake Vadimo
• 280/275 BC – War against Pyrrhus, king of Epirus (modern Greece)
• 267 BC – Number of quaestors raised from 4 to 6
• 264/241 BC – First Punic War against Carthage
• 242 BC – Office of Praetor peregrinus created
• 241 BC – Following the defeat of Carthage, Sardinia and Corsica becomes the first Roman province
• 227 BC – Number of quaestors raised from 6 to 8; number of praetors raised from 2 to 4
• 224 BC – Rome defeats invading Gallic army at the Battle of Telamon
• 223 BC – Rome defeats Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul
• 218/201 BC – Second Punic War against Carthage
• 216 BC – Hannibal inflicts a disaster for Rome at the Battle of Cannae
• 214/205 BC – First Macedonian War, Romans defeated
• 213/211 BC – Siege of Syracuse, Rome captures the city
• 204/202 BC – Scipio Africanus Major invades Africa, Hannibal recalled and defeated in the Battle of Zama in 202 BC
• 202/196 BC – Second Macedonian War, Roman victory

2nd century BC

• 197 BC –
  • Hispania Ulterior and Hispania Tarraconensis become Roman provinces
  • Number of quaestors raised from 8 to 12; number of praetors raised from 4 to 6
• 192/189 BC – Syrian war against the Seleucid dynasty
• 180 BC – Lex Villia annalis: established minimum ages for the cursus honorum offices; determined an interval of two years between offices
• 172/167 BC – Third Macedonian War, Roman victory
• 154/138 BC – War against the Lusitanians
• 149/146 BC – Third Punic War against Carthage
• 149/148 BC – Fourth Macedonian War
• 149 BC – A permanent extortion court is established by Lex Calpurnia
• 146 BC – Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (Scipio Africanus the Younger) puts an end in the Punic and Macedonian threat by destroying the cities of Carthage and Corinth; Macedonia and Africa are annexed as provinces
• 133 BC – The tribune Tiberius Gracchus is murdered after approving an agrarian reform
• 121 BC –
  • Rome acquires the province of Transalpine Gaul (south of modern France) and a safe land route to Hispania
  • The Senate approves the first Senatus consultum de re publica defenda to deal with the threat of violence started by tribune Gaius Gracchus
• 112/106 BC – Jugurthine War against king Jughurta of Numidia, eventually defeated and captured by Marius
• 105 BC – The invading tribe of the Cimbri inflict a major defeat on the Roman army in the battle of Arausio
• 104/100 BC – Gaius Marius elected consul for five years in a row
• 102 BC – Romans under Marius defeat Teutons in the Battle of Aquae Sextae
• 101 BC – Romans under Marius and Quintus Lutatius Catulus defeat the Cimbri in the Battle of Vercellae

1st century BC

• 91/88 BC – Social wars, the last rebellion of the Italian nations against Rome
• 88 BC – Sulla crosses the pomerium with his legions and invades Rome
• 88/85 BC – First Mithridatic War against Mithridates VI of Pontus
• 83/82 BC – First Roman civil war, between Sulla and the popular faction; Sulla wins and becomes dictator; censor office abolished (to be recreated in 70 BC)
• 83/82 BC – Second Mithridatic War; Sulla returns to Rome and is nominated dictator
• 82/72 BC – Sertorius, the last Marian general continues the civil war in Hispania
• 74/66 BC – Third Mithridatic War, eventually won by Pompey
• 67 BC – Pompey clears the Mediterranean of pirates
• 63 BC –
  • Fall of Jerusalem
  • consulship of Cicero; Catiline conspiracies
• 59/54 BC – First triumvirate, an alliance between Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus
• 58/50 BC – Caesar fights the Gallic wars, acquiring the province of Gallia Comata
• 54/53 BC – First campaign against the Parthian Empire; Crassus utterly defeated and killed
• 49 BC – Caesar crosses the Rubicon (alea iacta est) and begins the Second Roman civil war against the Optimates, the conservative faction of the senate, led by Pompey
• 48/45 BC – Caesar pursues and defeats the Optimates in Greece and Africa
• 44 BC – Caesar is assassinated in the Ides of March
• 44/42 BC – Third Roman civil war, between the assassins of Caesar (led by Cassius and Brutus) and Caesar's heirs, Octavian and Mark Antony
• 43 BC – Octavian, Antony and Lepidus form the second triumvirate
• 36 BC – Antony' Parthian campaign ends in failure
• 32 BC – End of peaceful relations between Octavian and Antony
• 31 BC – In the battle of Actium, Octavian decisively defeats Antony and Cleopatra
• 30 BC – Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide; Egypt becomes a Roman province
• 27 BC – End of the Republic, begin of the Roman Empire: Octavian is now called Augustus Caesar and becomes the sole ruler of Rome
• 28/24 BC – Augustus' campaigns against the Cantabrians in Hispania Tarraconensis
• 16/15 BC – Augustus' campaigns against the Alpine tribes
• 12/7 BC – Tiberius and Drusus conquer Pannonia and campaign against the Germanic tribes

1st century

• 5 – Tiberius conquers Germania Inferior
• 6 – Judaea becomes a Roman province
• 6/9 – Rebellions in Pannonia and Dalmatia suppressed by Germanicus
• 9 – Three Roman legions are ambushed and massacred by the Germans in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
• 11 – Germania Inferior and the Rhine secured by Germanicus
• 14 – Death of Augustus, Tiberius becomes emperor
• 14/15 – Germanicus campaigns against the Germanic tribes
• 26 – Tiberius retires to Capri, governing Rome by proxy
• 28 – The tribe of the Frisii rebel because of taxes
• 31 – The fall of Sejanus
• 37 –Caligula becomes emperor
• 41 –Claudius becomes emperor
• 43 – Claudius orders the Roman invasion of Britain
• 54 –Nero becomes emperor
• 60/61 – Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, leads a rebellion that devastates Britain
• 64 – Rome is destroyed by fire; Nero blames the Christians and orders first persecution
• 66/74 – Jewish rebellions in Judea
• 68 – Nero commits suicide – end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty; succeeded by Galba
• 69 – Year of the four emperors: after the assassination of Galba, Otho and Vitellius briefly become emperors before Vespasian's accession to power in the end of the year; Flavian dynasty begins
• 69/70 – Civilis leads the Batavian rebellion in Germania Inferior; defeated by Quintus Petillius Cerialis
• 71/84 – pacification of Britain, conquest of modern Wales and Scotland
• 79 –
  • Titus Flavius becomes emperor
  • August 24, an eruption of Vesuvius destroys of Pompeii and Herculaneum
• 80 – Rome partially destroyed by fire
• 81 – Domitian becomes emperor
• 85 – king Decebalus of Dacia rebels and invades Moesia
• 89 – rebellions in Germania Inferior and Pannonia force peace with Decebalus of Dacia
• 96 – Domitian killed – end of Flavian dynasty; succeeded by Nerva, the first of the Five good emperors
• 98 – Trajan becomes emperor

2nd century

• 101/102 – First Dacian War
• 105/106 – Second Dacian War; king Decebalus commits suicide and Dacia becomes a province
• 106 – Building of Trajan's Forum and construction of Trajan's column
• 113/117 – Trajan's unsuccessful campaigns against the Parthian Empire
• 115/117 – Jewish rebellions in Egypt
• 117 – Hadrian becomes emperor
• 121/125 – Hadrian travels through the Northern Empire
• 122 – construction of Hadrian's Wall begins
• 128/132 – Hadrian travels through Africa and the Eastern Empire
• 131/135 – Jewish rebellions led by Simon bar Kokhba
• 138 – Antoninus Pius becomes emperor
• 140/143 – After a rebellion Antoninus conquers Scotland; construction of Antonine Wall begins
• 150/163 – rebellions in Scotland, Antonine Wall is abandoned and reoccupied several times
• 161 – Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor
• 162/166 – Lucius Verus unsuccessful campaigns against the Parthian Empire
• 167 – The tribe of the Marcomanni crosses the Danube and invades Dacia
• 168/175 – Marcus Aurelius' campaigns against the Marcomanni
• 180 – Death of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Five good emperors; Commodus becomes emperor
• 184 – Antonine Wall abandoned for the last time
• 193 – Commodus is murdered. After the short two and a half month reign of Pertinax, Septimius Severus becomes emperor. There is opposition from first from Pescennius Niger, then from Clodius Albinus
• 197 – Septimius Severus secures the empire after the battle of Lugdunum
• 198 – Septimius Severus invades Parthia

3rd century

• 208/211 – Severus campaigns against the Caledonians
• 211 – Caracalla becomes emperor
• 217 – Caracalla murdered; Macrinus becomes emperor
• 218 – Elagabulus usurps the throne
• 222 – Alexander Severus becomes emperor
• 284 – Diocletian becomes emperor

4th century

• 330 – Constantine I makes Constantinople the capital
• 378 – Valens is defeated and killed by the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople
• 395 – Theodosius I divided the empire into two halves

5th century

• 410 – Rome is sacked by Alaric I
• 447 – Eastern Rome loses to Attila the Hun
• 455 – Rome is plundered by the Vandals
• 468 – Leo I launches a naval expedition against the Vandals
• 475 – Romulus Augustus becomes emperor
• 476 – Romulus Augustus forced to abdicate. Traditional date for the fall of the western Roman Empire.

6th century

• 533 – Justinian I begins to restore the empire in the west; Belisarius defeats the Vandals at the Battle of Ad Decimum and the Battle of Ticameron
• 536 – Belisarius recaptures Rome from the Ostrogoths
• 552 – Narses defeats the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Taginae
• 553 – Narses defeats the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Mons Lactarius
• 568 – The Lombards invade Italy; no further attempts to restore the empire

History – Ancient History – Ancient Rome – Timeline of Ancient Rome

See also: List of ancient Romans – List of Roman battles – Military History of Rome – Political Institutions of Rome – Roman culture