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Jan 1, 1000
Romulus and Remus foud Rome in 753 B.C.E.
After being abondoned by their mother, the twin sons of Mars were allegedly suckled by the she-worlf Lupa and then raised as shepards by a farmer and his wife. One day they happened to their mother's homeland, restore her honor and the throne to the rightful king, and then set off to found their own kingdom. However, they couldn't agree on where to build, so they started seperately. Remus stepped out of place from his land, and was killed. Romulus just continued the building of Rome. -
Period: Jan 1, 1000 to
Roman Republic/Empire
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Nov 14, 1103
Etruscan influence became dominate in 650 B.C.E.
Etruscan influence over Rome is generally overstated, though the Etruscans did impact Rome; Romans learned how to biuld temples from them, and perhaps even adopted the worship of a triad of gods. -
Nov 9, 1226
Romans establish a Republican Government in 509 B.C.E.
The Roman Republic began with the overthrow of the Roman Monarchy. The Monarchy was replaced with a governemnt lead by two consuls (men only) that were elected annually and guided by the senate. Thre time a constitution eventually developed, creating a system of checks-and-balances and seperation of powers. -
Nov 14, 1303
The Twelve Tables of Law are established in 450 B.C.E.
The earliest attempt by the Romans to create a code of law. Ten men were appointed to create them in a way that binded both plebeian and patrician and which the consuls would rule them both. The first set was unsatisfactory, so another was created. -
Nov 9, 1441
The Appian Way and the first Roman aqueduct built in 312 B.C.E.
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and most important roads in the Roman republic. It connect Rome to Apulia, Brindisi, and southeast Italy.
The Roman empire took 500 years to build 11 aqueducts, some of which are still in use today. -
Period: Nov 15, 1471 to Nov 15, 1571
Punic Wars 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E.
Mainly caused by a conflict of interests between the Carthaginian and Roman Empires, the Punic Wars were a series of three wars that were probably the largest wars to happen at that time.The first war started when Rome wanted to expand to Sicily, which was under partial Carthaginian control. By the end of the third war, Rome had become the most powerful cities in classical antiquity. -
Nov 9, 1489
Earliest documented Gladiatorial combat
Occured during the funeral of Junius Brutus in which three pairs of gladiators fought to the death. -
Nov 9, 1517
Hannibal begins his march into Italy in 218 B.C.E.
The actual route Hannibal took is widely disputed, but it is agreed that the march was very important. He lost over 20,000 men crossing the Pyrenees, even though it was relitively trouble free. The hardest part of the journey was taking the hoard of elephants across the Alps. -
Pompeii Destroyed in 79 B.C.E.
Shortly after the Roman festival Vulcanalia, the volcano Vesuvius errupted; covering most of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and burrying most of the surrounding area. -
Spartacus Revolts in 73 B.C.E.
Spartacus, a gladiotar, leads a series of revolts against Rome, conquering over villages. With each place he and his army defeated they added the slaves to their army. Theoretically, they could've won their ultimate battle due to their large number; however, the slaves were completely untrained and pretty much destroyed themselves. -
Julius Caesar defeats Pompey in 48 B.C.E.
Caesar and Pompey had a history of spats during the first triumvirate, Caesar sort of snapped when Pompey divorced his sister. Pompey tried to run away from Caesar, but it stands to say that Caesar just followed him. Pompey eventually, and rather ironically, died in the theatre of Pompey. -
Julius Ceasar is made dictator for life in 44 B.C.E.
After spending a few years in Egypt and Asia after the end of the first triumvirant, Caesar returned to Rome where the senate named him dictator for life. -
First Triumvirate is formed by Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus in 60 B.C.E.
Caesar was friends with Crassus, so he only needed to convince Pompey to join up (Pompey and Crassus were sort of rivals at the time). Pompey was already mad that he couldn't get land reform for his eastern verterns, and Caesar made everything in his pitch seem like glitters and butterflies, so Pompey agreed. -
Library of Alexandira is burned in 48 B.C.E.
The first person to be blamed for the library's horrid fate was actually Julius Caesar, and it cited as an accident! In 48 B.C.E. Caesar was persuing Pompey into Egypt. He was cut off by an Egyptian fleet in Alexandria. He was so mad that he ordered the boats to be burned -- unfortunately, part of the city was burned as well. Part of the city that held the library. -
Period: to
Pax Romana
A period of relative peace in the Roman Empire during the first and second centuries. Sometimes it is called Pax Augstus as it was established by Caesar Agustus. -
Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 B.C.E.
Not a good for Antony and Cleopatra, but an excellent story for Shakespeare. Due to the actual Battle of Actium, Anotony commited suicide which threw Cleopatra over the edge and she commited suicide too. This victory granted Octavian sole control over the Roman Mediterannean and earned him the name "Agustus". -
Period: to
Rule of Augustus 27 B.C.E. to 14 C.E.
Although Rome was already an incredible power, it strengthened under the rule of Augustus. Writers of the time were encouraged to describe that the gods had declared rome "the mistress of the world". -
Roman persecutation of Christians ends Early Fourth Century
The end of the Roman Christian persecution truely ended with Emperor Constantine, who supposedly saw a vision of a cross over the sun whilst traveling with his army. In order to win their next fight, he painted a slightly-altered cross onto all of the shields. -
Christianity becomes the official religion in 320 C.E.
Constantine declared his victory over his brother-in-law was owed to the Christian god and set out to advance the religion's cause. Some, however, believe that Constantine was converting to Christianity for political reasons, that he was playing a part. -
The Capital of the empire is moved to Constantinople in 330 C.E.
Constantinople was originally known as Istanbul, Turkey. It was renamed in 330, when the Roman emperor Constantine moved his capital there; it's pretty obvious who the city is named after. As the capital, it became a prosperous cultural, economic, religious, and administrative society. For centuries people tried to take it over, with only one success in 1453 -
Visigoths plunder Rome in 378 C.E.
In 376, a Goth leader asked the Roman emperor is they could settle on the south bank of the Danube. Here they hoped they would be able to avoid the Huns. Valens, the emperor, agreed as he saw it a positive influence onto his army. Soon after, however, famine broke out amongst the Roman people and Valens refused to give them food and the lands he had promised the Goths. The Goths revolted, causing six years of war, the death of a Roman Emperor, and the destruction of an entire Roman army. -
Death of Marcus Aurelieus and the Pax Romana in 180 C.E.
Marcus become ill while fighting in the north with Commodus , though it is not known what disease it was that did him off. The Pax Romana ended with his death. -
Diocletian divides the empire in two around 300 C.E.
Diocletian divided the empire for many reasons. He thought it would make the empire easier to rule (it didn't), he wanted to give the Christians (who, at this point, were a minority) a region of their own, the senate didn't want him to have too much power, and -- because there were so many different cultures -- one law in one part of the country didn't work as well in the other. -
The Western Empire falls in 476 C.E.
Romulus Augustus, the final emperor of the Roman Empire, is defeated by Odoacer, a German barbarian who then declared himself king of Italy. -
German leader, Odoacer, outsed emperor of Rome in 476 C.E.
Romulus Augustus, the final emperor of the Roman Empire, is defeated by Odoacer, a German barbarian who then declared himself king of Italy. Odoacer was a mercenary leader within the Roman army when he launched a mutiny against Romulus Augustus.
