rome timeline

Etruscans reached northern Italy

1200 BCE

The Etruscans called themselves Raśna. Etruria, their settlement area, was located in central and northern Italy, including present-day Tuscany, the northern part of Latium and parts of Umbria. In 500 BC, the empire reached from Mantua in the north, to what would later become Rome in the south,

Greeks established colonies throughout southern Italy

800 BCE

In the first half of the first millennium BCE, ancient Greek city-states, most of which were maritime powers, began to look beyond Greece for land and resources, and so they founded colonies across the Mediterranean. Trade contacts were usually the first steps in the colonization process and then, later, once local populations were subdued or included within the colony, cities were established.

Phoenicians established Carthage on the north coast of Africa

800 BCE

The Phoenicians and Carthage. The Phoenicians came from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea; land that is present-day Lebanon. Their homeland was arid and inhospitable for farming, so the Phoenicians turned to the sea to become the greatest travelers and traders of their time.

village of Rome founded

753 BCE

According to legend, Ancient Rome was founded by the two brothers, and demi-gods, Romulus and Remus, on 21 April 753 BCE. The legend claims that, in an argument over who would rule the city (or, in another version, where the city would be located) Romulus killed Remus and named the city after himself.

Rome was a province of Etruria

600 BCE

Etruria. Etruria, Ancient country, central Italy. It covered the region that now comprises Tuscany and part of Umbria. Etruria was inhabited by the Etruscans, who established a civilization by the 7th century bc.

Romans revolted against the Etruscan kings and created the system of government by the Senate and the Assembly

509 BCE

Roman history held that seven kings of Rome reigned from the establishment of the city in 753 BC by Romulus up to the reign of Tarquinius. The accuracy of this account has been doubted by modern historians, although it appears to be accepted that there was a monarchy, and the last king Tarquinius was expelled upon the founding of the republic in the late 6th century BC.

first disputes between patricians (wealthy landowners who controlled the Senate) and plebeians (ordinary citizens)

494 BCE

The Conflict of the Orders, also referred to as the Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the Plebeians (commoners) and Patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC, in which the Plebeians sought political equality with the Patricians. It played a major role in the development of the Constitution of the Roman Republic.

"Law of the 12 Tables" provides written Roman law

450 BCE

Q. The Law of the 12 Tables and the U.S. Constitution are similar because both law codes protect the rights of the people. At first, Roman laws were not written down and the only people who knew the laws were the patricians who made them.

Gaulic invasion sacked Rome

390 BCE

1. The Gauls. The story of the first sack of Rome is steeped in myth and legend, but it most likely began when the young city became embroiled in a conflict with a band of Gallic Celts led by the warlord Brennus. On July 18, 387 B.C., the two sides met in battle along the banks of the River Allia.

War with Pyrrhus

282 BCE

A skilled commander, with a strong army fortified by war elephants (which the Romans were not experienced in facing), Pyrrhus enjoyed initial success against the Roman legions, but suffered heavy losses even in these victories. Plutarch wrote that Pyrrhus said after the second battle of the war, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." He could not call up more men from home and his allies in Italy were becoming indifferent.

Rome completed the occupation of the Italian peninsula

265 BCE

The Roman expansion in Italy covers a series of conflicts in which Rome grew from being a small Italian city-state to be the ruler of the Italian peninsula. Roman tradition attributes to Roman kings the first war against the Sabines and the first conquests around the Alban hills and down to the coast of Latium. The first major Roman conquest in Republican times came with the final defeat of her Etruscan neighbour Veii in 396 BC.

First war with Carthage (First Punic War)

264 BCE

First war with Carthage (First Punic War)

Conquest of Sardinia

238 BCE

Conquest of Sardinia

First Illyrian War (Balkans)

229 BCE

Illyrian Wars. The Illyrian Wars were a set of wars fought in the period 229–168 BC between the Roman Republic and the Ardiaei kingdom. ... Rome expelled Illyrian garrisons from a number of Greek cities including Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra, Pharos and established a protectorate over these Greek towns.

Second Illyrian War

219 BCE

Illyrian Wars. The Illyrian Wars were a set of wars fought in the period 229–168 BC between the Roman Republic and the Ardiaei kingdom. ... The Romans also set up Demetrius of Pharos as a power in Illyria to counterbalance the power of Teuta. The Second Illyrian War lasted from 220 BC to 219 BC.

Second Punic War (Hannibal crossed the Alps)

218 BCE

Hannibal's crossing of the Alps. Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC was one of the major events of the Second Punic War, and one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare.

First Macedonian War

215 BCE

The First Macedonian War (214–205 BC) was fought by Rome, allied (after 211 BC) with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon, contemporaneously with the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) against Carthage. There were no decisive engagements, and the war ended in a stalemate.

Second Macedonian War

200 BCE

The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in southern Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor. During their intervention, and although the Romans declared the "freedom of the Greeks" against the rule from the Macedonian kingdom, the war marked a significant stage in increasing Roman intervention in the affairs of the eastern Mediterranean which would eventually lead to their conquest of the entire region.

Gaul invasion of northern Italy

200 BCE

Conquest of Cisalpine Gaul : B.C. 232-194. The Po valley in Northern Italy, where most of the Gallic tribes lived, was called Cisalpine Gaul, and it was the last region of Italy to come under Roman control.

Syrian War

192 BCE

The Syrian Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية السورية‎, al-ḥarb al-ʾahlīyah as-sūrīyah) is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria fought between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic led by President Bashar al-Assad, along with domestic and foreign allies, and various domestic and foreign forces opposing both the Syrian government and each other in varying combinations.

Third Macedonian War

171 BCE

The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman feelings around Macedonia. Tensions escalated and Rome declared war on Macedon.

Fourth (and final) Macedonian War

149 BCE

The Fourth Macedonian War (150 BC to 148 BC) was fought between the Roman Republic and a Greek uprising led by the Macedonian pretender to the throne Andriscus. Pretending to be the son of former king Perseus, who had been deposed by the Romans after the Third Macedonian War in 168 BC, Andriscus sought to re-establish the old Macedonian Kingdom.[1] In the process he destabilised Macedonia and much of the Greek world.

Third Punic War and final defeat of Carthage

149 BCE

Third Punic War, also called Third Carthaginian War, (149–146 bce), third of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) Empire that resulted in the final destruction of Carthage, the enslavement of its population, and Roman hegemony over the western Mediterranean.

First Servile War (slave revolt)

135 BCE

The First Servile War of 135–132 BC was an unsuccessful slave rebellion against the Roman Republic. The war was prompted by slave revolts in Enna on the island of Sicily. It was led by Eunus, a former slave claiming to be a prophet, and Cleon, a Cilician (from present-day Turkey) who became Eunus's military commander.

Tiberius, the first senator to advocate land reform, was assassinated in 133 BCE by land-owners.

133 BCE

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (Latin: TI·SEMPRONIVS·TI·F·P·N·GRACCVS; born c. 169–164 – 133 BC)[1][2] was a politician of the Roman Republic, and the first prominent member of the Populares, a reformist faction. He belonged to the highest aristocracy, as his father was consul and his mother, Cornelia Africana, was the daughter of Scipio Africanus.

The "Social War" (revolt by Roman allies in Italy)

91 BCE

Social War, also called Italic War, or Marsic War, (90–89 bc), rebellion waged by ancient Rome's Italian allies (socii) who, denied the Roman franchise, fought for independence. ... The peoples of the hills of central Italy formed the heart of the uprising, the Marsi in the north and the Samnites in the south.

First Mithridatic War (Black Sea region)

88 BCE

Asia Minor, Achaea, Greece and the Aegean Sea. The First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) was a war challenging Rome's expanding Empire and rule over the Greek world.

Sulla became the first Roman general to seize power

88 BCE

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix[1] (/ˈsʌlə/; c. 138 BC – 78 BC), known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as reviving the dictatorship. Sulla was a skillful general, achieving numerous successes in wars against different opponents, both foreign and Roman. He was awarded a Grass Crown, the most prestigious Roman military honor, during the Social War.

Civil war in Rome

88 BCE

Rome’s first civil war stemmed from a ruthless power struggle between the politician-generals Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The bad blood between the two men went back several years—Marius had once taken credit for one of Sulla’s military achievements—and it finally led to war in 88 B.C.

Second Mithridatic War

83 BCE

At the conclusion of the First Mithridatic War, Lucius Cornelius Sulla had come to a hasty agreement with Mithridates because he had to return to Rome to deal with a rebellion. The peace treaty allowed Mithridates to remain in control of his Kingdom of Pontus, but he had to relinquish his claim to Asia Minor and respect pre-war borders. Murena, as Sulla's legate, was stationed in Asia as commander of the two legions formerly under the command of Gaius Flavius Fimbria.