TIME LINE

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

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