Key Events in Roman History

  1. For the first two hundred and fifty years, Rome was ruled by kings, however a revolt against king Tarquinius in 500 BC saw the establishment of the Republic of Rome and the beginning of a new phase in world history.
  2. In 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal crossed the alps to invade Rome - something no-one thought was possible. It took Roman soldiers almost seventeen years to defeat him, but he remained in the public consciousness for many years afterwards - in fact, Roman parents told their children that if they misbehaved, Hannibal would come to get them!
  3. In around 300 BC, the Romans introduced coins to their economy, surprisingly late in comparison to other societies of the time (for instance the Greeks had been using coins for three hundred years at that point).
  4. When Spartacus led a slave revolt against Rome in 73 BC, authorities reacted by crucifying 6000 slaves, many of which had not taken part in the uprising.
  5. In 43 AD, the Roman conquest of Britain begun. Twelve years earlier, Julius Caesar had attempted to invade but on that occasion had been unsuccessful. Over a number of decades, the Roman occupation extended North, until - met with fierce resistance from the Celts - emperor Hadrian ordered his now famous wall to be built.
  6. A great fire consumed much of the city of Rome in 64 AD. A legend tells us of how emperor Nero watched the city burn whilst playing a lyre (an early musical instrument).
  7. On August the 24th 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted unexpectedly, spewing volcanic ash and debris into the air which subsequently began to fall on the city. A vast cloud of heated gas rolled over the city, asphyxiating the 20,000 inhabitants. The ash which covered the city preserved its buildings for seventeen centuries; today one can visit extensive excavations at the site.
  8. in 380 AD, Theodosius I declared Christianity to be the sole religion of the entire Roman Empire.
  9. In 476 AD, Odoacer, mercenary and leader of the German Goths defeated Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire. This was to be the beginning of the Dark Ages in Europe.
  10. 1453 AD saw the absolute end to the final part of the Roman Empire when the Byzantine Empire, formerly the Eastern Roman Empire, falls to the Ottomans.