Timeline of the Romans
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753BC Apr 21,
Rome was founded. The traditional date for founding by Romulus as a
refuge for runaway slaves and murderers who captured the neighboring
Sabine women for wives. Archeological evidence indicates that the
founders of Rome were Italic people who occupied the area south of the
Tiber River.
(HFA,'96,p.28)(V.D.-H.K.p.61)(http://eawc.evansville.edu,p.7)(HN,4/21/98)
c600BC The Etruscans, believed to be natives of Asia
Minor, established cities that stretched from northern to central
Italy. They developed the arch and the vault, gladiatorial combat for
entertainment, and the study of animals to predict future events.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.8)
c600BC The Greeks established city-states along the
southern coast of Italy and the island of Sicily. They contributed
letters to the Roman alphabet, religious concepts and artistic talent
as well as mythology.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.8)
600-500BC Rome by this time was the dominant power in
its surrounding area. The conservative government consisted of a
kingship, that resembled the traditional values of the patriarchal
family; an assembly, composed of male citizens of military age; and a
Senate, comprised of elders who served as the heads of different
community sects. The Palatine is one of the seven hills of Rome
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.7)(SFC,12/26/97,
p.C22)
509BC The Romans overthrew King
Lucius Tarquinius and established a republic with rule by the senate
and the people of Rome (SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanus).
(V.D.-H.K.p.61)(http://eawc.evansville.edu,
p.10)(Econ, 11/6/04, p.85)
509BC The Fall of the Tarquin dynasty in Rome marked
the beginning of Etruscan Decline.
(NG, 6/1988, p.711)
500-400BC The Capitoline Wolf, a bronze she-wolf
sculpture, was made. It was unknown whether the sculpture was Etruscan,
Roman or from Magna Graecia.
(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.19)
494BC In Rome the first victory of
the plebeian class over the patricians resulted in an agreement between
the two classes to allow the plebeians to elect officers, and tribunes
with the power to veto any unlawful acts of the magistrates.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.10)
450BC Roman law was codified in the twelve tablets.
The law allowed the plebeians to have knowledge of their relationship
to the law. The plebeians were primarily farmers, craftsmen and
tradesmen with foreign backgrounds. The patricians made up the
aristocracy.
(V.D.-H.K.p.67)(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.11)
c400BC In a wave of Celtic expansion tribes poured
through the Alps into Italy.
(NGM, 5/77)
396BC Sacking of Veio (Etruscan
city), after a ten-year siege, ended the city’s long conflict with
Rome. (NG, 6/1988, p.711)
387BC Rampaging bands of Celts
captured Rome and then settled down to a life of agriculture in the Po
Valley.
(NGM, 5/77)
367BC In Rome the first plebeian
consul was elected to the assembly. The Plebeians also became eligible
to serve as lesser magistrates, formerly a position reserved for the
aristocratic class. Because an ancient custom allowed promotion from
the magistracy to the Senate, the patrician-dominated Senate was broken.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.12)
312BC Appius Claudius, the Blind,
as consul began the building of the Via Appia. The historian Procopius
states that the road was completed at this time. It ran due south from
Rome to Capua. (V.D.-H.K.p.69)(SFC, 6/3/96, p.E5)
304BC Cnieus Flavius, a commoner,
brought justice to Rome by stealing a calendar. He posted his purloined
tablet in the Roman Forum. The letters A-H corresponded to an 8-day
Roman market-day cycle.
(SFEC, 9/27/98, BR p.5)
c300-200BC Andronicus Livius, a Roman actor of the
3rd cent. BCE improvised silently and originated pantomime.
(SFC,12/27/97, p.C3)
295BC The Battle of Sentinum.
Etruria was defeated by Rome and the Etruscan decline continued for
more than 200 years. (NG, 6/1988, p.739)
287BC In Rome the plebeians passed
a law that allowed the decisions of the assembly to override the Senate.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.14)
269BC The Roman system of coinage
was established.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.14)
265BC Rome completed its
domination of the entire Italian peninsula and began its pursuit of a
larger empire that resulted in a series of wars with other nations.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.14)
264BC Rome initiated the Punic
Wars with Carthage, an oligarchic empire that stretched from the
northern coast of Africa to the Strait of Gibraltar. The primary cause
was the Carthaginian expansion into the Greek cities of Sicily.
Carthage was forced to surrender its control over the western region of
Sicily and this marked the end of the first Punic War. The three Punic
Wars: 264-241 BCE, 218-202 BCE, 149-146 BCE, also known as the
Carthaginian Wars, finally resulted in the destruction of Carthage and
Roman control of the western Mediterranean.
(eawc, p.14)(HNQ, 6/4/02)
262BC War broke out between
Carthage and Rome. Three long wars lasted till 146BCE when Carthage was
destroyed by Rome.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.167-8)
261BC Rome captured a Punic
quinquereme. In two months they copied it plank by plank and built 100
like it and eventually the Roman fleet was able to defeat the
Carthaginians.
(NG, Aug., 1974, p.178)
256BC The Carthaginian city of
Kerouane was sacked by the Romans.
(NG, 8/04, p.48)
250-150BC Punic wars between Rome and Carthage.
(V.D.-H.K.p.63)
241BC Mar 10, The Battle of Aegusa
in which the Roman fleet sank 50 Carthaginian ships occurred.
(HN, 3/10/98)
241BC The Romans incorporated
Sicily as a province.
(AM, 11/00, p.12)
239-169BC Ennius, Roman poet: "A friend in need is a
friend indeed."
(SSFC, 5/18/03, Par p.26)(WUD, 1994, p.474)
238 BC The Romans occupied Sardinia.
(SFEC, 1/30/00, p.T4)
238BC-227AD The Parthians (238 B.C.-A.D. 227) ruled the Persian Empire
despite attempts by the Roman Republic (133-27 B.C.), the Roman Empire
(27 B.C.-A.D. 476) to conquer it. During the centuries-long struggle,
border towns and provinces in the Near East passed back and forth like
Alsace-Lorraine or the Polish Corridor would in nineteenth-and
twentieth-century Europe. Rarely in the history of human conflict has a
feud such as the one between the empires of Rome and Persia lasted so
long and accomplished so little.
(HNQ, 12/22/00)
234-149 BC Cato, Roman statesman and historian: "If
you are ruled by mind, you are a king; if by body, a slave."
(AP, 1/11/99)
233BC General Quintus Fabius
Maximus led a Roman victory against the Ligurian tribes northwest of
Italy.
(ON, 9/05, p.6)
225BC Polybius, a Greek historian,
described the naked gaesatae, Celtic spearmen, at the Battle of
Telamon, northwest of Rome where the Romans defeated the Celts.
(NGM, 5/77)
222-196BC The Romans showed up at the site of Milan
and subdued the Gauls after 26 years of butchery. Mittaland was
Latinized to Medioland, i.e. middle of the plain, and later transformed
to Milano.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.T12)
218BC The Romans renewed their
efforts against Carthage as Carthage expanded into Spain. This 2nd
Punic War lasted 16 years at the of which Carthage was forced to
surrender al of its territory to Rome except for its capital city in
North Africa.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
218BC Hannibal crossed Portugal on
his way to storm Rome.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.C11)
218-201BC Numidia, ancient Roman name for part of
northern Africa roughly equivalent to modern Algeria. In the Second
Punic War (218-201 BCE) between Carthage and Rome, western Numidia
supported Carthage. King Masinissa of eastern Numidia joined the
Romans. With the victory of Rome, Masinissa controlled all Numidia.
(WWW, Encarta, 12/19/98)
217BC Jun 21, Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal
destroyed a Roman army under consul Gaius Flaminicy in a battle at Lake
Trasimenus in central Italy. Hannibal of Carthage attacked Roman Consul
Flaminio at Tuoro on Lake Trasimeno in Umbria. Hannibal’s army of
Numidians, Berbers, Libyans, Gascons, and Iberians was down to one
elephant after crossing the Alps with 39. His army of 40,000 drove the
Romans into the lake where 15,000 died as opposed to 1,500 of
Hannibal’s men. Two nearby towns were named Ossaia (boneyard) and
Sanguineto (bloodied).
(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.37)(HN, 6/21/98)
217BC During the Second Punic War
Rome appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus as dictator to stave off
Hannibal’s Carthaginian army.
(ON, 9/05, p.6)
216 BC Aug 2, Hannibal Barca of Carthage won his
greatest victory over the Romans at Cannae. Hannibal seized a grain
depot in the small village of Cannae in order to lure the Romans to
battle. Having crossed over the Alps, Hannibal‘s forces defeated the
Romans at the Trebia River and also at Lake Trasimene. Thereafter, the
Romans were unwilling to commit a large force to attacking Hannibal.
However, Hannibal‘s spies had learned two Roman consuls shared command
of the legions and attempted to goad the more impetuous of the two into
battle at Cannae.
(HN, 8/2/98)(HNQ, 11/16/00)
211BC Roman legions overran the
Greek settlement of Morgantina on Sicily.
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A13)
206BC Rome destroyed Carthaginian
forces at the Battle of Metaurus in northern Italy.
(ON, 9/05, p.7)
204BC-202BC Greece and most of
Asia Minor came under the control of the Romans after the Roman victory
over Carthage in the 2nd Punic War.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A7)(ON, 9/05, p.7)
203BC Hannibal and his army
returned home to defend Carthage against Roman forces.
(ON, 9/05, p.7)
203BC Quintus Fabius Maximus,
Roman general and dictator, died shortly before Hannibal’s final
defeat. The name Fabian has come to mean “using a cautious strategy of
delay and avoidance of battle.”
(ON, 9/05, p.7)
202BC Roman forces under Scipio
Africanus defeated Hannibal of Carthage on the Plains of Zama in
northern Tunisia.
(NG, 8/04,
p.44)(www2.cs.uh.edu/~clifton/hannibal.html)
199-150BC Early in the 2nd century BCE the Romans
made Macedonia into a province and obliterated the city of Corinth.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A7)
184BC In Rome Cato the Censor
(234-149) was elected as one of two censors, i.e. assessors of property
and moral conduct. He aimed to preserve Roman ways and tried to
extirpate Greek influences.
(V.D.-H.K.p.65)
170BC Lucius Accius, Roman poet,
wrote "Has oderint dum metuant" (Let them hate us, so long as they fear
us). This became a favorite phrase of Emperor Caligula.
(SFC, 3/16/03, p.D3)
168BC The Greek city of Aigai was
destroyed by the Romans.
(AP, 8/29/09)
168BC Illyria and Epirus were
conquered by Rome.
(CO, Grolier's Amer. Acad. Enc./ Albania)
167BC Rome presented to Athens the
island of Delos, whose prosperous slave and commodities market brought
large profits.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A7)
165 BC Romans captured King Gent of Illyria and sent
him to Rome. Illyria went under Roman control.
(www, Albania, 1998)
149-146BC Rome and Carthage fought the 3rd Punic War
that resulted in the total defeat of Carthage. All inhabitants of
Carthage were sold into slavery and the city was burned to the ground.
As a result of the Punic wars Rome expanded its empire to cover Spain,
North Africa, Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt.
(eawc, p.15)(HNQ, 8/9/00)
146BC Roman forces breached the
walls of Carthage. All inhabitants were sold into slavery. The city was
burned to the ground and the land was sown with salt.
(NG, Aug., 1974, p.174)(NG, 8/04, p.46)
146-30BC All Hellenistic territory became subject to
Rome over this period.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
146-30BC Roman civilization as a result of the Punic
Wars witnessed a series of cultural conflicts and assassinations.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
141BC The Romans incorporated
Macedonia as a province.
(AM, 11/00, p.12)
133BC In Rome Tiberius Gracchus
was elected as tribune. He and his brother, elected in 123BCE, strove
for reforms in the Roman Republic, but failed due to the conservative
customs of the upper class and their resistance to change. Marius and
Sulla, 2 military leaders, followed the attempts of the Gracchi.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
133BC Attalus III of Pergamon
bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. It became the province of Asia.
(AM, 11/00, p.12)
123BC In Rome Gaius Gracchus was
elected as tribune. [see 133BCE]
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
123BC The Romans won a victory
over the Gauls near a 3,000 foot peak that was named Mt.
Sainte-Victoire in commemoration. It established a marker between
civilization and barbarism.
(WSJ, 2/13/04, p.A12)
116-27BC Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and
author.
(AM, 11/00, p.78)(WUD, 1994 p.1581)
106BC Jan 3, Marcus Cicero (d.43BCE), Roman orator,
statesman and author, was born. He was elected Consul in 63. He chose
to support Pompey over Caesar and was murdered by Mark Antony: "What is
more unwise than to mistake uncertainty for certainty, falsehood for
truth?"
(V.D.-H.K.p.74)(AP, 4/10/98)(HN, 1/3/99)
106-48BC Pompey. He was a rival to Caesar for Roman
power.
105BC The heart of ancient Numidia
lay in the eastern region of what is now Algeria in Northern Africa.
The Numidians were originally nomadic horsemen. They were defeated by
Roman troops in the Jugurthine War in 105 BC and conquered by Rome in
46 BC. The Vandals and Byzantines ruled successively before Arabs
conquered the area in the seventh century AD. Jugurtha was the king of
Numidia.
(HNQ, 6/2/98)(SFC, 2/12/02, p.D3)
104BC Rome faced a slave
retaliation in Sicily.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
c100BC Jul 12, Gaius Julius Caesar (d.44BC), Roman
general and statesman, was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.208)(AP, 7/12/97)(HN, 7/12/98)
100-1BC A Roman fortified citadel was built about
this time in Moldova. It may have protected a town occupied by a
late-era Sarmatian king.
(SFC, 1/28/97, p.A5)
96-81BC The Circus of Domitian was built in Rome. It
later became the Piazza Navona.
(SFEC, 7/2/00, p.T5)
89BC Roman general Cornelius Sulla
sacked Clusium, the Etruscan capital.
(Econ, 11/6/04, p.85)
80sBC Mithridates, ruler of Pontus
in the north of Asia Minor, made war on Rome and overran much of Asia
Minor and parts of Greece. The Athenians joined Mithridates and was
consequently besieged by the Roman Gen’l. Sulla.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A7)
74BC According to Pliny the Roman
General Lucullus introduced cherries to Europe. Greeks had cultivated
cherries hundreds of years before this.
(SFC, 4/12/03, p.E3)
73BC Rome faced a 2nd slave
uprising in Sicily.
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
70BC Oct 15, Virgil [Vergil]
(Publius Vergilius Maro), Roman poet, was born in Mantua. He wrote
about the mythical founding of Rome in the Aeneid, which told the
legend of Rome‘s founder and was considered a national epic.
(V.D.-H.K.p.60)(HN, 10/15/98)(AMNHDT, 5/98)
69BC Pliny the Elder (23-79CE), a
Roman naturalist, recorded that the Roman Gen’l. Lucullus experienced
an attack by the Samosatans at this time with a flammable mud called
maltha (semisolid petroleum and gases).
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.57)(WUD, 1994, p.1106)
65 BC Dec 8, Quintus "Horace"
Horatius Flaccus (d.8 BCE), Roman poet and satirist best known for his
three books "Odes," was born. "Drop the question what tomorrow
may bring, and count as profit every day that Fate allows you."
(HN, 12/8/98)(AP, 11/4/00)
64BC The Greek settlement of
Seleucia (in southeastern Turkey) was conquered and ruled by the Roman
Empire and with this shift the name of the city was changed into
Zeugma, meaning "bridge-passage" or "bridge of boats."
(Arch, 9/02,
p.62)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeugma_(city))
63BC Sep 23, Caesar Augustus
(63BCE-14CE) was born in Rome. Augustus, first emperor of Rome, ended
the era of the Roman Republic and introduced the Pax Romana, the era of
peace. Augustus held power but shared administrative tasks with the
Senate, consuls, and tribunes who continued to be elected: "Make haste
slowly."
(V.D.-H.K.p.63)(AP, 9/23/97)(AP, 11/20/97)(HN,
9/23/98)
63BC Cicero was elected Consul of
Rome. During this time he suppressed a conspiracy to murder the entire
Senate.
(WSJ, 6/11/02, p.D7)
63BC The Romans conquer the Jews
The Jews appealed to Pompey to settle internal dissention. The Romans
intervened and began their occupation of Palestine.
(V.D.-H.K.p.102)(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.15)
63BC Caesar’s troops plundered
Terena in Portugal’s Alentejo province.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.C11)
55BC Aug 26, Roman forces under
Julius Caesar invaded Britain. 80 war galleys with some ten thousand
foot soldiers prevailed over the native Britons.
(AP, 8/26/97)(ON, 6/09, p.6)
55BC Pompey dedicated his theater,
the first to be constructed of stone in Rome.
(RFH-MDHP, p.214)
54BC Jul, Roman forces under
Julius Caesar invaded Britain for a 2nd time. He was accompanied by
Mandubracius, an exiled British chieftain. The expedition of 10,000
foot soldiers and 2,00 cavalry was followed by a number of privately
owned vessels commissioned by Roman merchants eager to take advantage
of Caesar’s anticipated victory.
(ON, 6/09, p.7)
54BC The Romans under Julius
Caesar fought the first skirmishes with the Celts in England. British
chieftain Cassivellaunus, who had killed the father of Mandubracius,
led a guerilla style war against Caesar’s legions. Caesar’s forces
prevailed and Cassivellaunus agreed not to make war against
Mandubracius.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, BR p.3)(ON, 6/09, p.7)
54BC-52BC The Gauls rose in revolt against Caesar.
(ON, 6/09, p.7)
54BC The Eburons, A Belgian tribe
under the command of their King Ambiorix, won a victory against the
Roman Legion.
(http://www.trabel.com/tongeren-history.htm)
54BC Gaius Valerius Catullus
(b.~84BC), Roman poet, died about this time. He became famous for his
epicurean lifestyle and erotic poems.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus)(Econ,
2/23/08, p.103)
53BC Sep 23, Augustus, the first
Roman emperor, or Caesar, was born. His ascension to the title of
emperor marked the end of true Roman democracy, even though the Senate
survived for generations. [see 63BCE]
(MC, 9/23/01)
53BC Caesar claimed to have wiped
out the Celtic Eburones after they conspired with other groups in an
attack that killed 6,000 Roman soldiers. The Eburones lived in an area
that later came be known as part of Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands.
(AP, 11/14/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eburones)
53BC The Persians defeated the
Romans in the Battle of Carrhae. Some 20,000 Romans under Crassus were
killed by the Parthian army and 10,000 were captured. The Parthians
then used the Romans as guards on their eastern frontier in what later
became Turkestan.
(ATC, p.33)(HC, 9/3/04)(Econ, 12/18/04, p.59)
52BC Pompey dedicated his Temple
of Venus Victrix.
(RFH-MDHP, p.214)
c52BC Cicero defended Titus Milo
for the murder of Publius Clodius. The setting is the background for
the historical detective novel: "A Murder on the Appian Way" by Steven
Saylor.
(SFC, 6/3/96, p.E5)
52BC Caesar climaxed his conquest
of Gaul at Alesia where he vanquished Celtic forces under Vercingetorix.
(NGM, 5/77)
50BC Virgil first described the
Damask Rose.
(TGR, 1995, p.3)
50BC Maastricht, Netherlands,
began as a Roman settlement.
(SSFC, 2/20/05, p.F2)
49 BC Jan 11, Julius Caesar led
his army across the Rubicon, plunging Rome into civil war. [see Mar 10]
(HN, 1/11/99)
49 BC Jan 12, Julius Caesar
crossed the Rubicon River signaling a war between Rome and Gaul. [see
Jan 11, Mar 10]
(HN, 1/12/99)
49BC Mar 10, Julius Caesar crossed
the Rubicon and invaded Italy. The event was noted by Suetonius in the
phrase: "The die is cast."
(SFEC,12/14/97, BR p.5)(HN, 3/10/98)
49BC Mauretania (now northern
Morocco and Algeria) became a client kingdom of Rome.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.22)
48BC Aug 9, Julius Caesar defeated
Gnaius Pompey at Pharsalus.
(HN, 8/9/98)
48 BC Sep 28, On landing in Egypt,
Pompey was murdered on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt.
(HN, 9/28/98)(MC, 9/28/01)
47 BC Aug 2, Caesar defeated
Pharnaces at Zela in Syria and declares "veni, vidi, vici," (I came, I
saw, I conquered).
(HN, 8/2/98)
47BC Julius Caesar adopted a
modified form of the Egyptian Calendar. Together with Sosigenes, an
astronomer from Alexandria, the new calendar spreads the last 5-6 days
of the Egyptian calendar amongst alternate months. March 1 began the
year as a carry over from the old Roman calendar.
(K.I.-365D, p.84)
46BC Caesar's calendar went into
effect at the time of the first new moon after the winter solstice.
(K.I.-365D, p.86)(AM, 11/04, p.9)
46BC The heart of ancient Numidia
lay in the eastern region of what is now Algeria in Northern Africa.
They were conquered by Rome in 46 BCE. The Vandals and Byzantines ruled
successively before Arabs conquered the area in the seventh century CE.
(HNQ, 6/2/98)
45BC Jan 1, The Julian calendar
took effect.
(MC, 1/1/02)
45BC Mar, Caesar defeated the
least of his rivals and was proclaimed dictator for life.
(ON, 6/09, p.7)
c45BC Colonia Julia Equestris, a
Roman veterans’ colony, was founded in what is now Nyon, Switzerland.
Nyon is derived from the Celtic name Noviodunum.
(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.10)
44BC Mar 15, Roman Emperor Julius
Caesar (b.100BC) was murdered by Brutus, Cassius and other conspirators
on the Ides of March. Caesar had defeated Pompey in battle and had
Pompey murdered in 48BCE. He was perceived as a big threat to the Roman
Aristocracy and so his murder was supported by Cicero and most Romans.
In 2006 Adrian Goldsworthy authored “Caesar: Life of a Colossus.”
(ATC, p.24)(AP, 3/15/97)(WSJ, 10/24/06, p.D6)
44BC Quintilis, the fifth month
was changed to Julius in honor of Julius Caesar.
44BC A bright comet was declared
by the Romans to be the soul of Julius Caesar ascending to join the
gods.
(SFC, 3/28/97, p.A12)
43BC Mar 20, Ovid (d.17?18CE),
Publius Ovidius Naso, Roman poet, was born. His writings included: "The
Art of Love."
(WUD, 1994, p.1032)(SFEC, 12/22/96, Z1 p.2)(HN,
3/20/01)
43 BC Apr 21, Marcus Antonius was
defeated by Octavian near Modena, Italy.
(HN, 4/21/99)
43 BC Nov 27, Octavian, Antony and
Lepidus formed the triumvirate of Rome.
(HN, 11/27/98)
43BC Dec 7, Cicero (b.106BCE),
considered one of the greatest sons of Rome was assassinated on the
orders of Marcus Antonius. Cicero, elected Consul in 63, had chosen to
support Pompey over Caesar. He translated Greek works that they might
be understood by his fellow Romans, and tried to apply Greek ethical
thought to Roman business and politics. His last work was "On Duties,"
where he propounds a common solution to all social problems i.e.
"Always do the right thing... that which is legal... that which is
honest, open and fair...keeping your word... telling the truth... and
treating everyone alike. In 2002 Anthony Everitt authored "Cicero: The
Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician," a biography based on his
letters. In 2006 Robert Harris authored “Imperium,” a novel that covers
Cicero’s early courtroom feats.
(V.D.-H.K.p.74)(HN, 12/7/98)(WSJ, 6/11/02,
p.D7)(WSJ, 11/10/06, p.W4)
42BC Oct 23, Marcus Junius Brutus,
a leading conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar, committed
suicide after his defeat at the Battle of Philippi. Octavian and Mark
Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in Macedonia.
(WUD, 1994, p.1081)(MC, 10/23/01)
42BC Nov 16, Tiberius Claudius
Nero (d.37CE, Roman Emperor, was born. Tiberius was chosen by Augustus
in 4CE as emperor of Rome.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77) (HN, 11/16/98)
33BC Agrippa called for the
construction an aqueduct, 500 fountains and 700 basins for central Rome.
(SFEC, 7/2/00, p.T4)
32BC Pompey's theater was damaged
in a storm and repaired by Augustus who especially noted that in
repairing it he nowhere recorded his own name.
(RFH-MDHP, p.214)
32BC A Roman coin dating from this
time bore the images of Cleopatra on one side and Marc Antony on the
reverse. It represented one three hundredth of a Roman soldier's salary
and was probably minted to pay the wages of those stationed in Egypt.
(AFP, 2/14/07)
31BC Sep 2, The Naval Battle of
Actium in the Ionian Sea, between Roman leader Octavian and the
alliance of Roman Mark Antony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Octavian
soundly defeated Antony's fleet which was burned and 5000 of his men
were killed. Cleopatra committed suicide. The rivals battled for
control of the Roman Empire in the naval battle of Actium, where
Cleopatra, seeing Antony's navy being outmaneuvered by Octavian's,
ordered her 60 ships to turn about and flee to safety.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.18)(HNPD, 7/30/98)(MC, 9/1/01)
31BC Rome under Emperor Augustus
annexed the Carthage territory.
(SSFC, 12/10/00, p.T8)
30 BC Jul 30, Mark Antony, lover
of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII and claimant to the Roman throne,
stabbed himself when faced with certain defeat at the hands of his
rival Octavian. Antony expected to be named the heir to Rome after the
assassination of his friend and confidant Julius Caesar, but had not
counted on Caesar naming his adopted son Octavian as his successor.
Shaken by his loss at Actium and abandoned by his allies, Antony
committed suicide. Cleopatra followed him in death shortly afterward
when she allowed herself to be bitten by a venomous asp.
(HNPD, 7/30/98)
28BC Oct 9, The Temple of Apollo
was dedicate on the Palatine Hill in Rome.
(HN, 10/9/98)
28BC In Rome the mausoleum of
Emperor Augustus(d.14AD) was built.
(WSJ, 6/23/07, p.P16)
19BC Sep 20, The Roman poet Virgil
(Publius Vergilius Maro, b.70BCE) died. His epic "The Aeneid" became
one of the great classics of Western literature. The story it tells
runs from the end of the Trojan War to the start of the Roman Empire.
"Now whoever has courage, and a strong and collected spirit in his
breast, let him come forth, lace up his gloves, and put up his hands."
(WUD, 1994 p.1587)(MC 9/20/01)(WSJ, 8/21/02, p.D8)
19BC Agrippa had the Aqua Virgo
built in Rome.
(SFEC, 7/2/00, p.T4)
19BC Lucius Cornelius Balbus led
20,000 men of the 3rd Augusta Legion across the Hamada al-Hamra (Red
Rocky Plain) in the first Roman attack on the Garamantian heartland
(Libya). Romans turned Ghadames, Libya, into a garrison town.
(Arch, 9/02,
p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garamantes)(SSFC, 6/27/04, p.D12)
12BC Aug 31, Caligula (Gaius
Caesar), 3rd Roman emperor (37-41 CE), born.
(YN, 8/31/99)
10BC Aug 1, Claudius (d.54CE).,
Roman Emperor, was born. Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus, the
nephew of Tiberius and grandson of the wife of Augustus, was made
emperor after Caligula.
(HN, 8/1/98)
9BC The Ara Pacis (Altar of
Peace), ordered by Augustus Caesar, was constructed in Rome. In 2005
the Museum of the Ara Pacis opened in Rome.
(WSJ, 6/23/07, p.P16)
8BC Augustus, emperor of the Roman
Empire. The Roman Senate changed the name of the month Sextilis to
Augustus, and an extra day was added while subtracting a day from
February.
(K.I.-365D, p.89)
8BC Augustus Caesar ordered a
census under the consulship of Gaius Censorinus and Gaius Asinius.
4,233,000 Roman citizens were counted.
(http://www.biblehistory.net/volume2/Quirinius.htm)
6BC Apr 17, Jupiter was in a rare
alignment with the constellation Aries and marked an important date for
ancient astrologers. Jesus was believed to have been born in this year.
(SFC, 4/13/01, p.C1)
6-4BC Publius Quinctilius Varus
served as Roman governor of Syria.
(http://www.rovenet.com/tno/tacitus%20named%20officials/varus.html)
4BC Publius Sulpicius Quirinus
served as Roman governor of Cilicia, which was annexed to Syria.
(www.botcw.com/bible/kjv/easton/east0953.htm)
4BC Lucius Annaeus Seneca (d.65)
(aka Seneca the younger), Roman intellectual, was born in Spain.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger)
01BC Mar 1, Start of the revised
Julian calendar in Rome.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1-100CE The 1st century Roman gourmet, Marcus Gavius
Apicius, was thought to be the writer of the earliest known cookbook.
(SFEC, 4/16/00, Z1 p.2)
2-8CE Ovid wrote the
"Metamorphosis." It was an epic poem that begins with the creation of
the world and ends with the rise of Julius Caesar. Rolfe Humphries made
a translation in 1955 that became a standard. A 1997 translation by Ted
Hughes, "Tales From Ovid," retold 24 of the original 250 stories.
(WSJ, 1/9/98, p.A14)
4CE Gaius Caesar (24), the nephew
and adopted heir of Caesar Augustus, died.
(WSJ, 6/23/07, p.P16)
4CE Tiberius (42BCE-37CE) was
chosen by Augustus as emperor of Rome. He later banished the young Nero
to the island of Ponza.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T12)
6CE The Romans named Caesarea as a
regional capital.
(SFC, 6/18/02, p.A2)
6CE Sulpicius Quirinius
(Cyrenius), Roman governor of Syria, ordered a 2nd census of Judea.
(Econ, 1/1/05,
p.38)(www.biblehistory.net/volume2/Quirinius.htm)
9CE Sep 9, Publius Quinctilius
Varus (59), Roman governor of Germania (6-9CE), died of likely suicide
following defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
(http://www.fact-index.com/p/pu/publius_quinctilius_varus.html)
9 CE Emperor Tiberius of Rome
subjugated the Illyrians and divided present day Albania between
Dalmatia, Epirus, and Macedonia.
(www, Albania, 1998)
13 CE Nov 16, Tiberius made his
triumphant procession through Rome after siege of Germany.
(MC, 11/16/01)
15CE May 24, Julius Caesar
Germanicus, Roman commandant, was born.
(MC, 5/24/02)
17CE Jan 2, Publius Ovidius Naso,
Roman poet, died.
(MC, 1/2/02)
17CE May 26, Germanicus of Rome
celebrated a victory over the Germans.
(HN, 5/26/98)
19 CE Oct 10, Julius Caesar
Germanicus (33), Roman commandant of Rijnleger and the best loved of
Roman princes, died of poisoning. On his deathbed he accused Piso, the
governor of Syria, of poisoning him.
(HN, 10/10/98)(MC, 10/10/01)
22CE Sulpicius Quirinius
(Cyrenius), Roman soldier and civilian governor of Syria, died.
(Econ, 1/1/05,
p.38)(www.biblehistory.net/volume2/Quirinius.htm)
27-37CE Tiberius moved to the isle of Capri and never
returned to Rome.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77)(SFEM, 10/11/98, p.54)
28 Jan 28, The Roman Emperor Nerva
named Trajan, an army general, as his successor.
(HN, 1/28/99)
31 Sep 18, Sejanus, Roman head of
praetorian guard, was executed.
(MC, 9/18/01)
36CE Chinese troops defeated the
Hun ruler Zhizhi in what later became Uzbekistan. Among the captives
were 145 Romans.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.59)
37CE Feb 15, Claudius Drusus
Germanicus Caesar Nero (d.68CE), emperor of Rome (54-68), was born.
[see Dec 15]
(MC, 2/15/02)
37 Mar 16, Tiberius Claudius Nero
(78), Roman emperor (14-37), died on a trip to the Italian mainland
from his home on Capreae. He was succeeded by Caligula.
(PCh, 1992, p.36)(HN, 3/16/99)(AP, 3/15/07)
37 Mar 18, The Roman Senate
annulled Tiberius’ will and proclaimed Caligula emperor.
(HN, 3/18/99)
37CE Dec 15, Nero Claudius Caesar,
emperor of Rome who is blamed for the great fire of Rome, was born.
Nero (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus) was born (d. 68CE). [see Feb 15]
(WUD, 1994, p.959)(HN, 12/15/98)
37CE Caligula succeeded Tiberius
and went mad within a year. His cruelty was so bad that he was murdered
by the tribune of the palace guard after 4 years. He imprisoned his
nieces on the island of Ponza for converting to Christianity. Caligula
provided his horse, named Incitatus, an ivory manger and a marble
stall, but no official state title as was rumored.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T12)(WSJ, 4/22/99,
A10)
37-41 Caligula ruled Rome. He had
2 large ships built and anchored for his pleasure on Lake Nemi.
(AM, 5/01, p.26)
39CE Nov 3, Lucan, Latin poet
(Bellum Civile), was born in Cordova, Spain.
(MC, 11/3/01)
39CE Dec 30, Titus, 10th Roman
emperor (79-81) and conqueror of Jerusalem, was born.
(MC, 12/30/01)
40CE Jun 13, Gnaeus Julius
Agricola, Roman general and governor of Britain, was born. [WUD says
37-93CE]
(WUD, 1994, p.29)
41 Jan 24, Shortly after declaring
himself a god, Gaius Caligula Germanicus, emperor from 37-41, was
assassinated by two Praetorian tribunes.
(HN, 1/24/99)(MC, 1/24/02)
43CE The Romans under Claudius,
the great nephew of Caesar, invaded and conquered Britain. They founded
a settlement on the "Tamesis River" where a bridge could be built that
grew to become London.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, BR p.3)(ON, 6/09, p.7)
43CE British Celts battled the
Roman invaders in 2-wheeled chariots. The Belgae from northern Gaul had
settled in Britain and ushered in the concept of towns and the art of
enameling.
(NGM, 5/77)
43CE The Romans brought with them
the board game latrunculi (little soldiers), when they conquered
Britain.
(Arch, 1/05, p.39)
53CE Sep 18, Marcus Trajanus
(d.117), 13th Roman emperor (Trajan's Arch) (98-117), was born at
Italica near Seville, Spain.
(http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Trajan)
54CE Oct 13, Roman emperor
Claudius I died, after being poisoned with mushrooms by his wife,
Agrippina. Nero (37-68CE), son of Agrippina, succeeded his great uncle
Claudius, who was murdered by his wife, as the new emperor of Rome.
After the murder of his wife, Octavia, Nero descended deep into a
religious delirium. His acts became wild and unintelligible and he was
displaced by his soldiers with Galba after which he committed suicide.
(WUD, 1994, p.959)(V.D.-H.K.p.78)(AP, 10/13/97)(HN,
10/13/01)
56CE Tacitus, Publius Cornelius
was born. He was the Roman author of the Histories (begins with the
death of Nero), and the Annals (begins with Tiberius' reign and goes to
the end of Nero). Only a portion of the Histories survives (69-70CE).
Of the Annals only those books dealing with the early career of
Tiberius, and some treating the reigns of Claudius and Nero survive.
(V.D.-H.K.p.81)
59 CE Agrippina became insane and
was murdered by her son, Nero.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)
60 CE A comet appeared and was
interpreted by the people of Rome to mean the impending death of their
new emperor.
(NG, 12/97, p.105)
60 CE Boudicaa, queen of the Iceni
in Britain, burned Roman London.
(NGM, 5/77)
62 CE Nero murdered his wife
Octavia.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)
c62-113CE Pliny the Younger, Gaius Plinius Caecilius
Secundus, Roman writer, statesman and orator. He described the death of
his uncle, Plinius the Elder, at the 79CE eruption of Vesuvius in a
letter to Tacitus.
(WUD, 1994, p.1106)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A2)
64CE Jul 18, The Great Fire of
Rome began. After the fire Nero began to build his Golden House in the
center of the city.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)(AP, 7/18/97)
64CE Jul 19, The Circus Maximus in
Rome caught fire.
(MC, 7/19/02)
64CE Nero initiated the first
persecution against the Christians. According to Seneca Nero sentenced
hundreds of Christians to die by "tunica molesta," a naphtha
impregnated "shirt of torture."
(CU, 6/87)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.58)
65CE Jun 8, Jews revolted against
Rome, capturing the fortress of Antonia in Jerusalem.
(MC, 6/8/02)
65CE Lucius Annaeus Seneca (b.4BC)
(aka Seneca the younger), Roman intellectual, died. He was a Stoic
philosopher and playwright and wrote a version of "Medea." Seneca was
Nero's teacher. Nero had Seneca compose his speeches. Seneca and his
colleague were ordered by Nero to contrive the murder of Agripinna. He
was forced to commit suicide after the conspiracy of Caius Piso to
murder Nero. His wife Paulina cut her wrists together with Seneca but
Nero ordered that she be saved. Seneca's blood did not flow well and he
asked for poison which was refused. He then requested a hot bath to
increase the blood flow and apparently was suffocated by the steam.
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
(V.D.-H.K.p.80)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.57)(SFEC,
8/2/98, Z1 p.8)(Econ, 10/4/08, p.54)
66-73 Roman general Vespasian's
army assaulted the forces of Jewish rebel Joseph ben Matthias at
Jotapata in Galilee. During the Jewish revolt of 66-73 CE, Emperor Nero
chose Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian) to subdue Judea. Vespasian
was eminently qualified for this martial task. He was fresh from
crushing a German rebellion, and as commander of Legio II, he had
played a significant role in the conquest of Britannia (Britain) by
Nero‘s predecessor. Joseph, meanwhile had assembled his own army from
the rebel bands of Galilee and trained them in the Roman model. He also
fortified many towns, the strongest being Jotapata, a natural fortress
perched on a rock outcrop. It was surrounded on three sides by
steep valleys that made attack virtually impossible. The only approach
to the city was from a hilltop to the north, and that was blocked by a
dry moat fronting a sturdy wall.
(HNQ, 12/4/00)
67CE Some 37,000 Jewish prisoners
were held at the Roman stadium in Tiberias after they lost a naval
battle on the Sea of Galilee.
(SFC, 6/18/02, p.A2)
68CE Jun 9, Nero (31), Roman
Emperor (54-68), committed suicide.
(AP, 6/9/97)(MC, 6/9/02)
68-69CE Galba reigned as the Roman emperor. He was a
commander of Roman forces in Spain and acclaimed emperor by his 2
legions. When the praetorian guard accepted Galba, Nero committed
suicide.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)
69CE Jan 2, Roman Lower Rhine army
proclaimed its commander, Vitellius, emperor.
(MC, 1/2/02)
69CE Jan 10, Roman emperor Galba
adopted Marcus Piso Licinianus as Caesar.
(MC, 1/10/02)
69CE Jan 15, Servius Sulpicius
Galba (70), 6th emperor of Rome (68-69), was murdered along with his
newly adopted successor, Piso Licinianus. Marcus Salvius Otho (36)
committed the murder and forced the senate to recognize himself as
emperor.
(PC, 1992, p.37)
69CE Apr 16, Otho (32-69)
committed suicide after he was defeated by Vitellius' (15-69) troops at
Bedriacum. Otho had declared himself emperor of Rome after he killed
Galba, who had been acclaimed emperor by his legions in Spain.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)(HN, 4/16/98)
69 Dec 20, Vespians’s supporters
entered Rome and discovered Vitellius in hiding. Vitellius, a Roman
commandant of Rhine and the 7th emperor, was dragged through the
streets before being brutally murdered. Vitellius had been acclaimed
emperor by his legions in Germany in place of Galba. He was then killed
in Rome fighting the supporters of Vespasian, the Roman commander of
Judea. Gen. Vespasianus occupied Rome.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)(HN, 12/20/98)(MC, 12/20/01)
69 Dec 21, Vespacian, a
gruff-spoken general of humble origins, entered Rome and was adopted as
emperor by the Senate.
(PCh, 1992, p.37)
69 Galba was murdered by Otho who
forced the senate to declare him emperor.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)
70 May 31, Rome captured the 1st
wall of the city of Jerusalem.
(MC, 5/31/02)
70 Jun 5, Titus & his Roman
legions breached the middle wall of Jerusalem.
(MC, 6/5/02)
70 Aug 8, Tower of Antonia was
destroyed by the Romans.
(MC, 8/8/02)
70 Aug 29, The Temple of Jerusalem
burned after a nine-month Roman siege. The Second Temple of Jerusalem
was destroyed by Rome’s 10th Legion and the Jews there were exiled. In
the Jewish War the Israelites tried unsuccessfully to revolt against
Roman rule. The destruction buried the shops that lined the main
street. Archeologists in 1996 found numerous artifacts that included
bronze coins called prutot. Carpenters from Israel’s Antiquities
Authority used manuscripts of the Roman master builder Vitruvius to
reconstruct contraptions used in the construction of the temple. In
2007 Martin Goodman authored “Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient
Civilizations.”
(SFC, 5/23/95, p.A-10)(SFC, 8/28/96, p.A10)(WSJ,
6/22/98, p.A20)(HN, 8/29/98)(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T11)(Econ, 1/20/07, p.90)
70 Sep 7, The Roman army under
Titus occupied and plundered Jerusalem.
(MC, 9/7/01)
70 Sep 27, The walls of upper city
of Jerusalem were battered down by Romans.
(MC, 9/27/01)
70 Josephus recorded that
Vespasian and his son Titus plundered 50 tons of gold and silver during
the 70AD Roman conquest of Jerusalem.
(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
70 A Roman punitive expedition
forced the Garamantes of southern Libya to enter into an official
relationship with Rome.
(AM, 3/04, p.28)
71 Vespasian and his son Titus
paraded the treasure plundered from Jerusalem in triumph through the
streets of Rome. They used the 50 tons of gold and silver to help
finance the building of the Colosseum.
(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
73 Jewish zealots on Mount Masada
chose to perish by their own hands rather than surrender to slavery
under the Romans.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T5)
75 The treasure plundered from
Jerusalem in 70AD by the Romans under Vespasian and his son, Titus, was
put on public display in the Temple of Peace in the Roman Forum and
stayed there into the early 5th century.
(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
76CE Jan 24, Publius A. Hadrianus,
14th Roman Emperor (117-138), was born.
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)
79AD Aug 24, Pliny the Elder,
Roman naturalist, witnessed the eruption of long-dormant Mount Vesuvius
and was overcome by the fumes as he tried to rescue refugees. The
eruption buried the Roman cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, Herculaneum and
other, smaller settlements in 13 feet of volcanic ash and pumice. An
estimated 20,000 people died. The event was described by Pliny the
Younger, the elder’s nephew, in a letter to Tacitus.
(HFA, '96, p.36)(DD-EVTT, p.70)(AP, 8/24/97)(WUD,
1994, p.1106)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A2)(HNQ, 6/16/98)
80CE The Colosseum was inaugurated
under Emp. Titus (Vespacian) with 100 days of gladiator combat. The
poet Martial described one combat between Verus and Priscus. The
amphitheater occupied the site of a large artificial lake, created by
Nero for his Domus Aurea.
(SFC, 7/20/00, p.C3)(AM, 3/04, p.54)(WSJ, 1/25/05,
p.D12)
81 Sep 13, Titus Flavius
Vespasianus, emperor of Rome (69-81), died at 42.
(MC, 9/13/01)
81-96 The reign of Domitian.
Soldiers under his reign earned an annual salary of about 1,200
sesterces.
(HNQ, 10/5/00)(AM, 5/01, p.36)
c81-138 Secret police agents in Ancient Rome were
known as frumentarii. Growing out of an Augustine messenger service—the
cursus publicus—frumentarii were originally just supply sergeants
responsible for such mundane functions as the purchase and distribution
of grain. However, under the reign of Domitian (81-96AD), or possibly
Hadrian (117-138), they were turned into intelligence officers and
gradually became more involved in state security.
(HNQ, 10/5/00)
86CE Sep 19, Antoninus Pius, 15th
Roman emperor (138-161), was born.
(MC, 9/19/01)
96CE Jul 1, Vespasian, a Roman
Army leader, was hailed as a Roman Emperor by the Egyptian legions.
(HN, 7/1/98)
96CE Sep 18, Domitian, Roman
emperor, died. He was murdered and was succeeded by Nerva.
(V.D.-H.K.p.83)(MC, 9/18/01)
97CE Oct 27, To placate the
Praetorians of Germany, Nerva of Rome adopted Trajan, the Spanish born
governor of lower Germany.
(HN, 10/27/98)
97CE Sextus Julius Frontinus,
Roman water commissioner, wrote of Rome: "The city looks cleaner,
different, the air is purer and the causes of pollution that gave the
air so bad a name with the ancients are now removed."
(SFEC, 7/2/00, p.T1)
98CE Jan 27, Marius Cocceius Nerva
(67), emperor of Rome (96-98), died.
(MC, 1/27/02)
100CE Dioscorides, a Roman
physician, named the marijuana plant cannabis sativa.
(WSJ, 2/8/05, p.D7)
104CE There was a fire in Rome.
Emp. Trajan built massive baths over the Domus Aurea of Nero.
(WSJ, 1/25/05, p.D12)
106CE Nabatae, whose capital was
Petra, became a Roman province under Trajan. The Roman city of Jerash
was one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis.
(WUD, 1994, p.948)(SFEM, 4/11/99, p.8)(AM, 3/04,
p.60)
117 Aug 8, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus
(Trajan), emperor of Rome (98-117), died.
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)
117 Aug 11, The Roman army of
Syria hailed its legate, Hadrian, as emperor, which made the senate's
formal acceptance an almost meaningless event. One of his first acts
was to withdraw Rome’s army from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)(Econ, 7/19/08,
p.94)
117-138 The reign of Hadrian.
(HNQ, 10/5/00)
118CE Jul 9, Hadrian, Rome's new
emperor, made his entry into the city.
(HN, 7/9/98)
121 Apr 20, Marcus Aurelius
(d.180), 16th Roman emperor, philosopher, was born. He authored the
"Meditations." [see Apr 26]
(V.D.-H.K.p.64)(HN, 4/20/98)
121 Apr 26, Antonius Marcus
Aurelius, [Marcus A. Verus], Emperor of Rome (161-180), was born. [see
Apr 20]
(MC, 4/26/02)
122CE Jun, Emp. Hadrian visited
Britain as part of a tour of the northern frontiers. He ordered a wall
built to protect the Romans from the Picts of Scotland.
(AM, 7/01, p.17)
122-130CE Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered a great wall
to be built in northern England along with a series of forts "to
separate the Romans from the barbarians." It extended for 73.5 English
miles from the estuary of the river Tyne on the east to Solway Firth on
the west.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.15)(AM, 7/01, p.17)
c125CE Lucius Apuleius, Roman philosopher and
satirist, was born. His work included "Metamorphoses."
(WUD, 1994, p.74)(WSJ, 5/14/99, p.W8)
126CE Aug 1, Publius Helvius
Pertinax, Roman emperor (193 AD), was born.
(MC, 8/1/02)
130 Antinous, the Greek lover of
Roman Emperor Hadrian, died in the Nile. Hadrian insisted that Antinous
be given the status of a god.
(Econ, 7/19/08, p.94)
132CE Jewish rebels occupied the
mountain ridge of Hebron during the Bar Kochba revolt against the
Romans. The remains of an ancient synagogue and mikveh are still
visible.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, p.T2)(Econ, 7/19/08, p.94)
135CE Roman Emperor Hadrian sent
12 divisions under Julius Severus to quell the Jewish rebellion led by
Simon Bar Kokhba, who was killed at Bethar. An estimated 600,000 Jews
were killed. Hadrian ordered Jerusalem plowed under and Aelia
Capitolina was built on the site. He barred Jews from returning and
survivors dispersed across the empire. Judea was renamed
Syria-Palestina.
(SFC, 12/26/96, p.C16)(PBS, Nova, 11/23/04)(PC, 1992
ed, p.41)
138 Jul 10, Publius A. Hadrianus
(b.76), Roman emperor (117-138), died. He was responsible for Hadrian's
Wall in Britain, begun in 122.
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)
138-161 Antoninus Pius succeeded Hadrian to Rome.
(AM, 11/00, p.13)
139 Hadrian’s Mausoleum was built
in Rome.
(SSFC, 5/1/05, p.F8)
c140CE Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered Hadrian’s Wall
to be abandoned and a more northerly defense to be established.
Remnants could later be seen of the Antonine Wall around Falkirk,
Scotland. Roman troops advanced northwards into the Scottish lowlands,
driving the barbarians back before them and establishing a new frontier
called the Antonine Wall, named for the new Emperor, Antoninus Pius.
The Antonine Wall was later abandoned, reoccupied, and abandoned a
second and final time under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
(NG, 12/97, forum)(HNQ, 9/9/00)
145CE A temple was completed in
Rome as a tribute to Emperor Hadrian. In 1802 it became the site of the
Rome stock exchange.
(WSJ, 12/13/96, p.B11A)
155CE Feb 23, Polycarp, disciple
of Apostle John, was arrested and burned at stake.
(MC, 2/23/02)
158 Apulieus of Madaura
(~124-~180), Romanised Berber and author of “The Golden Ass” (aka the
Metamorphoses) defended himself at the Roman basilica in Sabratha
(Libya) against charges of witchcraft in an oration known as Pro de se
magia, or more commonly the Apologia. The Golden Ass is the only Latin
novel which has survived in its entirety, and is an imaginative,
irreverent, and amusing work which relates the ludicrous adventures of
one Lucius, who experiments in magic and is accidentally turned into an
ass.
(Arch, 9/02, p.47)(http://tinyurl.com/lrgfb8)
161CE Mar 7, Marcus Aurelius
became emperor on the death of Antoninus Pius [Titus Aurelius], age 74,
at Lorium. Antoninus ruled from 138-161.
(HN, 3/7/99)(MC, 3/7/02)
161CE Aug 31, Lucius Aelius
Aurelius Commodus, emperor of Rome (180-92), was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.297)(MC, 8/31/01)
162CE The Antonine Baths were
completed in Carthage after 17 years of construction.
(SSFC, 12/10/00, p.T8)
166CE A Roman envoy arrived in
China. This was their 1st recorded official contact.
(ATC, p.33)(Econ, 12/18/04, p.58)
175 Roman forces defeated
Sarmatian tribes on the Danube and Marcus Aurelius ordered them
to provide 8,000 cavalry for the Roman fort of Brocavum, later
Brougham, England. It had been built in the last decades of the first
century. The fort was partially covered by a castle in the 13th century.
(Arch, 5/05, p.62)
180CE Mar 17, Antonius Marcus
Aurelius (58), [Marcus Verus], Emperor of Rome, died.
(MC, 3/17/02)
180CE A Roman military transport
ship was built about this time, as Marcus Aurelius passed the throne to
the emperor Commodus. It later sank in the Rhine. In 2003 archeologists
in the Netherlands unveiled the preserved ship.
(AP, 5/15/03)
180CE A smallpox epidemic hit Rome
and killed 3.5 to 7 million people including Emp. Marcus Aurelius. It
was dubbed the Plague of Antonine.
(NW, 10/14/02, p.46)
182 Roman Emp. Commodus executed
the brothers Sextus Quintilius Maximus and Sextus Quintilius Condianus
for alleged conspiracy. Their Villa dei Quintili, several miles from
the center of Rome and comparable to Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli, was
identified in 1828.
(AM, 7/05, p.28)
188 Apr 4, Caracalla, [Marcus
Aurelius Antonius], well-bathed Roman emperor (211-217), was born.
(MC, 4/4/02)
192 Dec 31, Lucius A.A. Commodus
(b.161), Emperor of Rome (180-192), was murdered. His mistress Marcia,
Chamberlain Eclectus, and praetorian prefect Laetus hired the wrestler
Narcissus to strangle Commodus after they found their names on an
imperial execution list.
(PCh, 1992,
p.42)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodus)
193CE Mar 28, Publius Helvius
Pertinax, Roman Emperor (192-93), was assassinated.
(HFA, '96, p.26)(MC, 3/28/02)
193 Apr 14, Lucius Septimus
Severus (d.211), a native son of Leptis Magna in Libya, was crowned
emperor of Rome. Under his rule the empire reached its greatest extent
with almost 50 provinces.
(AM, 11/00, p.12)(MC, 4/14/02)(SSFC, 6/27/04, p.D12)
193CE Jun 1, The Roman Emperor,
Marcus Didius, was murdered in his palace.
(HN, 6/1/98)
197 Feb 19, Lucius Septimius
Severus' army beat Clodius Albinus at Lyon. D Clodius Septimus Albinus,
Roman dignitary in England, died in the battle.
(MC, 2/19/02)
c200CE The Forma Urbis Romae was a 60 by 45-foot map
carved out of marble that detailed every building, room and staircase
in 2nd century Rome.
(Wired, 11/98, p.117)
c200 Romans began making glass
objects that included windows, bottles and drinking vessels.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, Z1 p.8)
203 Lucius Septimus Severus
(d.211), emperor of Rome, returned to visit home at Leptis Magna
(Libya).
(SSFC, 6/27/04, p.D12)
205-270CE Plotinus was an Alexandrian philosopher in
Rome and founder of Neo-Platonism, which strongly influenced the later
Augustine, who taught of a mystical union with the Good through the
exercise of pure intelligence. He founded Neo-Platonism, a religion
that for a time rivaled Christianity. Neo-Platonism developed out of
the philosophical doctrines of Plato in the fourth century B.C.
Plotinus developed the spiritual side of Plato's thought into a
mystical philosophy teaching reunion with the One and that material
things are unworthy. Saint Augustus, formerly a Neo-Platonist, brought
some of his ideas into Christian theism.
(V.D.-H.K.p.93)(HNQ, 5/11/98)
208 Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius
Severus brought his troublesome sons to the frontier fort of Brocavum,
later Brougham, England, to campaign against the barbarians to the
north and hopefully distract them from the temptations of Rome.
(Arch, 5/05, p.63)
211 Feb 4, Lucius Septimius
Severus (64), emperor of Rome (193-211), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimius_Severus)
211-217 The reign of the Roman emperor Caracalla
(188-217). Coins were minted at the Jewish city of Sepphoris during the
reign of Caracalla.
(WUD, 1994, p.221)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.64)
217 Apr 8, Caracalla (b.188),
[Marcus Antonius], Roman emperor (198-217), was murdered in his baths.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracalla)
222 Mar 11, Varius A. Bassianus
(18), Syrian emperor of Rome (218-22), was murdered.
(MC, 3/12/02)
235 Mar 18, Marcus Aurelius
Severus Alexander (b.208), Syrian emperor of Rome (222-235), was
murdered.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Severus)
238 May 10, Gaius Julius Verus
Maximinus ("The Thracian"), Roman Emperor, was murdered.
(MC, 5/10/02)
253 Valerian became emperor of
Rome and ruled until 260 when he was captured and executed by Persian
King Shapur I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Valerian_I)
256 The Anatolian city of Zeugma
on the Euphrates was sacked by Persian King Shapur I. This was soon
followed by a devastating fire and an earthquake and Zeugma was
abandoned. In 2000 the area was submerged as part of the Southeast
Anatolia Project of dams for power.
(SFEC, 5/7/00, p.A23)(Arch, 9/00, p.41)
258 Aug 6, Pope Sixtus II, bishop
of Rome (257-58), was beheaded upon orders of Emperor Valerian.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)(MC, 8/6/02)
260 Persia’s King Shapur I
captured Roman Emp. Valerian.
(Arch, 9/00, p.41)
260-268 Emp. Gallienus, son of Valerian, ruled Rome.
(AM, 5/01, p.40)
267 Dec 26, Dionysius, bishop of
Rome and saint, died.
(MC, 12/26/01)
268 Roman Emp. Gallienus, son of
Valerian, was assassinated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Valerian_I)
269 Nov 20, Diocletian was
proclaimed emperor of Numerian in Asia Minor by his soldiers. He had
been the commander of the emperor's bodyguard.
(HN, 11/20/98)
270 cFeb 14, The early Christian
martyr, St. Valentine, was beheaded by Emperor Claudius II, who
executed another St. Valentine around the same time. The Catholic
Bishop Valentine was clubbed, stoned and beheaded by Emperor Claudius
II for refusing to acknowledge the monarch’s outlawing of marriage. The
Catholics then made Valentine a symbol to oppose the Roman mid-February
custom in honor of the God Lupercus, where Roman teenage girls’ names
were put in a box and selected by young Roman men for "sex toy" use
until the next lottery. The two Valentines merged into a single
legendary patron of young lovers. St. Valentine’s Day evolved from
Lupercalia, a Roman festival of fertility.
(SFEM, 2/9/97, p.11)(SFC, 2/14/97, p.A26)(SFC,
2/4/04, p.D7)
Valentine's Day probably has its origins in the Roman feast of
Lupercalia, which was held on February 15. One of the traditions
associated with this feast was young men drawing the names of young
women whom they would court during the following year--a custom that
may have grown into the giving of valentine's cards. Another legend
associated with Valentine's Day was the martyrdom of the Christian
priest St. Valentine on February 14. The Roman emperor believed that
men would remain soldiers longer if they were not married, but
Valentine earned the wrath of the emperor by secretly marrying young
couples. The first American publisher of valentines was printer and
artist Esther Howland, who sold elaborate handmade cards for as much as
$35 at the end of the 19th century. Complex and beautiful machine-made
cards brought the custom of valentine exchanging within the reach of
many Americans.
(HNPD, 2/14/99)
272CE In Syria Queen Zenobia led a
failed uprising against the Romans, which left the city of Palmyra
partly destroyed.
(AMNHDT, 11/99)
274 Feb 27, Constantine I was
born. He became the great Roman emperor (324-337) who adopted
Christianity. [see c288]
(MC, 2/27/02)
274 Dec 25, Emperor Aurelian
imported into Rome the cult of Sol Invictus and made its Dec 25
festival a national holiday.
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.W15)
276 Jul 16, Marcus Annius
Florianus, emperor of Rome (276), was murdered.
(MC, 7/16/02)
283 Sebastian, a Christian
soldier, enlisted in the Roman army about this time. Emp. Diocletian,
unaware that he was a Christian, appointed him as a captain of the
Praetorian Guard. When he treated Christian prisoners due for martyrdom
kindly, Diocletian reproached him for his supposed ingratitude and
ordered him executed by arrow. He survived and returned to preach to
Diocletian. In 287 Diocletian ordered Sebastian to be beaten to death.
(www.economicexpert.com/a/Sebastian.htm)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Sebastian)
284 Aug 29, Gen Gaius Aurelius V
Diocletianus Jovius (3) became emperor of Rome. Reign of Diocletian
(Era of Martyrs), began.
(MC, 8/29/01)
284 Nov 20, Diocletian (245-316)
became Emperor of the Roman Empire and continued to 305. Under his rule
the last and most terrible persecution of the Christians took place,
perhaps some 3,000 martyrs. He divided rule over the empire among four
men. He put two rulers to oversee the east and two to oversee the west.
He also established four capitals. He moved his own capital from Rome
to Nicomedia, south of Byzantium in Asia Minor. He also increased the
size of the Roman army from 300,000 to 500,000 men.
(http://bode.diee.unica.it/~giua/SEBASTIAN/Diocletian.html)(V.D.-H.K.p.91)(ITV,
1/96, p.58)
c288CE Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, Roman
emperor Constantine I (324-337), was born in Yugoslavia. In a battle
against an army led by his brother-in-law, Maxentius, at the Milvian
bridge near Rome Constantine was victorious. The night before this
battle was when Constantine dreamed of an angel holding a cross and
saying "In this sign thou shalt conquer!" [see 274]
(WUD, 1994 p.314)(V.D.-H.K.p.91)
0290CE Oct 1, [Christian] Bacchus, Roman soldier and
martyred saint, was killed.
(MC, 10/1/01)
290 Oct 7, [Christian] Sergius,
Roman soldier and martyred saint, was decapitated.
(MC, 10/7/01)
293 Mar 1, Roman emperor
Maximianus introduced tetrarchy.
(SC, 3/1/02)
295 Diocletian (245-316), Roman
Emperor (284-305), began construction of a fortified palace near the
village of his birth. It later became the historic downtown of Split,
Croatia. Construction took 10 years.
(SSFC, 6/20/04, p.D10)
296 Roman Emp. Diocletian ordered
the burning of alchemical manuscripts for fear their discoveries would
debase his coinage. This may have set back the science of distillation.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
299-311 The period of Christian persecutions begun by
Diocletian.
(WSJ, 10/30/98, p.W11)
300-400 The Circus Maximus in ancient Rome, expanded
under Constantine in the 4th century A.D., had an estimated seating
capacity of 250,000. The largest of hippodrome in Rome, a U-shaped
stadium with a low wall running in the middle around which chariots
raced, it seated an estimated 150,000 spectators at the time of Julius
Caesar in the 1st century B.C.
(HNQ, 8/29/99)
303 Feb 23, Emperor Diocletian
ordered the general persecution of Christians in Rome.
(HN, 2/23/98)
303 By legend St. Expeditus, a
commander of a Roman legion in Armenia who had converted to
Christianity, was beheaded by Emp. Diocletian. There was however no
proof of his existence and it was speculated that devotion to him arose
in the 19th century after Parisian nuns mistook a crate of relics
labeled for "expedited delivery." In the late 20th century he emerged
as a popular cult figure among Brazilian Catholics.
(WSJ, 4/15/04, p.A1)
304-305 Massive persecution of the Christians took
place under Diocletian.
(V.D.-H.K.p.91)
305 May 1, Emperor Gaius Aurelius
Valerius Diocletianus Jovius of Rome abdicated. Constantius I Chlorus
(Flavius Valerius Constantius) became Western emperor. Galerius (Gaius
Galerius Valerius Maximianus) became Eastern emperor.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
305 San Gennaro, a pious bishop,
was beheaded by Roman Emp. Diocletian. In the 14th century Naples began
celebrating the miracle of San Gennaro, whereby the city’s archbishop
shakes a vial allegedly containing blood from Gennaro.
(SSFC, 11/6/05, p.A2)
306 Jul 23, Constantine was
proclaimed Caesar of the west by the army, while Severus, the former
Caesar, was proclaimed Augusta of the west by Galerius.
(HN, 7/23/98)
306 Oct 28, Marcus Aurelius
Valerius Maxentius was proclaimed emperor of Rome.
(MC, 10/28/01)
307 Nov 11, Flavius Valerius
Severus, compassionate emperor of Rome (306-07), died.
(MC, 11/11/01)
308 Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius
Valerius Maxentius abdicated.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
309 Maximinus II Daia (d.313)
became Eastern emperor.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
310 Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius
Valerius Maxentius (d.310) returned to power and soon died.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
311 Apr 30, Emperor Galerius
recognized Christians legally in the Roman Empire.
(MC, 4/30/02)
311 May 5, Gaius VM Galerius
(~50), emperor of Rome, died in Dardania.
(SFC, 6/23/97, p.29)(MC, 5/5/02)
312 cOct 27, Prior to a battle
between Constantine and Maxentius, Constantine experienced a vision of
Christ that ordered him to ornament the shields of his soldiers with
the Greek letters chi and rho, the monogram for Christ. Constantine won
the battle and attributed his success to Christ. He became emperor of
the West and an advocate of Christianity.
(MH, 12/96)(CU, 6/87)
312 Oct 28, Constantine the
Great defeated Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius at the Mulvian
Bridge. Constantine’s smaller army (about 50,000 strong) won a decisive
victory there; while fleeing, Maxentius drowned in the river.
Constantine was instantly converted when he saw a cross in the sky,
with the inscription "In hoc signo vincit" ("In this sign you shall
conquer"). [see Oct 27]
(HN, 10/28/98)(DoW, 1999, P.398)
312 Appius Claudius began
construction of the Appian Way as a military highway.
(SFC, 8/2/07,
p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Appia)
313 Apr 30, Licinius unified the
whole of the eastern empire under his own rule.
(HN, 4/30/98)
313 Maximinus II Daia, Eastern
emperor, was killed at Tarsus.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
314 Licinius declared Valens
(d.314) as co-emperor during the war with Constantine. Licinius was
deposed and executed by Valens.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
316 Diocletian (b.245) died at his
retirement palace near his birthplace in Dalmatia (Croatia).
(SSFC, 6/20/04, p.D10)
317 Aug 7, Flavius Julius
Constantius II, Emperor Egypt, Byzantium, Rome (337-61), was born.
(MC, 8/7/02)
324 Licinius proclaimed Martinian
(Marcus Martinianus) as co-emperor. Martinian (d.325) was soon deposed
by Constantine.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
325 Licinius (Valerius Licianus
Licinius), Eastern emperor, was deposed and executed by Constantine.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
325 Martinian (Marcus Martinianus)
was executed by Constantine.
(www.ancienthistory.about.com)
326 Jul 25, Constantine refused to
carry out the traditional pagan sacrifices.
(HN, 7/25/98)
326 Constantine executed his son
Flavius Julius Crispus, born to his 1st wife, under the persuasion of
his 2nd wife Fausta.
(PCh, 1992, p.48)
331 Nov 17, Flavius Claudius
Julianus, [Julian the Apostate], emperor (361-363), was born.
(MC, 11/17/01)
337 May 22, Constantine (47),
convert to Christianity and Emperor of Rome (306-37), died. He had made
Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and had the
Chapel of the Burning Bush built in the Sinai Desert at the site where
Moses was believed to have witnessed the Miracle of the Burning Bush.
(V.D.-H.K.p.92)(PCh, 1992, p.48)(MC, 5/22/02)
337 Sep 9, Constantine's three
sons, already Caesars, each took the title of Augustus. Constantine II
and Constans shared the west while Constantius II took control of the
east.
(HN, 9/9/98)
356 Feb 19, Emperor Constantius II
shut all heathen (non-Christian) temples.
(MC, 2/19/02)
357CE Apr 28, Constantius II
visited Rome for the first time.
(HN, 4/28/98)
357 Aug 25, Flavius Claudius
Julianus, the cousin of Constantius, beat the Alamanni in a Battle at
Strasbourg. Chonodomarius was caught.
(PCh, 1992, p.48)(HN, 8/25/99)
361-363CE Julian the Apostate succeeded Constantine
and tried to make paganism the official religion of the empire.
(V.D.-H.K.p.92)
362CE Jun 17, Emperor Julian
issued an edict banning Christians from teaching in Syria.
(HN, 6/17/98)
363CE Jun 27, The death of Roman
Emperor Julian brought an end to the Pagan Revival.
(HN, 6/27/98)
364 Feb 17, Flavius Jovianus
(~32), Christian emperor of Rome (363-64), died.
(MC, 2/17/02)
374 Emperor Valentinian ended the
parental right to kill their infants.
(SFEC, 2/13/00, Z1 p.2)
375 Nov 17, Enraged by the
insolence of barbarian envoys, Valentinian, the Emperor of the West,
died of apoplexy in Pannonia in Central Europe.
(HN, 11/17/98)
376 Dec 25, In Milan, Ambrose, the
Bishop of Milan, forced the emperor Theodosius to perform public
penance for his massacre.
(HN, 12/25/98)
378 Aug 9, In the Battle of
Adrianople the Visigoth Calvary defeated Roman Army.
(MC, 8/9/02)
383 Aug 25, Flavius Gratianus
(25), Emperor of Rome (375-383), was murdered.
(MC, 8/25/02)
387CE The Parthians and Romans
agreed to settle the Armenian question by the drastic expedient of
partition. The Sassanid kings of Persia (who had superseded the
Parthians in the Empire of Iran) secured the lion's share of the
spoils, while the Romans only received a strip of country on the
western border which gave them Erzeroum and Diyarbakir for their
frontier fortresses.
(http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/docs/bryce2.htm)
388 Aug 28, Magnus Maximus,
Spanish West Roman Emperor (383-88), was executed.
(MC, 8/28/01)
390 Jul 16, Brennus and Gauls
defeated the Romans at Allia.
(MC, 7/16/02)
392 May 15, Valentinianus II (21),
emperor of Rome (375-392), was murdered.
(MC, 5/15/02)
392 Nov 8, Theodosius of Rome
passed legislation prohibiting all pagan worship in the empire and
declared Christianity the state religion.
(HN, 11/6/98)(MC, 11/8/01)
393 CE The ancient Olympic Games were held at
intervals beginning in 776 BCE until about 393 CE when they were
abolished by Roman emperor Theodosius I after Greece lost its
independence. The modern Olympic Games were started in 1896. [see 396CE]
(HNQ, 11/23/98)
394 Sep 6, Theodosius became sole
ruler of Italy after defeating Eugenius at the Battle of the River
Frigidus.
(HN, 9/6/98)
395 Jan 17, Emperor Theodosius I
(49), the Great, Spanish head of Rome, died. Theodosius I wrote into
his will that upon his death the eastern and western sections of the
empire should be declared separate empires. His death in this year
marks the split of the Roman and Byzantine Empire.
(ATC, p.24)(MC, 1/17/02)
395 Division of Roman
Empire left lands presently inhabited by Albanians under the
administration of the Eastern Empire.
(www, Albania, 1998)
396 The last Olympic Games were
held under Emp. Theodosius I, who halted them due to increasing
professionalism and corruption. [see 393CE]
(SFC, 7/14/96, p.T1)
400-500 About this time Apicius, a Roman gourmand,
authored “De re coquinara” (concerning cookery). It is considered to be
the first Western cookbook. The first printed edition came out in 1483.
(Econ, 12/20/08,
p.140)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apicius)
402 Apr 6, Battle at Pollentia:
Roman army under Stilicho beat the Visigoths.
(MC, 4/6/02)
406 Aug 23, At the Battle at
Florence the Roman army under Stilicho beat the Barbarians under
Radagaisus.
(PC, 1992, p.50)
408 Aug 22, Flavius Stilicho (48),
West Roman field leader (395-408), died.
(MC, 8/22/02)
410 Aug 24, Rome was overrun by
the Visigoths, an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman
Empire. German barbarians sacked Rome [see Aug 18].
(V.D.-H.K.p.87)(AP, 8/24/97)(HN, 8/24/98)
418 Mar 10, Jews were excluded
from public office in the Roman Empire.
(MC, 3/10/02)
419 Jul 2, Valentinian III,
Roman emperor (425-55), was born.
(SC, 7/2/02)
429CE Roman Africa was invaded by
the Vandals, barbarians who had fought and conquered their way across
Germany, France, Spain and across the Strait of Gibraltar.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.168)
430CE Augustine died in Hippo with
a Vandal army outside the gates of the
city. (V.D.-H.K.p.94)
434-453 Attila the Hun was known in western Europe as
the "Scourge of God." Attila was the king of the Huns from 434 to 453
and one of the greatest of the barbarian rulers to assail the Roman
Empire.
(HNQ, 12/19/98)
451 Jun 20, Roman and Barbarian
warriors halted Attila’s army at the Catalaunian Plains (Catalarinische
Fields) in eastern France. Attila the Hun was defeated by a combined
Roman and Visigoth army. The Huns moved south into Italy but were
defeated again.
(V.D.-H.K.p.88)(HN, 6/20/98)(MC, 6/20/02)
452CE Jun 8, Italy was invaded by
Attila the Hun.
(HN, 6/8/98)
452 Pope Leo I met Attila the Hun
on the banks of the Mincio and Attila agreed to make peace and spare
Rome.
(PTA, 1980, p.90)
454 Sep 21, In Italy, Aetius, the
supreme army commander, was murdered in Ravenna by Valentinian III, the
emperor of the West.
(HN, 9/21/98)
455 May 31, Petronius Maximus,
senator, Emperor of Rome, was lynched.
(MC, 5/31/02)
455 Jun 16, Rome was sacked by
the Vandal army. Gaiseric looted and burned Rome for 14 days. He took
the looted treasure, which likely included the 70AD plunder from
Jerusalem, by ship to the temple of Carthage.
(V.D.-H.K.p.88)(HN, 6/16/98)(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
455CE Jul 9, Avitus, the Roman
military commander in Gaul, became Emperor of the West.
(HN, 7/9/98)
476 Aug 28, The western Roman
Empire formally ended at Ravenna as the barbarian general Odoacer
deposed the last of the Roman emperors, the young boy Romulus Augustus.
(ATC, p.32)(PC, 1992, p.52)
536 Dec 9, Byzantine Count
Belisarius entered Rome through the Asinarian Gate at the head of 5,000
troops. At the same time, 4,000 Ostrogoths left the city through the
Flaminian Gate and headed north to Ravenna, the capital of their
Italian kingdom. For the first time since 476, when the Germanic king,
Odoacer, had deposed the last Western Roman emperor and crowned himself
"King of the Romans," the city of Rome was once more part of the Roman
empire—albeit an empire whose capital had shifted east to
Constantinople. Belisarius had taken the city back as part of Emperor
Justinian’s grand plan to recover the western provinces from their
barbarian rulers. The plan was meant to be carried out with an almost
ridiculously small expeditionary force. The 5,000 soldiers that General
Belisarius led included Hunnish and Moorish auxiliaries, and they were
expected to defend circuit walls 12 miles in diameter against an enemy
who would soon be back, and who would outnumber them at least 10-to-1.
(HN, 12/9/98)(HNC, 10/1/99)
537CE Mar 11, The Goths laid siege
to Rome. The Goths cut the aqueducts to Rome in the 6th century.
(HN, 3/11/98)(SFEC, 7/2/00, p.T4)
590 Pope Gregory said he spotted
an angel atop Hadrian’s Mausoleum. The site was then reconfigured as a
fortress called Castel Sant’Angelo. In 1925 it became a national museum.
(SSFC, 5/1/05, p.F8)
609 May 13, Pope Boniface I turned
Roman Pantheon into Catholic church.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1347 Nov 20, Roman tribune Cola di
Rienzi defeated nobles. Stefano Colonna, Roman senator, died in battle
(SPQR).
(MC, 11/20/01)
1347 Dec 3, Pope Clemens VI
declared Roman tribune, Cola di Rienzi, a heretic.
(MC, 12/3/01)
1453 May 29, Constantinople fell
to Muhammad II, ending the Byzantine Empire. Fall of the eastern Roman
Empire. The fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks led by Mehmed II.
The city of Constantinople fell from Christian rule. The Hagia Sophia
was turned into a mosque.
(V.D.-H.K.p.67,142)(NH, 9/96, p.22)(Sky, 4/97,
p.53)(HN, 5/29/98)(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A8)
1776 Feb 17, Edward Gibbon
(1737-1794), English historian, published his 1st volume of " The
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." He completed the
6-volume classic in 1788.
(WUD, 1994 p.596)(WSJ, 5/26/07, p.P6)
1999 John Onians authored
"Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome."
(WSJ, 9/7/99, p.A23)
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Subject = Romans
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