This list begins with the founding of the village of Rome around 753BC and continues to the fall of Constantinople in 1453AD. It is particularly detailed for the period from 58BC to 31BC (Julius Caesar to Caesar Augustus) and for 376AD to 480AD (the "fall" of the Western Roman Empire).
| .......DATE............. | ...............................EVENT............................. .............. |
ROMAN MONARCHY | |
|---|---|
| 1200BC | Etruscans reached northern Italy |
| 600BC | Rome was a province of Etruria |
| 800-500BC | Greeks established colonies throughout southern Italy |
| 800BC | Phoenicians established Carthage on the north coast of Africa |
| about 753BC | village of Rome founded |
| 509BC | Romans revolted against the Etruscan kings and created the system of government by the Senate and the Assembly |
THE CONQUEST OF ITALY | |
| 494BC | first disputes between patricians (wealthy landowners who controlled the Senate) and plebeians (ordinary citizens) |
| 450BC | "Law of the 12 Tables" provides written Roman law |
| 390BC | Gaulic invasion sacked Rome |
| 282-272BC | War with Pyrrhus |
| 265BC | Rome completed the occupation of the Italian peninsula |
THE CONQUEST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN | |
| 264-241BC | First war with Carthage (First Punic War) |
| 238BC | Conquest of Sardinia |
| 229-228BC | First Illyrian War (Balkans) |
| 219BC | Second Illyrian War |
| 218-201BC | Second Punic War (Hannibal crossed the Alps) |
| 215-205BC | First Macedonian War |
| 200-197BC | Second Macedonian War |
| 200-191BC | Gaul invasion of northern Italy |
| 192-189BC | Syrian War |
| 171-168 | Third Macedonian War |
| 149-148BC | Fourth (and final) Macedonian War |
| 149-146BC | Third Punic War and final defeat of Carthage |
THE END OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC | |
| 135-132BC | First Servile War (slave revolt) |
| 133BC | Tiberius, the first senator to advocate land reform, was assassinated in 133BC by land-owners. |
| 91-88BC | The "Social War" (revolt by Roman allies in Italy) |
| 88-84BC | First Mithridatic War (Black Sea region) |
| 88BC | Sulla became the first Roman general to seize power |
| 88-82BC | Civil war in Rome |
| 83-81BC | Second Mithridatic War |
| 79BC | Sulla returned power to the Senate |
| 74-64BC | Third Mithridatic War |
| 64BC | Pompey captured Jerusalem |
| 58BC | Julius Caesar appointed governor of Gaul |
| 58-51BC | Julius Caesar's army conquered Gaul |
| 58-49BC | To forestall another military revolt, the Senate yielded power to the First Triumvirate composed of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar |
| 54BC | Invasion of Britain |
| 49-48BC | Julius Caesar and Cleopatra (descendant of Ptolemy in Egypt) conceived a child |
| 46-44BC | Cleopatra lived at Julius Caesar's estate in Rome |
| 45BC | Julius Caesar defeated Pompey and became the first dictator of Rome |
| 44BC | Julius Caesar assassinated on orders of the Senate |
| 44-31BC | The Second Triumvirate of Marc Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian (later known as Caesar Augustus) ruled Rome. Note that Octavian was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and brother-in-law of Marc Antony |
| 42-30BC | Cleopatra and Marc Antony had a relationship that lasted until their deaths |
| 31BC | Caesar Octavian defeated the combined forces of Cleopatra and Marc Antony in the naval battle of Actium (near Greece) |
| 30BC | First Roman governor of Egypt |
| 31BC-14AD | Octavian became Caesar Augustus, the first emperor |
THE ROMAN EMPIRE | |
| 14-37AD | Tiberius, stepson of Caesar Augustus, became emperor |
| about 33AD | Crucifixion of Jesus; origin of Christianity |
| 61AD | Druid revolts in Britain |
| 64AD | Fire destroyed much of Rome during Nero's rule |
| 66-70AD | Jewish revolts in Judea (Palestine) |
| 69AD | General Vespasian expelled Nero, the last of Caesar Augustus' descendants, and started a new imperial family |
| 70AD | Expulsion of Jews from Palestine |
| 77-84AD | Conquest of Britain |
| 79AD | Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius preserved the city of Pompeii |
| 83AD | Roman army crossed the Rhine River to attack the Germans |
| 96-180AD | The period of the "Five Good Emperors" (Pax Romana) |
| 90AD | First Christian bishop of Rome |
| 113-117AD | Parthian War (Persia) |
| 120AD | Some Roman businessmen were Christian |
| 132-135AD | Jewish rebellion sparked when Romans placed a colony and temple in Jerusalem |
| 180AD | Commodius succeeded his father Marcus Aurelius and imperial power began to decline |
| 193AD | Following civil war, another general, Septimius Severus, became emperor |
| 211-285AD | Numerous emperors killed by revolts and assassinations |
| 259-270AD | German invasions force Romans to yield territory |
| 285AD | Emperor Diocletian divided the empire and moved his capital to Byzantium (in Anatolia, later Constantinople) |
THE CHRISTIAN ROMAN EMPIRE | |
| 305AD | Constantine became the first Christian emperor |
| 315AD | Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman world |
| 324-337AD | Constantine reunited the empire |
| 325AD | Council of Niceae solidifies Christian doctrine |
| 330AD | Constantine inaugurated the new capital of Constantinople |
THE FALL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE | |
| 337-351AD | Constantine's three sons fought to control the empire until Constantius won. |
| 361-363AD | The Romans failed to defeat the Persians, and in the process, the Eastern Emperor Julianus was killed |
| 363-367AD | Roman generals selected the Eastern Emperors |
| 376AD | At the battle of Adrianople in the Balkans, the Visigoths defeated the Romans |
| 379-395AD | During the reign of Emperor Theodosius, barbarians were permitted to settle on Roman territory in the Balkans |
| 382AD | Roman emperors gave up the title of "Pontus Maximus" (leader of the Church) to the Bishops of Rome |
| 383-387AD | British legionnaires supported Magnus Maximus, a rival to Emperor Theodosius's choice for the Western Emperor (Valentinian II), but Theodosius' forces captured and killed him. |
| 394AD | Frankish leaders killed the Western Emperor Valentinian II, and were in turn defeated by Theodosius' forces at the Battle of Frigid River, reuniting the Roman Empire again |
| 395AD | After his death, heirs to Theodosius divided the Roman Empire for the last time |
| 395-423AD | Honorius became the Western Emperor, but was strongly influenced by the Vandal general Stilicho, his son-in-law and commander-of-the-troops |
| 396-402AD | Stilicho defeated several attacks by the Visigoths led by Alaric |
| 406AD | Several barbarian groups included the Vandals, Alans, Suevi and Burgundians overran Gaul |
| 407AD | Roman forces withdrew from Britain, led by Constantine, the troops' choice for emperor |
| 408-450AD | A new Eastern Emperor, Theodosius II, took office at age 7. |
| 408AD | Honorius ordered the assassination of Stilicho |
| 409AD | Alaric's Visigoths invaded northern Italy and set up their own government for the region in defiance of Honorius and the Eastern Emperor |
| 410AD | The Visigoths, led by Alaric, sacked Rome |
| 423AD | After Honorius' death, Johannes usurped the position of Western Emperor |
| 425AD | Forces sent by Theodosius II from the east killed Johannes the usurper and installed Valentinian III as the Western Emperor |
| 429-431AD | The Vandals established an independent kingdom in Roman Africa |
| 435AD | The Eastern Roman Emperor recognized the independence of the Vandal kingdom in Africa |
| 439AD | The Vandals conquered the city of Carthage |
| 450AD | Marcian, a general and brother-in-law of Theodosius II, became the new Eastern Emperor |
| 450AD | Attila led the Huns, another barbarian group, into Gaul |
| 455AD | The Vandals, led by Gaiseric, sacked Rome |
| 476AD | For the first time, a barbarian, Romulus Augustus, was named Western Emperor by barbarian generals |
| 493AD | Italy incorporated into the barbarian Kingdom of the Ostrogoths |
THE AFTERMATH | |
| 527-565AD | Justinian (Eastern Roman Emperor) reconquered Italy |
| 632AD | Foundation of Islam by Mohammed in Mecca |
| 1453AD | Constantinople conquered by Ottoman Muslims |
