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  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    753 BC

    The Roman Senate

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    753 BC

    The Roman Senate was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC).




  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    566 BC

    The Panathenaic Games

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    566 BC

    The Panathenaic Games were held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece from 566 BC to the 3rd century AD.




  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    535 BC

    Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    535 BC

    Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. His reign is described as a tyranny that justified the abolition of the monarchy.




  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    530s BC

    Tarquinius became king

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    530s BC

    Tarquinius was the son of the fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. In around 535 BC Tarquinius, together with his wife Tullia Minor arranged the murder of Servius. Tarquinius became king in his place.




  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    510s BC

    The executive magistrates of the Roman Republic

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    510s BC

    The executive magistrates of the Roman Republic were officials of the ancient Roman Republic, elected by the People of Rome.




  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500s BC

    Act abolishing the kingship

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500s BC

    The Senate agreed to abolish kingship. In turn, most of the former functions of the king were transferred to two separate consuls. These consuls were elected to office for a term of one year.




  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500s BC

    Sextus Tarquinius rape of Lucretia

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500s BC

    Sextus Tarquinius was the third and youngest son of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, according to Livy, but by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he was the oldest of the three. According to Roman tradition, his rape of Lucretia was the precipitating event in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    Publius Valerius Poplicola

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    Publius Valerius Poplicola or Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    Lucius Junius Brutus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    Lucius Junius Brutus is the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after the suicide of Lucretia, which led to the overthrow of the Roman monarchy.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    The Centuriate Assembly

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    The Centuriate Assembly was supposedly founded by the legendary Roman King Servius Tullius, less than a century before the founding of the Roman Republic in 509 BC.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    The beginning of constitutional history of the Roman Republic

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    509 BC

    The constitutional history of the Roman Republic began with the revolution which overthrew the monarchy in 509 BC.


  • Frascati, Rome, Italy
    Oct, 509 BC

    Battle of Lake Regillus

    Frascati, Rome, Italy
    Oct, 509 BC

    The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, who had been expelled in 509 BC, and his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, the dictator of Tusculum.


  • Isola Farnese, Rome, Italy
    509 BC

    Battle of Silva Arsia

    Isola Farnese, Rome, Italy
    509 BC

    The Battle of Silva Arsia was a battle in 509 BC between the republican forces of ancient Rome and the Etruscan forces of Tarquinii and Veii led by the deposed Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The battle took place near the Silva Arsia (the Arsian forest) in Roman territory and resulted in victory to Rome but the death of one of her consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500s BC

    Overthrow of the Roman monarchy

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500s BC

    The overthrow of the Roman monarchy, a political revolution in ancient Rome, took place around 509 BC and resulted in the expulsion of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, and the establishment of the Roman Republic.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Friday Mar 1, 509 BC

    Valerius returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Friday Mar 1, 509 BC

    The consul Valerius collected the spoils of the routed Etruscans and returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph on 1 March 509 BC.


  • Florence, Italy
    508 BC

    Tarquinius failed to regain the throne

    Florence, Italy
    508 BC

    Tarquinius, having failed to regain the throne using his allies of Tarquinii and Veii, next sought the aid of Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in 508 BC. Clusium was at that time a powerful Etruscan city.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    508 BC

    Lars Porsena

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    508 BC

    Lars Porsena was an Etruscan king known for his war against the city of Rome. He ruled over the city of Clusium (Etruscan: Clevsin; modern Chiusi). There are no established dates for his rule, but Roman sources often place the war at around 508 BC.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    508 BC

    Porsena sent ambassadors to Rome to offer peace

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    508 BC

    Porsena sent ambassadors to Rome to offer peace. Terms were negotiated. Porsena requested the throne be restored to Tarquinius, but the Romans refused.


  • Ponte Sublicio, Italy
    508 BC

    Porsena attacked Rome

    Ponte Sublicio, Italy
    508 BC

    Porsena, with his army, attacked Rome. As his troops were surging towards the Pons Sublicius, one of the bridges over the Tiber leading into the city, Publius Horatius Cocles leaped across the bridge to hold off the enemy, giving the Romans time to destroy the bridge. He was joined by Titus Herminius Aquilinus and Spurius Larcius. Herminius and Lartius retreated as the bridge was almost destroyed. Horatius waited until the bridge had fallen, then swam back across the river under enemy fire.


  • Ponte Sublicio, Rome, Italy
    508 BC

    The attack had been unsuccessful

    Ponte Sublicio, Rome, Italy
    508 BC

    As the attack had been unsuccessful, Porsena next determined to blockade the city. He established a garrison on the Janiculum, blocked river transport, and sent raiding parties into the surrounding countryside.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    507 BC

    Porsena once again sent ambassadors to the Roman senate

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    507 BC

    In 507 BC Porsena once again sent ambassadors to the Roman senate, requesting the restoration of Tarquinius to the throne. Legates were sent back to Porsena, to advise him that the Romans would never re-admit Tarquinius and that Porsena should out of respect for the Romans cease requesting Tarquinius' readmittance.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    506 BC

    Spurius Larcius

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    506 BC

    Spurius Larcius was one of the leading men of the early Roman Republic, of which he was twice consul. However, his greatest fame was won as one of the defenders of the Sublician bridge against the army of Lars Porsena, the King of Clusium.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    505 BC

    Marcus Valerius Volusus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    505 BC

    Marcus Valerius Volusus was a Roman consul with Publius Postumius Tubertus in 505 BC. He was the son of Volesus Valerius and brother to Publius Valerius Publicola and Manius Valerius Maximus. During his consulship in 505 BC, he successfully conducted the war with the Sabines and both consuls were awarded triumphs.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    500s BC

    Roman–Sabine wars

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    500s BC

    In 505–504 BC there was war between republican Rome and the Sabines. Although Livy makes no mention of the involvement of the Etruscans.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Friday Sep 1, 502 BC

    Opiter Verginius Tricostus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Friday Sep 1, 502 BC

    Opiter Verginius Tricostus served as consul of the early Roman Republic in 502 BC, with Spurius Cassius Vecellinus. He was the first from the powerful Verginia family to obtain the consulship.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500 BC

    Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500 BC

    Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus was consul at Rome in the year 500 BC with Manius Tullius Longus. He was the first consul of the patrician family of the Sulpicii, which may have taken its name from the town of Cameria or Camerium in Latium. He was the father of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus, consul in 490 BC. He was also the first man to be clearly identified in ancient literature as a curio maximus, holding the office in 463 BC.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500 BC

    The Conflict or Struggle between the Plebeians and Patricians

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    500 BC

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


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    499 BC

    Titus Aebutius Helva

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    499 BC

    Titus Aebutius Helva was a Roman senator and general from the early Republic, who held the consulship in 499 BC. He was magister equitum under Aulus Postumius Albus at the Battle of Lake Regillus. He was the father of Lucius Aebutius Helva, consul in 463 BC.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    498 BC

    Quintus Cloelius Siculus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    498 BC

    Quintus Cloelius Siculus was a Roman Republican politician and patrician during the beginning of the 5th century BC. He served as Consul of Rome in 498 BC together with Titus Larcius. His gens originated from Alba Longa and had come to Rome under the reign of Tullus Hostilius. He was the first member of his family to serve as consul.


  • Frascati, Rome, Italy
    496 BC

    Battle of Lake Regillus

    Frascati, Rome, Italy
    496 BC

    The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    494 BC

    Rome was at war with three Italic tribes

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    494 BC

    In 494 BC Rome was at war with three Italic tribes (the Aequi, Sabine and Volsci), but the Plebeian soldiers advised by Lucius Sicinius Vellutus, refused to march against the enemy, and instead seceded to the Sacred Mount outside Rome.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    487 BC

    Dionysia

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    487 BC

    The Dionysia was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    483 BC

    Veientes waged a war against Rome

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    483 BC

    In the years 483 to 476 BC the Veientes waged a war against Rome, assisted by auxiliaries from among the Etruscans. On the Roman side, the members of the gens Fabia featured prominently, and it became almost a personal struggle by that family against Veii. Rome was successful in the war.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    480 BC

    Etruscans attacked the Roman camp

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    480 BC

    The Etruscans took advantage of a lull in the fighting to attack the Roman camp, breaching the defenses of the reserves. However, word of the attack reached the consuls, and Manlius stationed his men around the exits to the camp, surrounding the Etruscans.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    480 BC

    Rome was rent by internal dissension

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    480 BC

    In 480 BC, Rome was rent by internal dissension, which encouraged the Veientes to take the field in the hope of breaking Roman power. They were supported by troops from other Etruscan cities.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    479 BC

    Titus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus assigned in the war with Veii

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    479 BC

    In 479 BC the war with Veii was assigned to the consul Titus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus, while his colleague Kaeso Fabius was dealing with an incursion by the Aequi.


  • Isola Farnese, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy
    477 BC

    Hostilities were renewed

    Isola Farnese, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy
    477 BC

    In 477 BC hostilities were renewed, and the fighting increased, with incursions by the Fabii into Veientine territory, and vice versa. The Veientes devised an ambush, which led to the Battle of the Cremera, most likely on 18 July 477 BC.


  • Labaro, Italy
    477 BC

    Battle of the Cremera

    Labaro, Italy
    477 BC

    The Battle of the Cremera was fought between the Roman Republic and the Etruscan city of Veii, in 477 BC.


  • Isola Farnese, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy
    477 BC

    Romans were defeated once again

    Isola Farnese, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy
    477 BC

    The Roman senate sent the consul Titus Menenius Lanatus with an army against the Veientes, but the Romans were defeated once again.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    475 BC

    The Veientes commenced hostilities against Rome

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    475 BC

    In 475 BC the Veientes together with Sabines commenced hostilities against Rome, only a year after the defeat of Veii in the previous war.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    470s BC

    Publius Valerius Poplicola was assigned the conduct of the war

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    470s BC

    The consul Publius Valerius Poplicola was assigned the conduct of the war. The Roman army was reinforced by auxiliaries from the Latin allies and the Hernici.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    475 BC

    The Veientes together with Sabines commenced hostilities against Rome

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    475 BC

    In 475 BC the Veientes together with Sabines commenced hostilities against Rome, only a year after the defeat of Veii in the previous war.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Wednesday May 1, 475 BC

    Valerius was awarded a triumph for the victory

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Wednesday May 1, 475 BC

    Valerius was awarded a triumph for the victory, which he celebrated on 1 May.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Thursday Mar 15, 474 BC

    Rome the overall victory

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Thursday Mar 15, 474 BC

    The Sabine army was camped outside the walls of Veii. The Roman army attacked the Sabine defenses. The Sabines sallied forth from their camp, but the Romans had the better of the fighting and took the gate of the Sabine camp. The forces of Veii then attacked from the city, but in some disorder, and a Roman cavalry charge routed the Veientes, giving Rome the overall victory. Manlius was awarded an ovation as a result, which he celebrated on 15 March.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    471 BC

    Lex Publilia was passed

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    471 BC

    In 471 BC the Lex Publilia was passed. It was an important reform shifting practical power from the patricians to the plebeians. The law transferred the election of the tribunes of the plebs to the commit tribute, thereby freeing their election from the influence of the patrician clients.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day East of Rome, Italy)
    458 BC

    Battle of Mount Algidus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day East of Rome, Italy)
    458 BC

    The Battle of Mount Algidus was fought in 458 BC, between the Roman Republic and the Aequi, near Mount Algidus in Latium. The Roman dictator Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus turned an expected Roman defeat into an important victory.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    457 BC

    Marcus Horatius Pulvillus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    457 BC

    Marcus Horatius Pulvillus was an aristocrat before and during the early Roman Republic at the time of the overthrow of the Roman monarchy.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    446 BC

    Battle of Corbio

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    446 BC

    The Battle of Corbio took place in 446 BC. General Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus and legatus Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis led Roman troops to a victory over the Aequi tribes of north-east Latium and the Volsci tribes of southern Latium.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    401 BC

    Caeso Fabius Ambustus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    401 BC

    Caeso Fabius Ambustus was a four-time consular tribune of the Roman Republic around the turn of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Caeso was sent as ambassador to the Gauls when the latter was besieging Clusium and participated in an attack against the besieging Gauls. The Gauls demanded that the three should be surrendered to them for violating the law of nations.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day southern Italy)
    5th Century BC

    The Aurunci

    Roman Republic (Present-Day southern Italy)
    5th Century BC

    The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    390s BC

    Celtic invasion of Italy

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    390s BC

    By 390, several Gallic tribes were invading Italy from the north. The Romans were alerted to this when a particularly warlike tribe, the Senones, invaded two Etruscan towns close to Rome's sphere of influence.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    387 BC

    Battle of the Allia

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    387 BC

    The Battle of the Allia was a battle fought c. 387 BC between the Senones – a Gallic tribe led by Brennus, who had invaded northern Italy – and the Roman Republic.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    385 BC

    Marcus Manlius Capitolinus to had sided with the plebeians

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    385 BC

    In 385, the former consul and savior of the besieged Capitol Marcus Manlius Capitolinus is said to have sided with the plebeians, ruined by the Sack and largely indebted to patricians.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    376 BC

    The Decemviri sacris faciundis

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    376 BC

    In 367, they carried a bill creating the Decemviri sacris faciundis, a college of ten priests, of whom five had to be plebeians, thereby breaking patricians' monopoly on priesthoods.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    367 BC

    The end of the Conflict of the Orders (367–287 BC)

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    367 BC

    The Patrician era came to a complete end in 287 BC, with the passage of the Hortensian law. When the Curule Aedileship had been created, it had only been opened to Patricians.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    367 BC

    Sextian-Licinian

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    367 BC

    The Sextian-Licinian Rogations were a series of laws proposed by tribunes of the plebs, Lucius Sextius Lateranus and Gaius Licinius Stolo and enacted around 367 BC. Livy calls them rogatio – though he does refer to them at times as lex – as the plebeian assembly did not at the time have the power to enact leges (laws).


  • Tarquinia, Viterbo, Italy
    358 BC

    Rome declared war on Tarquinii

    Tarquinia, Viterbo, Italy
    358 BC

    Rome declared war on Tarquinii after forces from that city had raided Roman territory. Consul Gaius Fabius Ambustus was assigned to that war.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    356 BC

    Consul Gaius Marcius Rutilus first plebeian

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    356 BC

    The four-time consul Gaius Marcius Rutilus became the first plebeian dictator in 356 and censor in 351.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day northward Italy)
    4th Century BC

    The Sidicini

    Roman Republic (Present-Day northward Italy)
    4th Century BC

    The Sidicini were one of the Italic peoples of ancient Italy. Their territory extended northward from their capital, Teanum Sidicinum (modern day Teano), along the valley of the Liri river up to Fregellae, covering around 3,000 square kilometers (1,200 square miles) in total.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    343 BC

    First Samnite War

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    343 BC

    Livy is the only preserved source to give a continuous account of the war which has become known in modern historiography as the First Samnite War. In addition, the Fasti Triumphales records two Roman triumphs dating to this war and some of the events described by Livy are also mentioned by other ancient writers.


  • Naples, Italy
    340 BC

    The Latin War

    Naples, Italy
    340 BC

    In the Latin War (340–338), Rome defeated a coalition of Latinos at the battles of Vesuvius and the Trigonum.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    339 BC

    Quintus passed three laws

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    339 BC

    In 339, the plebeian consul and dictator Quintus Publilius Philo passed three laws extending the powers of the plebeians.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    337 BC

    A war broke out between the Aurunci and the Sidicini

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    337 BC

    In 337 BC, a war broke out between the Aurunci and the Sidicini. The Romans decided to help the Aurunci because they had not fought Rome during the First Samnite War.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    326 BC

    Second Samnite War

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    326 BC

    After about two decades and after the agreement of 341 BC, the clash between Rome and the Samnites renewed, and this time their presence as central powers on the Italian peninsula. And after previous victories, to expand in regions and establish new achievements abroad. The two peoples sought to achieve one advantage at the expense of the other, which caused a lot of tension and friction, which led to the outbreak of the second war.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    318 BC

    Senate of the Roman Republic

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    318 BC

    Originally the chief magistrates, the consuls, appointed all new senators. They also had the power to remove individuals from the Senate. Around the year 318 BC, the "Ovinian Plebiscite" gave this power to another Roman magistrate, the censor, who retained this power until the end of the Roman Republic.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    312 BC

    The patrician censor Appius Claudius Caecus was appointed senators

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    312 BC

    In 312, following this law, the patrician censor Appius Claudius Caecus appointed many more senators to fill the new limit of 300, including descendants of freedmen.


  • Pietrabbondante, Isernia, Italy
    305 BC

    Battle of Bovianum

    Pietrabbondante, Isernia, Italy
    305 BC

    The Battle of Bovianum was fought in 305 BC between the Romans and the Samnites. The result was a Roman victory and the end of the Second Samnite War.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    4th Century BC

    Rome had established herself as the major power in Italy

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    4th Century BC

    By the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome had established herself as the major power in Italy but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers of the Mediterranean: Carthage and the Greek kingdoms.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    300 BC

    Setting up four plebeian pontiffs

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    300 BC

    In 300, the two tribunes of the plebs Gnaeus and Quintus Ogulnius passed the Lex Ogulnia, which created four plebeian pontiffs, therefore equalling the number of patrician pontiffs, and five plebeian augurs, outnumbering the four patricians in the college.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    298 BC

    A Lucanian delegation went to Rome

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    298 BC

    Early in 298 BC a Lucanian delegation went to Rome to ask the Romans to take them under their protection as the Samnites, having failed to bring them into an alliance, had invaded their territory. Rome agreed to an alliance. Fetials were sent to Samnium to order the Samnites to leave Lucania.


  • Florence, Italy
    298 BC

    Third Samnite War

    Florence, Italy
    298 BC

    In 299 BC, the Etruscans, possibly due to the Roman colony set up at Narnia in next-door Umbria, prepared for war against Rome. However, the Gauls invaded their territory, so, the Etruscans offered them money to form an alliance.


  • Greece
    297 BC

    Pyrrhus was a Greek king

    Greece
    297 BC

    Pyrrhus was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he became king of Epirus. He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome and regarded as one of the greatest generals of antiquity. Pyrrhus was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he became king of Epirus. He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome and regarded as one of the greatest generals of antiquity.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    290 BC

    The Roman army of the mid-Republic

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    290 BC

    The Roman army of the mid-Republic, also called the manipular Roman army or the Polybian army, refers to the armed forces deployed by the mid-Roman Republic, from the end of the Samnite Wars (290 BC) to the end of the Social War.


  • Taranto, Italy
    282 BC

    Several Roman warships entered the harbour of Tarentum

    Taranto, Italy
    282 BC

    In 282, several Roman warships entered the harbor of Tarentum, thus breaking a treaty between the Republic and the Greek city, which forbade the Gulf to the Roman navy.


  • Piombino, Livorno, Italy
    282 BC

    Battle of Populonia

    Piombino, Livorno, Italy
    282 BC

    The Battle of Populonia was fought in 282 BC between Rome and the Etruscans. The Romans were victorious, and the Etruscan threat to Rome sharply diminished after this battle.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Dec, 280 BC

    Pyrrhus sends Cineas to Rome

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    Dec, 280 BC

    Pyrrhus sends Cineas to Rome as the ambassador of Pyrrhus to negotiate peace or a truce.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    Dec, 280 BC

    Pyrrhus landed in Italy

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    Dec, 280 BC

    Pyrrhus and his army of 25,500 men (and 20 war elephants) landed in Italy in 280; he was immediately named Strategos Autokrator by the Tarentines.


  • Naples, Italy
    280 BC

    Pyrrhus withdraws and gets close to Campania

    Naples, Italy
    280 BC

    Pyrrhus withdraws and gets close to Campania. Laevinus confronts him with an army. Pyrrhus refuses battle and returns to Tarentum.


  • Taranto, Italy
    280 BC

    Pyrrhus moved back to Tarentum

    Taranto, Italy
    280 BC

    Pyrrhus then marched on Rome, but could not take any Roman city on his way; facing the prospect of being flanked by the two consular armies, he moved back to Tarentum.


  • Policoro, Matera, Italy
    Jul, 280 BC

    Battle of Heraclea

    Policoro, Matera, Italy
    Jul, 280 BC

    The Battle of Heraclea took place in 280 BC between the Romans under the command of consul Publius Valerius Laevinus, and the combined forces of Greeks from Epirus, Tarentum, Thurii, Metapontum, and Heraclea under the command of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    270s BC

    Alliance between Rome and Carthage

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    270s BC

    Polybius discovered the documents of a series of treaties between Rome and Carthage in a library in Rome.


  • Ascoli Satriano, Foggia, Italy
    279 BC

    Battle of Asculum

    Ascoli Satriano, Foggia, Italy
    279 BC

    The Battle of Asculum took place in 279 BC between the Roman Republic under the command of the consuls Publius Decius Mus and Publius Sulpicius Saverrio, and the forces of King Pyrrhus of Epirus.


  • Reggio Calabria, Italy
    278 BC

    Pyrrhus went to Sicily

    Reggio Calabria, Italy
    278 BC

    During his second consulship, after Pyrrhus went to Sicily, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, is sent against the rebel garrison at Rhegium. He seizes the city and restores it to its people. The surviving rebels are taken to Rome and executed for treason.


  • Taranto, Italy
    Nov, 276 BC

    Pyrrhus arrived in Tarentum

    Taranto, Italy
    Nov, 276 BC

    Pyrrhus received a head wound but managed to overcome the Mamertines. He arrived in Tarentum in the autumn of 276 BC with 20,000 men.


  • Roman Republic (Present Day - Rome, Italy)
    275 BC

    Pyrrhus engaged the Romans without support Samnite support

    Roman Republic (Present Day - Rome, Italy)
    275 BC

    Pyrrhus engaged the Romans despite the lack of Samnite support. The two consuls for 275 BC, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus and Manius Curius Dentatus, were fighting in Lucania and Samnium respectively.


  • Crotone, Italy
    275 BC

    Manius Curius Dentatus expelled a contingent in Croton

    Crotone, Italy
    275 BC

    The consul Manius Curius Dentatus expelled a contingent in Croton and seized the city.


  • Benevento, Italy
    275 BC

    Battle of Beneventum

    Benevento, Italy
    275 BC

    The Battle of Beneventum was the last battle of the Pyrrhic War. It was fought near Beneventum, in southern Italy, between the forces of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus in Greece, and the Romans, led by consul Manius Curius Dentatus. The result was a Roman victory and Pyrrhus was forced to return to Tarentum, and later to Epirus.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    275 BC

    The last battle of the war

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    275 BC

    When Pyrrhus returned to Italy in 275 BC, he fought the Battle of Beneventum against the Romans, which was to be the last battle of the war.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    275 BC

    Pyrrhus returned to Italy

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    275 BC

    In 275, Pyrrhus left the island before he had to face a full-scale rebellion. He returned to Italy, where his Samnite allies were on the verge of losing the war, despite their earlier victory at the Cranita hills.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    264 BC

    The First Punic War

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    264 BC

    The war began with the Romans gaining a foothold on Sicily at Messana (modern Messina).


  • Agrigento, Italy
    262 BC

    The Romans moved to Akragas

    Agrigento, Italy
    262 BC

    In 262, the Romans moved to the southern coast and besieged Akragas. In order to raise the siege, Carthage sent reinforcements, including 60 elephants – the first time they used them, but still lost the battle.


  • North Africa (Present-Day Tunisia)
    256 BC

    Romans launched an invasion of North Africa

    North Africa (Present-Day Tunisia)
    256 BC

    Romans launched an invasion of North Africa in 256 BC, which the Carthaginians intercepted at the Battle of Cape Ecnomus off the south coast of Sicily. The Carthaginians were again beaten.


  • Palermo, Italy
    256 BC

    Battle of Cape Ecnomus

    Palermo, Italy
    256 BC

    The Battle of Cape Ecnomus or Eknomos was a naval battle, fought off southern Sicily, in 256 BC, between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic, during the First Punic War. The Carthaginian fleet was commanded by Hanno and Hamilcar; the Roman fleet jointly by the consuls for the year, Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus.


  • Palermo, Italy
    252 BC

    Hostilities in Sicily resumed

    Palermo, Italy
    252 BC

    Hostilities in Sicily resumed in 252, with the taking of Thermae by Rome. Carthage countered the following year, by besieging Lucius Caecilius Metellus, who held Panormos (now Palermo).


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    229 BC

    Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    229 BC

    Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus was a two-time consul of the Roman Republic and a noted general who conquered Macedon, putting an end to the Antigonid dynasty in the Third Macedonian War.


  • Piacenza, Italy
    Dec, 218 BC

    Battle of the Trebia

    Piacenza, Italy
    Dec, 218 BC

    The Battle of the Trebia (or Trebbia) was the first major battle of the Second Punic War, fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and a Roman army under Sempronius Longus on 22 or 23 December 218 BC.


  • Carthage and Roman Republic
    218 BC

    The Second Punic War

    Carthage and Roman Republic
    218 BC

    The Second Punic War, which lasted from 218 to 201 BC, was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC.


  • Perugia, Italy
    Saturday Jun 21, 217 BC

    Battle of Lake Trasimene

    Perugia, Italy
    Saturday Jun 21, 217 BC

    The Battle of Lake Trasimene was fought when a Carthaginian force under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius on 21 June 217 BC, during the Second Punic War.


  • Bari Metropolitan City, Italy
    216 BC

    Aemilius Paullus and Terentius Varro mustered the biggest army possible

    Bari Metropolitan City, Italy
    216 BC

    In 216, the new consuls Aemilius Paullus and Terentius Varro mustered the biggest army possible, with eight legions (more than 80,000 soldiers) – twice as many as the Punic army – and confronted Hannibal, who was encamped at Cannae, in Apulia.


  • Canna, Cosenza, Italy
    Friday Aug 2, 216 BC

    Battle of Cannae

    Canna, Cosenza, Italy
    Friday Aug 2, 216 BC

    The Battle of Cannae was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    215 BC

    Hieronymus broke the long alliance with Rome to side with Carthage

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    215 BC

    In 215, Hiero II of Syracuse died of old age, and his young grandson Hieronymus broke the long alliance with Rome to side with Carthage.


  • Macedonia and Illyria
    214 BC

    The First Macedonian War

    Macedonia and Illyria
    214 BC

    The First Macedonian War was fought by Rome, allied with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon, contemporaneously with the Second Punic War against Carthage.


  • Santo Tomé, Jaén, Spain
    208 BC

    Battle of Baecula

    Santo Tomé, Jaén, Spain
    208 BC

    The Battle of Baecula was a major field battle in Iberia during the Second Punic War. Roman Republican and Iberian auxiliary forces under the command of Scipio Africanus routed the Carthaginian army of Hasdrubal Barca.


  • Potenza, Italy
    208 BC

    Quinctius Crispinus were ambushed and killed near Venusia

    Potenza, Italy
    208 BC

    In 208 the consuls Claudius Marcellus and Quinctius Crispinus were ambushed and killed near Venusia.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Ancona, Italy)
    Thursday Jul 23, 207 BC

    Battle of the Metaurus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Ancona, Italy)
    Thursday Jul 23, 207 BC

    The Battle of the Metaurus was a pivotal battle in the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage, fought in 207 BC near the Metauro River in Italy.


  • Seville, Spain
    206 BC

    Battle of Ilipa

    Seville, Spain
    206 BC

    The Battle of Ilipa was an engagement considered by many as Scipio Africanus’s most brilliant victory in his military career during the Second Punic War in 206 BC.


  • Souk Ahras, Algeria
    Monday Oct 31, 203 BC

    Battle of the Great Plains

    Souk Ahras, Algeria
    Monday Oct 31, 203 BC

    The Battle of the Great Plains was a battle between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a combined Carthaginian-Numidian army late in the Second Punic War.


  • Siliana, Tunisia
    Tuesday Oct 19, 202 BC

    Battle of Zama (The end of the Second Punic War)

    Siliana, Tunisia
    Tuesday Oct 19, 202 BC

    The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC near Zama, now in Tunisia, and marked the end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio, with crucial support from Numidian leader Masinissa, defeated the Carthaginian army led by Hannibal.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    3rd Century BC

    The "golden age" of Roman

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    3rd Century BC

    The 2nd century BC saw the dawn of the "golden age" of Roman winemaking and the development of grand cru vineyards (a type of early first growths in Rome).


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    163 BC

    Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    163 BC

    Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Popularis Roman politician best known for his agrarian reform law entailing the transfer of land from the Roman state and wealthy landowners to poorer citizens. Against stiff opposition in the aristocratic Senate, this legislation was carried through during his term as tribune of the plebs in 133 BC.


  • Carthage, Tunisia
    149 BC

    The Romans pressed on to besiege the city of Carthage

    Carthage, Tunisia
    149 BC

    The Romans pressed on to besiege the city of Carthage. The Roman campaign suffered repeated setbacks through 149 BC.


  • Zana, Bizerte, Tunisia
    Saturday Nov 1, 149 BC

    Roman army landed at Utica

    Zana, Bizerte, Tunisia
    Saturday Nov 1, 149 BC

    Later in 149 BC, a large Roman army landed at Utica in North Africa.


  • Tunisia
    149 BC

    The Third Punic War

    Tunisia
    149 BC

    The Third Punic War was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome.


  • Lake of Tunis, Tunisia
    Sunday Jul 27, 149 BC

    Battle of Lake Tunis

    Lake of Tunis, Tunisia
    Sunday Jul 27, 149 BC

    The Battle of Lake Tunis was a series of engagements of the Third Punic War fought in 149 BC between the Carthaginians and the Roman Republic.


  • Carthage, Tunisia
    147 BC

    Battle of Nepheris

    Carthage, Tunisia
    147 BC

    In 147 BC, the Romans blockaded Carthage and effectively cut off all supplies being sent to the defenders at Nepheris whose defense was being conducted by Diogenes of Carthage. Scipio surrounded the Carthaginian camp, forcing them to come out and give battle against the smaller Roman army.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    138 BC

    Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    138 BC

    Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the republic to seize power through force.


  • Palermo, Italy
    135 BC

    The First Servile War

    Palermo, Italy
    135 BC

    In 135, the first slave uprising, known as the First Servile War, broke out in Sicily. The First Servile War was a slave rebellion against the Roman Republic, which took place in Sicily.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    130s BC

    Tiberius and Gaius

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Italy)
    130s BC

    The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, were Romans who both served as tribunes of the plebs between 133 and 121 BC. The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, were Romans who both served as tribunes of the plebs between 133 and 121 BC. They attempted to redistribute the occupation of the ager publicus— the public land hitherto controlled principally by aristocrats—to the urban poor and veterans, in addition to other social and constitutional reforms.


  • Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    123 BC

    Tiberius' brother Gaius was elected

    Roman Republic (Present-Day Rome, Italy)
    123 BC

    Tiberius' brother Gaius was elected tribune in 123. Gaius Gracchus' ultimate goal was to weaken the senate and to strengthen the democratic forces.


  • Province of Gallia Narbonensis (Present-Day Southern France)
    121 BC

    The province of Gallia Narbonensis was established

    Province of Gallia Narbonensis (Present-Day Southern France)
    121 BC

    In 121, the province of Gallia Narbonensis was established after the victory of Quintus Fabius Maximus over a coalition of Arverni and Allobroges in southern Gaul in 123.