Roman History Timeline Test

753 BCE

Legendary founding of Rome by Romulus.

509 BCE

Final King, Tarquinius Superbus, expelled from. Rome by Brutus and Collatinus.

218 - 202 BCE

Second Punic War: the Carthaginian general Hannibal invades Italy over the Alps and is defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama. Rome is now the only major power in the Mediterranean.

63 BCE

Cicero as consul thwarts the Catilinarian Conspiracy; Octavian, grand-nephew of Caesar, and future emperor of Rome, is born.

50s BCE

After his consulship,Caesar conquers Gaul and enters Britain; the city of Rome is plagued by gang violence as Pompey is the sole consul.

48 BCE

Caesar defeats Pompey the Great in the Civil War at the Battle of Pharsalus and becomes sole ruler of Rome; he is installed as dictator and makes many reforms, including fixing the calendar, instituting a massive jobs program, and expanding the grain dole.

44 BCE

Now dictator for life, Caesar is assassinated by the senators Brutus, Cassius, and other conspirators.

30sBCE

Caesar’s lieutenant, Marc Antony and Caesar’s grand-nephew and heir, Octavian, are alternating allies and adversaries, eventually fighting a Civil War to determine who will rule Rome.

31 BCE / Octavian defeats Antony at Actium, leaving himself as the last man standing at Rome. The Republic is nearly over.

27 BCE - 14 CE

Octavian, now Augustus, rules Rome, doubling its size, stationing the army at the borders, instituting an imperial bureaucracy, and building dozens of buildings. The Pax Romana begins. Historians call him Rome’s first emperor, though he uses the title princeps, ‘first citizen’, for himself.

29 - 19 BCE

Vergil writes the Aeneid, an epic poem rivaling Homer’s great works, a panegyric of Augustus and Rome.

14 CE

Augustus dies after decades of rule, leaving Rome a much different city and empire.

61 - 113 CE

Pliny the Younger’s lifespan. He wrote many letters about all sorts of topics, including about Vesuvius’ eruption and he wrote to the emperor Trajan, Many of these letters survive and give us insights as to life under the empire.

79 CE

The volcano Mount Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some wonder if the gods are punishing the new emperor.

81 - 96 CE

Domitian rules after his brother’s death. His reign is characterized by autocracy, violence towards the Senate, an ambitious building program, and after fifteen years, it ends in assassination.

98 - 117 CE

After a brief rule from Nerva, Trajan reigns and sees the Roman Empire see its largest territorial borders ever. His rule is universally praised. Pliny writes most of his letters under Trajan’s reign.