Roman Timeline

Founding of Rome

753 BCE

753 BCE Marks the legendary founding date of Rome.
According to legend, Ancient Rome was founded by the two brothers Romulus and Remus, on 21 April 753. The legend claims that, in an argument over who would rule the city (or, in another version, where the city would be located)

Founding of Republic

509 BCE

The Romans established a form of government. It all began when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan conquerors in 509 B.C.E. Centered north of Rome, the Etruscans had ruled over the Romans for hundreds of years. Once free, the Romans established a republic, a government in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf. A republic is quite different from a democracy, in which every citizen is expected to play an active role in governing the state.

First Punic War

Period: 264 BCE to 241 BCE

First Punic War, also called First Carthaginian War, (264–241 bce) first of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) empire that resulted in the destruction of Carthage.

Second Punic War

Period: 218 BCE to 201 BCE

Second Punic War, also called Second Carthaginian War, second (218–201 bce) in a series of wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) empire that resulted in Roman hegemony over the western Mediterranean.

Third Punic War

Period: 149 BCE to 146 BCE

Third Punic War, also called Third Carthaginian War, (149–146 bce), third of three wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) Empire that resulted in the final destruction of Carthage, the enslavement of its population, and Roman hegemony over the western Mediterranean.

First Triumvirate

60 BCE

The First Triumvirate is a term historians use for an informal political alliance between three prominent men of the late Roman Republic: Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus.

Death of Caesar

44 BCE

Julius Caesar, the ”dictator for life” of the Roman Empire, is murdered by his own senators at a meeting in a hall next to Pompey’s Theatre. The conspiracy against Caesar encompassed as many as sixty noblemen, including Caesar’s own protege, Marcus Brutus.

Battle of Actium

31 BCE

At the Battle of Actium, off the western coast of Greece, Roman leader Octavian wins a decisive victory against the forces of Roman Mark Antony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Before their forces suffered final defeat, Antony and Cleopatra broke though the enemy lines and fled to Egypt, where they would commit suicide the following year.

Death of Nero

68

On June 9, a desperate Nero was informed that forces loyal to the Senate were closing on the Imperial palace to arrest him, so he stabbed himself in the neck. His ineffectual attempt did not kill him, however, and his personal secretary had to finish him off. According to Suetonius, he died with the words "What a great artist dies with me!"

Death of Marcus Aurelius

180

Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180. His son Commodus became emperor and soon ended the northern military efforts. Marcus Aurelius, however, is not best remembered for the wars he waged, but for his contemplative nature and his rule driven by reason.

Life of Constantine

Period: 272 to 327

Constantine was the last significant emperor of what we traditionally think of as the Roman Empire. And it was during his reign and due mostly to his actions that the empire was transformed from old to new. In fact, the steps that he took were responsible for extending the Roman Empire's life far beyond what it would have been without his reforms. Not that he had much choice; he simply examined events as they were happening and reacted in the best way possible to preserve it.

Fall of Rome

476

In September 476 AD, the last Roman emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by a Germanic prince called Odovacar, who had won control of the remnants of the Roman army of Italy. He then sent the western imperial regalia to Constantinople.