8th and 7th centuries BC[edit]

Year Date Event

Rome was founded. According to Roman legend, Romulus was the

753 BC 21 April
founder and first King of Rome, establishing the Roman Kingdom.

752 BC Romulus, first king of Rome, celebrates the first Roman triumph after

his victory over the Caeninenses, following the Rape of the Sabine
Women. He celebrates a further triumph later in the year over
the Antemnates.[1]

Rome's first colonies were established.[1]

715 BC Numa Pompilius became the second King of Rome.

673 BC Tullus Hostilius became the third King of Rome.
667 BC Byzantium was founded by Megarian colonists.
642 BC Tullus Hostilius died.
The Curiate Assembly, one of the legislative assemblies of the Roman
Kingdom, elected Ancus Marcius King of Rome.
617 BC Ancus Marcius died.
616 BC The Curiate Assembly elected Lucius Tarquinius Priscus King of Rome.

6th century BC[edit]

Year Date Event

575 BC The Senate accepted the regent Servius Tullius as king of Rome.

Servius Tullius was murdered by his daughter Tullia Minor and her

535 BC husband Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, who declared himself King of
Rome on the steps of the Curia Hostilia.

509 BC The patrician Lucretia was raped by Lucius Tarquinius

Superbus' son Sextus Tarquinius.

Overthrow of the Roman monarchy:

Following Lucretia's suicide, Lucius Junius Brutus called the Curiate
Assembly, one of the legislative assemblies of the Roman Kingdom.
The latter agreed to the overthrow and expulsion of Lucius Tarquinius
 Superbus and to a provisional constitution under which
two consuls acted as a joint executive and a Curiate Assembly held
legislative power, and swore never again to let a king rule Rome. It
further elected Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius
Collatinus, Lucretia's husband, as consuls.

Battle of Silva Arsia: Tarquinian and Veientine forces loyal to Lucius

Tarquinius Superbus were defeated in the Silva Arsia by a Roman
army. Lucius Junius Brutus was killed. Publius Valerius Publicola,
returning to Rome with the spoils of war, was awarded the
first Roman Triumph on March 1.

The consul Publius Valerius Publicola promulgated a number of

liberal reforms, including opening the office of consul to all Roman
citizens and placing the treasury under the administration of
appointed quaestors.

The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was ceremonially dedicated

13 September
to the Capitoline Triad.

508 BC Roman–Etruscan Wars: A Clusian army failed to conquer Rome.

Roman–Sabine wars: Roman victory over the sabines in the battle of

504 BC
504 BC by consul Publicus.

In the face of a potential Sabine invasion, the Senate passed

a senatus consultum authorizing the consuls to appoint a dictator, a
magistrate who held absolute power during a national emergency.
501 BC
The dictator would in turn appoint the Magister equitum, the
commander of the cavalry. The consuls Titus Larcius and Postumus
Cominius Auruncus selected the former as dictator.

5th century BC[edit]

Year Date Event

Battle of Lake Regillus: Latin League invasion near

496 BC
modern Frascati which sought to reinstall Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.

494 BC First secessio plebis:

 Lucius Sicinius Vellutus, the plebs abandoned Rome for the
nearby Monte Sacro.

After a law allowing organization of the plebs tribe, the Plebeian

471 BC
Council was reorganized by tribes rather than curiae.
Under popular pressure, the Senate increased the tribunes of
459 BC
the plebs from two to ten.
During the first dictatorship of Cincinnatus, the Aequians staged an
offensive, breaking a truce. Cincinnatus defeated the Aquians at
458 BC
the Battle of Mount Algidus and after a triumph, returned to his farm
after sixteen days.[2]
449 BC Resolutions of the Plebeian Council were given the full force of law
subject to Senate veto.
The second of two decemviri, specially-elected ten man commissions,
issued the last of the Twelve Tables, the fundamental laws of the
Republic.
The Tribal Assembly was established, and granted the right to
447 BC
elect quaestors.
Lex Canuleia: Marriage between patricians and plebeians was
445 BC
legalized.
443 BC The offices of the Tribuni militum consulari potestate were established.
A collegium of three patrician or plebeian tribunes, one each from
specific Roman tribes (the Titienses, the Ramnenses, and the Luceres),
would hold the power of the consuls from year to year, subject to
the Senate.
The office of the censor, a patrician magistrate responsible for
conducting the census in years without a consul, was established.
Cincinnatus was called upon to accept a second dictatorship by the
patricians to prevent Spurius Maelius from seizing power; the patricians
suspected Spurius of using wheat to purchase the support of the
439 BC plebeians, to set himself up as a king. Gaius Servilius Ahala was
appointed magister equitum in order to stop Maelius; following an attack
by Maelius, Ahala slew him. Cincinnatus again resigned his dictatorship
and returned to his farm after 21 days.[2]
Fidenae, an important trade post on the Tiber, was captured from the
435 BC
Veii.[3]
408 BC The Tribuni militum consulari potestate held office.

4th century BC[edit]

Year Date Event

396 BC Battle of Veii: Roman forces led by the dictator Marcus Furius

Camillus conquered Veii.

Roman soldiers first earned a salary ("salary" from Latin for "salt").
394 BC The consuls held office.

391 BC The Tribuni militum consulari potestate held office.

390 BC Battle of the Allia: The Senones routed a Roman force at the confluence

18 July
of the rivers Allia and Tiber.

The Senones sacked Rome. Among other artifacts, books were

destroyed. The history of Rome up to this point had to be mostly
reconstructed and is sometimes unreliable or mythological.

367 BC The consulship was reintroduced.

366 BC Lucius Sextius was elected the first plebeian consul.

The office of Praetor, which took the judiciary responsibilities of

the consul and could be held only by a patrician, was established.

351 BC The first plebeian dictator was elected.

The first plebeian censor was elected.

343 BC Samnite Wars: Rome marched against the Samnites, probably after an

appeal from the Campanians.

Battle of Mount Gaurus: A Samnite force was routed by a Roman army

near Mount Barbaro.

The Leges Genuciae were passed, banning a person from holding two

342 BC offices at the same time, or during any ten-year period; charging interest
on loans was also banned.

Samnite Wars: The Senate agreed a peace, following an appeal by

341 BC
the Samnite to a previous treaty of friendship.

340 BC Latin War: The Latin League invaded Samnium.

 A law was passed which required the election of at least
339 BC
one plebeian censor every five years.

338 BC Latin War: Rome defeated the Latin League armies.

337 BC The first plebeian Praetor was elected.

Samnite Wars: Rome declared war on the Samnites after their failure to

328 BC
prevent their subjects raiding Fregellae.

Battle of the Caudine Forks: After being trapped in a mountain pass

321 BC near Caudium without a water supply, Roman forces were allowed to
retreat by a Samnite army.

Battle of Lautulae: A decisive Samnite victory near Terracina split

315 BC
Roman territory in two.

311 BC Samnite Wars: The Etruscans laid siege to Sutri.

Battle of Lake Vadimo (310 BC): Rome inflicted a substantial military

310 BC
defeat on the Etruscans at Lake Vadimo

Samnite Wars: The Umbri, Picentes and Marsi joined

308 BC
the Samnites against Rome.

306 BC The Hernici declared their independence from Rome.

304 BC Rome conquered the Aequi.

Samnite Wars: The treaty of friendship between the Romans

and Samnites was restored.

3rd century BC[edit]

Year Date Event
300 BC The Lex Ogulnia was passed, allowing plebeians to become priests.

298 BC Samnite Wars: Rome declared war on the Samnites after an appeal by

the Lucani.

Samnite Wars: Rome captured the Samnite cities of Bojano and Castel

di Sangro.

Battle of Tifernum: A Roman army defeated a numerically

297 BC
superior Samnite force at Città di Castello.

Battle of Sentinum: A Roman army decisively defeated a numerically

superior force of Samnites, Etruscans, Umbri and Senones in coalition
295 BC
at Sentinum. The consul Publius Decius Mus (consul 312 BC) was
killed.

294 BC Samnite Wars: Roman and Samnite forces battled at Lucera.

293 BC Battle of Aquilonia: A Roman army destroyed the majority

of Samnite forces, probably in modern Agnone.

A census counted about 270,000 residents of Rome.

Samnite Wars: Rome conquered and colonized the Samnite city

291 BC
of Venosa.

290 BC Samnite Wars: The last effective Samnite resistance was eliminated.

287 BC Conflict of the Orders: A secessio plebis took place.

Conflict of the Orders: The Lex Hortensia was passed, made resolutions

of the Plebeian Council (plebiscites) binding on all Romans, they
formally only applied to plebeians.[4]

Battle of Lake Vadimo (283 BC): A Roman army defeated a combined

283 BC
force of Etruscans, Boii and Senones near Lake Vadimo.
281 BC Taranto appealed to Epirus for aid against Rome.

280 BC Pyrrhic War: An Epirote army of some 25,000 landed at Taranto.

Battle of Heraclea: A Greek coalition force led by

July the Epirote king Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated a Roman army after their
deployment of war elephants at Heraclea Lucania.

Battle of Asculum: A Greek force led by

279 BC the Epirote king Pyrrhus defeated a Roman army at modern Ascoli
Satriano, despite suffering heavy losses.

Battle of Beneventum (275 BC): Roman and Epirote armies met in a

275 BC
bloody battle at Benevento.

272 BC Pyrrhic War: Pyrrhus withdrew with his army to Epirus.

Pyrrhic War: Taranto surrendered to Rome.

267 BC The number of quaestors was raised from four to ten.

Battle of Messana: A Roman force defeated

264 BC
a Carthaginian and Siracusani garrison at Messina.

The office of the praetor qui inter peregrinos ius dicit, a Praetor with

242 BC
jurisdiction over foreigners, was created.

241 BC First Punic War: Sicily was organized as the province of Sicilia.

Mercenary War: Carthage surrendered its claims

238 BC
on Sardinia and Corsica to Rome.

229 BC Illyrian Wars: Rome invaded the territory of the Ardiaei.

Illyrian Wars: The Ardiaei surrendered some territory, including

228 BC
strategically significant ports, to Rome, ending the war.
 Battle of Telamon: A Roman army decisively defeated a Gallic invasion
225 BC
near modern Talamone. The consul Gaius Atilius Regulus was killed.

219 BC Illyrian Wars: Rome invaded Hvar.

218 BC Second Punic War: A Carthaginian army departed Cartagena.

Illyrian Wars: Demetrius of Pharos fled to Macedonia.

Battle of Cannae: The Carthaginian general Hannibal decisively

216 BC 2 August
defeated a numerically superior Roman force at Cannae.

214 BC First Macedonian War: A Macedonian fleet captured Oricum.

Siege of Syracuse (214–212 BC): Rome laid siege to Syracuse.

Siege of Syracuse (214–212 BC): Roman forces breached the inner

212 BC
citadel of Syracuse and slaughtered its inhabitants.

First Macedonian War: Rome and Macedonia signed the Treaty of

205 BC Phoenice, according to which Macedonia renounced its alliance
with Carthage in exchange for Roman recognition of its gains in Illyria.

Second Punic War: The consul Scipio Africanus landed an invasion fleet

204 BC
at Utica.

Battle of Zama: A Roman army decisively defeated Carthage, probably

202 BC 19 October
near modern Sakiet Sidi Youssef.

Second Punic War: Carthage accepted Roman conditions for peace,

201 BC including disarmament, a war indemnity of ten thousand talents, and the
cession of Iberia, ending the war.

2nd century BC[edit]

Year Date Event
 Second Macedonian War: A Roman fleet arrived in Illyria to relieve
200 BC
a Macedonian siege of Abydos.

197 BC The provinces of Hispania Ulterior and Hispania Citerior were

organized.

The number of quaestors was increased to twelve.

The number of Praetors was increased to six.

Second Macedonian War: Macedonia surrendered its conquests in

196 BC
Greece and agreed to pay a war indemnity, ending the war.

192 BC Roman–Seleucid War: The Seleucid Empire invaded Greece.

Roman–Seleucid War: The Seleucid Empire signed the Treaty of

Apamea, under which it surrendered all territory west of the Taurus
188 BC Mountains to the Roman clients Rhodes and Pergamon and agreed to
disarm its navy and pay a war indemnity of fifteen thousand talents of
silver to Rome.

The Lex Villia annalis, which established minimum ages for high office
180 BC and required a minimum of two years in private life between offices, was
passed.

172 BC Third Macedonian War: Rome declared war on Macedonia.

Third Macedonian War: The Macedonian king Perseus of Macedon was

167 BC
captured. Macedonia was divided into four districts subject to Rome.

Lusitanian War: The Lusitanians of Hispania Ulterior rebelled against

155 BC
Rome.

Fourth Macedonian War: An Andriscus rebelled against Rome, claiming

150 BC
to be Perseus's son and the rightful king of Macedonia.

149 BC Third Punic War: Rome declared war on Carthage.

 The Lex Calpurnia was passed, establishing a Praetor-led court to hear
appeals against extortionate taxes levied by governors in the provinces.

Fourth Macedonian War: Andriscus was surrendered to Rome to be

148 BC
executed.

146 BC Third Punic War: Roman forces breached the city of Carthage, burned
it, and enslaved its surviving inhabitants.

Achaean War: Roman forces decisively defeated the armies of

the Achaean League at Corinth.

The province of Macedonia was organized.

The province of Africa was organized on captured Carthaginian territory.

Lusitanian War: The Lusitanian leader Viriatus was assassinated by his

three ambassadors to Rome Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus.
139 BC
Lex Gabinia tabellaria: required a secret ballot in elections of all
magistrates.

The Tribune of the Plebs Tiberius Gracchus was beaten to death by a

133 BC mob of senators led by the Pontifex Maximus Publius Cornelius Scipio
Nasica Serapio (consul 138 BC).

121 BC The province of Gallia Narbonensis was organized.

The first Senatus consultum ultimum was passed, granting

the consul Lucius Opimius emergency powers to defeat the partisans
of Gaius Gracchus.

112 BC Jugurthine War: Rome declared war on Numidia.

107 BC Gaius Marius was elected consul.

 Marius instituted the Marian reforms of the military, among them the
establishment of a standing army and the recruitment of non-property
owners.

106 BC Marius was reelected consul.

Jugurthine War: The Numidian king Jugurtha was imprisoned in

the Mamertine Prison.

Battle of Arausio: A coalition of the Cimbri and Teutons inflicted a

105 BC 6 October serious defeat on the Roman army at modern Orange. Some hundred
thousand Roman soldiers were killed.

104 BC Marius was elected consul for the first of three years in a row.

Battle of Aquae Sextiae: Rome decisively defeated the forces of

102 BC the Teutons and Ambrones and killed some ninety thousand soldiers
and civilians.

Battle of Vercellae: An invasion of Italy by the Cimbri was decisively

defeated by a numerically inferior Roman force. Some hundred
101 BC
thousand Cimbri soldiers and civilians were killed along with their
king Boiorix.

1st century BC[edit]

Year Date Event

100 BC Marius was elected consul.

Assassins hired by Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and Gaius Servilius

10 December Glaucia beat to death Gaius Memmius, a candidate for
the consulship.

Social War (91–87 BC): The Roman clients in Italy the Marsi,

the Paeligni, the Vestini, the Marrucini, the Picentes, the Frentani,
91 BC the Hirpini,
the Iapyges, Pompeii, Venosa, Lucania and Samnium rebelled
against Rome.
88 BC Sulla's march on Rome: The consul Sulla led an army of his partisans
across the pomerium into Rome.

Social War (91–89 BC): The war ended.

87 BC First Mithridatic War: Roman forces landed at Epirus.

First Mithridatic War: A peace was agreed between Rome

85 BC
and Pontus under which the latter returned to its prewar borders.

83 BC Sulla's civil war: Sulla landed with an army at Brindisi.

Second Mithridatic War: The Roman general Lucius Licinius

Murena invaded Pontus.

82 BC Sulla's civil war: Sulla was declared dictator.

Second Mithridatic War: Murena withdrew from Pontus.

81 BC
Sulla resigns dictatorship after enacting numerous reforms in the
same year.

Final consulship of Sulla, he leaves Rome once the year is over.

80 BC
Sertorian War: Quintus Sertorius landed on the Iberian Peninsula in
support of a Lusitanian rebellion.

73 BC Third Mithridatic War: Pontus invaded Bithynia.

Third Servile War: Some seventy gladiators, slaves of Lentulus

Batiatus in Capua, made a violent escape.

Sertorian War: Marcus Perpenna Vento, by now the leader of the

72 BC
Romans in revolt in Iberia, was executed by the general Pompey.
 Third Servile War: The slaves in rebellion were decisively defeated by
71 BC
Roman forces near Petelia. Their leader Spartacus was killed.

66 BC The last of the Cilician pirates were wiped out by Pompey.

63 BC Third Mithridatic War: Defeated, the Pontic king Mithridates VI of

Pontus ordered his friend and bodyguard to kill him.

Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC): Pompey conquered Jerusalem and

entered the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple.

Cicero was elected consul.

Second Catilinarian conspiracy: A conspiracy led by

the senator Catiline to overthrow the Republic was exposed before
the Senate. The five conspirators present were summarily executed in
the Mamertine Prison.

Pompey joined a political alliance, the so-called First Triumvirate, with

60 BC
the consul Julius Caesar and the censor Marcus Licinius Crassus.

59 BC Consulship of Julius Caesar.

Gallic Wars: Roman forces barred the westward migration of

58 BC
the Helvetii across the Rhône.

55 BC 1st Invasion of Britain: Julius Caesar's first invasion of Britain.

54 BC 2nd Invasion of Britain: Julius Caesar's second invasion of Britain.

Battle of Carrhae: A Parthian army decisively defeated a numerically

53 BC 6 May
superior Roman invasion force near Harran. Crassus was killed.

50 BC Gallic Wars: The last Gaulish rebels were defeated.

49 BC 10 January Caesar's Civil War: Julius Caesar illegally crossed the Rubicon into

 Italy with his army.

Caesar's Civil War: Caesar landed at Durrës in pursuit of Pompey and

48 BC 4 January
his partisans the optimates.

Caesar left Africa for Iberia in pursuit of Pompey's sons Gnaeus

46 BC November
Pompeius and Sextus Pompey.

Assassination of Julius Caesar: Caesar was assassinated in

44 BC 15 March
the Theatre of Pompey by a conspiracy of senators.

The Lex Titia was passed, granting the Second

Triumvirate of Octavian (later known as Augustus), Mark
43 BC 27 November
Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the power to make and annul
laws and appoint magistrates.

42 BC Liberators' civil war: Augustus and Antony led some thirty legions to

northern Greece in pursuit of Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius
Brutus the Younger and Gaius Cassius Longinus.

Liberators' civil war: Brutus committed suicide after being defeated in

23 October
battle.

33 BC Antony's Parthian War: A campaign led by Antony against

the Parthian Empire ended in failure.

The Second Triumvirate expired.

Battle of Actium: Forces loyal to Augustus defeated Antony and his

31 BC 2 September
lover Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, in a naval battle near Actium.

30 BC Final War of the Roman Republic: Antony's forces defected

1 August
to Augustus. He committed suicide.

30 August Cleopatra committed suicide, probably in Roman custody and by

snakebite.
 The province of Egypt was organized. Augustus took the title pharaoh.

29 BC Moesia was annexed to Rome.

Cantabrian Wars: Rome deployed some eighty thousand soldiers

against the Cantabri in Iberia.

The Senate granted Augustus the titles augustus, majestic,

27 BC 16 January
and princeps, first.

25 BC Augustus indicated his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-

Claudian dynasty) as his chosen successor by marrying him to his
only daughter Julia the Elder.

The Roman client Amyntas of Galatia died. Augustus organized his

territory as the province of Galatia.

Augustus' campaigns against the Cantabrians in Hispania

24 BC
Tarraconensis, the Cantabrian Wars, ended.

23 BC Coinage reform of Augustus: Augustus centralized the minting of and

reformed the composition and value of the Roman currency.

Marcellus died.

21 BC Augustus married Julia to his general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

Cantabrian Wars: The last major combat operations ended.

19 BC
The Cantabri and Astures were pacified.

Augustus adopted the sons of Agrippa and Julia, his grandsons Gaius

17 BC
Caesar and Lucius Caesar, as his own sons.

16 BC Raetia and Noricum were conquered and annexed to Rome.

12 BC Germanic Wars: Roman forces crossed the Rhine into Germania.

 Agrippa died of fever.

11 BC Augustus married Julia to his general and stepson Tiberius.

9 BC The Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus died from injuries

sustained falling from a horse.

Pannonia was annexed and incorporated into Illyricum.

Augustus offered Tiberius tribunician power and imperium over the

6 BC eastern half of the Empire. Tiberius refused, announcing his
retirement to Rhodes.

2 BC Augustus was acclaimed Pater Patriae, father of the country, by

the Senate.[5]

Augustus convicted Julia of adultery and treason, annulled her

marriage to Tiberius, and exiled her with her
mother Scribonia to Ventotene.

1st century[edit]
Year Date Event

AD 2 20 August Lucius Caesar died of a sudden illness.

Augustus allowed Tiberius to return to Rome as a private citizen.

AD 4 21 February Gaius Caesar died in Lycia from wounds suffered in battle.

Augustus adopted Tiberius as his son and granted

him tribunician power.

AD 6 Augustus deposed Herod Archelaus, ethnarch in Samaria, Judea and

Idumea, and organized the province of Judea on his territories.
 Bellum Batonianum: The Daesitiates, an Illyrian people, rose up
against Roman authority in Illyricum.

AD 9 Bellum Batonianum: The Daesitiate chieftain Bato (Daesitiate

chieftain) surrendered to Roman forces.

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest: A coalition of Germanic forces

ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg
September
Forest. Publius Quinctilius Varus, the commander of Roman forces
in Germania, committed suicide.

AD 10 Tiberius assumed command of Roman forces in Germania.

Illyricum was divided into the provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia.

AD 13 Tiberius was granted power equal to Augustus as co-princeps.

AD 14 19 August Augustus died.

Germanicus, son of Nero Claudius Drusus and adoptive son

of Tiberius, was appointed commander of Roman forces in Germania.

Germanicus and Tiberius's natural son Drusus Julius Caesar were

sent to suppress mutinies in Germania and Pannonia, respectively.

Lucius Seius Strabo was appointed governor of Egypt. His

AD 15
son Sejanus remained as the sole prefect of the Praetorian Guard.

Battle of the Weser River: A Roman army led

AD 16
by Germanicus decisively defeated a Germanic force on the Weser.

AD 17 Archelaus of Cappadocia, king in Cappadocia and a Roman client,

died. Tiberius annexed his territory, organizing it as
the province of Cappadocia.

Antiochus III of Commagene, king of Commagene and a Roman client,

died. Tiberius annexed his territory to the province of Syria.
 Tiberius granted Germanicus imperium over the eastern half of the
AD 18
Empire.

Germanicus died in Antioch, possibly after being poisoned

AD 19 10 October
on Tiberius's orders.

Tiberius granted Drusus Julius Caesar tribunician power, marking him

AD 22
as his choice as successor.

Drusus Julius Caesar died, possibly after being poisoned

AD 23 14 September
by Sejanus or his wife Livilla.

Tiberius retired to Capri, leaving Sejanus in control of Rome through

AD 26
his office.

The Frisii hanged their Roman tax collectors and expelled the

AD 28
governor.

AD 29 Livia, Augustus's widow and Tiberius's mother, died.

AD 31 18 October Sejanus was executed on Tiberius's orders.

Tiberius invited Germanicus's son Caligula to join him on Capri.

Tiberius died. His will left his offices jointly to Caligula and Drusus

AD 37 16 March
Julius Caesar's son, his grandson Tiberius Gemellus.

AD 38 Tiberius Gemellus was murdered on Caligula's orders.

Ptolemy of Mauretania, king of Mauretania and a Roman client, was

AD 40 murdered on Caligula's orders during a state visit to Rome. His
slave Aedemon rose in revolt against Roman rule.

AD 41 The general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was appointed to suppress the

rebellion in Mauretania.

24 January Caligula was assassinated by the centurion Cassius Chaerea.

 The Praetorian Guard acclaimed Nero Claudius
Drusus's son Claudius princeps.

Claudius restored the Judean monarchy under king Herod Agrippa.

The territory of the former Mauretania was organized into

AD 42
the provinces of Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana.

AD 43 Roman conquest of Britain: The senator Aulus Plautius led

four legions into Great Britain in support of king Verica of
the Atrebates.

Claudius annexed Lycia into the Empire as a province.

AD 46 The Odrysian king Rhoemetalces III, a Roman client, was killed by

anti-Roman insurgents.

Odrysia was incorporated into the Empire as the province of Thracia.

AD 48 Claudius's wife Messalina was executed for conspiracy.

Claudius appointed Herod Agrippa's son Herod Agrippa

II king of Judea.

Claudius married his niece, Germanicus's daughter Agrippina the

AD 49
Younger.

AD 50 Claudius adopted Agrippina's son Nero as his own son.

AD 54 13 October Claudius died. Nero succeeded him as princeps.

AD 55 11 February Claudius's young natural son Britannicus died, probably by poison.

 Roman–Parthian War of 58–63: Roman forces attacked Armenia in
AD 58 support of their preferred king Tigranes VI of Armenia against
the Parthian candidate Tiridates I of Armenia.

AD 59 23 March Agrippina died, probably murdered by her son Nero.

Boudica, a queen of the Iceni, was appointed to lead a revolt of the

AD 60
Iceni and the Trinovantes against Rome.

Battle of Watling Street: Some eighty thousand soldiers and civilians

AD 61 among the Iceni and Trinovantes were killed, probably in the
modern West Midlands, ending Boudica's revolt.

Roman–Parthian War of 58–63: The Roman and Parthian

AD 63 Empires agreed that Tiridates and his descendants would
remain kings of Armenia as Roman clients, ending the war.

AD 64 Great Fire of Rome: A fire began which would cause massive property
18 July
damage and loss of life over six days in Rome.

Nero began construction of his large and extravagant villa the Domus

Aurea.

Pisonian conspiracy: Nero was informed of a broad conspiracy to

AD 65 19 April assassinate him and appoint the senator Gaius Calpurnius Piso leader
of Rome.

First Jewish–Roman War: The Jewish population of Judea revolted

AD 66
against Roman rule.

AD 68 9 June Nero, then in hiding in the villa of the freedman Phaon, was notified
that the Senate had declared him an enemy of the state and ordered
him brought to the Forum to be publicly beaten to death. He ordered
his secretary Epaphroditus to kill him.

The Senate accepted Galba, governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, as
ruler of Rome.

Zealot Temple Siege: The forces of Ananus ben Ananus,

the Jewish former High Priest of Israel, laid siege to the Zealots in
 the Second Temple.

AD 69 The Praetorian Guard assassinated Galba and acclaimed Otho ruler of

15 January
Rome.

Following his defeat by Vitellius, the commander of the Roman army

16 April on the lower Rhine, near modern Calvatone, and to prevent further
civil war, Otho committed suicide.

Revolt of the Batavi: Gaius Julius Civilis, commander of

the Batavi auxiliaries in the Rhine legions, turned against Rome.

The Senate recognized Vespasian, the commander of Roman forces

December
in Egypt and Judea, as ruler of Rome.

22 December Vitellius was executed in Rome by troops loyal to Vespasian.

AD 70 Revolt of the Batavi: Following a series of battlefield

reversals, Civilis accepted peace terms from the
Roman general Quintus Petillius Cerialis.

Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE): The Roman general Titus breached the

September
walls of Jerusalem, sacked the city and destroyed the Second Temple.

AD 71 Roman conquest of Britain: Roman forces entered modern Scotland.

Siege of Masada: Roman forces breached the walls of Masada, a

AD 73 16 April
mountain fortress held by the Jewish extremist sect the Sicarii.

AD 77 Gnaeus Julius Agricola was appointed consul and governor of Britain.

AD 79 23 June Vespasian died. He was succeeded by his son Titus.

Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79: Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying

24 August
the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
AD 80 Rome was partially destroyed by fire.

March The Colosseum was completed.

Titus died of fever. He was succeeded by his younger

AD 81 13 September
brother Domitian.

AD 85 Agricola was recalled to Rome.

AD 86 Domitian's Dacian War: The Dacian king Decebalus invaded Moesia.

Domitian's Dacian War: Decebalus agreed to return all Roman

AD 88 prisoners of war and accept his status as a Roman client in exchange
for an annual subsidy of eight million sestertii, ending the war.

AD 89 Lucius Antonius Saturninus, governor of Germania Superior, revolted

1 January
against Domitian's rule.

Saturninus was executed.

Domitian was assassinated by members of the royal

AD 96 18 September
household. Nerva was declared ruler of Rome by the Senate.

AD 97 Nerva adopted the general and former consul Trajan as his son.

AD 98 27 January Nerva died and was succeeded by Trajan.

2nd century[edit]
112 Trajan's Forum was inaugurated.

113 Roman–Parthian Wars: Trajan launched an expedition against Parthia.

Trajan's Column was erected in Trajan's Forum to commemorate the victory

over Dacia.
 Trajan deposed the Armenian king Parthamasiris of Armenia, a
114
Roman client, and organized the province of Armenia on his territory.

115 Kitos War: The Jews in Cyrene rose up against Roman authority.

116 The provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria were organized on territory

conquered from Parthia.

Trajan captured the Parthian capital Ctesiphon and deposed

its shah Osroes I in favor of his son Parthamaspates of Parthia.

117 Kitos War: Roman forces captured the rebel stronghold of Lod and executed
many of its inhabitants.

8 August Trajan died.

The Senate accepted the general Hadrian as ruler of Rome, following the

10 August
appearance of documents indicating he had been adopted by Trajan.

Osroes I deposed his son Parthamaspates of Parthia and replaced him

as shah of Parthia.

Hadrian withdrew from the territories of Armenia, Assyria and Mesopotamia,

118
allowing the return of their respective client monarchies.

A rebellion took place in Britain which was suppressed by Quintus

119
Pompeius Falco.

122 The construction of Hadrian's Wall at the northern border of Britain began.

123 Hadrian arrived in Mauretania to suppress a local revolt.

124 Hadrian travelled to Greece.

126 Hadrian returned to Rome.

 The rebuilt Pantheon was dedicated to Agrippa, its original builder.

Bar Kokhba revolt: Simon bar Kokhba, believed by his followers to be

132
the Messiah, launched a revolt against Roman authority in Judea.

Bar Kokhba revolt: The revolt ended at a cost of tens of thousands of

Roman soldiers and some six hundred thousand Jewish rebels and
135
civilians, including bar Kokhba, killed. Judea and Syria were combined into
the single province of Syria Palaestina.

136 Hadrian adopted Lucius Aelius as his son and successor.

138 1 January Lucius Aelius died.

Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his son and successor and granted

25
him tribunician power and imperium, on the condition that he in turn
February
adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his sons.

10 July Hadrian died, probably from congestive heart failure.

11 July Antoninus succeeded Hadrian.

Roman conquest of Britain: Roman forces invaded modern Scotland under

141
the command of the British governor Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

The construction of the Antonine Wall at the northern border

142
of Britain began.

161 7 March Antoninus died. He was succeeded by Marcus and Lucius Verus.

Roman–Parthian War of 161–166: The Parthian Empire deposed

the Armenian king Sohaemus of Armenia, a Roman client, and
installed Bakur.

Antonine Plague: A pandemic, probably of smallpox or measles, began

165
which would kill some five million people throughout the Roman Empire.
 Roman–Parthian War of 161–166: Roman forces sacked
166
the Parthian capital Ctesiphon.

169 Lucius Verus died of disease, leaving Marcus the sole ruler of Rome.

Marcomannic Wars: A coalition of Germanic tribes led by

the Marcomanni invaded the Roman Empire across the Danube.

Marcomannic Wars: Rome and the Iazyges signed a treaty under which the

175 latter agreed to return Roman prisoners of war and supply troops to
the Auxilia, ending the war.

177 Marcus named his natural son Commodus co-ruler with himself.

180 17 March Marcus died.

Antonine Plague: The pandemic ended.

184 The Antonine Wall was abandoned by Roman forces.

31
192 Commodus was strangled to death.
December

193 The Praetorian Guard acclaimed the consul Pertinax ruler of Rome at

1 January
the Castra Praetoria.

28 March Pertinax was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard.

The Praetorian Guard acclaimed the former consul Didius Julianus, who

had provided the highest bid, ruler of Rome.

Pescennius Niger, the legatus Augusti pro praetore of Syria Palaestina, was

9 April
proclaimed ruler of Rome by his legions.

14 April The Legio XIV Gemina acclaimed its commander Septimius Severus ruler of

Rome at Carnuntum.
 The Senate recognized Septimius Severus as ruler of Rome and
May
sentenced Julianus to death.

Battle of Issus (194): Niger's forces were decisively defeated by the armies

194
of Septimius Severus at Issus.

Clodius Albinus, the commander of Roman troops in Britain and Iberia, took

196
the title Imperator Caesar Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Augustus.

197 19 Battle of Lugdunum: Septimius Severus and Albinus met in battle

February at Lugdunum.

Albinus committed suicide or was killed.

Roman–Parthian Wars: Septimius Severus sacked

the Parthian capital Ctesiphon.

Septimius Severus appointed his eldest natural son Caracalla co-ruler with

198
himself.

3rd century[edit]
Year Date Event

Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210: Septimius Severus invaded

208
modern Scotland.

Septimius Severus named his youngest natural son Publius Septimius

209
Geta co-ruler with himself and Caracalla.

211 4 February Septimius Severus died.

Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210: Caracalla ended the

campaign.

26 December Geta was murdered in his mother's arms by members of the Praetorian

 Guard loyal to Caracalla.

Constitutio Antoniniana was an edict issued by Caracalla declaring that

all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman
212
citizenship and that all free women in the Empire were to be given the
same rights as Roman women.

217 8 April Caracalla was assassinated by a member of his bodyguard.

The Praetorian Guard acclaimed their prefect Macrinus ruler of Rome.

Macrinus was captured and executed by an army loyal to Elagabalus,

218 8 June
supposedly the illegitimate son of Caracalla.

Elagabalus was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, which installed

222 11 March
his young cousin Severus Alexander as ruler of Rome.

Roman–Persian Wars: The Sasanian shah Ardashir

230
I invaded Mesopotamia and Syria.

232 Roman–Persian Wars: Alexander repelled the Sasanian invasion.

235 19 March Alexander was killed in a mutiny of the Legio XXII Primigenia at Mainz.

The army elected Maximinus Thrax, commander of the Legio IV Italica,

20 March
ruler of Rome.

238 Gordian I, governor of Africa, accepted the rule of Rome at the urging

22 March of rebels in his province. He appointed his son Gordian II to rule jointly
with him.

2 April The Senate accepted Gordian I and Gordian II as rulers of Rome.

Battle of Carthage (238): Forces loyal to Gordian I and Gordian II were

defeated by the army of Capelianus, the governor of Numidia, who
claimed fealty to Maximinus. Gordian II was killed. Gordian I committed
suicide.
 22 April The Senate elected two senators, Pupienus and Balbinus, as joint
rulers of the Empire.

Facing popular opposition to Pupienus and Balbinus,

the Senate gave Gordian I's young grandson Gordian III the
title Caesar.

Maximinus was murdered with his son during a mutiny of the Legio II

May
Parthica at Aquileia.

Pupienus and Balbinus were tortured and murdered by the Praetorian

29 July
Guard in their barracks.

Battle of Resaena: Roman forces defeated the Sasanian

243
Empire at Resaena.

Battle of Misiche: The Sasanian Empire decisively defeated a Roman

force at Misiche, near modern Fallujah. Gordian III was killed, probably
244 by a fellow Roman. He was succeeded by Philip the Arab,
the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, who was forced to
cede Mesopotamia and Armenia to the Sasanian Empire.

Phillip was killed at Verona in battle with Decius, commander of Roman

249
forces in Pannonia and Moesia.

251 Decius appointed his natural son Herennius Etruscus co-ruler of Rome

jointly with himself.

Battle of Abritus: Roman forces were dealt a bloody defeat by

the Goths near modern Razgrad. Decius and Herennius were killed.

The armies of the Danube region acclaimed their

commander Trebonianus Gallus ruler of Rome.

The Senate recognized Decius's son Hostilian as ruler of
Rome. Gallus adopted Hostilian as his son.

Plague of Cyprian: Hostilian died, probably of plague.

 Gallus appointed his natural son Volusianus co-ruler jointly with
himself.

253 Battle of Barbalissos: A Sasanian force destroyed a Roman army

at Barbalissos.

Gallus and Volusianus were killed in a mutiny at Terni. The army

August acclaimed Aemilianus, governor of Pannonia and Moesia, ruler of
Rome.

Aemilianus was killed by his own soldiers in the face of the army of

the general Valerian (emperor).

22 October Valerian gave his son Gallienus the title Caesar.

256 The Sasanian Empire conquered and sacked Antioch.

257 Valerian reconquered Antioch.

258 The Goths invaded Asia Minor.

Death of Dacian king Regalianus that became Roman emperor for a

260
brief period.

260 Valerian was taken prisoner by the Sasanian Empire during truce

negotiations.

The general Postumus was declared ruler of Rome in the Gallic

September
Empire.

264 Valerian died in captivity.

Odaenathus, the king of Palmyra and a Roman client, was

267 assassinated. His widow Zenobia took power as regent for their
son Vaballathus.
268 Gallienus was murdered by his soldiers during a siege of Pontirolo
Nuovo.

The general Claudius Gothicus was declared ruler of Rome by his

September
soldiers.

269 Postumus was killed by his soldiers, who in turn acclaimed one of their
own, Marcus Aurelius Marius, emperor of the Gallic Empire.

Marius was murdered by Victorinus,

formerly prefect of Postumus's Praetorian Guard, who replaced him
as emperor of the Gallic Empire.

Zenobia conquered Egypt.

Battle of Naissus: Roman forces decisively defeated the Goths at

modern Niš, stalling an invasion of the Balkans.

270 January Claudius Gothicus died. He was succeeded by his brother Quintillus.

April Quintillus died at Aquileia.

September Aurelian became ruler of Rome.

271 Battle of Fano: A Roman force defeated the Juthungi on the Metauro.

Victorinus was murdered by an officer he had cuckolded.

Tetricus I, praeses of Gallia Aquitania was acclaimed emperor of

the Gallic Empire. He appointed his natural son Tetricus II to rule jointly
with him.

272 Zenobia was arrested en route to refuge in the Sasanian Empire.

273 Palmyra rebelled against Roman authority and was destroyed.

 Battle of Châlons (274): Aurelian defeated the forces of Tetricus
274
I and Tetricus II at modern Châlons-en-Champagne.

275 September Aurelian was murdered by the Praetorian Guard.

25 September The Senate elected Tacitus (emperor) ruler of Rome.

276 June Tacitus died.

Marcus Aurelius Probus, commander of Roman forces in the east

and Tacitus's half-brother, was acclaimed ruler of Rome by his troops.

Florianus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard and commander of Roman

forces in the west, was acclaimed ruler of Rome by his troops.

Florianus was assassinated near Tarsus by his troops following a

September
defeat at the hands of Probus.

279 Probus launched a campaign against the Vandals in Illyricum.

282 The Praetorian Guard elected their prefect Carus ruler of Rome.

Probus was assassinated.

Carus gave his sons Carinus and Numerian the title Caesar.

283 Carus died.

284 Numerian died.

Roman forces in the east elected the consul Diocletian their ruler and

20 November
proclaimed him augustus.

285 July Battle of the Margus: Forces loyal to Diocletian defeated Carinus in

 battle on the Morava. Carinus was killed.

July Diocletian gave Maximian the title Caesar.

286 Carausian Revolt: The naval commander Carausius declared

himself emperor in Britain and northern Gaul.

Diocletian proclaimed Maximian augustus of the west, ruling himself

2 April
as augustus of the east.

293 Diocletian established the Tetrarchy, appointing Constantius Chlorus to

hold the office of Caesar under Maximian in the west and Galerius to
hold the title under himself in the east.

Carausian Revolt: Constantius
Chlorus conquered Carausius's Gallic territories.

Carausius was murdered by his finance minister Allectus, who replaced

him as emperor in Britain.

Carausian Revolt: Allectus was defeated in battle and killed at Calleva

296
Atrebatum.

4th century[edit]
Year Date Event

Diocletian issued the Edict on Maximum Prices, reforming the currency

301
and setting price ceilings on a number of goods.

Diocletianic Persecution: Diocletian issued his first edict

against Christians, calling for the destruction of Christian holy books
303 24 February
and places of worship and stripping Christians of their government
positions and political rights.

305 1 May Diocletian and Maximian abdicated. Constantius and Galerius were

elevated to augusti in the west and east. Galerius appointed Flavius
Valerius Severus Caesar in the west and Maximinus II Caesar in the
 east.

306 Constantius died at Eboracum. By his dying wish, his troops acclaimed

25 July
his son Constantine the Great augustus.

Galerius recognized Flavius Valerius Severus as augustus in

the west and granted Constantine the Great the lesser title of Caesar,
which he accepted.

Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Rioters

in Rome acclaimed Maximian's son Maxentius ruler of Rome. He took
the title princeps invictus, undefeated prince.

Maxentius invited Maximian to reclaim the title augustus.

307 Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Flavius Valerius Severus surrendered

to Maximian at Ravenna.

Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Galerius laid siege to Rome. Many of his

soldiers defected to Maxentius and he was forced to flee.

308 Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: After a failed coup against his

son Maxentius, Maximian was forced to flee to Constantine's court.

Maximian resigned
as augustus. Galerius appointed Licinius augustus of the west and
11 November
confirmed his recognition of Constantine the Great as Caesar of the
west.

Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Maximian was forced to commit suicide

310 July
following a failed coup against Constantine the Great.

311 Galerius died. Licinius and Maximinus agreed to divide the eastern

May
Empire between themselves.

Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Constantine the Great concluded an

alliance with Licinius, offering his half-sister Flavia Julia Constantia to
him in marriage.
 Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Maximinus entered a secret alliance
with Maxentius.

3 December Diocletian died, possibly from suicide.

Battle of the Milvian Bridge: Constantine the Great had a vision of

312 28 October the cross appearing over the sun at the Ponte Milvio with the words "in
this sign, conquer." His forces defeated and killed Maxentius.

313 Constantine the Great and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, providing

February
for restitution to Christians injured during the persecutions.

March Licinius married Constantia.

Battle of Tzirallum: Licinius defeated a vastly numerically superior force

30 April
loyal to Maximinus at modern Çorlu. Maximinus fled to Nicomedia.

August Maximinus died at Tarsus.

Battle of Cibalae: Constantine the Great dealt a bloody defeat

314 8 October
to Licinius's forces at modern Vinkovci.

317 Battle of Mardia: After a bloody battle, probably at

modern Harmanli, Licinius retreated from contact with Constantine the
Great.

Licinius recognized Constantine the Great as his superior, ceded all his

1 March territories outside of Thrace, and agreed to depose and
execute Valerius Valens, whom he had raised to augustus.

324 Battle of Adrianople (324): Licinius suffered a bloody defeat at the

3 July
hands of Constantine the Great on the Maritsa.

Battle of Chrysopolis: Constantine the Great dealt a decisive defeat to

18 September
the remnants of Licinius's army. Licinius surrendered.

325 20 May First Council of Nicaea: An ecumenical council called by Constantine

the Great at Nicaea opened which would establish the Nicene Creed,
 asserting Jesus to be equal to and of the same substance as God the
Father.

Licinius was executed.

326 Constantine the Great ordered the death of his oldest son Crispus.

Constantine the Great moved his capital to Byzantium and renamed

330 11 May
the city Constantinople, city of Constantine.

332 Constantine the Great campaigned against the Goths.

334 Constantine the Great campaigned against the Sarmatians.

337 Roman–Persian Wars: The Sasanian shah Shapur

II invaded Armenia and Mesopotamia.

22 May Constantine the Great died.

Constantine the Great's three sons declared themselves augusti and

divided their father's empire into three parts, with Constantine II
9 September (emperor) receiving Britain, Iberia, Gaul and Illyria, Constantius
II Asia, Syria Palaestina and Egypt, and Constans Italy and Africa. The
young Constans was placed under Constantine II's guardianship.

338 Constantine II campaigned against the Alemanni.

Constantine II granted Illyria to his brother Constans.

Constantine II invaded Italy. He was ambushed and slain

340
at Aquileia by Constans, who inherited his territory.

341 Constans and Constantius II issued a ban against pagan sacrifice.

Siege of Singara: Sasanian forces failed to capture the Roman fortress

344
of Singara.
350 Magnentius, commander of the Jovians and Herculians, was acclaimed
18 January
ruler of Rome by his legions.

Constans was killed in Elne by followers of Magnentius.

Constantius Chlorus's grandson Nepotianus entered Rome with a band

3 June
of gladiators and there declared himself imperator.

Marcellinus (magister officiorum), one of Magnentius's generals,

30 June
entered Rome and executed Nepotianus.

351 15 March Constantius II granted his cousin Constantius Gallus the title Caesar.

Battle of Mursa Major: Constantius II defeated Magnentius in a bloody

28 September
battle in the valley of the Drava.

Battle of Mons Seleucus: Constantius II dealt Magnentius a decisive

353
defeat at modern La Bâtie-Montsaléon. Magnentius committed suicide.

354 Gallus was put to death.

Constantius II declared Julian (emperor) Caesar and granted him

355 6 November
command in Gaul.

Battle of Strasbourg: Julian defeated a vastly superior Alemanni force

357
near Argentoratum, solidifying Roman control west of the Rhine.

The Petulantes, ordered east from Paris in preparation for a war with

360 February the Sasanian Empire, instead mutinied and
proclaimed Julian augustus.

361 3 November Constantius II named Julian as his successor before dying of fever.

363 Julian's Persian War: Roman forces embarked from Antioch on a

5 March
punitive expedition against the Sasanian Empire.

26 June Battle of Samarra: Sasanian forces harassed a Roman army in retreat

 at Samarra from a failed siege of their capital Ctesiphon. Julian was
killed.

Julian's army declared one of their generals, Jovian

27 June
(emperor), augustus.

Julian's Persian War: Jovian agreed to cede the five provinces east of

July
the Tigris to the Sasanian Empire, ending the war.

364 17 February Jovian died.

26 February The army acclaimed the general Valentinian I the Great augustus.

Valentinian the Great appointed his younger

28 March brother Valens augustus with rule over the eastern Empire, and
continued as augustus in the west.

375 Valentinian the Great died of a stroke. His son Gratian, then

17 November
junior augustus in the west, succeeded him as senior augustus.

The army acclaimed Valentinian the Great's young son Valentinian

22 November
II augustus of the west.

376 Fleeing Hunnic aggression, the Goths, under the leadership of

the Thervingi chieftain Fritigern, crossed the Danube and entered the
eastern Empire as political refugees.

Gothic War (376–382): Following the deaths of several Roman soldiers

during civil unrest in Thrace, the officer Lupicinus arrested Fritigern and
the Greuthungi chieftain Alatheus.

Battle of Adrianople: A combined Gothic-Alanic force decisively

378 9 August
defeated the Roman army near Edirne. Valens was killed.

Gratian named the general Theodosius I the Great augustus in the

379 19 January
east.

380 27 February Theodosius the Great issued the Edict of Thessalonica,

 making Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire.

Gothic War (376–382): The Goths were made foederati of Rome and

382 3 October
granted land and autonomy in Thrace, ending the war.

Gratian was delivered by mutineers to the Magister

383 25 August
equitum Andragathius and executed.

392 Valentinian II was found hanged in his residence. He may have been
15 May
murdered by his guardian, the Frankish general Arbogast.

22 August Arbogast declared Eugenius augustus and ruler in the west.

Theodosius the Great appointed his younger son Honorius

393 23 January
(emperor) augustus in the west.

Battle of the Frigidus: Forces loyal to Theodosius the Great defeated

394 6 September
and killed Arbogast and Eugenius, probably near the Vipava.

Theodosius the Great died. His elder son Arcadius succeeded him

as augustus in the eastern Byzantine Empire. The
395 17 January
young Honorius became sole augustus in the Western Roman
Empire under the regency of Magister militum Stilicho.

Gildonic War: Gildo, comes of Africa, was killed following a failed

398
rebellion against the Western Roman Empire.

5th century[edit]
Year Date Event

402 The capital of the Western Roman Empire was moved to Ravenna.

Crossing of the Rhine: A coalition of foreign tribes including

406 31 December the Vandals, Alans and Suebi invaded the Western Roman
Empire across the Rhine.
408 1 May Arcadius died.

410 Sack of Rome (410): Rome was sacked by the Visigoths under

24 August
their king Alaric I.

End of Roman rule in Britain: The last Roman forces left Britain.

421 Honorius appointed his brother-in-law and Magister militum Constantius

8 February
III co-ruler of the Western Roman Empire with himself.

2 September Constantius III died.

423 15 August Honorius died.

The Western Roman patrician Castinus declared
the primicerius Joannes augustus.

The Byzantine augustus Theodosius II the Younger, the

Calligrapher named the young Valentinian III, his cousin
424 23 October
and Constantius III's son, Caesar with rule over the west. His
mother Galla Placidia was appointed regent.

425 Joannes was executed in Aquileia.

Battle of the Utus: The Huns under Attila defeated a Byzantine army in

447
a bloody battle near the Utus.

450 28 July Theodosius the Younger died in a riding accident.

Attila abandoned his invasion of Italy following a meeting at

452
the Mincio with the pope Pope Leo I.

455 Valentinian III was assassinated on orders of the senator Petronius

16 March
Maximus.

17 March The Senate acclaimed Maximus augustus of the Western Roman

 Empire.

Maximus was killed by a mob as he attempted to flee Rome in the face

31 May
of a Vandal advance.

2 June Sack of Rome (455): The Vandals entered and began to sack Rome.

The Magister militum Avitus was pronounced augustus of the Western

9 July
Roman Empire at Toulouse by the Visigothic king Theodoric II.

Avitus was forced to flee Rome following a military coup by

456 17 October
the general Ricimer and the domesticus Majorian.

457 Avitus died.

27 January The Byzantine augustus Marcian died.

The Byzantine augustus Leo I the
28 February
Thracian appointed Majorian Magister militum in the west.

1 April The army acclaimed Majorian augustus of the Western Roman Empire.

461 7 August Majorian was killed after torture near the Staffora on Ricimer's orders.

The Senate elected Libius Severus from among their number

19 November
as augustus of the Western Roman Empire.

465 15 August Severus died.

Leo the Thracian elevated the comes Anthemius to Caesar with rule

467 12 April
over the Western Roman Empire.

Battle of Cap Bon (468): The Vandal Kingdom destroyed a

468
combined Western Roman and Byzantine invasion fleet at Cap Bon.
472 Anthemius was killed in flight following Ricimer's conquest
11 July of Rome. Maximus's son Olybrius was acclaimed augustus of
the Western Roman Empire.

18 August Ricimer died.

Ricimer's nephew Gundobad succeeded him as Magister militum and

took the title Patrician.

Olybrius died.

473 The Germanic elements of the army elected

3 March
the domesticus Glycerius augustus of the Western Roman Empire.

Gundobad relinquished his Western Roman titles to succeed his father

as king of Burgundy.

474 Leo the Thracian appointed Julius Nepos, his nephew

and governor of Dalmatia, ruler of the Western Roman Empire in
opposition to Glycerius.

Leo the Thracian died. He was succeeded by his grandson Leo II

18 January
(emperor).

Zeno (emperor) became co-augustus of the Byzantine Empire with his

9 February
young son Leo II.

July Nepos deposed Glycerius.

Leo II died, possibly after being poisoned by his mother Ariadne

17 November
(empress).

475 Zeno was forced to flee Constantinople for his homeland Isauria in the

January
face of a popular revolt.

9 January Basiliscus, brother of Leo the Thracian's widow Verina, was

acclaimed augustus of the Byzantine Empire by the Byzantine Senate.
 Nepos appointed Orestes (father of Romulus Augustulus) Magister
militum and commander-in-chief of the Western Roman military.

Orestes took control of the Western Roman capital Ravenna,

28 August
forcing Nepos to flee to Dalmatia.

Orestes declared his young son Romulus Augustulus augustus of

31 October
the Western Roman Empire.

476 August Zeno recaptured Constantinople and accepted Basiliscus's surrender.

Germanic foederati under the command of

23 August the general Odoacer renounced Western Roman authority and declared
Odoacer their king.

28 August Odoacer captured and executed Orestes at Piacenza.

Odoacer conquered the Western Roman capital Ravenna,

4 September
forced Romulus to abdicate and declared himself king of Italy.

The Senate sent Zeno the imperial regalia of the Western Roman

Empire.

480 25 April Nepos was murdered in his residence in Split.

491 9 April Zeno died.

6th century[edit]
Year Date Event

518 9 July Augustus Anastasius I Dicorus died.

527 1 April Augustus Justin I appointed his older son Justinian I the Great co-

augustus with himself.
 1 August Justin I died.

The Codex Justinianeus, which attempted to consolidate and reconcile

529 7 April
contradictions in Roman law, was promulgated.

Justinian the Great ordered the construction of the Hagia

532
Sophia in Constantinople.

533 Vandalic War: A Byzantine force under the general Belisarius departed

21 June
for the Vandal Kingdom.

Battle of Ad Decimum: A Byzantine army defeated a Vandal force

13 September
near Carthage.

Battle of Tricamarum: The Byzantines defeated a Vandal army and

15 December
forced their king Gelimer into flight.

Vandalic War: Gelimer surrendered to Belisarius and accepted his offer

of a peaceful retirement in Galatia, ending the war. The territory of
534 March
the Vandal Kingdom was reorganized as the praetorian
prefecture of Africa.

Gothic War (535–554): Byzantine forces crossing

535
from Africa invaded Sicily, then an Ostrogothic possession.

Gothic War (535–554): Byzantium took Rome with

536 December
little Ostrogothic resistance.

537 27 December The Hagia Sophia was completed.

Battle of Taginae: A Byzantine army dealt a decisive defeat to

552 July
the Ostrogoths at Gualdo Tadino. The Ostrogoth king Totila was killed.

Battle of Mons Lactarius: An Ostrogothic force was ambushed and

553 destroyed at Monti Lattari on its way to relieve a Byzantine siege
of Cumae. The Ostrogoth king Teia was killed.

565 March Belisarius died.

 14 November Justinian the Great died.

568 The Lombards invaded Italy.

573 The general Narses died.

574 Augustus Justin II began to suffer from fits of insanity.

578 5 October Justin II died.

582 14 August Augustus Tiberius II Constantine died.

7th century[edit]
Year Date Event

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628: The Sasanian Empire declared

602
war on Byzantium.

607 1 August Augustus Phocas dedicated the Column of Phocas in the Roman Forum.

Siege of Constantinople (626): Sasanian and Avar forces laid siege

626 June
to Constantinople.

Muslim conquest of the Levant: A Rashidun army departed Medina for

634 April
the Levant.

640 January Muslim conquest of Egypt: A Rashidun force laid siege to Pelusium.

The legions of the East Roman army were reorganized into themes.

641 8 November Siege of Alexandria (641): Byzantine authorities in

 the Egyptian capital Alexandria surrendered to the
besieging Rashidun army.

663 Basileus Constans II visited Rome.

Battle of Carthage (698): An Umayyad siege and blockade

698 of Carthage forced the retreat of Byzantine forces. The city was
conquered and destroyed.

8th century[edit]
Year Date Event

Siege of Constantinople (717–718): The Umayyad Caliphate besieges the

717
city of Constantinople.

Siege of Constantinople (717–718): The Umayyad Caliphate lifts the

718 15 August siege of Constantinople due to Famine, Disease and an unusually hard
winter.

Basileus Leo III the Isaurian promulgated an edict forbidding the

730
veneration of religious images, beginning the first Byzantine Iconoclasm.

Second Council of Nicaea: An ecumenical council in Nicaea ended which

787 23 October
endorsed the veneration of images, ending the first Byzantine Iconoclasm.

9th century[edit]
Year Date Event

A group of soldiers broke into the Church of the Holy Apostles and

pleaded with the body of the iconoclast basileus Constantine V to
813 June
restore the Empire, marking the beginning of the second Byzantine
Iconoclasm.

The Byzantine regent Theodora (wife of Theophilos) restored the

843 veneration of religious images, ending the second Byzantine
Iconoclasm.
 Basileus Michael III was assassinated by his co-basileus Basil I, who
867 24 September
became sole ruler of the Empire.

10th century[edit]
Year Date Event

Basileus John I Tzimiskes died. His co-basileus and nephew Basil

976 10 January
II became sole ruler of the Empire.

11th century[edit]
Year Date Event

1002 Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria: Byzantine forces invaded Bulgaria.

Battle of Kleidion: Basil dealt a decisive and bloody defeat

1014 29 July
to Bulgarian forces in the Belasica near Klyuch.

Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria: The Bulgarian boyars accepted the

1018 establishment of the theme of Bulgaria on the territory of the former
Empire, with significant autonomy for themselves.

1025 15 December Basil died.

East–West Schism: The papal legate Humbert of Silva Candida laid on

1054 16 July the altar of Hagia Sophia a document proclaiming the excommunication
of Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople.

1071 Siege of Bari: Italo-Norman forces captured Bari, capital of

15 April
the katepanikion of Italy.

Battle of Manzikert: The Byzantine Empire was decisively defeated by

26 August a Seljuk force near Malazgirt. The basileus Romanos IV Diogenes was
captured.

1081 1 April Nikephoros III Botaneiates was deposed and replaced

 as basileus by Alexios I Komnenos.

Battle of Levounion: The Byzantine army dealt a bloody defeat to

1091 29 April
a Pecheneg invasion force.

Siege of Nicaea: The Rum occupants of Nicaea surrendered to

1097 19 June
Byzantine and First Crusader forces.

Following the conquest of Antioch, the First Crusader leader Bohemond

1098
I of Antioch declared himself prince of Antioch.

12th century[edit]
Year Date Event

Reign of John II begins: Being considered the

1118 15 August
greatest Komnenoi emperor, he starts extensive damage control.

Battle of Beroia: A Byzantine army wiped out the Pechenegs at Stara

1122
Zagora.

War with Venice begins: Over the non-renewal of trading privileges by

1124
John II Komnenos.

The war with Venice ends in defeat: The Venetian fleet ravaged the
1126
coasts of Greece, forcing the emperor to back down.

1127 Hungarians invade the Empire: Invaders go far south as Philippolis.

1129 Invading Hungarins are repelled

1136 John II launches his first serious campaign in the east.

1137 John II conquers the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

1139 John II vassalizes the Principality of Antioch.

1143 Death of John II: his death marks the beginning of straight decline.

Sack of Philomelion: Under the orders from Manuel I, before relocating

1146
the Christian population.

Battle of Sirmium: Byzantium decisively defeated a Hungarian force

1167 8 July
at Sirmium.

Battle of Myriokephalon: A Byzantine invasion force was ambushed

1176 17 September and forced to retreat through a mountain pass by Rum near Lake
Beyşehir.

1180 24 September Basileus Manuel I Komnenos died.

Uprising of Asen and Peter: A tax revolt began in Paristrion which

1185 26 October
would result in the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

13th century[edit]
Year Date Event

1204 Siege of Constantinople (1204): Fourth Crusaders breached and

sacked Constantinople, deposed the basileus Alexios V Doukas and
established the Latin Empire under their leader Baldwin I, Latin
13 April
Emperor as Latin Emperor. Theodore I Laskaris was
acclaimed basileus but forced to flee with his court to establish the Empire
of Nicaea at Nicaea.

Alexios I of Trebizond, a grandson of the former basileus Andronikos I

April
Komnenos, declared himself ruler of Trebizond.

Michael I Komnenos Doukas, a descendant of Alexios I Komnenos,

1205
established himself as despot of Epirus.

1261 25 July The Nicaean ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos conquered Constantinople .

 Michael was crowned basileus in Constantinople along with his infant
15 August
son Andronikos II Palaiologos.

14th century[edit]
Year Date Event

1326 Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman Empire conquered Bursa.

1331 Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman Empire captured Nicaea.

Byzantine civil war of 1341–47: The regent John VI Kantakouzenos was

1341 26 October declared basileus by his supporters in opposition to the young John V
Palaiologos.

Byzantine civil war of 1341–47: John VI concluded an arrangement under

1347 8 February
which he would rule as senior basileus alongside John V for ten years.

15th century[edit]
Year Date Event

Fall of Constantinople: Ottoman forces
1453 29 May
entered Constantinople. Basileus Constantine XI Palaiologos was killed.