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A time-line of the Roman empireWorld News | History | Editor(Copyright © 1999-2020 Piero Scaruffi) |
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753 BC: Roma (Rome) is founded by Romulus 750 BC: Greeks establish a colony at Cuma 750 BC: first Etruscan inscriptions 616 BC: Tarquinius I becomes an Etruscan king of Roma 600 BC: Etruscans build the colossal tombs of Cerveteri 600 BC: the Forum is built 600 BC: oldest Latin inscriptions 578 BC: Tarquinius Priscus builds the Cloaca Maxima, the first sewer 550 BC: Servius Tullius builds city walls 494 BC: Plebeians rebel against the patricians, the beginning of the class wars 486 BC: The consul Spurius Cassius proposes land redistribution to the poor but the patricians murder him 474 BC: the Greeks defeat the Etruscans at Cuma 509 BC: the last king (Tarquinius Superbus) is expelled and Roma becomes a republic run by a senate 450 BC: The Twelve Tables of the Roman law are published 396 BC: Roma conquers the Etruscan city of Veii 387 BC: the Gauls/Celts sack Roma 376 BC: Licinius and Sextius propose laws to appease the Plebeians but the Senate postpones them indefinitely 367 BC: Licinius' laws are finally enacted 366 BC: Lucius Sextius becomes the first plebeian consul 343 BC: Rome fights the Samnites 341 BC: Rome conquers Campania from the Samnites with its capital of Capua 340 BC: Rome fights the Latin League, including the Samnites 338 BC: Rome dissolves and annexes the Latin League 326 BC: the Circus Maximus is built 326 BC: A new war begins against the Samnites 321 BC: At the Battle of Caudine Forks Rome is defeated by the Samnites 312 BC: the Via Appia is begun 312 BC: the first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia, is built 308 BC: Roma conquers the Etruscan city of Tarquinia 300 BC: A plebeian rises to priesthood for the first time 298 BC: Roma goes to war against the Samnites again 295 BC: Roma defeats the Samnites at Sentinum 295 BC: Roma defeats the Gauls/Celts in northern Italy 287 BC: The Lex Hortensia makes plebiscites (laws passed by the Assembly in which plebeians outnumber patricians) binding for the Senate of the patricians 283 BC: Roma establishes Gallia Cisalpina (Cisalpine Gaul) in nothern Italy 280 BC: Roma issues coins 280 BC: Roma is defeated by Pyrrhus of Epirus at Heraclea 275 BC: Roma defeats Pyrrhus and conquers most of southern Italy 272 BC: a second aqueduct, the Anio Vetus, is built 272 BC: The Greek colony of Tarentum surrenders to Roma and soon all the remaining Greek colonies of southern Italy follow suit 264 BC: Roma and Carthage fight the first Punic war 264 BC: the Romans destroy the last vestiges of the Etruscan civilization (Volsinies) 264 BC: First gladiator games 260 BC: the Roman senate authorizes the construction of a navy of triremes 241 BC: Rome wins the Punic War and expands to Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Dalmatia 232 BC: Gaius Flaminius enacts an agrarian law ceding land of Northern Italy to poorer classes of citizens 225 BC: the Gauls invade Rome 222 BC: the invading Gauls are defeated 221 BC: the Circus Flaminius 220 BC: A law forbids senators from entering into business 218 BC: Hannibal invades Italy and the Gauls of northern Italy ally with him Dec 218 BC: Hannibal defeats Rome at Trebia 217 BC: Hannibal defeats Rome at the Trasimene 216 BC: Hannibal defeats Rome at Cannae 214 BC: War machines designed by Greek mathematician Archimedes save the city of Syracuse, an ally of Carthage, from a Roman naval attack 209 BC: Scipio conquers Nova Carthago 207 BC: Rome defeats Carthage's Hannibal at the Metaurus river 206 BC: Scipio defeats Carthage at Illipa 204 BC: Scipio sails for Carthage 203 BC: Roma organizes the northern colonies of Placentia and Cremona in the territory of the Gauls 202 BC: Scipio defeats Hannibal at Zama and Roma annexes Spain 197 BC: Philip V of Greece is defeated by the Romans at Kynoskephalai/ Cynoscephalae 196 BC: The slaves of Etruria rebel 195 BC: The Celts of Spain rebel 189 BC: Antiochus III, king of the Seleucids, is defeated at the battle of Magnesia and surrenders his possessions in Europe and Asia Minor 185 BC: The slaves of Apulia rebel 184 BC: the Basilica Porcia 181 BC: Aquileia is founded on the head of the Adriatic 181 BC: the Gauls of northern Italy are definitely subjugated 175 BC: the Celts of Spain are subjugated 171 BC: The Third Macedonian War begins when Perseus attacks Roma 168 BC: The Romans defeat Philip V's son Perseus at Pydna and end the Antigonid dynasty 167 BC: At the end of the Third Macedonian War the romans divide Macedonia into four republics 154 BC: The tribes of Lusitania rebel against Roma 151 BC: Roman troops massacre Celts in Spain 149 BC: Roma attacks Carthage 149 BC: Roma conquers Greece after winning the battle of Corinth (and destroying Corinth) 146 BC: Macedonia becomes a province of Roma 146 BC: Roma destroys Carthage 144 BC: The first high-level aqueduct is built 139 BC: Slave revolt in Sicily with the crucifixion of 4,500 slaves ("First Servile War")) 135 BC: Second slave revolt in Sicily ("first servile war") 133 BC: Tiberius Gracchus enacts a law to redistribute land to the poor farmers but is assassinated with 300 of his supporters 133 BC: Attalus III of Pergamum wills his kingdom to Roma and the whole Mediterranean Sea is under Roman control ("mare nostrum") 128 BC: Southern France (Aquitania) becomes a provinces of Rome 126 BC: A law forbids Italians to emigrate to Roma 123 BC: Tiberius's brother Gaius Gracchus enacts populist laws 121 BC: Gaius Gracchus, cornered, commits suicide and thousands of his followers are killed by the Senate 113 BC: Germanic tribes Cimbri and Teutones defeat the Romans and invade Gaul and Spain 111 BC: Roma declares war on Numidia 106 BC: the Romans led by newly elected consul Marius defeat Jugurtha, king of Numidia 105 BC: the Teutones and the Cimbri defeat the Romans at Arausio/Orange 104 BC: Slave revolt in Sicily ("second servile war") 103 BC: Athenion leads a slave revolt in Sicily 102 BC: consul Gaius Marius defeats the Teutonic army at Aquae Sextiae/ Aix-en-Provence, killing about 100,000 of them 101 BC: consul Gaius Marius defeats the Cimbri at Vercelli, killing almost all of them 101 BC: Roman troops massacre Athenion's rebels 100 BC: Lucius Saturninuns proposes Gracchian reforms but is killed by Marius' troops 98 BC: Roman troops massacre Spaniards 95 BC: The city of Roma expels all non-Roman citizens (except slaves) 90 BC: Central and Southern Italians start the "social wars" over the issue of citizenship 88 BC: Central and Southern Italians are granted full citizenship 88 BC: Sulla marches on Roma to seize power from Marius, the first time that a Roman army invades Roma 87 BC: Octavius and Cinna are elected consuls, but Octavius, defender of the optimates and ally of Sulla, is killed by Marius when he opposes Cinna, defender of the populares, along with many Sulla supporters 82 BC: By winning the battle at Porta Collina, Sulla reconquers Roma, executes thousands of political enemies including 40 senators and becomes dictator establishing a reign of terror and enacting aristocratic laws 80 BC: Sulla retires to private life 79 BC: Malaria epidemic 74 BC: Cicero enters the senate 73 BC: Spartacus leads the revolt of the gladiators ("third servile war") 71 BC: Mithridates VI of Pontus is conquered by Roman general Lucius Lucullus 71 BC: Crassus puts down Spartacus' revolt and 6,000 slaves are crucified on the Via Appea 70 BC: Crassus and Pompey are elected consuls 69 BC: Rome invades Tigranes' Armenian kingdom and edstroys its capital, Tigranocerta 68 BC: Julius Caesar is appointed to Spain 67 BC: Pompey launches a campaign against pirates of Cilicia and is given dictatorial powers by the Senate 64 BC: Syria becomes a Roman province under general Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius) 63 BC: Cicero thwarts Catilina's attempted coup 63 BC: Pompeus captures Jerusalem and annexes Palestine to Roma 63 BC: Caesar appointed pontifex maximus 60 BC: Crassus, Pompey and Caesar form a "triumvirate" 59 BC: Caesar is elected consul 59 BC: Caesar introduces the daily gazette, the acta diurna 57 BC: Caesar conquers all of Gaul killing tens of thousands of people 55 BC: Caesar fights German tribes and crosses the Rhine 53 BC: in the first war against Persia, Crassus is defeated and killed by the Parthians at Carrhae (Syria) 52 BC: Clodius, the main defender of the plebeians/the Pompeian party, is assassinated by his rival Milo 51 BC: Caesar crushes revolt of Vercingetorix in Gaul 50 BC: Roma introduces the gold coin "aureus" 51 BC: The 18-year old Cleopatra is made co-ruler of Egypt with her ten-year old brother who also becomes her husband 49 BC: When the senate asks for his resignations, Ceasar crosses the Rubicon and invades Roma 48 BC: Ceasar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and becomes sole dictator of Rome, calling himself "imperator" 47 BC: Ceasar invades Egypt and proclaims Cleopatra queen (ethnically a Macedonian Greek) 46 BC: Ceasar defeats an army of Pompeians and Numidians at the battle of Thapsus 45 BC: Julius Caesar employs the Egyptian astronomer Sosigenes to work out a new 12-month calendar (Julian calendar) 44 BC: Julius Caesar is killed. 43 BC: A triumvirate is appointed with Marcus Antonius, the partner in Caesar's fifth consulship, and Gaius Octavius, Caesar's adopted son 42 BC: The religious cult of Julius Caesar is officially instituted by the Senate 37 BC: Rome appoints Herod as king of Judea, who moves his capital to Caesarea, a pagan city under the protection of the goddess Tyche/Fortuna 36 BC: Rome tries to invade Persia 36 BC: Gaius Octavius defeats Sextus Pompey and the senate appoints him tribune for life 33 BC: Marcus Agrippa is placed in charge of municipal works in Rome and proceeds to build hundreds of cisterns, fountains, and public baths 32 BC: Marcus Antonius divorces his wife Octavia and marries Cleopatra 31 BC: Gaius Octavius, whose navy is led by Marcus Agrippa, defeats Marcus Antonius at the battle of Actium ending the civil wars 30 BC: Both Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra commit suicide and Egypt is annexed to Roma 29 BC: Gaius Octavius (Octavian) returns to Roma 27 BC: Gaius Octavius appoints himself "augustus" (the first emperor) and founds the Praetorian Guard 20 BC: a treaty between Roma and Persia (Parthians) fixes the boundary between the two empires along the Euphrates river (Iraq) 18 BC: Augustus enacts the "Julian law of chastity and repressing adultery" (Lex Iulia) 17 BC: the theater of Marcellus 13 BC: Augustus expands the borders to the region of the Danube 12 BC: Augustus becomes pontifex maximus 6 BC: Jesus is born in Palestine 1 AD: Roma has about one million people 2 AD: The Forum of Augustus is inaugurated 2 AD: Augustus, whose sons have died, chooses Tiberius as his adopted son 5 AD: Roma acknowledges Cymbeline, King of the Catuvellauni, as king of Britain 5 AD: Augustus' general Tiberius submits the German tribes between the Rhine and the Elbe 6 AD: Pannonia and Dalmatia revolt 7 AD: Augustus expands the borders to the Balkans 9 AD: Gothic warlord Arminius destroys the Roman army at the Teutoburg Forest and Roma withdraws the border to the Rhine 9 AD: Augustus' general Tiberius defeats the Pannonians and Dalmatians 12 AD: The last Etruscan inscription is carved 14 AD: Augustus dies and Tiberius becomes emperor, appointing Sejanus chief of the Praetorian Guard 14 AD: five million people live in the Roman empire 19 AD: Tiberius' adopted son Germanicus dies and his wife Agrippina moves to Roma with her children, including Caligula 23 AD: Sejanus plots to murder Tiberius' son and heir Drusus 25 AD: Agrippa builds the Pantheon 26 AD: Tiberius leaves Roma, leaving Sejanus de facto running the empire 31 AD: Tiberius survives a plot by Sejanus who is killed 37 AD: Tiberius is murdered and the mad Caligula succeeds him, the only surviving son of Agrippina 39 AD: Caligula's sisters Agrippina and Livilla plot to murder him but fail and are exiled 41 AD: Caligula is assassinated and the Praetorian Guard appoints Claudius as emperor, Germanicus' brother and Agrippina's brother-in-law, so Agrippina can return to Roma 43 AD: Claudius invades Britain 46 AD: Thracia becomes a Roman province 48 AD: Claudius' wife Messalina is executed for conspiring to overthrow her husband and Claudius marries his niece Agrippina the Younger, daughter of Agrippina, who is actually the lover of his advisor Pallas 49 AD: Agrippina and Pallas establish a reign of terror behind the back of the nominal emperor, Claudius 50 AD: the Romans found Londinium in Britain 54 AD: Claudius is assassinated by Agrippina and is succeeded by Agrippina's son Nero 58 AD: the Romans conquer Armenia 59 AD: Nero orders the assassination of his mother Agrippina 62 AD: The childless Nero divorces his loyal wife Octavia, who is beheaded, and marries the pregnant Poppaea while establishing a reign of terror 64 AD: Nero sets fire to Roma and blames the Christians for it 65 AD: Nero forces Seneca to commit suicide 68 AD: Gaul and Spain rebel against Nero and Nero commits suicide rather than falling into their hands, while Spanish governor Galba is pronounced the new emperor 69 AD: Galba is murdered by the Praetorian Guard that has been bribed by Otho but the general of the German legions, Vitellius, invades Italy and claims the empire 70 AD: Vitellius and his followers are defeated by Vespasian, the general of the Egyptian legions, who becomes the new emperor 70 AD: Titus destroys Jerusalem and Jews spread in Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Spain and Greece 77 AD: the Romans conquer Wales 79 AD: Vespasianus dies and is succeeded by his son Titus Flavius Vespasianus 79 AD: the Vesuvius erupts and Pompeii is buried under ash 79 AD: Malaria devastates the marshlands around Rome 79 AD: the Colosseum is completed 80 AD: the Romans invade Caledonia (Scotland) 81 AD: the Arch of Titus is erected 81 AD: Titus dies and is succeeded by his brother Domitian 84 AD: British rebels are defeated by the Romans at the battle of Mons Graupius 95 AD: Domitian exiles all philosophers from Rome tbr>96 AD: Domitian is assassinated and the senate replaces him with the old Nerva, thus terminating the principle of heredity (for a century) 97 AD: Rome forbids human sacrifice throughout the Roman empire 97 AD: Chinese general Pan Chao sends an embassy to the Roman Empire 98 AD: Nerva dies and his designated heir Trajan becomes emperor 100: the city of Roma has one million inhabitants 106: Trajan defeats Dacia that becomes a Roman province 106: Trajan captures the Nabataean capital Petra (Jordan) and turns Nabataea into the province of Arabia 107: The Roman Empire sends an embassy to India 110: the Basilica of Trajano is completed 112: the Forum of Trajanus 113: The Colonna Traiana is erected 116: Trajan conquers Mesopotamia and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon 117: Trajan dies on his way to the Persian Gulf and Hadrian, his wife's lover, becomes emperor 122: Hadrian's Wall is built along the northern frontier to protect from the Barbarians 132: Jews, led by Bar-Cochba, whom some identify as the Messiah, revolt against Roma 134: The Villa Hadriana opens 136: Hadrian definitely crushes the Jewish resistance, forbids Jews from ever entering Jerusalem, and changes the name of the city to Aelia Capitolina 138: Hadrian is succeeded by Antoninus Pius, who repeals Hadrian's anti-Jewish laws 139: Hadrian's mausoleum (Castel Sant'Angelo) is built 161: Antoninus dies and his heir designate Marcus Aurelius, a philosopher, becomes Roman emperor with Lucius Verus as co-emperor, the first time that Roma is ruled by two emperors 162: The British Celts revolt, and Parthia declares war on Roma 164: The plague spreads throughout the Roman empire ("Antonine plague") 166: Lucius defeats the Parthians and destroys its capital Ctesiphon 167: the Roman empire is attacked for the first time by barbarians (the German Quadi and Marcomanni) 169: the Roman empire is invaded by northern Germans 175: Aurelius defeats the German barbarians 177: Aurelius orders the persecution of sects like the Christians and the slave girl Blandina is tortured to death 178: Aurelius and his son Commodus fight the Third Marcomannic War against the German barbarians 180: Aurelius dies and his teenager son Commodus succeeds him, thus restoring the heredity rule 182: Upon discovering a conspiracy against him, Commodus establishes a new reign of terror 185: The freed slave Cleander is the de facto ruler of Commodus' empire 187: The Libyan-born the general of the Pannonian legions, Septimius Severus, who was raised in a Phoenician family and studied philosophy in Athens, marries Julia Domna, a descendant of the high kings of the temple of Baal in Syria 190: In another round of executions Commodus has Cleander himself killed 192: the Praetorian Guard kills emperor Commodus 193: Septimius Severus seizes power, executes scores of senators, confiscates huge lands from the Italian aristocracy, and turns Roma into a military dictatorship 194: Rome annexes Palmyra to the province of Syria 197: Septimius Severus wins the civil war at the Battle of Lugdunum and reforms the Praetorian Guard with non-Italians 198: Septimius Severus enters the Parthian capital Ctesiphon and annexes the northern half of Mesopotamia 202: Septimius Severus expands the southern frontier of African Roma 203: Christians are massacred in Carthage 208: Septimius Severus begins a campaign in Britain 211: Septimius Severus dies in Britain and is succeeded by his sons Lucius Septimius Bassianus (Caracalla) and Geta 211: Septimius Severus is the last emperor to die of natural causes until 284, most of the others being murdered by the Praetorian Guard or the soldiers and all of them reigning an average of three years 212: Caracalla murders his brother Geta and sentences to death 20,000 of Geta's followers 212: Caracalla grants Roman citizenship on all free people who live in the Roman Empire, but only to subject them to the same taxes 213: Caracalla a campaign against the Alamanni 214: Caracalla murders King Abgar IX of Edessa and declares Edessa a Roman colony 215: Caracalla massacres the inhabitants of Alexandria 217: The Baths of Caracalla are inaugurated 217: Caracalla, accompanied by his mother Julia, begins a campaign against the Parthians but is murdered in Edessa by his soldiers, while the head of the Praetorian Guard appoints himself emperor 219: Julia Maesa, Julia Domna's sister, leads a Syrian army that defeats the imperial army and installs her teenager grandson Varius Avitus (Elagabalus), a Syrian priest of Baal, as emperor, but Maesa is the de facto ruler while Elagabalus worships a conical black stone representing Baal as the supreme god 222: The Praetorian Guard murders Elagabalus and installs as emperor Elagabalus' cousin Alexianus (Alexander Severus), also a grandson of Maesa's, and another teenager, with real power in the hands of his mother Julia Mamaea, who restores Jupiter as supreme Roman god, restores the power of the senate, and restores morality by banning homosexuals and prostitutes 230: The Sassanids invade Mesopotamia 233: Alexander defeats the Sassanids 235: Alexander is assassinated by soldiers loyal to Julius Maximinus, general of the Pannonian legions, the beginning of a 50-year civil war 238: Maximinus is assassinated by his own soldiers and dies without ever having visited Roma, while the senate declares Maximus the new emperor, but he is in turn promptly assassinated by the Praetorian Guard that appoints the ten-year old Gordian III 244: Shapur I becomes king of the Sassanids and attacks Roma , and Gordian is assassinated by his soldiers while fighting that war 249: The emperor Philip the Arab is killed in battle by a rebel king, Decius 249: A plague spreads in the Roman Empire ("Cyprian plague") 250: The emperor Decius orders the first empire-wide persecution of Christians that also kills the bishop of Roma 251: Decius is killed in battle by the Goths 253: Both the emperor Gallus and his successor Aemilianus are killed by their soldiers and are succeeded by the old Valerian who appoints his son Gallienus as co-emperor in the west 253: Gallienus becomes emperor but 30 "tyrants" carved out their own kingdoms around the empire 255: The Goths invade Macedonia, Dalmatia and Asia Minor 256: the Persians/Sassanids defeat the Romans and conquer Dura Europus in Mesopotamia 257: Valerian reconquers Syria from the Sassanids 258: The Sassanids conquer Armenia 258: Valerian persecutes Christians and even the pope, Sixtus II, is executed 258: Postumus declares the independence of Gaul 260: Valerian is captured by the Sassanid king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, the first Roman emperor to become a prisoner of war 260: The plague spreads thoughout the Roman empire, decimating its population 260: Gallienus becomes the sole emperor 261: Gallienus forbids aristocrats from serving in the army and relaxes the laws against Christianity 261: The king of Palmyra, Odenathus, defeats the Sassanids on behalf of Roma, annexing Arabia, Anatolia and Armenia 263: The Goths raid Ephesus and destroy the Temple of Arthemis, one of the seven wonders 266: Odenathus is assassinated and his wife Zenobia becomes the new ruler of Syria 267: Goths raid the Greek cities 268: Gallienus is assassinated by his own officers 269: The Goths raid the Greek cities for a second time but are defeated by Roman emperor Claudius II 269: Zenobia conquers Egypt expelling the Roman goernor 270: Claudius II dies of the plague and the army chooses Aurelian as the new emperor 271: The emperor Aurelian defeats the invading Germans 272: During a battle against Palmyra, the Romans destroy the library of Alexandria 273: The emperor Aurelian destroys the rebellious city of Palmyra in Zenobia's kingdom 274: The emperor Aurelian defeats Zenobia and brings her as a hostage to Roma, reuniting the eastern empire 274: The emperor Aurelian defeats the rebellious Gauls 275: Aurelian is killed by his officers and is succeeded by the old Tacitus who dies within months 276: Probus restores peace by repelling the last barbarians on Roman soil 282: Probus is assassinated by his soldiers 284: Diocletian, the son of a Dalmatian slave, becomes emperor but rules from Nicomedia in the East 285: Diocletian, proclaiming himself the human manifestation of Jupiter, reunites the empire and ends the 50-year civil war 286: Diocletian appoints Maximian to rule the West, with capital in Milano 293: Diocletian institutes the "tetrarchy" under which each emperor choose his successor ahead of time, and Diocletian chooses Galerius while Maximian chooses Constantius Chlorus 295: The Sassanids invade the Eastern empire again 299: The Sassanids surrender to Roman emperor Galerius, who annexes Armenia, Georgia and Upper Mesopotamia 300: the population of the Roman Empire is 60 million (about 15 million Christians) 303: Diocletian and Maximian order a general persecution of the Christians, including the destruction of all churches (1,500 Christians will be killed in eight years) and burning of all Christian books 303: the thermae of Diocletian are built 305: Diocletian and Maximian abdicate in favor of Galerius and Constantius, but civil war erupts again 306: Constantius dies and his son Flavius Valerius Constantinus (Constantine) is acclaimed by the troops as new vice-emperor of Galerius, while the Praetorian Guard appoints Maximian's son Maxentius emperor instead of Galerius' choice Severus 308: Galerius appoints another emperor, Licinius 311: Galerius relaxes the ban on Christianity 311: Galerius dies leaving Maxentius and Constantine to fight for the throne of the West 312: Constantine defeats Maxentius, becomes emperor of the West and disbands the Praetorian Guard 313: Constantine's ally Licinius defeats Maxentius' ally Maximinus and becomes co-emperor in the East 313: Constantine ends the persecution of the Christians (edict of Milano) 313: the Basilica of Maxentius is completed 314: Constantine defeats Licinius and obtains all Roman Europe except Thracia, while Licinius keeps Africa and Asia 323: Constantine defeats Licinius again and becomes the sole emperor 324: Constantine I founds a new city, Constantinople (Byzantium) 326: Constantine has his son Crispus and his wife Fausta Flavia Maxima executed 330: Constantine I moves the capital of the Roman empire to Constantinople (Byzantium) 337: Constantine dies, and his sons split the empire: Constantine II (Spain, Britain, Gaul), Constans I (Italy, Africa, Illyricum, Macedon, Achaea) and Constantius II (the East) 356: Roma has 28 libraries, 10 basilicas, 11 public baths, two amphitheaters, three theaters, two circuses, 19 aqueducts, 11 squares, 1,352 fountains, 46,602 insulae (city blocks) 359: Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman empire 360: pagan (Mithraist) general Julian (the "apostate") defeats an invasion of Barbarians and is declared emperor by his German troops 363: Julian dies attempting to invade the Sassanid kingdom of Persia, which recaptures Nisibis and Armenia, and general Valentinian becomes emperor 363: an earthquake destroys Petra 364: Valentinian delegates Valens as emperor of the East 376: Valens allows Visigoths to settle within the empire 376: Peace with Persia 378: The Visigoths defeat the Roman army at Hadrianopolis/Adrianople and kill emperor Valens 380: Theodosius I proclaims Christianity as the sole religion of the Roman Empire 380: The Visigoths defeat the Roman army in Macedonia 382: Theodosius I signs a peace treaty with Tervingi (later Visigoths) and Greuthungi (later Ostrogoths) 383: Theodosius splits the empire in a Western and Eastern regions, granted to his infant sons Arcadius and Honorius , while civil war erupts against the Western usurper Magnus Maximus 387: Theodosius defeats Magnus Maximus 390: An imperial decree sanctions the death penalty for male prostitutes (to be burned alive) 392: Theodosius fights a civil war against Western usurper Eugenius 393: Theodosius forbids the Olympic Games because pagans and shuts down the temple of Zeus at Olympia 394: Theodosius defeats Eugenius 395: Theodosius dies and the empire divides in a Western and Eastern Empires, with Milano and Constantinople as their capitals, granted to his minor sons Arcadius and Honorius but ruled by their advisors, Rufinus and general Flavius Stilicho 395: Alaric unifies the Goths of the Balkans (Visigoths) and invades Greece 397: Stilicho attacks his old friend Alaric, but lets him repeatedly escape, so that the Eastern emperor signs a deal with the Goths 401: Alaric invades Italy but is defeated by Stilicho (who lets him escape again) 402: the western Roman empire moves the capital from Milano to Ravenna 405: Radagaisus leads a Gothic raid into Italy 406: Radagaisus is captured and executed 406: Vandals and Alans invade France from the north 407: Roman general Stilicho (of Vandal descent) stops the Vandals on their way to Italy 408: Stilicho is deposed 408: Alaric's Visigoths raid southern Italy 409: Vandals and Alans invade Spain 410: Alaric's Visigots sack Roma (the first time that Rome is sacked in 800 years) but Alaric dies of malaria 410: Roma withdraws from Britannia 418: the emperor grants Wallia's Visigoths the right to settle in Aquitaine (Atlantic coast of France) in return for help against Vandals and Alans 425: the eastern emperor Theodosius II installs Valentinian III as emperor of the west 429: Geisenric's Vandals (about 80,000 people) cross the strait of Gibraltar and land in Africa 430: The Roman Empire signs a first peace treaty with the Huns 430: The vandals lay siege to Hippo Regius 435: The Roman Empire signs a second peace treaty with the Huns 438: An imperial decree sanctions the death penalty for homosexuals 439: Vandals capture Carthage 443: the emperor grants Burgundi to settle in Savoy 450: Theodosius II dies and Marcian succeeds him, the first Roman emperor to be crowned by a religious leader (the patriarch of Constantinople) 452: Attila's Huns invade Italy 453: Attila dies 455: the Vandals sack Roma 469: Attila's son Dengizich is captured and executed 476: Odoacer, a mercenary in the service of Roma, leader of the Germanic soldiers in the Roman army, deposes the western Roman emperor and thereby terminates the western Roman empire 488: emperor Zeno sends Theodoric's Ostrogoths (still settled in Pannonia) to conquer Italy 489: Byzantine emperor Zeno shuts down the school of Edessa 493: the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric conquer Italy 500: Roma's population has declined to less than 100,000 people 526: Antioch in Syria is destroyed by an earthquake 526: The Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire fight the "Iberian War" over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia 527: Justinian becomes eastern Roman emperor and decides to reconquer Italy 527: Byzantium enforces anti-Jewish laws and the Jews all but disappear from the eastern Roman Empire 529: Roman emperor Justinian shuts down the Academia of Plato, the last school of pagan philosophy in Athens 532: Riots in Constantinople kill 30,000 people and almost dethrone Justinian 532: End of the "Iberian War" (Treaty of Eternal Peace) 533: Justinian's code of law ("Corpus Juri Civilis") is published 534: Justinian's general Belisarius destroys the Arian kingdom of the Vandals and reconquers southern Spain and northern Africa 536: the Ostrogoths surrender and Belisarius reconquers Rome (beginning of the Barbar wars in Italy) 537: Justinian's general Belisarius deposes pope Silverius and replaces him with pope Vigilius 537: Justinian builds the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople 540: Justinian's general Belisarius takes Ravenna from the last Ostrogothic resistance and thus reconquers Italy to the empire 541: The siege of Petra and the battle of Nisibis begin another war between the Byzantine and the Sassanid empires 542: The plague decimates the Empire 546: Visigothic rebels led by Totila sack Roma 551: imperial troops reconquer Rome 552: Nestorian monks smuggle silkworm eggs from China to Byzanthium 552: End of Ostrogothic resistance in Italy 554: Rome is reduced to a camp of about 30,000 people, while Constantinople has about one million people 554: the new king of the Visigoths, Athanagild, accepts the emperor's sovereignity over Spain 554: the empire reorganizes Italy as an imperial province (end of the Barbar wars) 561: Peace between the Byzantine and the Sassanid empires 565: Justinian dies 568: Alboin's Lombards invade northern Italy 589: The rebel Bahram Chobin begins a civil war and Khosrow II flees to Byzantine territory 591: The Romans defeat Bahram Chobin and restore Khosrow II as Sassanid emperor 600: Constantinople has 500,000 inhabitants 602: the Persians (Sassanids) attack the eastern Roman empire in Asia Minor 610: Heraclius I (son of the Orthodox bishop of Africa) overthrows the tyrant Phocas, becomes emperor and establishes Greek as the official language 614: the Persians (Sassanids) raid Jerusalem and destroy its churches 619: the Persians capture Egypt 621: the Visigoths reconquer all of Spain from the Roman empire 626: the Sassanids besiege Constantinople 627: the Sassanid king Khusrau II is defeated by Roman emperor Heraclius at Niniveh 628: the Romans retake Syria from the Sassanids 629: the Romans retake Jerusalem from the Sassanids 636: Arabs invade Syria and Palestine 639: the Arabs invade the southern provinces of the Empire 673: the Arabs besiege Constantinople 714: the Arabs besiege Constantinople again 717: Leo III becomes emperor 718: Leo III defeats the Arabs that are besieging Constantinople 726: Emperor Leo III orders the destruction of all icons (iconoclasm) 730: Germanus is deposed and replaced by the iconoclast Athanasius 739: emperor Leo III issues the Ecloga that introduces Christian principles into law 800: Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned emperor by Pope Leo III and founds the Holy Roman Empire 811: the eastern Roman emperor recognized Charlemagne as emperor of Roma 812: a peace treaty between Charlemagne and the Eastern Roman Empire surrenders Venezia to the Eastern empire but grants Venezia the right to trade with the Holy Roman Empire 813: an Armenian general becomes eastern Roman emperor Leo V 840: Basil's fleet retakes Bari from the Muslims 843: Empress Theodora allows the worship of icons to be restored 846: the city of Roma has 17,000 inhabitants 860: the Rus attack Constantinople 867: Basil I becomes the Byzantine emperor and founds the Macedonian dynasty 879: Basil I defeats the Arabs and reconquers Cappadocia 896: Symeon of Bulgaria defeats the Byzantine army for the first time 913: Alexander II dies and is succeeded by his seven-year old nephew Constantine VII but real power is wielded by empress mother Zoe 919: Admiral Romanos Lekapenos/ Romanus Lacapenus seizes power and marries his daughter Helen to the 14-year old Constantine VII, who devotes himself to literature and art 922: Symeon of Bulgaria defeats the Byzantine army for the fourth and last time 934: Magyars raid Constantinople 945: Romanos Lekapenos is deposed by his own children and Constantine VII assumes real power 968: Nicephorus II defeats the Arabs and reconquers Syria 969: Nicephorus II defeats the Bulgars 976: Basil II becomes the Byzantine emperor 988: Basil II's sister Anna is given in marriage to Vladimir I, the Rus ruler of Kiev-Novgorod 1018: Basil II annexes Bulgaria and the Byzantine empire reaches its zenith 1025: Basil II dies 1054: The patriarch of Constantinople and the pope in Roma excommunicate each other (the Great Schism) 1057: end of the Macedonian dynasty 1064: the Seljuks invade Armenia 1071: the Byzantine army of Romanus IV Diogenes is defeated by the Seljuks at Manzikert in Armenia, who establish a sultanate in Anatolia 1071: Normans led by Robert Guiscard conquer southern Italy from the eastern Roman empire 1081: Alexius I Komnenos establishes the Komnenos dynasty 1099: the first Crusade captures Jerusalem 1187: Saladin defeats the crusaders 1195: Alexius III deposes his brother and becomes the new emperor 1197: Alexius III imposes taxes and melts the gold of the imperial tombs to pay the tribute to Frederick Barbarossa, causing anger against the Latin dynasty among the Greek population 1204: the Crusaders, led by the Doge of Venezia, sack Constantinople, expel the Greek emperor Alexius III and set up a Latin kingdom, led by Baldwin I of the Flanders, and Venezia acquires territories in the Mediterranean and Black Seas 1204: Theodore I Lascaris, son-in-law od Alexius III, flees from Constantinople to Nicaea (Bithynia), where he founds a the empire, whereas Alexius founds the empire of Trebizond further east 1208: Theodore I Lascaris is crowned emperor by the patriarch and Nicaea becomes a rival to Constantinople for legitimate capital of the empire 1211: Nicaea emperor Theodore I Lascaris conquers most of Anatolia after defeating an alliance of Seljuqs of Rum and Latin kingdom of Constantinople near Antioch 1261: Constantinople is liberated by the Nicaean emperor Michael VIII Paleologus who expels the Latins, and Greek becomes the official language of the ever smaller eastern Roman empire 1291: the Moslems expel the Crusaders from the Middle East 1345: Serbia defeats the eastern Roman empire and annexes Macedonia and Thrace 1347: the plague (Black Death) strikes Constantinople and it will kill half the population of the city 1348: Serbia defeats the eastern Roman empire and annexes Thessaly and Epirus 1453: the Ottoman Turks under Mehmet II capture Constantinople 1461: the Ottomans conquer the empire of Trebizond, the last Greek state |
Roman emperors27BC-14AD: Augustus/ Octavius 14-37: Tiberius 37-41: Caligula 41-54: Claudius 54-68: Nero 68-69: Galba 69: Otho 69: Vitellius 69-79: Vespasian 79-81: Titus 81-96: Domitian 96-98: Nerva 98-117: Trajan 117-38: Hadrian 138-61: Antoninus Pius 161-80: Marcus Aurelius 161-69: Lucius Aurelius Verus 180-92: Commodus 193: Pertinax 193: Didius Julian 193-211: Septimius Severus 211-17: Caracalla 209-11: Geta 217-18: Macrinus 218-22: Elagabalus 222-35: Alexander Severus 235-38: Maximin 238: Gordian I 238: Gordian II 238: Pupienus 238: Balbinus 238-44: Gordian III 244-49: Philipp "Arabs" 249-51: Decius 251: Hostilian 251-53: Gallus 253: Aemilian 253-59: Valerian 259-68: Gallienus 268-70: Claudius II 270: Quintillus 270-75: Aurelian 275-76: Tacitus 276: Florian 276-82: Probus 282-83: Carus 283-84: Numerian 283-85: Carinus 284-305: Diocletian 286-305: Maximian 305-306: Constantius I 305-311: Galerius 306-7: Severus 306-8: Maximian 306-12: Maxentius 308-13: Maximinus Daia 311-24: Licinius 311-37: Constantine I 337-40: Constantine II 337-61: Constantius II 337-50: Constans 361-63: Julian 363-64: Jovian 364-75: Valentinian I 364-78: (East) Valens 375-83: (West) Gratian 375-92: (West) Valentinian II 379-95: (West) Theodosius 383-88: Maximus 392-94: Eugenius 395-408: (East) Arcadius 395-423: (West) Honorius 421: Constantius III 423-25: Johannes 408-50: (East) Theodosius II 425-55: (West) Valentinian III 450-57: (East) Marcian 455: (West) Petronius 455-56: (West) Avitus 457-61: (West) Majorian 457-74: (East) Leo I 461-65: (West) Severus 467-72: (West) Anthemius 472: (West) Olybrius 473: (West) Glycerius 473-75: (West) Julius Nepos 473-74: (East) Leo II 474-91: (East) Zeno 475-76: (West) Romulus Augustulus 474-91: (East) Zeno 475-76: (East) Basiliscus 491-518: (East) Anastasius I 518-27: (East) Justin I 527-65: Justinian 565-78: Justin II 578-82: Tiberius II 582-602: Maurice 602-10: Phocas I 610-41: Heraclius I 641: Constantine III 641: Heracleon 641-68: Constans II 668-85: Constantine IV 685-95: Justinian II 695-98: Leontius 698-705: Tiberius II 705-11: Justinian II 711-13: Philippicus 713-15: Anastasius II 715-17: Theodosius III 717-41: Leo III 741-75: Constantine V 775-80: Leo IV 780-97: Constantine VI 797-802: Irene 802-11: Nicephorus I 811: Stauracius 811-13: Michael I 813-20: Leo V 820-29: Michael II 829-42: Theophilus I 842-67: Michael III 867-86: Basil I 886-912: Leo VI 912-13: Alexander II 912-59: Constantine VII 920-44: Romanus I 959-63: Romanus II 963-69: Nicephorus II 969-76: John I 976-1025: Basil II 1025-28: Constantine VIII 1028-50: Zoe 1028-34: Romanus III 1034-41: Michael IV 1041-42: Michael V 1042-55: Constantine IX 1055-56: Theodora 1056-57: Michael VI 1057-59: Isaac I 1059-67: Constantine X 1068-71: Romanus IV 1071-78: Michael VII 1078-81: Nicephorus III 1081-1118: Alexius I 1118-43: John II 1143-80: Manuel I 1180-83: Alexius II 1183-85: Andronicus I 1185-95: Isaac II 1195-1203: Alexius III 1203-4: Isaac II 1203-4: Alexius IV 1204: Alexius V 1204-5: (Latin) Baldwin I 1205-16: (Latin) Henry 1216-17: (Latin) Peter of Courtenay 1217-19: (Latin) Yolande 1219-28: (Latin) Robert of Courtenay 1228-61: (Latin) Baldwin II 1231-37: (Latin) John of Brienne 1204-22: (Nicean) Theodore I 1222-54: (Nicean) John III 1254-58: (Nicean) Theodore II 1258-61: (Nicean) John IV 1259-61: (Nicean) Michael VIII 1261-82: Michael VIII 1282-1328: Andronicus II 1295-1320: Michael IX 1328-41: Andronicus III 1341-47: John V 1347-54: John VI 1355-76: John V 1376-79: Andronicus IV 1379-91: John V 1390: John VII 1391-1425: Manuel II 1425-48: John VIII 1448-53: Constantine XI |
| (Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi) |