The Roman Empire, at its height (c. 117), was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. Building upon the foundation laid by the Roman Republic, the empire became the largest and most powerful political and military entity in the world up to its time and expanded steadily until its fall, in the west, in 476.
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Definition
Timeline
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753 BCEThe legendary founding date of Rome.
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212 BCEThe Romans conquer Saguntum from the Carthaginians.
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206 BCE - 205 BCEThe Romans conquer Gades. End of the Carthaginian presence on the Iberian Peninsula.
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191 BCEDelphi comes under Roman control.
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c. 191 BCEThe Achaean League signs a treaty of alliance with Rome.
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188 BCERome gives Samos its independence.
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166 BCERome gives dominion over the Cyclades to Athens.
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c. 150 BCEMacedonia becomes a Roman province.
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150 BCEThe Lusitani are betrayed and slaughtered by the Romans.
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148 BCECorcyra is made part of the Roman province of Macedonia.
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146 BCEThessalonica is made the captial of the Roman province of Macedon.
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146 BCEEnd of the Third Punic War. Carthage is destroyed and its lands become the Roman province Africa.
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146 BCEUtica is made the capital of the Roman province of Africa.
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133 BCELydia and its captial Sardis comes under Roman rule.
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129 BCESamos becomes part of the Roman province of Asia.
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96 BCECyrenaica becomes a Roman province.
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74 BCEThe city of Cyrene comes under Roman control.
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64 BCETyre becomes a Roman colony.
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64 BCEByblos conquered by the Roman general Pompey the Great.
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63 BCEJerash in Jordan becomes part of the Roman province of Syria.
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48 BCEButrint formally becomes a Roman colony.
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44 BCEJulius Caesar founds the Roman colony of Corinth.
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41 BCERome takes control over Naxos in the Cyclades.
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37 BCE - 4 BCEReign of Herod the Great over Judea.
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31 BCEOctavian uses Corcyra as a Roman naval base.
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30 BCEEgypt becomes province of the Roman Empire.
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30 BCE - 476 CEEgypt remains a province of the Roman Empire.
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27 BCE - 19 BCECantabrian Wars: Roman conquest of the Iberian Penninsula.
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27 BCEPhilippi gains the honorary title of Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis.
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c. 27 BCEAugustus makes Gortyn the capital of the Roman province of Crete & Cyrene.
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16 Jan 27 BCEOctavian is given the title "Augustus" by the Roman Senate, becoming Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, ending the Roman Republic and beginning the Roman Empire.
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25 BCEGalatia is peacefully absorbed into the Roman Empire.
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14 BCE - 96 CERome launches an extensive cultural patronage and construction programme in Iberia.
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6 Mar 12 BCEAugustus Caesar is named High Priest (Pontifex Maximus), becoming the head of the College of Pontiffs in Rome and uniting religious and political authority in one man as emperor and beginning the tradition of a Roman Emperor holding the title of High Priest until the late 4th century.
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1 CE - 100 CEMithraism spreads in the Roman empire.
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6 CEPublius Quinctilius Varus is made governor of Germania.
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9 CEThe Rhine River is established as the boundary between the Latin and German speaking worlds, following the defeat of the Roman army, under the command of Varus, at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
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24 Jan 41 CEThe Roman Emperor Caligula is assassinated in Rome by members of the Praetorian Guard with the support of the Senate.
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43 CERomans invade Britain under Aulus Plautius.
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43 CE - 47 CERomans conquer South Britain and claim the territory as part of Roman Empire.
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43 CEClaudius commences the Roman conquest of Britain.
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44 CECaesarea made capital of imperial province.
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47 CE - 50 CELondinium (London) founded, roads constructed.
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51 CEBriton rebel leader Caratacus defeated, rebellion crushed.
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54 CE - 60 CERoman general Corbulo successfully campaigns in Armenia.
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11 Feb 55 CEThe murder of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus by poison at a banquet in Rome one day before his 14th birthday, orchestrated by his stepbrother, Nero, to remove him as a rival for the seat of power. Britannicus' death secured Nero's ascension as Roman Emperor.
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19 Apr 65 CEThe Pisonian Conspiracy, a plot to kill Roman Emperor Nero, is betrayed by the freedman Milichus who was hoping for a handsome reward for informing on his former master and the others involved. Nero ordered the conspirators to either commit suicide or be executed, including the philosopher Seneca the Younger, while others were exiled, such as the stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus.
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68 CE - 69 CEYear of the Four Emperors: Civil war in Rome.
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9 Jun 68 CERoman Emperor Nero commits suicide after being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate. His death ends the Julio-Claudian dynasty and leads to the Year of the Four Emperors.
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16 Apr 73 CEThe mountain fortress of Masada, in present-day Israel, falls to the Romans after a long siege during the First Jewish Revolt. After breaking through the wall with a battering ram, the Romans found the 960 Jewish defenders had killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner.
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75 CE - 77 CERomans defeat the last of the Northern tribes; Roman conquest of Britain complete.
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76 CE - 138 CELife of Emperor Hadrian.
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85 CE - 86 CEDacians invade Moesia and defeat the Romans.
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86 CEThe Roman general Cornelius Fuscus invades Dacia. He is ambushed and his army is annihilated.
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88 CEResolved to avenge Fuscus' defeat, Domitian sends another army to Dacia under Tettius Iulianus. This general is victorious on the mountainous pass of Tapae, in the south-west of modern Romania.
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27 Jan 98 CETrajan succeeds Nerva as Roman Emperor, reigning until 117, and now recognized as the second of the "Five Good Emperors.".
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101 CE - 106 CETrajan conquers Dacia.
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106 CEJerash in Jordan becomes part of the Roman province of Arabia.
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115 CE - 117 CERome occupies Mesopotamia.
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116 CEInvasion and annexation of the Fertile Crescent region by Rome under Trajan.
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11 Aug 117 CE - 10 Jul 138 CEReign of Roman Emperor Hadrian.
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121 CE - 125 CEFirst trip of Hadrian around the Empire: Gaul, Germania, Noricum, Britain, Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia, Asia, Greece, Moesia, Dacia, and Pannonia.
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26 Apr 121 CE - 17 Mar 180 CELife of Marcus Aurelius.
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25 Feb 138 CERoman Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son and successor, ensuring a smooth transition of power after his death in July of that same year. Antoninus Pius would do the same in adopting Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome.
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10 Jul 138 CERoman Emperor Hadrian dies at the age of 62 at his villa near Naples, in the region of modern-Italy, most likely from heart failure, naming Antoninus Pius as his successor and continuing the line of the "Five Good Emperors of Rome" that ended with Pius' successor, Marcus Aurelius.
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142 CEThe Antonine Wall built under Antoninus Pius, north of Hadrian's Wall.
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165 CE - 167 CEPlague epidemic in the Roman empire.
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167 CEMarcomanni sack Aquileia.
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167 CE - 180 CEMarcomannic Wars.
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168 CEGermanic tribes cross the Danube into the Roman Empire.
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17 Mar 180 CECommodus becomes Emperor of Rome following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius. Famously depicted as a villain in the popular film Gladiator, Commodus ruled poorly and was assassinated in 192.
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192 CEEmperor Commodus is murdered, civil war ensues (until 197 CE).
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195 CEFirst Parthian war.
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197 CE - 198 CESecond Parthian war.
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198 CE - 209 CEReign of Caracalla with his father Septimius Severus.
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200 CECompletion of the Roman road system.
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c. 204 CE - 270 CELife of Plotinus.
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209 CE - Dec 211 CEReign of Caracalla with his father Septimius Severus and his brother Geta (Feb - Dec 211 only with Geta).
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4 Feb 211 CERoman Emperor Septimius Severus dies of illness while on campaign in Britain. His sons Caracalla and Geta succeed him as co-emperors until December 211 when Caracalla has Geta assassinated, along with an estimated 20,000 of his supporters and friends, to assume full control of the Roman Empire.
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212 CECaracalla's edict grants Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire.
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212 CERome withdraws from region of Scotland.
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212 CERoman citizenship granted to all inhabitants of the empire.
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8 Apr 217 CERoman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated while traveling between Edessa and Carrhae on campaign against the Parthian Empire. Stopping on the road to relieve himself, he was stabbed by the soldier Justin Martialis, most likely acting on orders from Praetorian prefect Macrinus, who succeeded Caracalla three days later.
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232 CEEmperor Maximinus Thrax commands a legion in Egypt.
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234 CEEmperor Maximinus Thrax is governor of Mesopotamia.
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238 CEYear of the Six Emperors in the Roman Empire.
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242 CEOsroene, with its capital at Edessa, is made into a Roman province.
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250 CEThessalonica is made a Roman colony.
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260 CEShapur I captures the Roman emperor Valerian at Edessa.
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261 CEThugga is made a Roman colonia.
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262 CE - 266 CEOdaenathus expels Persian garrisons and restores Syria and Armenia to the Roman Empire. Odaenathus invades Mesopotamia, and inflicts two defeats upon Shapur I, which ends with the sack of Ctesiphon.
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Sep 270 CE - c. Sep 275 CEReign of Roman emperor Aurelian.
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271 CEAurelian defends the Roman Empire against Juthungi, Alamanni, and Marcomanni incursions.
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272 CE - 273 CEAurelian successfully campaigns against Palmyra.
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285 CEThe Roman empire is split into the Western and Eastern Roman empires.
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23 Feb 303 CERoman Emperor Diocletian orders the church at Nicomedia razed to the ground, all documents held there burned, and anything of value seized, beginning eight years of the Great Persecution (Diocletianic Persecution) of Christians in the Roman Empire.
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312 CERoman emperor Constantine I tolerates Christianity.
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27 Oct 312 CEAccording to tradition, on the evening before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge between Constantine I and Maxentius over who would rule the Roman Empire, Constantine received a vision from God telling him to put "the heavenly sign" on the shields of his soldiers for victory. Constantine believed the vision, had the shields painted with the sign (probably the Chi-Rho) and won the battle. The event is often referenced as the Vision of the Cross.
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28 Oct 312 CEThe Battle of the Milvian Bridge is fought between emperors Constantine I and Maxentius for control of the Roman Empire, ending in a victory for Constantine I who, in gratitude for a vision of victory he claimed to have received from God the night before, ends the persecution of Christians and, eventually, paves the way for Christianity to become the state religion.
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7 Mar 321 CERoman Emperor Constantine I declares "The Venerable Day of the Sun" a day of rest, thereby establishing Sunday and the tradition of not working on the first day of the week.
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337 CEAscension of Constantius II.
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337 CEDeath of Emperor Constantine I.
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19 Feb 356 CERoman Emperor Constantius II issues his decree ordering the closure of all pagan temples in the Roman Empire and prohibiting pagan rites associated with the former state religion of Rome. Contrary to popular opinion, this decree did not result in the immediate closure of pagan sites which took some time to go into effect.
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361 CEDeath of Constantius II.
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5 Mar 363 CERoman Emperor Julian marches from Antioch with 90,000 troops to invade the Sassanian Empire, ignoring bad omens, and is later mortally wounded, dying in June 363.
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367 CEPicts, Scots, Saxons, and Franks attack the Roman Empire.
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376 CEThe Visigoths are fleeing the Huns, entering the Eastern Roman Empire.
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9 Aug 378 CEThe Battle of Adrianople is fought near Adrianople (modern-day Edirne, Turkey) during the Gothic War of 376-382 between the Goths and their allies under Fritigern and the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire under Emperor Valens, ending in a resounding victory for the Goths and the death of Valens. The battle is often cited as the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire.
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391 CEEmperor Theodosius I closes pagan temples.
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1 Jan 404 CEChristian Roman Emperor Honorius bans gladiatorial games after Saint Telemachus is stoned to death in an amphitheater when he tries to break up a fight between gladiators. Honorius' ban ends the traditional games in the Roman Empire.
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410 CERome withdraws forces from Britain.
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410 CEThe Romans withdraw from Britain.
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24 Aug 410 CEThe traditional date given for the sack of Rome by the Visigoths under their king Alaric I. Rome was no longer the administrative capital of the Western Roman Empire but still held symbolic meaning and its sack was an enormous blow to the morale of the people, considered by modern historians as a pivotal event in the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire.
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426 CERoman Emperor Theodosius II orders closure of Epidaurus sanctuary.
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439 CEVandals take Carthage from the Western Roman Empire and make it their new capital.
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16 Mar 455 CEWestern Roman Emperor Valentinian III is assassinated by two of his bodyguards while practicing archery in the Campus Martius in Rome. His assassins were formerly in the service of General Flavius Aetius and killed him to avenge their general's death.
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523 CEEmperor Justinian seizes Caesarea.
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565 CEDeath of Justinian I after 38 years ruling the Roman Empire.
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17 Feb 1776 CEThe first volume of Edward Gibbon's monumental work *The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire* is published and becomes an instant best-seller and the most influential work on the Roman Empire up through the 20th century. The six volumes were published between 1776-1789.
