Ancient Rome

Joshua J. Mark

Definition

According to legend, Ancient Rome was founded by the two brothers, and demigods, Romulus and Remus, on 21 April 753 BCE. The legend claims that in an argument over who would rule the city (or, in another version, where the city would be located) Romulus killed Remus and named the city after himself. This story of the founding of Rome is the best known but it is not the only one.

More about: Ancient Rome

Timeline

753 BCE - 510 BCE
Regal Period of ancient Rome from Founding to Birth of the Republic.
753 BCE
The legendary founding date of Rome.
21 Apr 753 BCE
The traditional date of the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus, the first king, after he killed his twin brother Remus. Although the date's historicity is uncertain, it is still celebrated as Rome's birthday today.
750 BCE - 510 BCE
The (semi-mythological) seven kings of Rome: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tulus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.
c. 620 BCE
Posible founding date for Ostia, the port of Rome.
599 BCE - 500 BCE
The traditional date when the Circus Maximus of Rome is first laid out.
534 BCE - 510 BCE
Reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last king of Rome.
510 BCE - 509 BCE
First treaty between Rome and Carthage.
509 BCE
Foundation of the Roman Republic.
c. 508 BCE
Lars Porsenna, Etruscan king of Chiusi, lays siege to Rome.
504 BCE
Migration of Claudii from Sabine lands to Rome.
c. 499 BCE
Battle of Lake Regillus between Rome and the Latin League.
c. 497 BCE
The first temple dedicated to Saturn is constructed in the Forum Romanum of Rome.
495 BCE
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, last king of Rome, dies in exile at Cumae.
495 BCE
A temple is built in honour of Mercury near Rome's Circus Maximus.
494 BCE
Traditional date the office of the tribuni plebis is created in Rome.
493 BCE
Foedus Cassianus - treaty by Spurius Cassius Vecellinus with the Latin League after the Battle of Lake Regillus.
484 BCE
The first temple of the Dioscuri (Castor & Pollux) is dedicated in Rome's Forum Romanum by Aulus Postumius following his victory over the Latins at the Battle of Lake Regillus.
451 BCE - 450 BCE
Decemvirate and Publication of Twelve Tables of Roman Law.
c. 400 BCE
Roman tale of mythical twins Romulus and Remus first recorded.
394 BCE
Etruscan Volsinii and their ally Sappinum unsuccessfully attacks Rome.
390 BCE
Gauls sack Rome.
c. 390 BCE
"Gallic Catastrophe:" Brennus of the Senones defeats the Romans at Allia, and subsequently sacks Rome.
380 BCE
Rebuilding of Rome. Strong walls around the seven hills.
343 BCE - 341 BCE
First Samnite War (Rome vs. Samnites).
340 BCE - 338 BCE
Latin War, victory for Rome.
326 BCE - 304 BCE
Second Samnite War.
321 BCE
The Via Appia, a famous Roman road, is constructed.
298 BCE - 290 BCE
Third Samnite War between Rome and the Samnite people.
295 BCE
Roman victory over Samnites, Gauls and Umbrians at Sentinum.
292 BCE
The Romans adopt the Greek god of medicine Asclepius by stealing his sacred snake from Epidaurus and setting up a temple on the Tiber Island.
10 Mar 241 BCE
The Battle of Aegates becomes the decisive victory in the First Punic War when the Roman fleets defeat the Carthaginians, sinking their ships and winning the war.
Mar 218 BCE
Rome declares war on Carthage after Hannibal sacks Saguntum in Spain. The Second Punic War begins.
213 BCE - 212 BCE
Roman commander Marcus Claudius Marcellus lays seige to and ultimately sacks Syracuse.
196 BCE
The earliest known Triumphal Arches are built in Rome by L.Sertinius.
184 BCE
The first basilica is added to Rome's Forum Romanum.
168 BCE
Rome defeats Macedon at Battle of Pydna.
166 BCE
Rome puts Delos under the jurisdiction of Athens and makes the island a free port.
146 BCE
First Roman all-marble building is constructed, the temple of Jupiter Stater in Rome.
121 BCE
Gallia Narbonensis becomes a Roman province.
107 BCE - 100 BCE
Gaius Marius reforms the Roman army.
12 Jul 100 BCE - 15 Mar 44 BCE
Life of Gaius Julius Caesar, founder of the Roman Empire.
89 BCE
All poleis or city-states in Magna Graecia come under Roman control.
80 BCE
Sulla moves the Olympic Games to Rome for a single Olympiad.
70 BCE
Pompey and Crassus are made consuls.
59 BCE - 17 CE
Life of Livy.
58 BCE - 51 BCE
Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul.
55 BCE - 54 BCE
Julius Caesar's expeditions in Britain.
55 BCE
Pompey the Great builds the first permanent stone theatre in Rome.
54 BCE - 29 BCE
Forum of Caesar constructed in Rome by Julius Caesar as another area to conduct judicial business. It is the best surviving of his monuments.
1 Jan 45 BCE
The Julian calendar takes effect. Commissioned by Julius Caesar to stabilize the older calendar, the Julian calendar established a 365-day year and moved New Year's Day from 1 March to 1 January.
15 Mar 44 BCE
Julius Caesar is murdered.
43 BCE - 36 BCE
Second Triumvirate: Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus (official approval by the Roman Senate). Mass proscriptions including Cicero.
43 BCE - 17 CE
Life of the Roman writer Ovid, author of Metamorphoses.
36 BCE
Agrippa defeats the naval fleet of Sextus Pompey in the battle of Naulochos.
31 BCE
Greece absorbed into Roman Empire.
29 BCE
Augustus builds the temple of Divius Iulius on the spot of Julius Caesar's funeral pyre in Rome's Forum Romanum.
c. 27 BCE
The first Pantheon is built in Rome and dedicated by Marcus Agrippa.
c. 20 BCE
Military engineer and architect Vitruvius publishes his "De Architectura".
c. 20 BCE
The Campus Martius baths in Rome are constructed and donated to the people by Agrippa.
19 BCE
Arch of Augustus built in Rome to commemorate victory over the Parthians.
c. 13 BCE
Official inauguration of the Theatre of Marcellus in Rome.
c. 10 BCE
Augustus rebuilds the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome's Forum Romanum.
1 CE - 100 CE
Mithraism spreads in the Roman empire.
c. 13 CE
Augustus creates the cohortes urbanae in Rome to help maintain public order.
c. 23 CE
The castra praetoria, permanent camp of the Praetorian Guard, is built in Rome by Sejanus.
42 CE - 62 CE
Paul the Apostle goes on missionary journeys across Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome.
c. 50 CE - c. 60 CE
Establishment of various Christian communities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Egypt, and at least the city of Rome.
60 CE - 61 CE
Boudicca's Revolt in Britain.
64 CE
Fire destroys the Circus Maximus in Rome.
64 CE
Unofficial persecution of Christians in Rome.
64 CE
The great fire in Rome.
c. 64 CE
The Roman port of Ostia reaches its maximum size becoming a major urban centre.
c. 65 CE
The Circus Maximus in Rome is rebuilt and its capacity increased to 250,000.
c. 65 CE
The Baths of Nero are built in Rome.
66 CE - 73 CE
The Jewish Revolt against Rome.
68 CE - 69 CE
Year of the Four Emperors: Civil war in Rome.
70 CE
The city of Jerusalem is besieged and captured by Rome; the Second Temple destroyed.
Jun 71 CE
Titus returns to Rome from Jewish War.
72 CE
Vespasian begins construction of the Colosseum in Rome.
Aug 79 CE - Oct 79 CE
Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in southern Italy burying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash.
80 CE
The Colosseum in Rome is officially opened by Titus with a 100 day gladiator spectacular.
80 CE
The first Pantheon in Rome is destroyed by fire.
81 CE - 96 CE
Construction is finally completed on the Colosseum of Rome in the reign of Domitian.
83 CE
Battle of Mons Graupius in Scotland.
18 Sep 96 CE
Death of Roman Emperor Domitian.
c. 110 CE
First documented martydom in the Colosseum of Rome, that of St. Ignatius of Antioch.
110 CE
The second Pantheon building in Rome is hit by lightning and destroyed by fire.
113 CE
Trajan's column is constructed in Rome which commemorates the emperor's campaigns in Dacia.
c. 125 CE
The Pantheon is completed in Rome.
10 Jul 138 CE - 9 Mar 161 CE
Reign of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.
c. 180 CE
The Column of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina is erected in Rome. It depicts in relief sculpture the emperors' campaigns across the Danube.
192 CE
Emperor Commodus is murdered, civil war ensues (until 197 CE).
202 CE
The Pantheon in Rome is repaired by Septimius Severus and Caracalla.
227 CE
The Baths of Nero in Rome are extensively renovated and expanded by Alexander Severus and renamed Thermae Alexandrinae.
c. 235 CE
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are completed.
238 CE
Year of the Six Emperors in the Roman Empire.
272 CE
Possible year of Emperor Constantine's birth.
283 CE
A fire devastates Rome's Forum Romanum, necessitating an extensive rebuilding programme.
286 CE
Naval commander Carausius (Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius) declares himself emperor in Britain and Northern Gaul.
293 CE
Emperor Carausius assassinated by Allectus.
308 CE
Constantine I named "caesar" of the west.
312 CE
Constantine defeats Maxentius at Milvian Bridge.
312 CE
Constantine I reduces the cohortes urbanae of Rome.
25 Jul 315 CE
The Arch of Constantine in Rome, a triumphal arch dedicated to Constantine the Great to commemorate his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, is officially opened.
337 CE
Death of Emperor Constantine I.
c. 360 CE - c. 380 CE
The Temple of Saturn is rebuilt in the Forum Romanum of Rome.
402 CE
Ravenna becomes the capital of the Western Roman Empire.
408 CE
Alaric I the Visigoth besieges Rome. As ransom, Rome pays 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, 4,000 silken tunics, 3,000 hides dyed scarlet, and 3,000 pounds of pepper.
410 CE
Alaric of the Visigoths sacks Rome.
24 Aug 410 CE
Alaric sacks Rome.
422 CE
The Colosseum of Rome is damaged by earthquake.
455 CE
Vandals sack Rome.
536 CE
Rome falls to Belisarius.
549 CE
The last official chariot race is held in Rome's Circus Maximus.
608 CE
The Pantheon in Rome is converted into a Christian church.
c. 730 CE
First reference to the Flavian Amphitheatre as the Colosseum by the Venerable Bede.
17 Jan 1377 CE
Pope Gregory XI formally returns the papacy to Rome from Avignon, France ending the "Avignon Papacy" that had lasted 67 years.
18 Apr 1506 CE
The cornerstone of the present-day St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is laid by officiant Pope Julius II, initiating the construction of a new building to replace the old one that had become dilapidated.
17 Feb 1600 CE
Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno is executed for heresy by being burned at the stake in the Campo de' Fiori square in Rome after an eight-year imprisonment. Bruno denied the Christian Trinity, the virgin birth, and the authority of the Church, advocating for pantheism, reincarnation, and an infinite universe. His eloquence was so well-known he was gagged on his way to the execution site. Today he is honored as a freethinker with a statue on that same spot.
13 Feb 1633 CE
Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial on charges of heresy for advocating the Copernican theory that the Earth revolves around the sun.
22 Jun 1633 CE
The Recantation of Galileo (the Galileo Affair) occurs in Rome when Galileo Galilei is forced to recant his doctrine that the Earth orbits the sun and proclaims his "right belief" that the earth is the center of the universe. Afterwards he was sentenced to house arrest for life.
22 May 1762 CE
The Trevi Fountain in Rome is officially inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII. Designed by artist Nicola Salvi, work on the fountain began in 1732 and took 30 years to complete.
15 Jul 1823 CE
The original Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, said to be the burial place of St. Paul and first established by Roman emperor Constantine the Great, burns down in an accidental fire. Rebuilding began quickly and the present-day basilica dates from 1840.