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753 BCE
753 BCE (Founding of Rome)
According to legend, Ancient Rome was founded by the two brothers, and demi-gods, Romulus and Remus, on 21 April 753. The legend claims that, in an argument over who would rule the city (or, in another version, where the city would be located) Romulus killed Remus and named the city after himself. -
509 BCE
509 BCE (Founding of Republic)
Roman Republic, Rome, ancient: Italy, 298-201 BC [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]the ancient state that centred on the city of Rome, from the time of the events leading up to the founding of the republic in 509 bce, through the establishment of the Roman Empire in 27 bce. A brief treatment of the Roman Republic follows -
Period: 264 BCE to 146 BCE
264 to 146 BCE (Punic Wars)
The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the forces of ancient Carthage and Rome between 264 BCE and 146 BCE. The name Punic comes from the word Phoenician (Phoinix in the Greek, Poenus from Punicus in Latin) as applied to the citizens of Carthage, who were of Phoenician ethnicity. -
60 BCE
60 BCE (First Triumvirate)
The First Triumvirate of ancient Rome was an uneasy alliance between the three titans Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus which, from 60 BCE until 53 BCE, dominated the politics of the Roman Republic. -
44 BCE
44 BCE (Death of Caesar)
Julius Caesar, the”dictator for life”of the Roman Empire, is murdered by his own senators at a meeting in a hall next to Pompey’s Theatre. The conspiracy against Caesar encompassed as many as sixty noblemen, including Caesar’s own protege, Marcus Brutus. -
31 BCE
31 BCE (Battle of Actium)
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic, a naval engagement between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the promontory of Actium, in the Roman province of Epirus Vetus in Greece. -
68
68 CE (Death of Nero)
Emperor Nero was the last of the Julio-Claudians to rule the Roman Empire (54 AD to 68 AD). His fourteen year reign represents everything decadent about that period in Roman history. He was self-indulgent, cruel and violent as well as a cross-dressing exhibitionist. -
121
121 CE (Death of Marcus Aurelius)
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 - 180 CE), known as the last of the good emperors (reigned 161 – 169 CEwith Lucius Verus; 169 – 177 CE alone; 177 - 180 CE with Commodus), was born in Rome (or, according to other sources, Spain) to an aristocratic family. His birth name was Marcus Annius Verus which he held until adopted by his uncle (and Emperor Hadrian’s successor) Aurelius Anontinus Pius, which made young Marcus heir to the rule of the Roman Empire. -
Period: 272 to 327
272 to 327 CE (Life of Constantine)
The emperor Constantine has rightly been called the most important emperor of Late Antiquity. His powerful personality laid the foundations of post-classical European civilization; his reign was eventful and highly dramatic. His victory at the Milvian Bridge counts among the most decisive moments in world history, while his legalization and support of Christianity and his foundation of a 'New Rome' at Byzantium rank among the most momentous decisions ever made by a European ruler. -
476
476 CE (Fall of Rome)
In 476 C.E. Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome. The order that the Roman Empire had brought to western Europe for 1000 years was no more.
