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the rise of rome
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The Etruscans establish cities from northern to central Italy
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Rome becomes a republic. The last king is overthrown and Rome is now ruled by elected officials called senators. There is a constitution with laws and a complex republican government.
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Between 341 and 338 BC the Romans faced a rebellion by their neighboring Latin allies. After Rome emerged victorious, the settlement they imposed underpinned subsequent Roman conquests of Italy and overseas territories.
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282-272: War with Pyrrhus
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Rome fought three wars against the great North African city of Carthage. These are known as the Punic Wars, from the Latin name for Carthaginians, Poeni.
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Hannibal invades Italy. Hannibal leads the Carthage army in his famous crossing of the Alps to attack Rome. This is part of the Second Punic war.
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The Punic Wars left Rome as the dominant power in the western Mediterranean.
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Spartacus the gladiator leads the slaves in an uprising
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Caesar’s conquest of Gaul (58–51 BC), the exploits of Pompey in the eastern Mediterranean were more significant in the expansion of Rome.
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It has been estimated that his ‘settlement’ more than doubled the annual income of the Roman empire
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Julius Caesar becomes the first dictator of Rome. Caesar makes his famous Crossing of the Rubicon and defeats Pompey in a civil war to become the supreme ruler of Rome. This signals the end of the Roman Republic.
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Julius Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March by Marcus Brutus. They hope to bring back the republic, but civil war breaks out.
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The expansion of the empire destroyed the Roman Republic. Institutions designed for a small city-state could not rule a world empire.
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The Roman Empire begins as Caesar Augustus becomes the first Roman Emperor.
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It remained the legal basis of every emperor’s reign for three centuries.
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Much of Rome burns. Legend has it that Emperor Nero watched the city burn while playing a lyre.
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St Peter martyred under Nero, and buried on the site of the present St Peter's Basilica
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The Colosseum is built. One of the great examples of Roman engineering is finished. It can seat 50,000 spectators.
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Five Good Emperors', including Marcus Aurelius whose equestrian statue stands on the Capitoline Hill, maintain the Pax Romana (era of peace) that began under Augustus
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The Hadrian Wall is built. To keep out the barbarians a long wall is built across northern England.
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Five Good Emperors', including Marcus Aurelius whose equestrian statue stands on the Capitoline Hill, maintain the Pax Romana (era of peace) that began under Augustus
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In the 50 years between AD 235 and 284, the Roman empire suffered chronic political and military instability.
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This vicious circle was finally halted, and the empire given breathing space, by the emperor Diocletian (r284–305). He created the tetrarchy: a ‘college’ of four rulers, one for each of the major frontiers, and one in reserve.
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Constantine becomes Emperor. Constantine would convert to Christianity and Rome would become a Christian empire. Prior to this Rome persecuted the Christians
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At the battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312, the emperor Constantine sent his troops into combat with crosses painted on their shields. By the end of his life, he claimed that before the battle he had experienced a vision in which he was given the divine command: “in this sign conquer”. Constantine’s conversion to Christianity had a profound effect on European, and world, history.
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Theodosius I declares Christianity to be the sole religion of the Roman Empire
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Rome splits into two empires
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The Visigoths sack Rome. This is the first time in 800 years that the city of Rome has fallen to an enemy.
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The last Emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus, abdicates and Rome is taken over by the Goths
