-
509 BCE
Patricians rebel, create Roman Republic
The patricians were tired of being ruled by the Etruscan king
Tarquin, so they drove him out and the republic was born! However, only the patricians got rights, and the plebeians, who were lower-class, weren't part of the governmental process. -
Period: 509 BCE to 264 BCE
Series of Wars in the Early Empire
Rome constantly fought wars to protect its terrain and gain more land. -
494 BCE
Plebeians camp out on hill, refuse to leave unless they get rights
The plebeians were tired of having a lack of rights in the new republic, so they camped out on a nearby hill and refused to go back home until they got the rights they wanted. Eventually, the patricians compromised. -
493 BCE
Romans sign a peace treaty with the Latin.
After many years of war, the Romans wisely made allies with the Latin, so another great power was on their side. -
451 BCE
Patricians agree that laws should be written down
The plebeians wanted written laws so that the patricians couldn't change them all the time. -
390 BCE
Gauls attack Rome
Rome nearly ended when a group of Gauls, a war-like people from the north, attacked and looted the city. Afterwards, most of Rome was burned down. However, the Romans bravely decided to rebuild, and the city was thriving once again. -
367 BCE
New law states that one of the two consuls has to be a plebeian.
A consul is someone who had control over the army, and they held seats in the Senate. Since one of them now had to be a plebeian, that made it possible for plebeians to get into the Senate. -
287 BCE
Plebeians gain the right to pass laws for all citizens of Rome.
-
275 BCE
Rome completely conquers the Italian peninsula
-
264 BCE
First Punic War
This is the first war that Rome fought with the city of Carthage for control over its land. It started in 264 BCE and ended in 241 BCE. -
218 BCE
Second Punic War
This is the second war that Rome fought with Carthage. This time, however, the Carthaginians attacked Rome directly, instead of Rome attacking Carthage. It started in 218 BCE and ended in 202 BCE. -
149 BCE
Third Punic War
After about 50 years of peace between the two cities, a senator named Cato ordered the destruction of Carthage. After three years, Carthage was burned to the ground. It started in 149 BCE and ended in 146 BCE. -
91 BCE
Roman allies rebel, Rome grants citizenship to all free Italians
After several riots and rebellions that Rome had to put down, Rome finally granted citizenship to all free Italians, not just Romans. -
73 BCE
Slave named Sparcus leads revolt, is killed in battle.
Slave revolts were common, given how Romans treated slaves. One, caused by a slave named Sparcus, is very famous. After killing Sparcus in battle, the Romans hung the other rebels on crosses. -
49 BCE
Pompey, a famous general, is back in Rome, orders Caesar to stay out of Rome
Pompey and Caesar were having a civil war. Civil wars between two or more army generals were frequent. -
49 BCE
Caesar disobeys Pompey, crosses into Rome by way of the Rubicon
-
46 BCE
Caesar defeats Pompey, is named dictator-for-life
Finally, in 46 BCE, the civil war between Pompey and Caesar came to an end, and so did Pompey's life. The terrified Senate named Caesar dictator-for-life, but Caesar wouldn't get to enjoy his success for much longer. -
44 BCE
Caesar is murdered :.(
When he was trying to enter the Senate, a group of men stabbed Caesar to death. They thought that they were saving the power of the Senate, but what would come next would be much worse. -
43 BCE
Series of civil wars because of Caesar's murder
Caesar's murder flung Rome into a series of civil wars that lasted more than 10 years. It started in 44 BCE and ended around 33 BCE -
31 BCE
Octivian and his army chase Marc Antony and Cleopatra to Egypt
Octivian, Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son, tried to get power after his granduncle died. First, he had to eliminate his rival, Marc Antony. Antony had just married Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, and, with his army, he chased the lovers to Egypt, where they killed themselves. -
Period: 27 BCE to 14
Octavian's, now Augustus's, reign.
Augustus encouraged art, literature, and education. He completed more than 80 construction projects and gave Rome its first library, police force, and firefighters. -
14
Augustus's death
Augustus reigned until he died. Again, :.( -
180
Rome has a series of weak, dishonest emperors
Turning towards the end of the empire, Rome had some weak, dishonest emperors starting in 180 and ending in 500, the end of the empire. For example, take Tiberius, the guy in the picture. He was one of the worst Roman emperors in history. -
300
Germanic tribes start pressing into Rome's borders.
Eventually, these tribes became citizens and were recruited into the Roman army. However, they had little loyalty to Rome -
330
Emperor Constantine moves his capital to Byzantium
This was the move that changed Rome's fate. This divided Rome into two parts: the Roman side, and the Byzantium side. It was later named New Rome, then Constantinople, and now it's Istanbul, Turkey. -
410
A Germanic tribe attacks and loots Rome
It was only a matter of time... -
476
The last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, is driven from the throne, Rome ends.
The Germanic tribes finally drove Emperor Romulus Augustus from the throne, and the Roman Empire ended. Modern historians mark the end of Rome as the end of the ancient era. However, the western side of the empire (the side with Constantinople on it) continued for 1,000 more years.
