Download Outline of Roman History

OUTLINE OF MAJOR EVENTS
IN ROMAN HISTORY
Rome was founded April 21, 753 B.C. according to long tradition.
753 B.C. - 509 B.C. Monarchy of seven kings
509 B.C. - 27 B.C. Republic ruled by two consuls
27 B.C. - 476 A.D. Rome ruled by emperors
The Seven hills of Rome: Aventine, Palatine,
Esquiline, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Caelian
The Tiber River flows among the hills, southwest
toward the port city of Ostia.
The Age of Kings
753 B.C. - 509 B.C.
Romulus: Deified name Quirinus; murdered his
brother Remus when he mocked the trench and wall
(pomerium) Romulus was building; established the
asylum, offering sanctuary to persons displaced or
exiled, in order to increase settlement’s population.
Numa Pompilius: Sabine king, very religious,
established many laws and customs, made first
10-month calendar; advised by his wife Tatia, who
was taught by the nymph Egeria.
Tullus Hostilius: Hostile king; engaged in battle
with Alba Longa; triplet brothers Horatii (Romans)
and Curiatii (Albans) fought; Horatii won; sole
survivor Horatius killed sister Horatia because she
mourned the death of a Curiatius; Tullus was
killed by lightning when he defied the gods.
Ancus Martius: Sabine king, Numa’s grandson;
built the first wooden bridge over the Tiber River;
founded Ostia, Rome’s seaport; annexed the
Aventine Hill, and settled plebeians there.
Tarquinius Priscus: Built the first circus,
instituted Roman games and triumphs (military
victory parades), built the Cloaca Maxima (sewer
system); assassinated by the sons of Ancus Martius.
Servius Tullius: Took the first census; annexed
Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline hills.
Tarquinius Superbus: Proud and arrogant;
Brutus and Collatinus led a popular rebellion
against him and in 509 B.C. became the first two
consuls of the Republic.
The Age of the Republic
509 B.C. - 27 B.C.
Lucius Junius Brutus and Collatinus were the first
consuls.Tarquinius Superbus enlisted Etruscan
king Lars Porsenna to help him to attempt to
regain power in Rome; he was unsuccessful.
496 Rome engaged in the Battle of Lake Regillus
against the Latins; marked by the appearance
of the gods Castor and Pollux (Gemini).
494
Office of tribune created, to provide
representation of the plebeian, or “lower”
class.
458 Cincinnatus became the first to invoke
emergency power of dictator following
incursion of outlying tribes; when the
emergency passed, he relinquished the
dictatorship.
451-450 Twelve Tables of the Law compiled by
the decemviri.
449 The number of tribunes was increased from
two to ten.
445
Lex Canuleia passed, allowing intermarriage between patricians and plebeians.
390 The Gauls defeated the Romans in battle.
264-241 The First Punic War between Rome
and the North African empire of
Carthage. (The Romans called the
Carthaginians the Poeni, because
Carthage was colonized by the
Phoenicians.)
234
Birth of Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the
Elder), the Censor who would later exclaim
“Karthago delenda est” in the senate.
219-202 Second Punic War.
217
Battle of Lake Trasimene, first
major battle; Romans were defeated;
Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator
(“the Delayer”) named dictator;
216 Battle of Cannae, significant defeat
for the Romans; the consul Varro
was killed;
202 Battle of Zama, in North Africa;
Roman general Scipio Africanus
defeated Hannibal.
180
Lex Villia Annalis passed, setting
minimum ages for offices of the cursus
honorum.
153
Consuls assumed office on Kalends
of January.
149
Death of Cato the Elder, three years before
the destruction of Karthage.
149-146 Third Punic War.
146
Carthage destroyed by Rome; Rome
also seized Corinth and took control of
Greece.
135-132 First Servile War waged in Sicily.
133 Tribune Tiberius Gracchus murdered by
mob led by patricians opposed to his radical
land reforms.
121 Gaius Gracchus, brother of Tiberius, also
killed; his death resulted from the first-ever
application of the senatus consultum ultimum
(“extreme decree of the senate”).
118-104 The Jugurthine War; the Roman general
Marius defeated the eastern king Jugurtha.
107; 104-100;86 Marius served as consul an
unprecedented seven times; allowed
subsequent powerful leaders leeway to
skirt laws and traditions of Republican
government.
106 Birth of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
104
Second Servile War waged in Sicily.
100 Birth of Gaius Julius Caesar.
90
Lex Julia passed offering citizenship to
allies that had not fought against Rome in
the social wars.
89
Lex Plautia Papiria passed, offering
citizenship to allies who had previously fought
against Rome; it was introduced by a Tribune
of the Plebs.
84 The poet Catullus was born.
82
Sulla “Felix” defeated the followers of
Marius and took control of Rome.
82-79 Sulla held the dictatorship; he extensively
reorganized the Roman government, and reset
minimal ages to offices in the cursus honorum.
73-71 Spartacus’ slave revolt put down by Pompey
and Crassus.
70 and 55 Pompey and Crassus served as
consuls together.
70 The poet Vergil was born.
67
65
63
Lex Gabinia introduced by a Tribune,
granting Pompey vast power against the
pirates of the Mediterranean.
The poet Horace was born.
Catilinarian conspiracy; Lucius Catilina
and associates plotted to overthrow the
government and murder the leadership;
Cicero needed to deliver only the first
of four prepared speeches to the senate;
conspirators fled Rome.
63
Octavian (later Augustus) was born.
62
Defeat and death of Catiline.
60
First Triumvirate; Caesar, Pompey, and
Crassus struck agreement at Luca.
59
Consulship of Caesar and Bibulus,
known as the “consulship of Julius and
Caesar” due to Bibulus’ weakness.
58-51 Caesar waged campaigns in Gaul;
extended term of governorship; ultimately
he was granted emergency control of all
three Gallic provinces.
58 Publius Clodius Pulcher exiled Cicero.
56 First Triumvirate reaffirmed at Luca.
54
The poet Catullus died.
53
Battle of Carrhae; Crassus killed by
Parthians.
52
Vercingetorix defeated Caesar at Gergovia;
Caesar defeated Vercingetorix at Alesia.
Pompey served as sole consul.
50
Pompey was asked to save the state;
Tribunes left Rome.
49-45 Civil War
49 Caesar crossed Rubicon River, bringing
his army into Italy and declaring war
against the state;
48
Pompey defeated Caesar in
Dyrrhachium; Caesar defeated Pompey
at Pharsalus; Pompey fled into Egypt;
and was beheaded;
45 Caesar defeated the sons of Pompey
in Spain.
44 Julius Caesar murdered in conspiracy
of senators led by Brutus and
Cassius; Caesar’s will provided for
the adoption of Octavian as his son
and heir; Marc Antony became
second consul.
43
Cicero was killed at the order of Antony
and possibly Octavian; the Second
Triumvirate was formed by Antony, Lepidus,
and Octavian; legalized by Lex Titia;
the poet Ovid was born.
42
Antony and Octavian defeated Caesar’s
assassins Brutus and Cassius.
37
Second Triumvirate reaffirmed;
Antony and Cleopatra married in Egypt.
31
Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony
and Cleopatra in naval engagement near
Actium in Greece.
29
Dedication of Temple of Divus Julius
on the site of Caesar’s cremation in Forum
Romanum; rostra from ships defeated
at Actium affixed to foundation wall.
The Early Empire
27
Motion made to confer title “Augustus”
(“revered”) on Octavian.
19
The poet Vergil died; Augustus disregarded Vergil’s instructions to burn the
unfinished Aeneid.
17
Augustus adopted his grandsons, Gaius and
Lucius Caesar, making them potential heirs.
13
Death of Lepidus; Augustus was sole
surviving triumvir.
12
Augustus became Pontifex Maximus;
death of Marcus Agrippa, Augustus’
admiral, friend, and possible heir.
8
Deaths of the poet Horace and the
literary patron Maecenas.
2
Augustus was granted the title pater
patriae; Augustus banished his daughter
Julia from Rome for moral turpitude.
2
Death of Lucius Caesar.
4
Death of Gaius Caesar.
8
Ovid banished to Tomi by Augustus for
“carmen et error” (Ars Amatoria, and
possible improper involvement with, or
influence on, Julia, Augustus’ daughter).
14
Augustus Caesar died, possibly by
poisoning at the hands of Livia, his wife;
he was without direct heir.
17
The poet Ovid died, without having
been allowed to return to Rome.
19
Death of Germanicus, Augustus’ stepson
and presumed heir; Germanicus’ brother
Tiberius became emperor.
Julio-Claudian Dynasty
27 B.C.-68 A.D.
Augustus
Tiberius
Caligula
Claudius
Nero
27 B.C.-14 A.D.
14-37
37-41
41-54
54-68
The Republican Cursus Honorum
Tribune of the Plebs
Annually elected by the plebeian section of the
Assembly of the Tribes (Comitia Tributa), known
as the Concilium Plebis, there were originally two,
but by 449 there were ten. The person of the tribune
was sacrosanct and he could veto anyone, except
a dictator, including another tribune. The office,
an alternative to ten years’ service in the cavalry,
was often attained through nepotism, a practice
accepted and commonly employed.
Quaestor
The first position in the cursus was Quaestor,
whose term was a year. Originally there were two
Quaestors, but the number was increased to 4
in 421 and then to 6 in 267, and then to 8 in 227.
In 81, the number was increased to 20.
They were selected by the Assembly of the 35 tribes,
the Comitia Tributa.
Quaestors supervised the treasury and the
financial affairs of the state, the army, and
the military officers.
Aedile
Two Plebeian Aediles were chosen each year by
the Concilium Plebis and two Curule Aediles
were picked annually by the Assembly of the 35
tribes, the Comitia Tributa. It was not necessary
to be an aedile while following the
cursus honorum.
Aediles saw to the maintenance of public
buildings, the oversight of public festivals, and
the enforcement of public order.
Praetor
Elected by the Assembly of the Centuries, the
Comitia Centuriata, the (originally) two Praetors
held office for a year. The number increased to 4
in 227; and then to 6 in 197. In 81, the number
was increased to 8. Praetors were accompanied
by two lictores within the confines of the city.
Praetors were viewed as peers to the consuls,
and the office was probably created to relieve
the consul of responsibilities to the law courts.
Outgoing praetors became eligible on an equal
basis with consuls to serve as provincial
governors.
Consul
Two in number, the annually elected consuls
were elected by the Assembly of the Centuries,
the Comitia Centuriata. Twelve lictores and
the toga praetexta were two of their honors.
The minimal age of eligibility for election to
the consulship was 41 for patricians, and 42
for plebeians; however Cicero was the first
equestrian to attain the office. Each consul
had power of veto (“I forbid”) over the other.
Outgoing consuls became provincial
governors.
The sequence of offices in the cursus honorum
meant that an office couldn’t be skipped.
Quaestorship must precede praetorship and
praetorship must precede consulship, but the
candidate need not have been either an aedile
or tribune. The candidate aspiring to be quaestor
had to be at least 28 and there must be two years
between the end of one office and the beginning
of the next step in the cursus honorum.
The outline of Roman history was adapted and expanded from
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Sparta/9909/classics.html
The information concerning the cursus honorum was adapted and expanded
from
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_cursus_honorum.htm
Main Source:
Marsh, Frank Burr; revised by H.H. Scullard. A History of the Roman World
From 146 to 30 B.C. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1971.