A Time Line of Roman Political History

1
A Time Line of Roman Political History
2
800 - 500 BC

• 753 legendary founding of Rome by Romulus
• 509 The republic is established, following the
  expulsion of the last Etruscan monarch

The Roman Forum was originally an open section of
Rome for public gatherings. Shops and temples
were eventually built there, and it became the
center of government. In the center is the
speakers platform to the left is the Arch of
Septimius Severus.
3
499 - 51 AD

• 494 The office of the tribune is created to
  protect the rights of the citizens
• 493 Rome joins Latin League formed by its
  neighbors for mutual defense
• 493 The Law of the Twelve Tables
• 449 Rome conquers southern Gaul
• 81 The aristocratic general Sulla becomes
  dictator he restores the power of the Senate
• 73-71 Sparticas leads a slave revolt that ends
  with bloody reprisal against the rebels

The Plan of the City of Rome around 300BC
4
50 - 40 BC

• 50 Julius Caesar completes the conquest of Gaul
• 44 Caesar is assassinated
• 44 Mark Antony takes command of Rome
• 43 Octavian, Caesars heir, is elected consul,
  he then forms the Second Triumvirate

One of the greatest political and military
leaders of all time, Gaius Julius Caesar created
and rules the Roman Empire.Caesars triumph in a
civil war in the 40s BC made him the absolute
ruler of Rome, but political jealousies among his
opponents motivated them to assassinate him.
5
The Second Triumvirate

• Following Caesar's death, Augustus formed a
  strategic alliance with Marc Antony a powerful
  general who also wanted supremacy. Together, they
  massacred their enemies in the capital, then
  pursued their rivals to the shores of Greece
  where they fought and won two of the bloodiest
  battles in Roman history. When the carnage ended,
  the empire was theirs. Augustus, Antony and
  Caesar's ally Lepidus divided the spoils of war
  and formed the Second Triumvirate, a political
  union that gave each man rule over a third of the
  empire.Augustus remained in Rome, while Antony
  took control of Egypt a land not formally
  joined to Rome, but firmly under the empire's
  command. There, he joined forces with Egypt's
  queen, Cleopatra. When Antony fell deeply in love
  with his beautiful new ally, many feared the
  ambitious queen was scheming to rule Rome
  herself. Similar rumors had spread during her
  earlier alliance with Julius Caesar. Ancient
  historians, like Cassius Dio, believed that was a
  fateful move

6
39- 0 BCOctavian Becomes Emperor

• 31 Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra
  at Actium.
• 30 Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide.
  Egypt annexed.
• 28 Octavian appointed Princeps Senatus.
• 27 Octavian given the title Augustus
  Caesar, becomes Emperor
• 18 17Augustus introduces moral legislation
• ca. 6-4 Jesus born

7
1- 35 AD

• 6 --- Annexation of Judeae
• 30 or 33 --- Jesus crucified
• 14 --- Augustus dies, Tiberius named Emperor
• 26 --- Tiberius retires to the island of Capri,
  ever to return to Rome
• 37 --- Tiberius dies. Caligula named Emperor

ltTiberius Caligulagt
8
40 - 60 AD

• 41- Caligula assassinated. Claudius named Emperor
• 43- the conquest of Britain begins
• 48- Murder of Messalina, wife of Calaudius
• 48- Claudius marries Agrippina the Younger,
  mother of Nero
• 54- Claudius assassinated by Agrippina the
  Younger. Nero named Emperor
• 59- Nero orders murder of his mother, Agrippina
  the Younger

9
61-70 AD

• 64 Rome burns. Nero blames Christians for
  the fire, order first persecution.
• 65 Nero kicks his wife Poppaea to death.
  The Pisonian conspiracy against Nero fails. The
  philosopher Seneca and others forced to commit
  suicide.
• 66 Jewish revolt begins. Vespasian leads
  legions against the Jews in Judaea.
• 67 The Jewish leader Josephus surrenders
  to the Romans at Jotapata.
• 68 Nero declared public enemy by the
  Senate, commits suicide, thereby ending the
  dynasty of Augustus. Galba named Emperor.
• 69 Galba assassinated. Civil war erupts as
  generals fight for the throne. Otho and Vitellius
  reign briefly. Vespasian named Emperor and founds
  the Flavian dynasty.

Nero
10
70- 100 AD

• 79 Vespasian dies, son Titus Emperor. Mount
  Vesusius erupts
• 80 The coliseum complete
• 81 Titus dies, brother Domitian Emperor
• 96 Domitian Assassinated. Nerva named Emperor
• 98 Nerva dies. Trajam becomes Emperor

Once a thriving city in ancient Italy, Pompei
literally disappeared with the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius in AD 79. After a devastating earthquake
in AD 63 decimated the city, Vesuvius emitted
poisonous gases into the atmosphere and covered
Pompeii with ash and mud. The ash mixed with rain
and settled around the volcanos victims,
creating molds that remained intact long after
the bodies had decayed.
11
The Disintegration and Fall of the Roman Empire

• When Commodus became emperor in AD 180, the age
  of the good emperors came to an end
• 192, a civil war between rival claimants to the
  imperial throne penetrated every corner of the
  empire and changed all aspects of Roman life.
• Between AD 193 and 235 a series of rulers known
  as the Severan dynasty ruled Rome
• After Septimius Severus, all power derived from
  the army, which claimed to represent the Roman
  people.
• During the 3rd century, renegade armies,
  rebellions, and foreign invasions brought Romes
  social and economic system to the point of
  collapse.

12
Constantine the Great

• In 312 Constantine invaded Italy, where he
  triumphed in the battle of the Milvian Bridge. In
  a dream Constantine saw a cross with the words,
  In this sign you will be the victor. The vision
  inspired the emperor to emblazon Christian
  insignia on the shields of his soldiers, and his
  victory at the Milvian Bridge convinced him the
  Christians militant god possessed great power.
  Constantines military success also led him to
  proclaim the Edict of Milan, which established
  toleration of all religions, including
  Christianity.

13
The Fall

• Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire
  remained strong, while the Western Roman Empire
  began a steady decline in the face of economic
  disintegration, weak emperors, and invading
  Germanic tribes.
• In 410 the Goths sacked Rome
• The west collapsed
• There is no simple explanation for the collapse
  of the Western Roman Empire
• The central government quietly collapsed in 476
  BC

14

• The rule of the Roman Empire had come to an end
  after centuries of dominance throughout Europe
  and Northern Africa. The world had changed
  because of the Roman Empire.