0 A.D. Timeline feature

753 BC - Romulus founds Rome.
612 BC - Nineveh captured by allied forces of Medes and Chaldaeans. End of Assyrian Empire.
559 BC - Cyrus the Great becomes King of Persia.
550 BC - Battle of Pasargadae. Cyrus the Great conquers Media.
547 BC - Cyrus conquers Lydia.
539 BC - Battle of Opis River. Cyrus conquers Babylonia.
End of 530 BC - Cyrus the Great killed in a battle with the Scythians.
525 BC - Egypt conquered by the Persians.
519 - 517 BC - Darius the Great conquers NW India
514 - 512 BC - Darius fails to subdue Scythia. Thrace and Macedonia conquered.
509 BC - Tarquinius Superbus thrown out of Rome. Beginning of the Roman Republic.
500 - 494 BC - Revolt in Ionia. Athens, Sparta and Eritrea aid with ships. Sardis burnt.
500 BC - Halstatt celts cross the English Channel to the British Isles.
492 BC - Mardonius' fleet destroyed by storms off Mt. Atos.
490 BC - Eritrea destroyed by Persians. Athenians defeat Persian army at Marathon.
480 BC - Xerxes invades Greece. Persian victory at Thermopilae. Greek victory at Salamis.
479 BC - Battle of Platea, Mardonius murdered. Greeks defeat the Persian fleet at Mycale in Asia Minor.
478 BC - Persians lose their last possessions in Europe.
447 BC - Peace concluded between Athens and Persia. Ionia ceded to Athens by Artaxerxes I.
404 BC - Egypt becomes independent of Persia for about 50 years.
432 BC - Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta begins.
429 BC - Plague kills over one-third of the population of Athens, including Pericles. Morale in the city, where people are engaging in, among other things, excessive drinking and lewd behaviour, is low.
404 BC - Egypt becomes independent from Persia for about 50 years. End of Peloponnesian War. Sparta victorious.
390 BC - Gauls devastate Rome.
387 BC - "King's Peace" between Artaxerxes II and the Greek city-states.
368 BC - Gallic mercenaries fill the ranks of the army of Syracuse.
359 BC - Philip II becomes king of Macedon.
356 BC - Alexander, son of Philip, is born. Temple at Ephesus burns.
338 BC - Battle of Chaeronea. Greece loses its independence.
336 BC - Philip murdered by Pausanius in Agae. His son is crowned King of Macedon as Alexander III.
334 BC - Alexander invades Persia. Battle of Granicus.
333 BC - Battle of Issus.
331 BC - Battle of Gaugamela.
330 BC - Darius III murdered by his cousin Bessus, satrap of Bactria. Persepolis burnt by the drunken Alexander.
326 BC - Alexander invades India. Battle of Hydaspes.
323 BC - Alexander dies in Babylon. Perdicass regent. Ptolemy Lag cuts off Egypt.
321 BC - Perdicass murdered in war against Ptolemy.
316 BC - Antigonus the One-Eyed drives Seleucus Nicator out of Babylonia.
312 BC - Seleucus back in Babylon. Seleucia built on the Tigris. Beginning of Seleucid Era.
306 BC - Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus, defeats Ptolemy off Salamis in Cyprus. Antigonus and Demetrius proclaimed kings (basileus in Greek). Ptolemy, Seleucus and Lysimachus adopt this title, but not Cassander.
301 BC - Battle of Ipsus. The allied forces of Seleucus, Ptolemy and Cassander defeat Demetrius and Antigonus, who is killed in the fight.
300 BC - Seleucus builds Antioch.
297 BC - Death of Cassander.
294 - 288 BC - Demetrius I Poliorcetes, king of Macedon.
283 BC - Death of Demetrius. Seleucus makes war on Lysimachus. Death of Ptolemy I Soter.
281 BC - Seleucus defeats Lysimachus, who is killed in the fight. End of the Diadochi period. From now on the Seleucids (heirs of Seleucus) rule in Asia, Ptolemies (heirs of Ptolemy) rule in Egypt and Antigonids (heirs of Antigonus the One-Eyed) in Macedonia.
280 BC - Seleucus I murdered by the son of Prolemy I in Thrace. Antiochus I, Lord of Upper Asia.
279 BC - Beginning of the La Tene style of art in Britain.
280/277 BC - King Pyrrhus of Epirus invades Rome on call of Tarentum, aiming to build a Greek Empire in the West. After two hard-fought battles the Romans are defeated; in the third battle the king suffers defeat and retreats to Epirus.
280 - 275 BC - Gauls from central Europe invade Macedonia and Greece; Oracle at Delphi devastated by them. The barbarians then move to Asia Minor where they settle in the region, later called Galatia after them. Antigonus II, son of Demetrius Poliorcetes regains power in Macedonia.
277 - 239 BC - Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia
274 BC - Gallic warriors in the Greek, Egyptian and other armies of the near East.
272 BC - Pyrhus killed in a street-fight. Rome seizes Tarentum.
269 BC - Rome master of Italy.
264 BC - First Punic War begins between Rome and Carthage for possessions in Sicily.
264 BC - 241 BC - Celtic warriors involved in the First Punic War.
260 BC - Antiochus I Soter slain in a battle with the Gauls in Asia Minor.
247 BC - Parthia and Bactria break away from Seleucid rule. Arsaces I, king of Parthia.
243 - Aratus and the Achean League take the Acro-Corinthus from the Macedonians
241 BC - End of the First Punic War, Rome victorious.
239 BC - 229 BC - Demetrius II Aetolicus, king of Macedonia.
238 BC - Rome steals the islands of Sardinia and Corsica from Carthage.
231 BC - anti-Macedonian rebellion in Epirus.
230 BC - Dardanians invade Macedonia and defeat Demetrius II.
229 BC - 221 BC - Antigonus III Dosson, king of Macedonia.
223 - 189 BC - Antiochus III the Great, Lord of Asia.
222 BC - Battle of Sellasia. Antigonus III defeats the Spartans.
220 - 179 BC - Philip V, King of Macedonia.
218 BC - Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage begins. Hannibal seizes Sagunt. Celts involved as allies of Carthage in the Second Punic War. Their power in Italy declines. Roman presence in Spain. Start of the first campaign against the Celt - Iberians.
217 BC - Hannibal crosses the Alps.
216 BC - Battle of Cannae; Roman army is utterly destroyed.
214 - 205 BC - First Macedonian War between Rome and its allies and Macedonia.
205 BC - Ptolemy Philopator dies. Antiochus III of Asia and Philip V of Macedonia make an alliance against Egypt (Antiochus should get Egypt proper and Cyprus whereas Philip - Ionia and the Cycladian Isles).
202 BC - Battle of Zamma. Scipio Africanus defeats Hannibal.
201 BC - End of Second Punic War. Carthage becomes vassal to Rome.
198 BC - Battle of Panion. Antiochus III crushes the Egyptians, who cede their outer-sea colonies to the Seleucids.
197 BC - Battle of Cynoscephalae. Philip V defeated by the Romans. End of Second Macedonian War. Macedonia becomes vassal to Rome.
190 BC - Battle of Magnesia ad Syppilum. Antiochus III defeated by the Romans, who force him to cede his possessions in Asia Minor.
175 - 163 BC - Antiochus III Epiphanes, Lord of Asia. Defeats the Egyptians several times but is forced by the Romans to withdraw. Aims to halt Roman expansion by Hellenising all subjects in his empire.
179 - 168 BC - Perseus, son of Philip V, last king of Macedonia.
171 - 138 BC - Mithridates I, king of Parthia. He expands the boundaries of his kingdom greatly.
168 BC - Battle of Pidna. Perseus crushed by the Romans. End of Third Macedonian War. Macedonia split into 4 vassal kingdoms.
153 BC - 133 BC - Second Celt - Iberian war, also known as the Numantine Wars. Rome loses 60,000 from its population in 20 years, contrasting what it would normally gain in the same timeframe.
149 - 146 BC - Third Punic War. Scipio Aemilianus (grandson of Scipio Africanus) levels Carthage to the ground. It is turned into the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis.
146 BC - Corinth burnt by the Romans. Macedonia, Greece, and Epirus turned into the Roman province of Macedonia.
142 BC - The Parthians conquer Babylonia.
139 BC - Variatus, iberian resistor of Rome, assassinated.
135 BC - First Servile War begins when slaves in Sicily revolt. It will end three years later when their Syrian leader, Eunus, and his followers are brutally killed; 20,000 slaves are crucified.
133 BC - Tiberius Gracchi, Roman tribune, murdered. Atalid kingdom organised into Roman province of Asia. Scipio completes his besiegement of Numantia.
125 BC - Roman conquest of southern Gaul.
121 BC - Gaius Gracchi, younger brother of Tiberius murdered.
105 BC - Cimbri and Teutones defeat Roman forces at Orange.
102 BC - Cilicia becomes a Roman province.
102 BC - 101 BC - Roman forces destroy the Cimbri and Teutones.
100 BC - Goths cross the Baltic from the Scandinavian peninsula to northern Germany - Belgic Gauls begin migration to southern Britain.
99 BC - Second Servile War ends when Roman forces defeat an army of slaves.
96 BC - The Roman general Sulla reaches the Euphrates. First meeting between Romans and Parthians. The river is chosen as a border between the two empires.
November 82 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla erected dictator until death.
78 BC - Sulla resigns from power and withdraws from public life. He dies the next year.
73 BC - Third Servile War begins under the famous gladiator Spartacus, who with other gladiators and slaves takes control of Mount Vesuvius. He is defeated and killed 2 years later by Marcus Crassus. 6000 gladiators are crucified on the way from Rome to Capua.
64 BC - Gnay Pompey dethrones the last Seleucid king, Antiochus XIII, making Syria a Roman province. End of Seleucid Kingdom.
60 BC - Julius Caesar, Gnay Pompey and Marcus Crassus form the First Triumvirate.
59 BC - Caesar consul for the first time.
58 BC - Caesar receives the provinces of Galia Cisalpina, Illyricum and Narbonensis as well as proconsulate for 5 years. Beginning of the final subjugation of Gaul unto Rome.
58 - 50 BC - Julius Caesar conquers Gaul, defeats Germans, campaigns across the Rhine and in Britain.
55 BC - Conference of Lucca. Caesar's proconsulate extended for 5 more years. Pompey receives the two provinces of Spain, Crassus gets Syria. Roman forces probe southern Britain.
54 BC - Battle of Carrae. Crassus is defeated and murdered by the Parthians.
52 BC - Battle of Alesia. The leader of the Gaulish revolt Vercingetorix defeated and captured by Caesar. He is executed 6 years later after Caesar triumph in Rome.
January 11th, 49 BC - Caesar crosses the Rubicon River with his legions. Beginning of Civil War. By the end of the year he has taken all of Italy and is proclaimed dictator and consul. Pompey flees to Greece.
48 BC - Caesar dictator 2nd time, consul 3rd time. Battle of Ilerda (Spain). Caesar defeats Pompey's generals in Spain and seizes Massalia. Battle of Pharsalus. Caesar defeats Pompey, who is murdered in Egypt by Ptolemy XIII Dionysus.
48 - 47 BC - Alexandrian War. Caesar defeats the forces of Ptolemy XIII who is murdered. Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt.
47 BC - Antony left to govern in Rome. Caesar dictator 3rd time, consul 4th time. Caesar defeats the Borporic king Pharnaces in Pontus.
46 BC - Caesar dictator 4th time, consul 5th time. Battle of Tapsus. Caesar defeats Metellus Scipio and the Numidian king Juba. Corinth and Carthage rebuilt. Caesar reforms the calendar, henceforth the so called "Julian Calendar" is used throughout most of Europe until 1582, in Russia until the beginning of the 20th century. Caesar given dictatorship for 10 years by the Senate (46 - 36 BC).
45 BC - Caesar consul 6th time. "Spanish War". Caesar defeats the sons of Pompey the Great.
Beginning of 44 BC - Caesar consul 7th time, Antony consul. Caesar erected dictator till death. Campaign against Parthia planned for March the 18th.
Fest of Lupercal, 44 BC - Caesar resents kingly crowned, offered 3 times by Mark Antony.
March 15th, 44 BC (Ides of March) - 60 Roman Senators, headed by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus stab Caesar 23 times at the base of Pompey's statue in the Senate.
44 BC - Antony delivers Funeral Speech. Conspirators flee to Macedonia. Antony master of Rome. Caesar's will revealed - in it he adopts his great-nephew Gaius Octavianus and makes him his successor. Octavian in Rome. He accepts the name of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.
Beginning of 43 BC - Antony defeated at Mutina and forced north of the Alps by Octavius and the two consuls.
End of 43 BC - Antony returns to Rome aided by Lepidus and 16 legions. Gaius Octavius, Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus form Second Triumvirate, legalised by the Senate for the next 5 years.
42 BC - Mark Antony and Octavius defeat Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in Macedonia. The conspirators commit suicide.
41 BC - Antony meets Cleopatra in Tarsus and goes with her to Egypt.
40 BC - Treaty of Brundisium. Antony and Octavius divide the Roman Empire, receiving the East and the West respectively, Lepidus left only with Africa Proconsularis. Antony marries Octavius' sister Octavia. Sextus Pompey receives governorship of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.
36 BC - Antony fails to conquer Parthia. He marries Cleopatra at Antioch. Lepidus tries to attack Octavius but is captured and Octavius takes hold of Africa. Sextus Pompey finally overrun by Agrippa and Octavius.
35 BC - Antony makes alliance with the King of Media.
34 BC - Antony in Armenia.
33 BC - The Second Triumvirate legally brought to an end.
31 BC - Octavius urges the Senate to declare war on Cleopatra. Beginning of Civil War.
September 2nd, 31 BC - Battle of Actium. After Cleopatra's wicked flight in the middle of the battle, she is followed by Antony and Octavius defeats his army.
30 BC - Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide in Alexandria. Egypt made Roman province. End of Hellenistic Age.
January 23rd , 27 BC - Octavius made princeps by the Roman Senate and given the title "Augustus". The reign of the first Roman emperor henceforth known as Caesar Augustus marks the beginning of the Pax Romana (27 BC - 180 AD)
27 BC - 14 AD - Caesar Augustus, first emperor of Rome.
19 BC - Complete control of Spain gained.
4 AD - German territory as far as the Elbe pacified and organised into province of Germania Magna.
9 AD - Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. 17th, 18th and 19th Roman legions under Varus slain. Germania Magna lost.
14 AD - 37 AD - Tiberius, emperor of Rome.
19 AD - Germanicus Caesar, adopted son of Tiberius and governor of the eastern provinces, dies at Antioch. Cappadokia and Comagene organised into a Roman province.
23 AD - Livia Augusta, wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, dies.
37 AD - 41 AD - Gaius Caligula, emperor of Rome.
40 AD - Mauretania annexed and organised into two provinces.
41 AD - 54 BC - Claudius, emperor of Rome.
43 AD - Britain conquered.
44 AD - Thrace conquered.
54 - 68 AD - Nero, emperor of Rome.
60 AD - British revolt lead by Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni
61 AD - Paulinus crushes Boudican Revolt
68 AD - Nero murdered. Year of the Four Emperors.
69 AD - Romanisation of southern Britian is complete.
70 AD - General Titus quells a rebellion of the Jews - Destroys Jerusalem.
73 AD - Masada besieged, Jewish Zeolots commit suicide.
79 AD - Titus succeeds his father Vespasianus as emperor.
84 AD - Roman forces defeat the Caledonians in the northern Britian.
69 AD - 96 AD - Flavian Dynasty.
96 AD - 98 AD - Nerva, emperor of Rome.
97 AD - Nerva adopts Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, governor of Germania Superior.
98 AD - 117 AD - Trajan, emperor of Rome.
101 AD - 102 AD - First Dacian War. Dacia becomes vassal to Rome.
105 AD - 106 AD - Second Dacian War. Dacia becomes Roman province.
106 AD - Arabian kingdom of Nabatea Petra annexed.
114 AD - Armenia annexed.
115 AD - 116 AD - War with Parthia. Parthian capital Ctesiphon captured. Assyria and Mesopotamia turned into Roman provinces.
117 AD - Trajan dies at Tarsus.
117 AD - 138 AD - Hadrian emperor.
118 AD - Hadrian withdraws from Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia and parts of Dacia.
122 AD - Hadrian's Wall built in Britain between Newcastle and Carlisle.
138 AD - 161 AD - Antoninus Pius emperor.
150 AD - East German tribes begin drifting southward - some for permanent federations.
161 AD - 169 AD - Lucius Verus emperor.
161 AD - 180 AD - Marcus Aurelius emperor.
168 AD - War with Parthia. Verus conquers Mesopotamia as far south as Seleucia, where the legions catch plague.
169 AD - Verus dies from plague in Italy. Aurelius sole emperor. Southern Mesopotamia abandoned.
180 AD - Marcus Aurelius counters the assault of the Marcomanni and Quadi tribes in the Danube provinces; death of Aurelius. End of the Pax Romana.
180 AD - 193 AD - Commodus emperor.
198 AD - New province of Osroene added by emperor Septimius Severus.
211 AD - Septimius Severus dies at York.
212 AD - Edict of emperor Caracala makes all people in the Empire Roman citizens.
226 AD - Artabanus V of Parthia defeated and killed by the Persian prince Ardashir.
227 AD - Parthian Empire overrun by Sassanid Persia. Ardashir, first king.
235 AD - Emperor Alexander Severus murdered by his troops.
After 235 AD - disintegration of the Roman Empire. Palmyran Empire and Gallic Kingdom take away valuable territories.
269 AD - Gallic Kingdom abandons the Agri Decumates.
269 AD - 275 BC - Aurelian "Restitutor Orbis", emperor of Rome. He re-conquers Palmyran Empire and Gallic Kingdom and forces the barbarians north of the Danube.
272 AD - Aurelian abandons Dacia. Gepids and Goths fill the vacancy.
275 AD - Aurelian murdered by his troops while planning an assault on Persia.
November 11th, 284 AD - Lucius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian proclaimed emperor of Rome by the legions.
284 - 305 AD - Reign of Diocletian
285/286 AD - Diocletian promotes Maximian to the position of Augustus, giving him the West. Five years later they appoint to Caesars as well, Gallerius (East) and Constantius Chlore (West).
298 AD - Gallerius defeats the Persian king Narse.
May 1st, 305 AD - Diocletian and Maximian abdicate in favour of Gallerius and Constantius.
306 AD - Death of Constantius. His son, Constantine, is proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain.
311 AD - Death of Gallerius.
312 AD - Battle of the Mulvian Bridge. Constantine's forces, with "In hoc signo vinces" written on their shields, are victorious.
313 AD - Edict of Milan. Subjects of the Empire are free to have whatever religion they want (including Christianity).
324 AD - Death of Licinius. Constantine I sole emperor.
325 AD - First Ecumenical Council held at Nicea.
May 330 AD - The capital of the Roman Empire moved from Rome to the newly built Constantinople.
337 AD - Death of Constantine the Great.
358 AD - Ostrogoths come into contact with the Huns - a turco-mongoloid people.
361 AD - 363 AD - Julian the Apostate, last pagan Emperor of Rome. He is killed in a battle with the Persians.
372 AD - Huns attack Goths and over run them.
375 AD - Goths move closer to Rome to seek sanctuary from the Huns.
375 AD - 383 AD - Gracian, Western Emperor.
383 AD - Many Roman troops pulled out of Britain by Magnus Maximus.
378 AD - Battle of Adrianople. The Eastern Roman Emperor Valentus is defeated and killed by the Visigoths.
379 AD - 395 AD - Theodosius the Great, emperor of Rome.
380 AD - Theodosius bans all religions different from Orthodox Christianity. Germans, Sarmartians, and Huns are taken into Imperial service.
392 AD - Theodosius sole emperor.
395 AD - Before his death Theodosius divides the Empire between his sons - the 18 year-old Arcadius gets the East and the 10 year-old Honorius - the West.
395 AD - 408 AD - Arcadius, Eastern Emperor.
395 AD - 423 AD - Honorius, Western Emperor.
395 AD - 408 AD - Stilichon regent in the West.
402 AD - Goths invade Italy, and are defeated by Romano-Vandal General Stilicho. The capital of the Western Empire is moved from Rome to Ravenna.
December 31st, 406 - Thousands of barbarians cross the unguarded frozen Rhine River and move into Gaul.
407 AD - Last Roman regular leaves Britain to aid the Empire.
410 AD - The current Roman Empire tells the Britains to look to their own defences.
408 AD - 450 AD - Theodosius II, Eastern Emperor.
410 AD - The Visigoths of Alarich sack Rome.
429 AD - Britains under St. Germanus defeat the Anglo-Saxon and Pictish raiders in the "Alleluia" battle.
432 AD - St. Patrick mission to Ireland.
433 AD - Attila the Hun is born.
442 AD - 456 AD - Anglo-Saxons revolt in South Eastern Britain.
446 AD - Plague ravages Britain called the "Groans of Britain".
449 AD - Hengest and Horsa arrive in Kent
456 AD - Anglo-Saxons and Jutes defeat the Britons, who retreat to London.
450 AD - 457 AD - Marcian, Eastern Emperor.
451 AD - Attila leads the Huns and their German vassels into Gaul.
June 10th, 451 AD - The Roman general Auetius defeats Attila the Hun at Chalons.
452 AD - The Huns attack Italy. Attila invades Italy, but the Huns are bribed by the Pope to retire. Aquilea wiped off the face of the Earth. Its fleeing citizens found the city of Venice.
453 AD - Aetius murdered by Western Emperor Valentinian III. Attila the Hun suffocates to death.
455 AD - Valentinian III murdered by the Goths Opsila and Trastila, bodyguards of Aetius.
455 AD - The Vandals sack Rome.
468 AD - The expedition of the combined forces of the Western and Eastern Empires under Basiliscus are defeated by Genserich near Carthage. British King Riothamus fights the Visigoths in Gaul.
469 AD - 78 AD - Visigoths conquer most of Spain. Germain General Odoacer becomes king of Italy and recognised by the Eastern Emperor.
475 AD - 476 AD - Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the West.
476 AD - The Ostrogoths of Odoacer invade Italy. End of the Western Empire.
486 AD - Clovis becomes king of the Franks.
527 AD - 565 AD - Justinian the Great, Eastern Emperor.