Summary The consuls Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Gaius Sulpicius Gallus defeat the Alpine Celts and the Ligurians (166 BCE); The Romans and Athenians turn the island of Delos into a free trade zone, crippling the economy of Rhodos (ca. 166 BCE); Aiming to surpass the victory games held by Lucius…
Summary The consul Marcus Fulvius Nobilior defeats the Ligurian Eleates and is awarded a triumph (159 BCE); Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica and Marcus Popilius Laenas are elected censors (159 BCE); The Senate twice refuses to release the 1.000 Achaean hostages (159 and 155 BCE); The Romans for the moment decide…
Summary Because of the wars in Spain, the Romans decide to move the start of the consular year forward from 15 March to 1 January; The praetor Lucius Mummius defeats the Lusitanians and is awarded a triumph; The consul Quintus Fulvius Nobilior suffers several defeats against the Arevaci; The Senate…
Summary Death of the pontifex maximus and princeps senatus Marcus Aemilius Lepidus; The praetor Marcus Atilius Serranus defeats the Lusitanians and captures the city of Oxthraca; The consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus recaptures Ocilis and orders the Arevaci, Belli and Titti to send envoys to Rome to ask for peace; Marcellus…
Summary The Senate decides to continue the war against the Celtiberians, but there are serious problems with the levy of soldiers; The consuls are arrested by people’s tribunes who had been unable to obtain exemption from military service for their friends; Scipio Aemilianus volunteers to fight in Spain; Marcus Claudius…
Ik heb wel wat met de Via Appia, een van de bekendste Romeinse wegen in Italië. In 2013 wandelde ik samen met een vriend een heel stuk langs de oude weg, op weg naar de Catacomben van Sint-Calixtus. Onderweg passeerden we diverse bezienswaardigheden. Via de Boog van Drusus (die niets…
Our trip to Bassano del Grappa in the summer of 2017 can basically be summarised as follows: the Duomo: closed; the church of San Giovanni Battista on the Piazza Libertà: closed for maintenance; the famous Ponte Vecchio or Ponte degli Alpini: only partly accessible because of much needed repairs; the…
Ah, Asolo! This lovely little town in the foothills of the Dolomites was high on our list during our most recent summer holiday in Italy. And yet for some reason we kept procrastinating visiting it until the very last day of that holiday. We were certainly not disappointed when we…
The Ara Pacis Augustae – the Altar of Augustan Peace – is what one could call a monument in the wrong place. The large open-air altar is not in its original position. It can now be found next to the remains of the gigantic circular Mausoleum of Augustus, but it…
The Pantheon is one of Rome’s most famous landmarks. In its current form, it dates from the second century. What is special, is that it is still more or less in one piece and that it has never been substantially modified. Rome does have a few other buildings from the…
Although certainly not the most interesting church in Trastevere, the Santa Maria della Scala may come as a pleasant surprise to many. Behind a fairly simple facade, one can find a rich Baroque interior. The name of the church – Our Lady of the Staircase – refers to a medieval…
There is a fair chance that I would never have visited the small church of Sant’Egidio in Trastevere, had I not found it open on a mild winter evening in January of this year. I had walked past the simple facade of the church countless times, and since the gates…
Summary Death of King Antiochos III the Great of the Seleucid Empire; An epidemic hits Rome; In spite of efforts by the consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to thwart it, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior is allowed to hold a triumph for his victories in Greece; After much discussion in the Senate, Gnaeus…
Summary The consuls Spurius Postumius Albinus and Quintus Marcius Philippus suppress the Bacchanalia in Rome and the rest of Italy; The Senate adopts the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, which allows the Bacchanalia to continue under very strict conditions only; The consul Quintus Marcius Philippus is heavily defeated by the Ligurian…
Summary Lucius Manlius Acidinus celebrates an ovatio for his victories in Nearer Spain; The consuls Appius Claudius Pulcher and Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus campaign against the Ligurian tribes; The praetor Lucius Postumius puts down a slave rebellion in Apulia; After first suffering a reverse, the praetors Gaius Calpurnius Piso and Lucius…
Summary Marcus Porcius Cato and Lucius Valerius Flaccus serve as censors; The censors take several measures: Lucius Quinctius Flamininus is removed from the Senate for killing a man just to please his catamite; Lucius Scipio is stripped of his public horse; Lucius Valerius Flaccus at some point becomes the new…
Summary Dozens of Greek diplomatic missions visit the Senate in Rome; The Kingdom of Pontos captures Sinope on the Black Sea; The last Agiad King of Sparta, Agesipolis III, is killed by pirates while sailing to Rome; Scipio Africanus dies at his country estate in Liternum; Hannibal Barcas commits suicide…
Summary More Greek diplomatic missions visit the Senate in Rome; First diplomatic contacts between Rome and the Kingdom of Pontos; The Achaean strategos Philopoimen is captured by the Messenians and forced to drink poison; Tensions are growing between Perseus and Demetrios, the two sons of King Philippos of Macedonia; The…
Summary A serious epidemic hits Rome and the rest of Italy; The Romans once again elect duumviri navales to protect their coast and allies against Illyrian and Ligurian pirates; The praetor Marcus Pinarius defeats the rebellious Corsi on Corsica and the Ilienses on Sardinia; The Ligurian Ingauni besiege the proconsul…
Summary The epidemic in Rome and Italy continues to claim many lives, including those of several magistrates and priests; The Lex Villia Annalis sets minimum age requirements for holding the public offices of aedile, praetor and consul; The proconsuls Publius Cornelius Cethegus and Marcus Baebius Tamphilus force the Ligurian Apuani…