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…
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 Marcius 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 becomes the new princeps senatus; the…
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…
Summary The brothers Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus Fulvianus are elected consul, the only time in the history of the Roman Republic that two brothers share the consulship; Quintus Fulvius Flaccus celebrates a triumph for his victories in Nearer Spain; Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior serve…
Summary Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Lucius Postumius Albinus celebrate triumphs for their victories in Spain; Rebellious Ilienses on Sardinia join forces with a group of Balari; The consul Aulus Manlius Vulso launches a campaign against the Histri; after losing his camp in a surprise attack, the consul strikes back and…
Summary Marcus Claudius Marcellus, son of the hero of the Second Punic War, dies; A Roman colony is founded at Luni; The consul Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus defeats the Ilienses and the Balari on Sardinia; A Lex Claudia aims to force Latins that have moved to Rome to return to their…
Summary Ligurians overrun the Roman colony of Mutina (late 177 or early 176 BCE); The consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Hispalus dies after attending the Latin festival (176 BCE); The proconsul Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus brings all of Sardinia back under Roman control (176 BCE); The proconsul Gaius Claudius Pulcher recaptures Mutina…
Summary Titus Quinctius Flamininus dies; Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Aulus Postumius Albinus serve as censors; Scipio Africanus’ son Lucius is removed from the Senate for unknown reasons; Another epidemic hits Italy; The propraetor Appius Claudius Cento wins a victory over the Celtiberians in Nearer Spain; A delegation led by Gaius…
Summary The praetor Gaius Cicereius puts down a rebellion on Corsica; The consul Lucius Postumius Albinus settles a land dispute in Campania; The censor Quintus Fulvius Flaccus consecrates a temple for Fortuna Equestris; in order to embellish it, he steals half of the marble roof tiles from the temple of…
Summary For the first time in Roman history, two plebeian consuls are elected; A new law mandates the censors to lease public land in Campania to Roman citizens for cultivation; The row between the Senate and Gaius Popilius Laenas continues as the latter again attacks the Ligurian Statellati without justification;…
This short post is about a very special day of the year, 25 December. On this day, Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate Christmas everywhere in the world. On the internet, you will often find the claim that the date of 25 December derives from the ancient cult of Mithras, which…
