Category: Roman history
The Third Macedonian War: The Year 171 BCE

Summary Rome declares war on Macedonia; start of the Third Macedonian War; A conflict regarding the recruitment of centurions is resolved through an intervention by the veteran Spurius Ligustinus; The Boeotian League is dissolved, but some former members decide to support King Perseus; Quintus Marcius Philippus is criticised by senior…
The Third Macedonian War: The Year 170 BCE

Summary Publius Licinius Crassus sacks Koroneia, for which he is severely reprimanded; Some of the Epirotes defect to Perseus; The new consul Aulus Hostilius Mancinus is almost captured en route to Thessaly; Mancinus fails to force his way into Macedonia with his army; Mancinus sends a diplomatic delegation through all…
The Third Macedonian War: The Year 169 BCE
The Third Macedonian War: The Year 168 BCE

Summary The Illyrian king Genthios defects to Perseus for 300 talents, although only 10 are actually paid; A Macedonian fleet surprises a Pergamenian transport fleet taking Galatian auxiliary horsemen to Greece; The praetor Lucius Anicius Gallus defeats and captures Genthios, ending the war in Illyria within the month; The consul…
The End of Macedonia: The Year 167 BCE
Policeman of the Mediterranean: The Years 166-160 BCE
Policeman of the Mediterranean: The Years 159-154 BCE

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…
Lusitanian and Celtiberian Wars: The Year 153 BCE

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…
Lusitanian and Celtiberian Wars: The Year 152 BCE

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…
Lusitanian and Celtiberian Wars: The Year 151 BCE

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…
The Trial of Lucius Scipio: The Year 187 BCE
The Bacchanalia: The Year 186 BCE

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…
Relative Peace: The Year 185 BCE

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…
Cato the Censor: The Year 184 BCE

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…
The Deaths of Scipio and Hannibal: The Year 183 BCE

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…
The Greek Tragedy: The Year 182 BCE

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…
Aquileia: The Year 181 BCE

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…
Lex Villia Annalis: The Year 180 BCE

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…
Gracchus in Spain: The Year 179 BCE

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…