In Antiquity, Boulogne-sur-Mer on the Channel and the Roman colony of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium at Cologne in present-day Germany were connected by an important road. We do not know whether this road had a name in the Roman era itself, but nowadays it is usually called the Via Belgica.…
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…
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…
Summary The Illyrian king Genthios is prepared to defect to Perseus in return for a large sum of gold; The Romans make no headway at all in Illyria and Epirus, and Perseus fails to take Stratos; The consul Quintus Marcius Philippus arrives in Thessaly and takes control of the army;…
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…
Summary Decemviri are appointed to assist Lucius Aemilius Paullus in settling affairs in Macedonia; a committee of five men is set up to assist Lucius Anicius Gallus in Illyria; The Romans are unhappy about the efforts of their allies during the Third Macedonian War; Attalos of Pergamum is given a…
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…
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…
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…