The lovely Dutch town of Valkenburg aan de Geul, located in the south of the province of Limburg, has a very special museum. The address is Plenkertstraat 55. Museum Romeinse Katakomben (Roman Catacombs Museum) does not just have a name that is a little peculiar – it is spelled ‘katakomben’…
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…