Summary Hannibal moves south from Cisalpine Gaul, crosses the Apennines and ravages Etruria; Hannibal destroys a Roman army on the shores of Lake Trasimene; the consul Gaius Flaminius is killed; After his victory, Hannibal marches his army towards the Adriatic Sea to rest and re-equip his men; The Roman popular…
Summary Hannibal destroys a huge Roman army at the Battle of Cannae. The consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus and many other Roman nobles are killed, as are tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers; After his victory, Hannibal decides not to march his exhausted and depleted army to Rome; A young Roman…
Summary Hannibal captures Casilinum; A second dictator, Marcus Fabius Buteo, is nominated to revise the roll of senators; A Roman army is ambushed and annihilated by the Boii in the Litana forest. The consul elect Lucius Postumius Albinus is killed, his head cut off, gilded and used as a drinking cup;…
Summary The new consuls are Quintus Fabius Maximus and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, ‘the shield and sword of Rome’; Hannibal fails to capture Puteoli, Nola and Tarentum; The Romans recapture Casilinum and threaten Capua; Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus defeats the Carthaginian commander Hanno at the Battle of the river Calor near Beneventum;…
Summary The Romans recapture Arpi in Apulia; Hannibal fails to achieve anything significant in Italy; The proconsul Marcus Claudius Marcellus attacks Syracuse in a combined land and naval assault; With the aid of the mathematician and engineer Archimedes, the Syracusans repel the attack; The Romans keep Syracuse under siege while…
Summary Young Publius Cornelius Scipio is elected curule aedile; Publius Licinius Crassus becomes the new pontifex maximus; The praetor urbanus suppresses foreign religious cults; Trial of the publicanus Marcus Postumius from Pyrgi for deceiving the State; Tarentum is betrayed to Hannibal, but the Romans cling on to the citadel and…
Summary Ptolemaios IV Philopator sends grain to the Romans; Introduction of the silver denarius; The former praetor Gnaeus Fulvius Flaccus is put on trial for his defeat at Herdonea and forced to go into exile; Unable to raise the siege of Capua, Hannibal decides to march on Rome; Since the…
Summary Carthage fights for survival against rebellious mercenaries and North Africans in the Mercenary War (241-238 BCE); Rome refuses to help the rebels and sends aid to Carthage instead; Hamilcar Barcas defeats the rebels at the Battle of “The Saw” and goes on the quell the entire rebellion (238 BCE);…
Summary Conflicts with Celts and Ligurians; Rebellions on Sardinia and Corsica; The gates of the Temple of Janus are closed for the first time in Roman history (235 BCE); Quintus Fabius Maximus celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Ligurians (233 BCE); The popular assembly adopts a bill tabled…
Summary Illyrians under Queen Teuta start raiding Greek coastal areas. Roman and Italian ships are attacked as well, prompting a Roman intervention (230 BCE); The Romans win an easy victory over the Illyrians during the First Illyrian War (229-228 BCE). The Illyrians were a loose coalition of tribes, who usually…
Summary Hamilcar Barcas is killed in battle in Spain. He is succeeded by his son-in-law Hasdrubal (229 BCE); Hasdrubal founds the city of Carthago Nova (ca. 228 BCE); The number of praetors is increased from two to four (227 BCE); Hasdrubal and Rome sign a treaty, making the river Ebro…
Summary A large army of Boii, Insubres and Gaesatae invades Roman territory and pillages its way to Clusium; The Celtic army defeats a praetor near Faesulae or – more likely – Clusium; The consuls Lucius Aemilius Papus and Gaius Atilius Regulus win a decisive victory over the Celts at Telamon,…
Summary The consuls Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Titus Manlius Torquatus subjugate the Boii, but the remainder of their campaign is unsuccessful (224 BCE); The consuls Gaius Flaminius and Publius Furius Philus win a decisive victory over the Insubres and are both awarded a triumph (223 BCE); The consul Gnaeus Cornelius…
Summary Gaius Flaminius is elected censor and has the Circus Flaminius and the Via Flaminia built (220 BCE); Rome’s former ally Demetrios of Faros resumes his piratical activities, prompting a Roman campaign against the Illyrians (219 BCE); The Second Illyrian War ends in a decisive Roman victory. The consul Lucius…
The First Punic War between Rome and Carthage was, at the time, the largest conflict the Classical World had ever seen. The war lasted an almost unprecedented 23 years. Some of the largest naval battles in history took place during this conflict and there was a tremendous loss of life,…
Summary Rome and Carthage intervene on Sicily to aid the Mamertines of Messana; Carthaginian garrison expelled from Messana; Carthage and Syracuse form an alliance, but both are defeated by the consul Appius Claudius Caudex; The consul Marcus Fulvius Flaccus captures the Etruscan city of Volsinii and razes it to the…
Summary Successful Roman campaigns on Sicily by the consuls Manius Otacilius Crassus and Manius Valerius Maximus Messalla; Alliance between Rome and King Hiero of Syracuse; Now that order had been restored in Volsinii, the Romans could send both newly elected consuls to Sicily. Their names were Manius Otacilius Crassus and…
Summary The consuls Lucius Postumius Megellus and Quintus Mamilius Vitulus besiege Agrigentum, an important base for Carthaginian operations on Sicily (262 BCE); Carthage sends a large relief army led by Hanno to Agrigentum; The Romans defeat the Carthaginian relief army in the Battle of Agrigentum; The Romans capture Agrigentum and…
Summary The Romans build a fleet in record time; Disastrous start to the Roman naval campaign, as the consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina is captured; Using a new device called the corvus, the Romans win a decisive victory over the Carthaginians at the naval Battle of Mylae; The consul Gaius…
Summary The First Punic War continues without any major land or sea battles; First engagements between the Romans and Carthaginians near Corsica and Sardinia (259 BCE); Failed Roman attack on Panormus on Sicily (258 BCE); The Romans and Carthaginians fight each other to a draw at the naval Battle of…