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 King Philippos V of Macedonia and an anti-Macedonian alliance led by Pergamum and Rhodos fight each other to a draw at the naval Battle of Chios; Philippos wins a minor victory over the Rhodians at the naval Battle of Lade; Pergamum and Rhodos send envoys to Rome to ask…
Summary Using a Macedonian attack on Athens as a casus belli, the Romans decide to declare war on King Philippos; Since the funds in the treasury are needed for the war with Philippos, creditors that have lent money to the State during the Second Punic War are allowed to lease…
Summary Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and Publius Aelius Paetus serve as censors; Scipio becomes the new princeps senatus; The praetor Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus is heavily defeated by the Insubres; The proconsul Lucius Manlius Acidinus is awarded an ovatio for his victories in Spain, but it is vetoed by a people’s…
Summary In spite of his young age, Titus Quinctius Flamininus becomes one of the new consuls; he is given the war against Macedonia as his province; The praetor urbanus Lucius Cornelius Merula suppresses a slave revolt in Latium, presumably the first in Roman history; Flamininus outflanks the Macedonian positions and…
Summary For the first time in their history, the Romans elect six praetors instead of four; two of them are sent to the two new Spanish provinces; Titus Quinctius Flamininus’ command in the war against King Philippos of Macedonia is prolonged; The consul Gaius Cornelius Cethegus wins a major victory…
Summary The popular assembly votes in favour of peace with Macedonia; decemviri are sent to Greece; The situation in Spain is grave after a heavy Roman defeat; The college of the tresviri epulones is set up in Rome; The praetor Manius Acilius Glabrio suppresses a slave revolt in Etruria; After…
Summary The Romans declare war on the Seleucid Empire; King Antiochos attacks Larisa in Thessaly, but is forced to withdraw when a small Roman relief force arrives in the region; The consul Manius Acilius Glabrio lands at Apollonia, marches into Thessaly and recaptures all the cities that had previously fallen…
Summary The Senate releases Demetrios, son of King Philippos of Macedonia, and cancels the king’s obligation to pay an annual tribute; Negotiations between Rome and the Aetolian League break down as the Romans continue to demand a deditio; the war continues; Manius Acilius Glabrio captures Lamia and besieges Amphissa in…
Summary The Latin colony of Bononia is founded; The new praetor of Hispania Ulterior, Lucius Baebius Dives, is killed on the way to his province; Lucius Aemilius Paullus continues his campaigns against the Lusitani and wins a great victory; The pontifex maximus Publius Licinius Crassus prohibits the praetor and flamen…
Summary Publius Cornelius Scipio, just 26 years old, is elected proconsul and sent to Spain; The Romans disband the only legion fighting the war in Macedonia and continue the war with just the fleet and marines; The Romans capture the island of Aigina and sell it to Pergamum for thirty…
Summary The consul Marcus Valerius Laevinus and the Senate bicker about the appointment of a dictator; Quintus Fabius Maximus is nominated princeps senatus; Gaius Mamilius Atellus becomes the first plebeian curio maximus; Exhausted by the war, 12 of the 30 Latin colonies in Italy refuse to provide the Romans with…
Summary Gaius Valerius Flaccus is consecrated as flamen Dialis against his will and successfully claims a seat in the Senate; Unrest in Etruria; The consuls, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius Crispinus, are ambushed by Hannibal’s Numidian cavalry during a careless reconnaissance mission; Marcellus is killed, Crispinus dies of his…
Summary For the first time during the Second Punic War, the Roman coastal colonies are required to provide soldiers; Hasdrubal Barcas arrives in Cisalpine Gaul, but fails to capture the Latin colony of Placentia; The consul Gaius Claudius Nero confronts Hannibal near Grumentum; The Romans intercept couriers with a message…
Summary Publius Cornelius Scipio wins his first consulship and is given the province of Sicily; Scipio suffers a political defeat in the Senate as he is denied the province of Africa; Volunteers from all over Italy flock to Scipio’s army and fleet; Mago Barcas lands in Liguria and sacks Genua;…
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 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…