199BC-100BC

World History- Major Events

198 BC 6 AD... Herod Deposed -The Fifth Syrian War ended at the Battle of Banyais, between Antiochus II (King of the Seleucid Empire) and Ptolemy V of Egypt. The Egyptians were decisively defeated by Antiochus' forces, and were forced to cede all their territory -- with the exception of the Sinai Desert -- to the Seleucids.

197 BC 9 AD... German Tribes Destroy

3 Roman Legions - The Romans became involved in the second Macedonian War after an appeal by Athens and the other Greek city-states against Philip and Antiochus of Syria. Rome defeated Philip at the Battle of Cynocephalae and the Greeks were forced to surrender. Under terms of the agreement, the Greeks were left nominally independent.

195 BC 9 AD... Hsin Dynasty - Kao Tsu, first emperor of the Han dynasty, died in 195 B.C. During his reign, he expanded the Empire pushing the Huns out of China and occupying inner Mongolia. Han opened the silk route to Syria and founded the Chinese civil service.

172 -168 BC 14 AD... Tiberius Secedes Augustus - The Third Macedonian War broke out after Perseus revived the Macedonian army and became a renewed threat to Roman influence. The Roman Legions, led by Consul Aemilius, destroyed the Macedonian army at the Battle of Pydna.

160 BC 25 AD... Han Dynasty Founded - The Jews in Judea were prohibited from practicing their religion. In 167 B.C. the Jews, led by an aged priest Mattityahu and his five sons, led a revolt against the Seleucid Empire. Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattityahu, liberated Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple. This led to independence for Judea.

149 BC 41 AD... Caligula Assassinated - The Third Punic War occurred as a result of Rome's obsession with Carthage. Roman Senator Cato would end every speech with "Carthage must be destroyed". The Roman army landed at Carthage and laid siege to the city. The siege lasted three years, but in the end, the Romans captured Carthage and razed the city.

149 - 148 BC 51 AD... Conquest Of Wales

Completed By Romans - The Macedonians led by Andricus, who claimed to be a son of Perseus, rebelled against Roman rule. The Romans defeated the Macedonians, made Macedonia a province of Rome and executed Andricus.

148 BC 54 AD... Claudius Murdered,

Nero Emperor - Masinissa, King of the Numidia, changed the lifestyle of the Berbers from nomadic to agricultural. He died in 148 B.C. after a rule of 60 years.

146 BC 64 AD... Rome Burns - At the end of a three-year siege, the Romans captured Carthage. The city was completely razed. The area was reorganized as the Roman province of Africa.

144 BC 66 AD... Judaea Rebels

Against Rome - By 144 BC the Roman had developed an extensive aquedeuct system to bring water to Rome. The Romans had developed hydralic cement which did not dissolve in water, and this allowed them to build bigger aqueducts.

142 BC 68 AD... Year of the Four Emperors - The Pons Aemilius bridge was built across the Tiber River. It was the first bridge to use stone arches.

135 BC 70 AD... Jerusalem Falls - The slaves of Sicily revolted. The revolt was led by the Syrian Eunus. In the course of three years of fighting, the revolt was put down. Most of the rebels were executed.

134 BC 73 AD... Masada Falls - Simon Maccabeus and his two older sons were assassinated by his son-in law. Simon was succeeded by his remaining son, John Hyrcanus. He successfully extended Judea to include Samaria and lands to the east of the Jordan River.

133 BC 78 AD... Kushan Dynasty - Gaius Gracchus came to power. he was more forceful then his slain brother Tiberias. Gaius reenstated the land reforms of his brother with a vengeance. His actions were not popular with the senate, and they refused him a third term as tribune. The result was chaos in Rome. The ensuing fighting resulted in the death of Gaius and many of his supporters.

123 BC 79 AD... Mount Vesuvius Explodes - Gaius Gracchus came to power. he was more forceful then his slain brother Tiberias. Gaius reenstated the land reforms of his brother with a vengeance. His actions were not popular with the senate, and they refused him a third term as tribune. The result was chaos in Rome. The ensuing fighting resulted in the death of Gaius and many of his supporters.

120 BC 80 AD... Coloseum Dedicated - In 120 BC Hipparchus died. He was the greatest astronomier of ancient times. He created a complete catalogue of the stars, listing their latitudes and longitudes.

103 - 101 BC 89 AD... Domitian's Reign Of Terror - The second Servile War broke out when slaves in Sicily under Tryphon and Athenion revolted. The Roman consul M. Aquilas quelled the revolt only after great effort.

100 - 50 BC

91 - 88 BC The Social War - The Social War broke out when Italians who were not citizens of the Roman Empire revolted. While parts of the revolt were settled only on the battlefield, it was not until all Italians were offered citizenship in Rome that the rebellion finally ended.

89 - 84 BC The Mithridatic War - The Mithridatic war broke out between Rome and the Anatolian Kingdom of Pontus. The war was precipitated by the seizure of Roman protectorates by Mithridates IV. The Anatolians gained control of the sea and formed alliances with Athens and other Greek city-states. The Romans appointed Consul Sulla to fight the Anatolians. The Romans retook Athens and then defeated the Mithridates at the Battles of Chaerona and Orchomenus, in central Greece. Finally, the Roman navy defeated the Mithridates' navy.

The war ended with the Treaty of Dardanus in 84 B.C., under whose terms the Mithridates gave up all the captured territories and paid a fine to Rome.

82 BC Consul Sulla Enters Rome - In 82 B.C., Consul Sulla returned to Rome after subduing opponents of Roman rule. Sulla was elected dictator of Rome. He then brutally repressed all opponents to his regime. He restored the power of the aristocracy and destroyed the power of the tribunes.

73 BC Third Servile War -The most famous slave revolt, which became known as the Third Servile War, was led by Spartacus, a gladiator. Spartacus and his men seized Mount Vesuvius, and thousands of slaves flocked to his side. Spartacus defeated a number of Romans armies. He was eventually defeated by a Roman army led by Praetor Crassus and was killed in 71 B.C.

65 BC Pompey's Conquest - Roman forces under the command of Pompey defeated Mithridates VI, king of Pontus. Pompey forced Mithridates to flee to the eastern Black Sea regions and then to Armenia. Finally, Mithridates committed suicide thus ending the war and giving Pompey a total victory.

63 BC Pompey Captures Jerusalem -Pompey was invited to settle a dispute between Hyrcanus II and his brother, Aristobulus II, and took this as an opportunity to conquer Judea. After a three-month siege, Pompey captured Jerusalem. Pompey killed 12,000 of Jerusalem's Jews.

60 BC Pompey, Crassus & Julius Caesar Form Triumvirate - Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompey and Marcus Crassus formed the first triumvirate to rule Rome. Each had successfully commanded Roman armies in the field. They worked together to advance each other's needs. The alliance was cemented when Caesar's daughter Julia married Pompey.

58 BC Caesar Defeats Celtic Hevetii (Switzerland) - In the Battle at Issus, Macedonian forces under Alexander, met a Persian army, numbering nearly 500,000 men, under the command of Darius lll. Alexander attacked the Persian infantry in the center of the lines and achieved an overwhelming victory, decimating the Persian forces.

57 BC Caesar Defeats Celtics Belgae Tribes - Julius Caesar defeated the Celtic Helvetica tribes from what is modern-day Switzerland. The battle took place at Bibracate in the present-day France. The Rhine become the frontier as most of Eastern France was occupied by the Romans.

55 BC Caesar Invades Britain - Caesar led Roman troops across the Straits of Dover for a short reconnaissance mission and then returned to Gaul. He came to England the next year with a larger force, defeated the Catuvellauni and established Roman sovereignty over parts of England.

50 BC Kingdoms Of Korea Founded - The Kingdoms of Korea were founded around 50 B.C. There were the Koguryo in the north, Silla in the southeast and Pakche in the southwest.

50 -0 BC

49 BC Caesar Crosses The Rubicon - Julius Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon in Northern Italy. Caesar was declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate for refusing to disband his army. By crossing the Rubicon, Caesar broke Roman law and was guilty of treason. Pompey was forced to flee as Roman soldiers flocked to Caesar. Caesar successfully gained control of all Italy.

The next year, Caesar achieved complete victory over Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus.

48 BC Julius Ceasar Puts Down Rebellion In Egypt - Julius Caesar traveled to Egypt in pursuit of Pompey, whom he had earlier defeated. When Caeser arrived, he learned that Pompey had been killed. Caesar then suppressed a rebellion against Cleopatra VII.

45 - BC .Caesar Defeats Pompey's Sons - Caesar fought the sons of Gnaeus and Sextus at the Battle of Munda in Southern Spain. Sextus escaped but Gnaeus was caught and executed by Caesar. This put an end to Rome's civil war. Caesar returned to Rome and was made dictator for life.

44 BC Caesar Assassinated - Despite Caesar's many accomplishments and general popularity, there remained a group of disaffected citizens. Most were former Antony supporters who had been pardoned and given positions of responsibility by Caesar.

The ringleader of what became a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar was Longinus Caius Cassius. He was joined by Marcus Junius Brutus.

A meeting of the Senate was called for the 15th (the Ides) of March to discuss the Parthian War. Caesar had been warned not to attend the session, but went anyway. The moment Caesar took his seat, the conspirators surrounded him. They began to petition him to recall from banishment a certain Cimber. When Caesar arose, they attacked him with knives. It is said that Caesar tried to defend himself, but when he saw Brutus among the attackers he cried out 'Et Tu, Brutus' and succumbed.

The death of Caesar was followed by a power struggle between Mark Antony and Julius Octavian.

43 BC Second Triumvirate - The Second Triumvirate was established in 43 B.C. in Rome. It was composed of Mark Antony, Octavian and M Aeumillius Lepidus. This triumvirate was officially recognized by the Senate.

43 BC Cicero Assassinated - Cicero, the greatest Roman orator, denounced Antony. In return Antony ordered the assassination of Cicero. Cicero was subsequently murdered.

42 BC Anthony Defeated Cassius - Mark Antony battled the forces of Cassius at Philippi. Cassius was defeated and committed suicide. Twenty days later, forces under Brutus were also defeated and Brutus, too, committed suicide.

37 BC Herod The Great - Herod the Great was recognized by the Roman senate as King of Judea. The Hasmonean dynasty which had ruled Judea until this period, had allied themselves with the Parthians, who were to be defeated by Mark Antony's forces.

36 BC Romans Under Vispasanius Battle Of Naulochus - The Roman fleet, commanded by Agrippa, defeated a fleet commanded by Pompey the Younger at the Battle of Naulochus. Pompey escaped to Anatolia only to be executed by troops of Mark Antony the next year.

31 BC Battle Of Actium - With the end of the five-year term of the Second Triumvirate, a rivalry broke out between Mark Antony and Octavian. Mark Antony was discredited by Octavian for his marriage to Cleopatra. Octavian successfully convinced the Senate that Mark Antony's actions were a danger to Rome, and they allied with him against Antony. A naval battle broke out at Actium off Epirus in Western Greece. Although the battle results were not decisive, Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, where Antony's army surrendered. Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves soon after.

27 BC Octavian, First Roman Emperor - Octavian became the first Roman Emperor. His defeat of Mark Antony brought a period of peace to the empire. In 27 B.C., Octavian declared the "restoration of the Republic;" in fact, he retained many powers in his own hands. He directly controlled all the armies of Rome. As army commander, Augustus (as Octavian was now known) received the title Imperator (emperor).

Octavian greatly streamlined the administration of the provinces. He directly appointed the governors of all the provinces that still required military control. He also approved all other appointments.

The Senate continued to meet, but Augustus completely dominated all aspects of Roman society. The peace he brought Rome and the careful way he exercised power ensured his great popularity.

16 BC Tiberius Campaigns Against Germanic Tribes - Archimedes the Greek mathmetician discovered the principles of specific gravity. The principle states that a body submersed in a liquid, the liquid loses the same weight as the weight of the body submersed. This was used by the Greeks to determine the purity of gold..

10 BC Herod Builds Artificial Harbor - Herod the Great built a new city on the Mediterranean coast. He named the city Ceasaria. Ceasaria became the Roman capital for Judea. What was unique about Ceasaria was the harbor that was built. It was the first artificial harbor built in an open sea.

3 BC Herod The Great Dies - Herod the Great, King of Judea, died after a peaceful 33-year reign. He was strongly favored by Rome for bringing stability to Judea, but disliked by many Jewish factions for his lack of religious zeal. He is best known for his building projects. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and established the city of Caesarea, among many other achievements.