ENG 208—Baker

Roman History

Timeline, As Relevant to Virgil’s Aeneid

753 BC

Legendary founding of Rome

509 BC

City of Rome becomes a republic, the form of government that continues until

the country becomes an empire in the 1^st c BC

218 – 201 BC

Second Carthaginian (Punic) War. Rome becomes dominant power in

Mediterranean after defeating the brilliant tactician Hannibal.

70 – 19 BC

Virgil’s lifetime. During it, the state is racked by civil war, until Caesar unites

East and West in 30 BC by defeating Marc Antony

50’s – 44 BC

Julius Caesar gains enough power to become a dictator only to be assassinated

by the Senate

44 – 23 BC

Octavia (Augustus) Caesar rules the state, declares himself emperor in 27 BC.

(supposedly descended from Aeneas)

27 BC - 180 AD

Roman empire, well ruled, flourishes

180 – 337 AD

Empire weakens under a long series of poor rulers. Primarily under the

direction of Constantine, who legalizes Christianity, the empire is divided into

eastern and western “halves.”

476 AD

Western Empire falls to Germanic tribes. (Eastern empire survives for another

thousand years).