Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic period 336-133BC
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, until by the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into present-day Pakistan.
Alexander the Great 336-321BC
During his youth, Alexander was tutored by the philosopher Aristotle until he succeeded his father, Philip II to the throne at the age of 16. When Philip II was assassinated in in 336 BC, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army.
In 334 BC, he crossed the Hellspont and began a 10-year battle of the Eastern Expedition. In 330 BC, he subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entire Persian Empire (the Achaemenid Dynasty) and continued to advance to Central Asia.
In 329 BC, Alexander came to the southern edge of the Ferghana Basin (Chinese Han History mentioned as Dayuan 大宛) and built the Alexandria Eschate on the south bank of the Syr River. Similar to other cities that bore his name, he placed many retired veterans and Greek mercenaries to settle in the city as a base for the outlying borders and future expeditions.
In 327 BC he conquered the Bactria region. Bactria, which refers to the region south of the Amu Darya and north of Hindu Kush, the Chinese Han Dynasty mentioned as 大夏.
At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 321 BC, the city he planned to establish as his capital.
Over the course of his conquests, Alexander founded some twenty cities that bore his name. The first, and the greatest, was Alexandria in Egypt, which would become one of the leading Mediterranean cities.
Hellenistic Period 321-133BC
Following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the "Diadochi", Alexander's surviving generals and heirs, and the Macedonian unity collapsed.
The 40 years of war between "The Successors" ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power blocks: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Mesopotamia, Attalid Anatolia and Antigonid Macedon.
The Attalid dynasty ruled the city of Pergamon (282-133 BC) until Attalus III bequeathed the kingdom to the Roman Republic to avoid a likely succession crisis.
The Antigonid dynasty (306-168 BC) was descended from Alexander's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus in much of Macedonia. In 168 BC, they proved unable to stop the advancing Roman legions and Macedon's defeat at the Battle of Pydna signaled the end of the dynasty.
Seleucus received Babylonia and, from there, expanded his dominions to include much of Alexander's near eastern territories (the Bactria and Ferghana region). Babylonia and Assyria then became part of the empire as Seleucid Syria.
The Seleucid Empire (312-63 BC) was a major center of Hellenistic culture that maintained the preeminence of Greek customs where Greek-Macedonian political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population of the cities who formed the dominant elite was reinforced by immigration from Greece.
Seleucid expansion into Anatolia and Greece was abruptly halted after decisive defeats by the Roman army, and much of the eastern part of the empire was conquered by the Parthians by 250 BC.
The Ptolemaic dynasty (305-30 BC) in Egypt started with Ptolemy I Soter's accession, and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods until the Muslim conquest in the 7th century AD.
Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire by 1400 AD.
East-West cultural exchanges 256-125 BC
The Greek's Bactria (256-125 BC) in northwestern India was established to serve as point of Greek and Indian cultural exchange. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria founded the kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC. The expansion of the Greco-Bactrians into northern India from 180 BC established the Indo-Greek Kingdoms, which were to last until around 10 AD.
The Kingdoms of Bactria was an important Hellenistic civilization center in Central Asia at that time. A large amount of coins was issued, and the words that were handed down became precious materials for studying the history and art of this period. These currencies are portraits of Greek rulers of all ages and were cast from 3rd to 2nd centuries BC.
About 400 kilometers east of the Alexandria Eschate is the Tarim Basin, the ancient Western Region of China (Chinese Han Dynasty mentioned as 西域, the modern Xinjiang), where the Indo-European people may lived there. There are signs that the Greek expedition had arrived in Kashgar in western Xinjiang. According to the Greek historian Strabo (64-23), "the Greeks expanded their empire, even as far as the Seres". The ancient Greeks called the people at the East as Seres, who are good at making silk products.
Perhaps the time when the East first contacted with the West was around 200 BC.
Roman Expansion 369-146 BC
There was a series of conflicts in which the city-state of Rome grew from being the dominant state in Latium to become the ruler of all of Italy. At the same time, however, several Gallic tribes had begun invading Italy from the north as Celtics culture expanded throughout Europe. In 390 BC, they defeated the Roman army of around 15,000 troops and proceeded to pursue the fleeing Romans back to Rome itself and partially sacked the town before being either driven off or bought off.
Roman conquest of Italy 369-218 BC
After swiftly recovering from the sack of Rome, the Romans immediately resumed their expansion. The first major Roman conquest recorded came with the final defeat of her neighbor Veii in 396 BC. In the second half of the 4th century BC, Rome clashed repeatedly with the Samnites, a powerful tribal coalition. They beat the Samnites in both the Battle of Mount Gaurus in 342 BC and the Battle of Suessula in 341 BC before they could pursue the conflict further due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the Latin War. By the end of these wars Rome had become the most powerful state in Italy.
By 300 BC, Rome had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers in the Mediterranean at the time: Carthage and the Greek kingdoms.
The conflicts with Pyrrhus of Epirus during the Pyrrhic War (282-273 BC) showed that the Greek kingdoms were incapable of defending their colonies in Italy. Rome quickly moved into southern Italia, subjugating and dividing Magna Grecia. By 218 BC Roman conquest of Italian peninsula had been completed.
Roman conquest of Carthage, Macedon and Seleucid 264-146 BC
The conquest of Italy paved the way to the eventual Roman domination of the entire Mediterranean world. The Punic Wars (264-146 BC) was a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage. Rome had conquered Carthage's empire and completely destroyed the Carthage city, becoming the most powerful state of the Western Mediterranean.
Rome's preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V of Macedon (r. 221-179 BC) of Antigonid dynasty to attempt to extend his power westward. Desiring to prevent Philip from aiding Carthage in Italy and elsewhere, Rome sought out land allies in Greece to fight a proxy war against Macedon: the Aetolian League of Greek city-states, the Illyrians to the north of Macedon and the kingdom of Pergamon.
The First Macedonian War (214-205 BC) saw the Romans involved directly in only limited land operations. After the Macedonians had been defeated in the Second Macedonian War in 197 BC, the Roman Republic had been steadily gaining control of mainland Greece.
The Greek city-state of Sparta had stepped into the partial power vacuum in Greece. Fearing the Spartans would take increasing control of the region, the Romans drew on help from allies to prosecute the Roman-Spartan War, defeating a Spartan army at the Battle of Gythium in 195 BC.
The Achaean War of 146 BC was fought between the Roman Republic and the Greek Achaean League, an alliance of Achaean and other Peloponnesian states in ancient Greece. It was the final stage of Rome's conquest of mainland Greece.
The Romans now turned its attentions to the Seleucid Antiochus III the Great (r.222-187 BC) to the east. After campaigns as far abroad as Bactria, India, Persia and Judea, Antiochus moved to Asia Minor and Thrace to secure several coastal towns, a move that brought him into conflict with Roman interests.
The Roman-Seleucid War (192-188 BC) was the consequence of a "cold war" between both powers. In this period Romans and Seleucids had tried to settle spheres of influence by making alliances with the Greek minor powers.. The fighting ended with a clear Roman victory. In the Treaty of Apamea the Seleucids were forced to give up Asia Minor, and the Roman Republic gained hegemony over Asia Minor.
With the end of the Macedonian Wars, the Punic Wars and the Roman-Seleucid War, Rome emerged as the dominant Mediterranean power and one of the most powerful cities in classical antiquity.
Gauls 390-59 BC
The Celts push south through the Alps, raiding and marauding. In about 390 BC they even reach and sack Rome. Many of them settling in an area from the Alps to south of Milan. The Romans call them Gauls, and distinguish their two nearest territories as Cisalpine Gaul ('this side of the Alps', as seen from Rome) and Transalpine Gaul ('across the Alps').
Much of Cisalpine Gaul comes under Roman control after a campaign in 225 BC, but the Celts here remain unreliable; a few years later many of them side with Hannibal. Beyond the Alps, southern Gaul becomes a Roman province in 121 BC. The rest of Gaul escapes the grasp of Rome until the arrival of Julius Caesar in 59 BC.
The First and Second Triumvirates 73-27 BC
The First Triumvirate (60-53 BC) is a term historians use for an informal political alliance of three prominent men during the late Roman Republic: Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) and Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Pompey and Crassus 73-63 BC
Pompey was considered the greatest military commander of his time and commanded armies in the Third Servile War (73-71 BC) in Italy and the Third Mithridatic War (73-63 BC) against King Mithridates VI of Pontus and King Tigranes the Great of Armenia in West Asia. This gave him great prestige and popularity.
Following the defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom at Syria was restored. Pompey set about the task of remaking the Hellenistic East, by creating new client kingdoms and establishing provinces. While client states like Armenia and Judea were allowed to continue with some degree of autonomy under local kings, Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome to continue; doing away with both rival Seleucid princes, he made Syria into a Roman province in 63 BC.
Although Crassus won the war against Spartacus (73-71 BC), he was mostly known for his fabulous wealth, which he was the largest landlord and the richest man in Rome. Both Pompey and Crassus also had extensive patronage networks, and had been at odds for a decade.
In 60 BC, Roman general Julius Caesar sought election as consul, along with Pompey and Crassus. Caesar was already in Marcus Licinius Crassus' political debt, but he also made overtures to Pompey. This informal alliance was cemented by the marriage of Pompey to Caesar's daughter Julia in 59 BC.
The three men formed an alliance with which they could gather sufficient popular support to counter the stranglehold the Roman Senate had over Roman politics. The alliance had been kept secret until Pompey and Crassus publicly supported a land law proposed by Caesar in 58 BC.
Julius Caesar in Gaul 59-50 BC
After 59 BC, Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul effectively destroyed the Celtic heritage. During this period, he systematically subdues the Celtic tribes in Gaul, making separate alliances with their many independent chieftains. He even adventures beyond the natural boundaries of Gaul - the region framed by the Alps, the Rhine, the Atlantic and the Pyrenees.
Caesar makes his first tentative excursion to Britain in August of 55 BC. He lands on the coast of Kent, meeting considerable opposition from the cavalry and war chariots of the neighbouring Celtic chieftains. After staying long enough to demonstrate to the British the strength of a Roman legion, he returns in September to Gaul.
Despite Gaulish opposition led by Vercingetorix in 52 BC, Caesar defeated a union of Gauls at the Battle of Alesia, completing the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul (today Southern France). By 50 BC, the entirety of Gaul lay in Roman hands. Gaul never regained its Celtic identity, never attempted another nationalist rebellion.
End of the First triumvirate 53-44 BC
The triumvirate lasted until Crassus' death at the Battle of Carrhae, where he was defeated against the Parthians in 53 BC, leaving behind an increasingly fractious relationship between Caesar and Pompey as they now had no buffer.
After being victorious in the Gallic Wars and earning respect and praise from the legions, Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon with his army in northern Italy in 49 BC leading to a civil war. The conflict eventually led to Caesar's victory over Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and the latter's assassination in Ptolemaic Egypt where he fled after the battle.
With his sole preeminence over Rome, Caesar gradually accumulated many offices, eventually being granted a dictatorship for perpetuity.
However, in 44 BC Caesar was assassinated in Rome, in the Ides of March by the Liberatores. The following year his heir Octavian formed the Second Triumvirate with general Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (Caesar's best friend).
Octavian and the Second Triumvirate 43-31 BC
Originally named Gaius Octavius, Octavian's maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC and he was named in Caesar's will as his adopted son and heir; as a result, he inherited Caesar's name, estate, and the loyalty of his legions.
In November 43 BC, Octavian formed an official political alliance, the second Triumvirate, with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus.
The Triumvirate defeat the assassins of Caesar following their victory at the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), and divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as de facto dictators. With the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which some view as marking the end of the Roman Republic.
Marcus Antonius was a relative and supporter of Julius Caesar, and served as one of his generals during the conquest of Gaul and the Civil War. He was appointed administrator of Italy while Caesar eliminated political opponents in Greece, North Africa and Spain.
Unlike the earlier First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate was an official, legally established institution, whose overwhelming power in the Roman state was given full legal sanction and whose imperium outranked that of all other magistrates, including the consuls.
Marcus Lepidus had previously been a close ally of Julius Caesar, however, he was forced to retire in 36 BC after betraying Octavian in Sicily.
Mark Antony and end of Ptolemaic Egypt 34-31 BC
Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) was assigned Rome's eastern provinces, including the client kingdom of Ptolemaic Egypt. He settled in Egypt with his lover, Cleopatra VII of Egypt. His affair with Cleopatra was seen as an act of treason, since she was queen of a foreign power and Antony was adopting an extravagant and Hellenistic lifestyle that was considered inappropriate for a Roman statesman.
Following Antony's Donations of Alexandria in 34 BC, which gave to Cleopatra the title of "Queen of Kings", and to their children the regal titles to the newly conquered Eastern territories, the war between Octavian and Antony broke out. Octavian annihilated Egyptian forces and finally defeated the Ptolemaic Kingdom at the Battle of Actium in Greece in September 31 BC. Mark Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, leaving Octavian the sole ruler of the Republic.
Caesar Augustus and the Julio-Claudian dynasty 27BC-68AD
After 31 BC, Octavian was in a position to rule the entire Republic under an unofficial principate—but he had to achieve this through incremental power gains. He did so by courting the Senate and the people while upholding the republican traditions of Rome, appearing that he was not aspiring to dictatorship or monarchy. Marching into Rome, Octavian were elected as consuls by the Senate.
The first Roman Emperor 27 BC
In 27 BC, Octavian was granted the title of "Augustus" by the Senate and marking the final stage in the transformation of the Roman Republic into an empire, with himself as the first Roman Emperor. That event is usually taken by historians as the beginning of Roman Empire. Officially, the government was republican, but Augustus assumed absolute powers.
The Roman Emperors and Empresses were men and women who ruled the Roman Empire and wielded power over its citizens and military. Augustus, the first emperor, was careful to maintain the facade of republican rule, taking no specific title for his position and calling the concentration of magisterial power "Princeps Senatus" (the first man of the senate).
Julio-Claudian dynasty 27 BC-68 AD
Augustus had taken Caesar as a component of his name, and handed down the name to his heirs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which lasted for four more emperors: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero before it yielded in 69 AD to the strife-torn Year of Four Emperors.
Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt and expanding possessions in Africa, and completing the conquest of Hispania.
He secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army, established the Praetorian Guard for Rome, and rebuilt much of the city during his reign.
Tiberius was designated Augustus' successor. Prior to this, Tiberius had proved himself an able diplomat, and one of the most successful Roman generals: his conquests of Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum and Raetia, and temporarily parts of Germania laid the foundations for the empire's northern frontier.
During Caligula's brief reign, he directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself, and he initiated the construction of two aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus.
Under Claudius, the Empire underwent its first major expansion since the reign of Augustus. The provinces of Thrace, Noricum, Lycia, and Judea were annexed (put under direct rule) during his term. The annexation of Mauretania was completed after the defeat of rebel forces, and the official division of the former client kingdom into two provinces. The most far-reaching conquest was that of Britannia.
| Name | Succession | Reign | Death |
| Augustus | Great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar; became de facto emperor as a result of the 'first settlement' between himself and the Roman Senate. | Jan 27 BC – Aug 14 AD | 14 AD Natural causes or perhaps poisoning by his wife, Livia |
| Tiberius | Natural son of Livia Drusilla, Augustus' third wife, by a previous marriage, and Augustus' son-in-law; adopted by Augustus as his son and heir. | Sept 14 AD – Mar 37 AD | March 16, 37 AD Probably natural causes, possibly assassinated by Caligula |
| Caligula | Great-nephew and adoptive grandson of Tiberius, natural son of Germanicus, great-grandson of Augustus. | Mar 37 AD – Jan 41 AD | Jan 24, 41 AD Assassinated in a conspiracy involving senators and Praetorian Guards. |
| Claudius | Nephew of Tiberius, brother of Germanicus, uncle of Caligula, great-nephew-in-law and step grandson of Augustus; proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard. | Jan 41 AD – Oct 54 AD | Oct 13, 54 AD Probably poisoned by his wife Agrippina the Younger, in favor of her son Nero, possibly natural causes. |
| Nero | Grandson of Germanicus, nephew of Caligula, great-great-nephew of Tiberius, and great-great-grandson of Augustus; great-nephew, stepson, son-in-law, and adopted son of Claudius. | Oct 54 AD – June 68 AD | June 9, 68 AD Committed suicide after being declared a public enemy by the Senate. |
Birth of Christianity 1-50 AD
In 37 BC, Herod the Great was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate. Jesus Christ was born while Herod, a part-Jew, ruled as local king, that year is called the 1st year of the Christian era: 1 AD.
By 30 AD, a new religious movement began among the Jews in the distant borders of the Roman Empire. They began following the teachings of a new leader by Jesus Christ. Slowly this movement expanded beyond the Jews to other peoples in the surrounding areas, in such cities as Alexandria, Ephesus, Antioch and Corinth. A new religion was born and the religon would be known as Christianity.
Jesus Christ was executed in probably 30 AD. After his death, his followers continued to his teaching. The Twelve apostles, the place of Judas the suicide, —plus several disciples and a loyal band of holy women— formed the core group from which the Christian church was to grow. They taught that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting for.
By 50 AD there was a Christian community at Rome. Emperor Claudius expelled Jews from the city because of trouble concerning a certain "Crestos". When Paul the apostles arrived there (c.AD 60), Roman Christians, to whom he had already sent an epistle, welcomed him.
Nero 54-68 AD
Nero was the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He seems to have been popular with the members of his Praetorian Guard, and with lower-class commoners in Rome and the provinces, but was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy.
Most Roman sources offer overwhelmingly negative assessments of his personality and reign. Tacitus claims the Roman people thought him compulsive and corrupt, and Nero seized Christians as scapegoats for the fire and had them burned alive, seemingly motivated not by public justice but by personal cruelty. Suetonius tells that many Romans believed that the Great Fire of Rome was instigated by Nero to clear land for his planned "Golden House".
In 64 Emperor Nero singled out the nascent Christian community at Rome as a scapegoat for the burning of Rome. It was a local persecution and lasted perhaps three years. What Nero did was to create a precedent that permitted the persecution of Christians as Christians. The apostle Peter was at Rome is undeniable and that he died during the persecution of Nero.
The apostle Paul too perished in the Neronian persecution. Peter and Paul both died at Rome and a fairly early tradition links them as 'founders' of the Roman church, the Christian Romulus and Remus, as it were.
Flavian dynasty and the Spread of Christianity 68-100AD
The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian, and Vespasian emerged as victor (the brief Flavian dynasty).
The Year of the Four Emperors and Flavian dynasty 68-96
In 68, Vindex, legate of Gallia Lugdunensis, revolted against Nero and encouraged Galba, governor of Hispania, to claim the Empire. The latter was acclaimed emperor by his legion in early April. He was notably supported by Otho, legate of Lusitania.
Vespasian subjugated Judaea during the Jewish rebellion of 66. While Vespasian besieged Jerusalem during the Jewish rebellion, emperor Nero committed suicide on 9 June 68 and plunged Rome into a year of civil war. The Roman legions of Roman Egypt and Judaea reacted by declaring Vespasian, their commander, the emperor on 1 July 69.
On 20 December 69, Vitellius, commander of Germania Inferior, was defeated and the following day Vespasian was declared emperor by the Senate.
| Name | Succession | Reign | Death |
| Galba | Seized power after Nero's suicide, with support of the Spanish legions | June 68 – Jan 69 | Jan 15, 69. Murdered by Praetorian Guard in coup led by Otho. |
| Otho | Appointed by Praetorian Guard | Jan 69 – April 69 | April 16, 69. Committed suicide after losing Battle of Bedriacum to Vitellius |
| Vitellius | Seized power with support of German Legions (in opposition to Galba/Otho) | April 69 – Dec 69 | Dec 20, 69. Murdered by Vespasian's troops |
| Vespasian | Seized power from Vitellius with the support of the eastern Legions | Dec 69 – June 79 | June 24, 79. Natural causes |
| Titus | Son of Vespasian | June 79 – Sept 81 | Sept 13, 81 AD. Natural causes (fever) |
| Domitian | Son of Vespasian | Sept 81 – Sept 96 | Sept 18, 96 AD. Assassinated by court officials |
The brief Flavian dynasty encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69-79), and his two sons Titus (79-81) and Domitian (81-96).
Spread of Christianity 64-100
St. Peter, according to the New Testament, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and the leaders of the early Christian Church. According to Catholic tradition, he received the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:18–19) and is recognized by the Catholic Church as the first Bishop of Rome (Pope) appointed by Christ.
St. Paul himself was from capital of Cilicia, in the south-eastern part of modern Turkey. He had a Greek name and was a Roman citizen. No frontiers need be crossed within the Roman world at the time. Thousands of miles of roads, which, like modern railways, had constructed to link the remotest parts. The Mediterranean Sea, (the water in the midst of the land), was an inland lake with Roman lands along all its shores.
Although wars were fought at trouble spots along its long exterior borders, the period was essentially one of a general, prolonged peace and extensive prosperity. Two languages: Greek and Latin, were linguistic equipment enough to allow one to travel with ease across the over two-thousand-mile east-west axis.
As a result, many people throughout the Mediterranean accepted these teachings, and became known as Christians. For the next 100 years, Christianity was practiced by many city dwellers in private. Roman officials viewed Christians as a threat and often had them killed. Christians continued to establish churches and to spread their religion, but they did so discreetly.
By the end of the first century, Christian communities were to be found in every city of the empire. About the year 112 Pliny the Younger, once consul in Rome, wrote from Asia Minor that Christianity was reaching even into the villages, and had reached the remotest Britain.
Five Good Emperors and the Nerva-Antonine dynasty 96-192 AD
The Nerva-Antonine dynasty (96-192) followed, which produced the Five good emperors: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and the philosophically inclined Marcus Aurelius. The first five of the six successions within this dynasty were notable in that the reigning Emperor adopted the candidate of his choice to be his successor.
In 101, Trajan crossed the Danube and conquered the Dacia. In 116 he marched on Armenia and deposed the king. Trajan's war against the Parthian Empire ended with the sack of the capital Ctesiphon and the annexation of Armenia, Mesopotamia and (possibly) Assyria.
By the time of his death in late 117, the Roman Empire attained its maximum territorial extent.
Hadrian energetically pursued his own Imperial ideals and personal interests. He visited almost every province of the Empire, accompanied by an Imperial retinue of specialists and administrators. He encouraged military preparedness and discipline, and he fostered or personally subsidised various civil and religious institutions and building projects.
Antoninus Pius was an effective administrator, leaving his successors a large surplus in the treasury, expanding free access to drinking water throughout the Empire, encouraging legal conformity, and facilitating the enfranchisement of freed slaves.
Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180) was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, preceeding his son Commodus in an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire.
First Roman embassy to China
The first group of people claiming to be an ambassadorial mission of Romans to China was recorded as having arrived in 166 AD by the Book of the Later Han (後漢書).
It records that, a group of emissaries arrived at the court of Emperor Huan (漢桓帝) in 166 AD claiming to have been sent by “Andun”(安敦), the king of “Daqin”. Daqin (大秦) was the most common Chinese name for the Roman Empire. The “Andun” mentioned may be Emperor Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
As Antoninus Pius died in 161 AD, leaving the empire to his adoptive son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and the envoy arrived in 166 AD, confusion remains about who sent the mission.
The Roman mission came from the south (therefore probably by sea), entering China by the frontier of Rinan or Tonkin (present-day Vietnam). It brought presents of rhinoceros horns, ivory, and tortoise shell, probably acquired in Southern Asia.
| Name | Succession | Reign | Death |
| Nerva | Appointed by the Senate | Sept 96 – Jan 98 | Jan 27, 98 Natural causes |
| Trajan | Adopted son and heir of Nerva | Jan 98 – Aug 117 | Aug 7, 117 Natural causes |
| Hadrian | Adopted son and heir of Trajan | Aug 117 – July 138 | July 10, 138 Natural causes |
| Antoninus Pius | Adopted son and heir of Hadrian | July 138 – March 161 | March 7, 161 Natural causes |
| Marcus Aurelius | Adopted son, son-in-law and heir of Antoninus Pius; Co-emperor with Lucius Verus until 169 AD | March 161 – March 180 | March 17, 180 Natural causes |
| Lucius Verus | Adopted son and heir of Antoninus Pius and son-in-law of Marcus Aurelius; Co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius until death | March 161 – March 169 | March 169 Natural causes (Plague) |
| Commodus | Natural son of Marcus Aurelius; joint emperor from 177 AD | 177 – Dec 192 | Dec 31, 192. Assassinated in palace, strangled to death |
The naming by Marcus Aurelius of his natural son Commodus was considered to be an unfortunate choice and the beginning of the Empire's decline.
Commodus 176-192
Commodus's reign is commonly thought of as marking the end of a golden period of peace in the history of the Roman Empire, known as the Pax Romana (27 BC - 180 AD).
Commodus accompanied his father during the Marcomannic Wars in 172, and on a tour of the Eastern provinces in 176. Later that year he became the youngest emperor and consul up to that point, at the age of 15.
During his solo reign (180-192), the Roman Empire enjoyed reduced military conflict compared with the reign of Marcus Aurelius. However, it was also characterised by political strife and the increasingly arbitrary and capricious behaviour of the emperor himself.
As a resuls, Commodus reverted to an increasingly dictatorial style of leadership, culminating in his creating a deific personality cult, with his performing as a gladiator in the Colosseum.
Commodus's assassination in 192, by a wrestler in the bath, marked the end of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors followed.
Magna Germania 100-330AD
The concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul (France), which he had conquered by 50 BC. This usage of the word is the origin of the modern concept of Germanic languages.
The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD) prevented annexation by the Roman Empire and marking the beginning of recorded German history. By 100 AD, Germanic tribes had settled along the Roman frontier along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus).
The 3rd century saw the emergence of a number of larger confederations of the Germanic tribes of the Rhine and Danube. One of the new confederation, the Alamanni invaded Gaul and Italy in 271. Other were the Franks (includes Cherusci and Chatti) on the lower Rhine, Saxons and Frisians on the North Sea. Many of these groups took up sea-raiding.
Around 260, the Goths broke through the limes and the Danube frontier into Roman-controlled lands. They were East Germanic confederation on the Danube River frontier known to the Romans from the 1st century AD. A reminder of remote origins remains in the name of the Gotland in the Baltic Sea, the Goths split into two groups as they migrated south across Central Europe. The Visigoths (West Goths) settled in modern Romania during the 2nd century. The Ostrogoths (East Goths) settled farther to the east on the northwest coast of the Black Sea.
Roman Gaul 50BC–330AD
Gaul was divided into several different provinces. The Romans displaced populations to prevent local identities from becoming a threat to Roman control. Thus, many Celts were displaced in Aquitania or were enslaved and moved out of Gaul. There was a strong cultural evolution in Gaul under the Roman Empire, the most obvious one being the replacement of the Gaulish language by Vulgar Latin. It has been argued the similarities between the Gaulish and Latin languages favoured the transition. Gaul remained under Roman control for centuries and Celtic culture was then gradually replaced by Gallo-Roman culture.
The western and southern Belgae flourished within the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, along with the Treveri (a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group). The northeastern corner of this province, including Tongeren and the area of the earlier Germani, was united with the militarized Rhine border to form a newer province known as Germania Inferior. Its cities included Nijmegen (in Netherlands) and the capital Cologne (in Germany).
In the decade following the Roman Crisis of the Third Century and Valerian's capture by the Persians in 260, Postumus, governor of Germania Superior and Inferior, established a short-lived Gallic Empire (260-274), made Cologne the capital of the Empire, and included the Iberian Peninsula and Britannia, in addition to Gaul itself. Germanic tribes, the Franks and the Alamanni, entered Gaul at this time.
Roman Greece 146BC-330AD
The Greek peninsula came under Roman rule when Macedonia became a Roman province in 146 BC, followed the Roman victory over the Corinthians, at the Battle of Corinth (the narrow stretch of land that joins the southern Peloponnese to the mainland of Greece).
Athens and other Greek cities revolted in 88 BC, and the uprising was crushed by the Roman general Sulla. The Roman civil wars devastated the land even further, until Augustus organized the peninsula as the province of Achaea in 27 BC.
Greece, initially devastated, began to rise economically after the wars. The Greek cities of Asia Minor recovered more quickly at first than the cities on the Greek peninsula, which were heavily damaged by the forces of Sulla. Corinth became the capital of the Achaea province, while Athens prospered as a center of philosophy and learning.
Life in Greece continued under the Roman Empire much the same as it had previously while Roman culture was highly influenced by the Greeks. Some Roman nobles regarded the Greeks as backwards and petty, but many others embraced Greek literature and philosophy. The Greek language became a favorite of the educated and elite in Rome.
The Pax Romana (27 BC-180 AD) was the longest period of peace in Greek history, and Greece became a major crossroads of maritime trade between Rome and the Greek speaking eastern half of the empire. The Greek language served as a lingua franca in the eastern provinces and in Italy, and many Greek intellectuals such as Galen would perform most of their work in Rome.
During this time, Greece and much of the Roman east came under the influence of Early Christianity. The apostle Paul of Tarsus preached in Philippi, Corinth and Athens, and Greece soon became one of the most highly Christianized areas of the empire.
In 311 AD, decision of Constantine I (the Great) to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for Early Christianity. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church. In 330, Constantine moved the seat of the Empire to Constantinople, which he founded as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium.
Crisis of the Third Century 193-285AD
Commodus' assassination in 192 marked the beginning of the decline of Rome. He was succeeded by the first emperor in the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors, in which there were five claimants for the title of Roman Emperor.
Severan dynasty 193-235
The Severan dynasty (193-235) was founded by the general Septimius Severus, who rose to power as the victor of the 193-197 civil war. Although he successfully restored peace following the upheaval of the late 2nd century, the dynasty was disturbed by highly unstable family relationships, as well as constant political turmoil foreshadowing the imminent Crisis of the Third Century. It was one of the last lineages of the Principate founded by Augustus.
| Name | Succession | Reign | Death |
| Pertinax | Proclaimed emperor by Praetorian Guard | Jan 1, 193 – Mar 28, 193 | March 28, 193. Murdered by Praetorian Guard |
| Didius Julianus | Won auction held by the Praetorian Guard for the position of emperor | Mar 28, 193 – June 1, 193 | June 1, 193. Executed on orders of the Senate |
| Septimius Severus | Seized power with support of Pannonian legions | April 9, 193 –Feb 4, 211 | Feb 4, 211. Natural causes |
| Caracalla | Son of Septimius Severus ; co-emperor with Severus from 198; with Severus and Geta from 209 until Feb 211 | 198 - April 8, 217 | April 8, 217. Murdered by a soldier as part of a conspiracy involving Macrinus |
| Geta | Son of Septimius Severus ; co-emperor with Severus and Caracalla from 209 until Feb 211 | 209 – Dec 26, 211 | Dec 19, 211. Murdered on the orders of Caracalla |
| Macrinus with Diadumenian |
Praetorian Prefect to Caracalla, proclaimed himself emperor after Caracalla's death; appointed his son Diadumenian junior emperor in May 217 | April 11, 217 – June 8, 218 | June 8, 218. Both executed in favour of Elagabalus |
| Elagabalus | Grandson-in-law of Septimius Severus, alleged illegitimate son of Caracalla; proclaimed emperor by Syrian legions | June 8, 218 –Mar 11, 222 | March 11, 222. Murdered by Praetorian Guard |
| Severus Alexander | Grandson-in-law of Septimius Severus , cousin and adoptive heir of Elagabalus | Mar 13, 222 - Mar 18, 235 | March 18, 235. Murdered by the army |
Crisis of the Third Century 235-284
It was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression. The crisis began with the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops in 235, initiating a 50-year period during which there were at least 26 claimants to the title of emperor, mostly prominent Roman army generals, who assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire.
By 268, the empire had split into three competing states: the Gallic Empire (260-274), including the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britannia and (briefly) Hispania; the Palmyrene Empire (270-273), including the eastern provinces of Syria Palaestina and Aegyptus; and the Italian-centered and independent Roman Empire between them. Later, Aurelian (270-275) reunited the empire; the crisis ended with the ascension and reforms of Diocletian in 284.
Persecutions of Christians 211-312
For the next two hundred years, Christians were persecuted sporadically but only in specific locations (Alexandria, Smyrna, Rome, etc.) and never for a prolonged period in any of these. A period of prolonged peace lasted from 211 to 250. Matters changed in 250 when Emperor Decius ordered all Christians to deny their Christian belief and to worship the Roman gods; those who refused paid with their lives. Continued by his successor, this total persecution finally ended in 260.
The mightiest persecution was the last: Diocletian moved against the Christians in 303 and in the following year decreed death to all Christians throughout the empire. Before this general persecution ended in 311, more Christians were slaughtered than in all previous persecutions combined.
Some may see the Roman persecutions of the Christians as a main theme in the first three centuries of the Christian era, others see them at most as a minor theme. What is clear is that the picture of Christians in an ‘underground’ church, worshipping by stealth in the catacombs, being ruthlessly sought out by a uniformly hostile state and fed to lions is a picture hardly borne out by the facts. Sporadic and affecting only a very small number of Christians, the persecutions probably were not major negative forces in the process of the growth of the Christian religion. Yet throughout this period from the time of Nero (64) to the conversion of Constantine (312) the Christian religion was not only officially proscribed but, perhaps more importantly, was the object of suspicion, hideous rumours and popular outbursts of ill-treatment.
Not totally secure in the Roman state, the early Christians did not know when or where persecution or rioting might erupt against them. Also—and its weight defies measurement—the heroic and peaceful way in which many Christians received the ‘martyr’s crown’ attracted the admiration of pagans. Tertullian’s well-known epigram that the blood of martyrs acted as a seed for the growth of the Christian religion reflects the view that persecution merely strengthened Christianity.
Tetrarchy and Constantine the Great 293-337
It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once.
The first phase, sometimes referred to as the Diarchy ("rule of two"), involved the designation of the general Maximian as co-emperor—firstly as Caesar (junior emperor) in 285, followed by his promotion to Augustus in 286. Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Empire in 286 AD.
Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Empire (capital Nicomedia) and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one. In 293, Diocletian thought that more focus was needed on both civic and military problems, so he expanded the imperial college by appointing two Caesars (one responsible to each Augustus)—Galerius and Constantius Chlorus.
This Tetrarchy lasted until 313 AD, when internecine conflict eliminated most of the claimants to power, leaving Constantine the Great, in control of the Western half of the Empire, and Licinius in control of the Eastern half.
Name
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Succession
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Reign
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Death
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Nov 284 – May 305
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Dec 311. Abdicated; died of natural causes in Aspalatos
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Adopted as senior co-emperor ('Augustus') in the west by Diocletian in 286
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April 286 – May 305
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310. Abdicated with Diocletian; twice tried to regain throne with, and then from Maxentius; captured by Constantine Iand committed suicide at his behest
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May 305–July 306
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306. Natural causes
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Adopted as junior co-emperor ('Caesar') and heir by Diocletianin 293. Also son-in-law of Diocletian. |
May 305 – May 311
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311. Natural causes
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Adopted as junior co-emperor ('Caesar') and heir by Constantius I Chlorus in 305 ; succeeded as Augustus in 306; opposed by Maxentius and Constantine I |
Summer 306 - Mar/April 307
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Sept 307. Captured by Maxentius and forced to commit suicide (or murdered)
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Son of Constantius I Chlorus, proclaimed emperor by his father's troops; accepted as Caesar (west) by Galerius in 306; promoted to Augustus (west) in 307 by Maximian after death of Severus II; refused relegation to Caesar in 309 |
July 306 – May 337
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May 337 Natural causes
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Son of Maximian, seized power in 306 after death of Constantius I Chlorus, in opposition to Severus and Constantine I; made Caesar (west) by Maximian in 307 after the death of Severus |
Oct 306 – Oct 312
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Nephew of Galerius, adopted as Caesar and his heir in 305; succeeded as Augustus (shared with Licinius I) in 311
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May 311 – July/Aug 313.
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July/Aug 313. Defeated in civil war against Licinius I; probably committed suicide thereafter
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with Valerius Valens Martinian |
Son-in-law of Constantius Chlorus, appointed Augustus in the west by Galerius in 308, in opposition to Maxentius; became Augustus in the east in 311 after the death of Galerius (shared with Maximinus II); defeated Maximinus in civil war to become sole eastern Augustus in 313 AD; appointed Valerius Valens in 317, and Martinian in 324 as western Augustus, in opposition to Constantine. |
Nov 308 – Sept 324
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325 Defeated in civil war against Constantine I in 324; and captured; both executed on the orders of Constantine the next year
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Constantine the Great defeated his rivals and became the sole ruler of the empire in 324. He subsequently established a second capital city in Byzantium in 330, which he renamed Constantinople, a city well-positioned astride the trade routes between East and West.
Conversion to Christianity 313-392
Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for Early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift.
In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship, the emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church.
By 313 the Christians composed perhaps one-tenth or so of the population of the empire with a somewhat larger concentration in the East than in the West, the effect of his policy transformed the religious culture of the Roman world and was clearly a defining moment in the history of the church. By century’s end the majority of the people professed Christianity, which in 392, in effect, became the official religion of the Roman state.
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