THE CONQUEST OF ITALY (376-264 B.C.)
376. New laws are proposed by C. Licinius and Lucius Sextius. 367. Licinian laws are passed. 366. L. Sextius Lateranus first plebeian consul. 367-349. Wars with the Gauls in upper Italy. 362-358. War with the Hernicans and the insurgent Latin cities. A new alliance formed of Latins, Romans, and Hernicans. 358-351. War with Tarquinii and other Etruscan cities. Southern Etruria acknowledges Roman supremacy. 350-345. Wars with the Volscians and Aurunci, who are completely subjugated. 348. Renewal of the commercial treaty with Carthage. 343. First Samnite War. 340-338. The great Latin War. Subjugation of Latium. 337-326. Revolt of Cales. Treaty with Alexander of Molossia. Siege and destruction of Palæopolis. 326. The Second Samnite War begins. 321. The great defeat of the Roman army at Caudine Forks. 319. L. Papirius Cursor conquers Luceria. 312. The Etruscans, on the expiration of the forty years’ peace, join in the war against Rome. 309. L. Papirius Cursor utterly defeats the Samnites. 305. The Romans capture Bovianum, the Samnite capital. 304. End of the war. 299. The Third Samnite War. 295. The battle of Sentinum, in which the Romans prove victorious. 294. The allied Romans dissolve. 293. Defeat of the Samnites at Aquilonia. 290. The conclusion of peace. 285-282. War against the new league of Italian cities. 282. Opening of the war with Tarentum. 280. Pyrrhus lands in Italy. Battle of Heraclea. 279. Battle of Asculum. 275. Battle of Beneventum. Pyrrhus withdraws from Italy. 274-264. Final settlement of Italy.
FIRST PERIOD OF FOREIGN CONQUEST (264-132 B.C.)
264. First Punic War. The Carthaginians besiege Messana. 263. Invasion of Sicily by the Romans. The Syracusan king Hiero joins the Romans. 262. The Romans defeat Hanno and capture Agrigentum [Acragas]. 260. The Romans send a fleet under Cornelius Scipio against Lipara, which is defeated by the Carthaginians. Battle of Mylæ in which the Roman navy proves victorious. Sea fight off Ecnomus; defeat of the Carthaginian fleet. The Romans invade Africa. 255. Carthaginians under Xanthippus defeat the Romans under Regulus. Loss of the Roman fleet on homeward voyage. 254. Roman victory at Panormus. 251. Hasdrubal defeated at Panormus. 249. Carthaginian victory over the Romans at Drepanum. 248-243. Success of the Carthaginians under Hamilcar Barca on the Italian coast and in Sicily. 242. Romans defeat the Carthaginian fleet off Ægatian islands. 241. Hamilcar Barca concludes peace. The Carthaginians agree to pay indemnity and leave Sicily. 229-228. War with the Illyrians. 225-222. Annihilation of the Cisalpine Gauls. 218. The Second Punic War begins. The Roman army sent to Africa. Hasdrubal opposes Scipio in Spain. Hannibal crosses the Alps. 217. Hannibal defeats the Romans at Lake Trasimene. 216. The Romans annihilated at Cannæ. 215. First Macedonian War. Philip of Macedon joins Carthage. Hannibal is defeated in the battle of Nola. 214. Carthaginians land in Sicily. 212. Romans recover their position in Sicily. Carthaginian success in Spain. 211. The Romans besiege Capua. Hannibal at the gate of Rome. Hannibal’s retreat from Rome. Fall of Capua. Defeat of Hasdrubal at Bæcula. 209. Hasdrubal crosses the Pyrenees and Gaul, and appears in the north of Italy. 207. Hasdrubal defeated and slain at the battle of Metaurus. 206. Carthaginians expelled from Spain. Macedonian War concluded. 204. Scipio in Africa. 203. Scipio defeats the Carthaginians. Hannibal recalled to Carthage. 202. Scipio defeats Hannibal in the battle of Zama. 201. Treaty of peace concluded. 200. Second Macedonian War. 200-197. Subjugation of upper Italy. 197. Second Macedonian War concluded. 192-189. War with Syria. 190. Battle of Magnesia. 171. Third Macedonian War. 168. Overthrow of the Macedonian monarchy. 149. Third Punic War begins. Siege of Carthage. Viriathus successful in Lusitania. 146. Carthage taken and destroyed; her territories become Roman provinces and are organised as such. Achæan War. Battle of Leucopetra. Corinth surrenders peacefully. Destruction of Corinth. 143-141. Numantine War against the rebellious Celtiberians. Viriathus maintains himself against the Romans, and finally concludes a peace unfavourable to them. 140. The Romans violate the peace and renew the war. 139. Viriathus is murdered at Roman instigation. The Lusitanians renew the war but are defeated and disarmed. This is their last rebellion on a formidable scale. 133. Numantia taken and destroyed by Scipio Africanus the younger. Having resisted successive Roman generals since the year 143 it is now subdued after fifteen months’ close investment. Its fall signalises the subjection of northern Spain to Rome. 135-132. First Servile War in Sicily. The slave Eunus leads an insurrection of the slaves and assumes the title of King Antiochus. A regular government is established, and in the war with Rome which follows the rebels are at first successful. When finally subdued they are punished by numerous executions. The consul Rupilius reorganises the administration of Sicily.
REFORMS OF THE GRACCHI (138-111 B.C.)
133. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus elected tribune. He proposes the resumption of “common lands” held by unauthorised persons and the revival of the Licinian law limiting the amount of such land to be occupied by one individual. By this means he hoped to mitigate the evils resulting from the concentration of these estates in the possession of a few persons. Tiberius obtains the illegal removal from office of the tribune Caius Octavius, who had vetoed the passing of the new (Sempronian) law, and that law is then passed by the popular assembly. Tiberius Gracchus, his brother Caius, and his father-in-law Appius Claudius appointed to carry out the decree. Attalus III king of Pergamus dies, making the Romans his heirs. Tiberius Gracchus proposes that the money shall be employed to start the new settlers on the resumed lands and that the kingdom of Attalus (the new province of Asia) shall be governed by the people instead of by the senate, who were legally entitled to the disposal of both land and money. Tiberius prepares other reforms, and in order to preserve and continue his work becomes a candidate for re-election as tribune, in defiance of the law forbidding re-election. He opposes the aristocratic resistance by force and is killed with many of his adherents in the ensuing riot. 131. C. Carbo, the tribune, obtains a law permitting secret voting for the ratification of laws by the popular vote. Scipio Africanus Minor obtains the defeat of Carbo’s measure to legalise the re-election of tribunes. 129. Aristonicus, a natural son of Attalus III of Pergamus, executed for making war against the Romans in assertion of his rights to his father’s kingdom. C. Carbo, Gracchus, and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus triumvirs for the execution of the Sempronian law; Scipio contrives to obtain a limitation of their powers, which virtually suspends the law. 125. Fulvius Flavius becomes consul. He raises the question of admitting the Latins to the Roman citizenship, and is then sent to Transalpine Gaul to aid the Massiliots against the Gauls. Fregellæ revolts against the Romans and is destroyed. 124. Aquæ Sextiæ (Aix) founded in Gaul. 123. Caius Gracchus clears himself from the charge of instigating the revolt of Fregellæ. He succeeds in driving into exile Popilius Lænas, the survivor of the consuls of 132. Finding himself confronted by a powerful opposition, Caius endeavours to conciliate the people by means of the lex frumentarii, a law providing for the regular distribution of corn at the expense of the state. He originates the idea of provincial colonies. The lex judiciaria transfers judicial functions from the senate to the order of equites, the moneyed, as distinguished from the aristocratic class. This measure weakens the power of the senate but does not render the administration of justice less corrupt. By the lex de provincia Asia, C. Gracchus places that province at the disposal of the equites. Caius Gracchus re-elected tribune for a second year. 122. C. Gracchus goes to establish the colony of Junonia on the site of Carthage. In his absence M. Livius Drusus proposes the foundation of twelve colonies in Italy, a popular measure intended to divert the people’s favour from Gracchus. C. Gracchus attempts to extend the rights of citizenship to the Latins but is defeated by the united efforts of the senate and the mob. War with the Allobroges and Arverni and Roman victory of Vindalum. 121. Death of Caius Gracchus. This is the result of a riot originating in a murder committed by a partisan of Gracchus. The latter with his adherents takes possession of the Aventine, from which they were driven by the aristocratic party. 120. Agrarian law forbidding the sale of lands allotted to the peasants, repealed. Popilius Lænas recalled. 118. Common lands secured to those in possession on payment of a fixed tax. Narbo, afterwards the capital of the Narbonensis, founded. 113. Invasion of the Cimbrians. They defeat the consul Cn. Papirius Carbo at Noreia, and pass into Helvetia and Gaul. 111. Common lands in Italy declared to be the private property of those in possession. This date marks the final failure of the reforms of the Gracchi.