Roman Empire timeline
This chart puts 13 Roman states and provinces on one timeline in order, from Roman Kingdom (c. 753 to 509 BCE) to Byzantine Empire (395 to 1453 CE). On these dates, Byzantine Empire lasted longest, about 1,058 years.
See it on the interactive chart
- Roman Kingdomc. 753 to 509 BCE
- Roman Republic509 to 27 BCE
- Roman Hispania218 BCE to 472 CE
- Roman Africa146 BCE to 439 CE
- Roman Anatolia133 BCE to 395 CE
- Roman Syria and Judaea64 BCE to 395 CE
- Roman Gaul50 BCE to 486 CE
- Roman Egypt30 BCE to 395 CE
- Roman Empire27 BCE to 395 CE
- Roman Britainc. 43 to 410 CE
- Roman Daciac. 106 to 275 CE
- Western Roman Empire395 to 476 CE
- Byzantine Empire395 to 1453 CE
- Latin and Romance
- Greek
In order
Roman Kingdom
By tradition founded by Romulus in 753 BCE and ruled by seven kings, the last three of them Etruscan. The Romans expelled Tarquin the Proud and set up a republic.
Roman Republic
Governed by two annual consuls and the Senate, Rome conquered Italy, destroyed Carthage and took Greece and Gaul. Its civil wars ended with Octavian as sole ruler.
Roman Hispania
Rome landed at Emporion in 218 BCE and took two centuries to conquer the whole peninsula, finishing in 19 BCE. Hispania gave Rome the emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Theodosius I. The Visigoths took the last Roman province in 472.
Roman Africa
Rome's provinces from Tripolitania to Mauretania, described as the granary of the empire and exporters of cereals and olive oil, with cities like Leptis Magna and Carthage. Africa gave Rome the emperor Septimius Severus and Augustine of Hippo.
Roman Anatolia
Rome formed the province of Asia from the Attalid kingdom of Pergamon in 133 BCE. Asia was one of the empire's richest provinces, and Constantinople, across the Bosporus, became the eastern capital in 330.
Roman Syria and Judaea
Pompey made Syria a province in 64 BCE. Rome crushed the Jewish revolts of 66 and 132 CE, and Antioch became one of the empire's great cities and an early centre of Christianity.
Roman Gaul
Caesar's conquest made Gaul a set of Roman provinces whose cities, roads and Latin speech outlasted the empire. Clovis took the last Roman enclave in 486.
Roman Egypt
The emperor's personal province, shipping grain to feed Rome. Alexandria was the empire's second city, and Egypt became a major centre of Christianity and monasticism.
Roman Empire
In 27 BCE the Senate gave Octavian the title Augustus, marking him as the first emperor. The empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan and encircled the Mediterranean. Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule both East and West, died in 395.
Roman Britain
Claudius invaded in 43, and Rome held the province until around 410. Hadrian ordered his wall during a visit around 120. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 is traditionally read as refusing a British appeal for help.
Roman Dacia
Trajan's province north of the Danube, where colonists settled the new Roman towns and the gold mines were worked. Aurelian withdrew the troops and administration between 271 and 275.
Western Roman Empire
The western half of the empire, often dominated by generals of barbarian origin while the Visigoths, Vandals and others carved kingdoms from its provinces. Odoacer forced Romulus Augustulus to abdicate in 476.
Byzantine Empire
The eastern Roman Empire, centred on Constantinople, where Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. Justinian briefly retook much of Italy, and the city withstood Arab sieges until the Ottomans took it in 1453.
Major events
- Traditional founding of Rome. Varro's chronology dates the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus to 753 BCE, still the basis of the Roman year count. Romans celebrated the city's birthday on 21 April.
- Hannibal crosses the Alps. The Carthaginian general leads his army and elephants from Spain over the Alps into Italy and wins at Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae.
- Battle of Cannae. Hannibal's Carthaginians and allies surround and practically annihilate a larger Roman and Italian army in Apulia. Ancient writers put the Roman dead at 50,000 (Appian, Plutarch) to 70,000 (Polybius), figures some modern writers doubt.
- Destruction of Carthage. Roman forces under Scipio Aemilianus storm and destroy Carthage after a siege of nearly three years, ending the Third Punic War. Its territory becomes the province of Africa.
- Spartacus's slave revolt. About 70 gladiators escape a school at Capua and start a rebellion that grows to some 120,000 men, women and children within two years. Crassus crushes it in 71 BCE, and about 6,000 survivors are crucified along the Appian Way.
- Caesar crosses the Rubicon. Defying the Senate's order to disband his army, Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon into Italy with the 13th Legion in January 49 BCE. The crossing starts a civil war that eventually makes him dictator for life.
- Assassination of Julius Caesar. Senators led by Brutus and Cassius stab Caesar, dictator for life, on the Ides of March, setting off the civil wars that end the Republic.
- Battle of Actium. Octavian's fleet under Agrippa defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the Ionian Sea off Actium in Greece on 2 September. The victory consolidates Octavian's power and marks Rome's transition from republic to empire.
- Death of Cleopatra. After defeat at Actium, Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony take their own lives. Octavian annexes Egypt, ending three centuries of Ptolemaic rule.
- Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius of the Cherusci destroys three Roman legions under Varus, and Rome gives up the conquest of Germany beyond the Rhine.
- Crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is executed in Jerusalem under the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, around 30 to 33 CE. Belief in the redemptive nature of his death dates to the earliest days of Christianity.
- Romans destroy the Second Temple. Titus captures Jerusalem and destroys the Second Temple, the effective end of the First Jewish Revolt. Judaism gradually reorients around Torah study and synagogue prayer.
- Vesuvius buries Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius erupts and buries the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum under pyroclastic surges and ash. The total number of deaths is unknown.
- Edict of Milan. Constantine and Licinius grant Christians freedom of worship across the Roman Empire.
- Council of Nicaea. Emperor Constantine I convenes at least 200 bishops at Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) to settle the relationship of God the Son to God the Father. The council produces the first part of the Nicene Creed and rules on the date of Easter.
- Constantinople dedicated. Constantine dedicates his new capital on the site of Byzantium. It stays the seat of the eastern Roman Empire for over 1,100 years.
- Battle of Adrianople. Gothic rebels under Fritigern overwhelm an Eastern Roman army near Adrianople (modern Edirne) and kill Emperor Valens. The battle is often considered the start of the events that led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
- Visigoths sack Rome. Alaric's Visigoths plunder Rome for three days, the first time in almost 800 years that the city falls to a foreign enemy.
- Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. A coalition under the Roman general Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric I fights Attila's Huns and their vassals in Gaul. It is one of the Western Roman Empire's last major operations, and its strategic significance is disputed.
- End of the Western Roman Empire. Odoacer deposes the boy emperor Romulus Augustulus and sends the imperial regalia to Constantinople.
- Justinian's Code. Emperor Justinian I promulgates the first edition of his Code, a compilation of imperial enactments, in April 529. It becomes part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the body of Roman law enacted between 529 and 534.
- Plague of Justinian. Plague reaches Roman Egypt in 541 and Constantinople in 542, where estimates of the dead range from a fifth to 40 percent of the city. Outbreaks recur until the middle of the 8th century.
- Baptism of the Rus. Vladimir I of Kiev adopts Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium and has the people of Kiev baptised in the Dnieper.
- East-West Schism. Papal legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicate each other, splitting the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
- First Crusade proclaimed. At Clermont, Pope Urban II calls on western knights to aid Byzantium and take Jerusalem, which the crusaders capture in 1099.
- Crusaders sack Constantinople. Knights of the Fourth Crusade and the Venetian fleet storm and loot Constantinople and divide the Byzantine Empire among themselves.
- Fall of Constantinople. Mehmed II breaches the Theodosian Walls after a 53-day siege, ending the Roman state that had lasted nearly 1,500 years.
Questions
What is the order of Roman states and provinces?
By start date: Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, Roman Hispania, Roman Africa, Roman Anatolia, Roman Syria and Judaea, Roman Gaul, Roman Egypt, Roman Empire, Roman Britain, Roman Dacia, Western Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire.
Which of the Roman states and provinces lasted longest?
On this timeline, Byzantine Empire, at about 1,058 years (395 to 1453 CE).
How many Roman states and provinces were there?
This timeline shows 13. Other lists count differently, depending on how they treat rival states and periods of division.
Which came first?
Roman Kingdom, c. 753 to 509 BCE, is the earliest on this timeline.
Where do these dates come from?
Each row's dates were checked against the sources listed on that row's own page, mostly English Wikipedia articles, which cite the underlying scholarship. Dates that are uncertain are marked c.