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This is a timeline of the history of the Roman Empire and only includes important legal and territorial changes and political events in the Empire from its founding in 27 BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus until the fall in the West in 476 AD and the transition in the East in 610. To read about the background to these events, see History of the Roman Empire.
Gaius Octavian, great-nephew and adoptive son of Julius Caesar, defeated Roman general Mark Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, becoming the sole master of the Roman world. After a series of constitutional settlements between Octavian and the Roman Senate, Octavian was named "Augustus": the first Roman Emperor. The Roman Empire, and the successors of Augustus, would rule the ancient world, stretching across three continents, for almost five centuries.
The Julio-Claudian dynasty was a family of five emperors that governed the Empire during its formative years. All members of the dynasty drew political power from their family ties to Julius Caesar and Augustus. While members often acted in despotic manners, the key principle of the dynasty was upholding the Republic facade of the Empire, known as the Principate, in which the Emperors were not seen as monarchs but as "first citizen".
The Flavian dynasty rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Although the dynasty proved to be short-lived (with three emperors reigning only 27 years), several significant historic, economic and military events took place during their reign.
The Nerva–Antonine dynasty were seven Emperors who ruled the Roman Empire from 96 to 192. The dynasty began when the Senate proclaimed Nerva as Emperor following the assassination of Emperor Domitian. 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. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius would be the only Emperor of this dynasty to be succeeded by his biological son, the Emperor Commodus. Commodus' assassination would plunge the Empire into a civil war, known as the Year of the Five Emperors.
The Severan dynasty ruled the Empire between 193 and 235. The dynasty was founded by the general Septimius Severus, who rose to power as the victor of the civil war of 193, known as the Year of the Five Emperors. Although Severus successfully restored peace following the upheaval of the late 2nd century, the dynasty was disturbed by highly unstable family relationships and constant political turmoil.
The Crisis of the Third Century 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 Alexander Severus at the hands of his own troops, initiating a fifty-year period in which dozens of claimants to the Imperial throne (with dozens more usurpers and pretenders), mostly prominent Roman Army generals, assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire. In 260, the Empire split into three competing states: the western Gallic Empire, the eastern Palmyrene Empire, and the Roman Empire proper in the center. The Emperor Aurelian reunited the three states into a single Empire by 274. The Crisis ended with the ascension and reforms of Diocletian.
The Crisis resulted in such profound changes in the Empire's institutions, society, economic life and, eventually, religion, that it is increasingly seen by most historians as the transition period between the historical periods of Classical antiquity and late antiquity.
When Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor, he ruled the entire Empire as sole Emperor. Diocletian named Maximian as his Co-Emperor in 286, through Diocletian remained the senior partner. He then established a system for governing the Empire by four rulers known as the Tetrachy: two Senior Emperors (Augustii) and two Junior Emperors (Caesars'), with one Senior and Junior Emperor (the designated heir) in the West and East respectively. Diocletian, and his successors, become Senior Emperor of the East and Maximian, and his successors, Senior Emperor in the West. The Tetrachy was relatively stable until the death Constantius Chlorus in 306, which started a civil war to determine the true successor to the Western throne. The Tetrarchy system ended in 313 with the death of Eastern Emperor Maximinus II, when internecine conflict eliminated most of the claimants to power, leaving Constantius' son Constantine I as Western Emperor and Licinius as Eastern Emperor.
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The Western Roman Empire existed intermittently in several periods between the 3rd and 5th centuries, after Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy and then after the reunifications associated with Emperors Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate. Emperor Theodosius I was the last Emperor to rule over an unified Empire. After his death in 395, the Empire was permanently divided into Eastern and Western halves. Following the final division, the Western Empire would survive for eight decades under increased barbarian invasions, eventually falling under the pressure of internal revolt and foreign invasion in the mid-5th century.
The Theodosian dynasty ruled the Western Empire for fifty years. Following the death of Emperor Theodosius I in 395 and the permanent division of the Empire, Theodosius' eleven-year old son Honorius became Western Emperor. The Emperor Honorius named Constantius III the Supreme Commander of the Western Army and husband of the Emperor's sister Galla Placidia, as Co-Emperor in 421. He reigned alongside Honorius briefly until he died suddenly after only seven months as Emperor. Following Honorius' death in the first quarter of the 5th century, a brief interim existed during which the Western throne remained legally vacant, though usurpers attempted to claim the throne. Supported by the Eastern court, six-year old Valentinian III, the son of Constantius and Placidia, became Emperor. Both members of the Theodosian dynasty were mostly ceremonial figureheads as both Emperors were dominated by powerful military commanders, who were the power behind the throne in the West.
Following the assassination of the Valentinian III, the western branch of the Theodosian dynasty ended. The final 21 years of the Western Empire would witness the imperial throne change hands nine times with a two-year interregnum, with each Emperor ruling on average a little over two years each. The central figure during the final two decades of the West was the Supreme Commander of the Western Army Ricimer who, despite being unqualified to hold the tile "Emperor" himself due to his barbarian heritage, effectively ruled the Western Empire for sixteen years as the power behind the throne. He routinely elevates and deposed a series of puppet Emperors. The Eastern Empire attempted to restore stability to the West, twice sending an Eastern-backed Emperor to claim the Western throne. The last legitimate Western Emperor was Julius Nepos, who was sent by Eastern Emperor Zeno. Despite initial success, Julius Nepos was deposed by his own general, who in turn appointed his son, the child Romulus Augustulus, as Western Emperor. Romulus Augustus, who was never recognized as Emperor by the East, was forced to abdicate following a barbarian revolt on September 4, 476. The Senate then sent Eastern Emperor Zeno the Western regalia, legally ending the separate Western Empire.
The Eastern Roman Empire was permanently established following the death of Emperor Theodosius I in 395, in which the united Empire was permanently divided into Eastern and Western halves. The Eastern Empire existed as a counterpart to the Western Empire until the West's fall in 476. Following the West's fall, the East and West were de jure reunited as a single Empire. Following the fall of the West, the Eastern Empire would survive for another thousand years. During most of its existence, the East remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the Roman–Persian and Roman–Arab Wars. The transition from the Eastern Empire into the Byzantine Empire begins during the reign of Emperor Heraclius as Heraclius effectively established a new state after reforming the army and administration by introducing themes and by changing the official language of the Empire from Latin to Greek.
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