Essential Battles of Roman History

Transcription

1 Essential Battles of Roman History Early Republic Lake Regillus 496 BC -Romans defeat Etruscans/Latins with help of Castor and Pollux Mons Algidus 458 BC -Cincinnatus beats the Aequi during his 16-day dictatorship Allia River 390/387 BC -Brennus and the Senones (Gallic tribe) defeat the Romans and sack Rome Samnite Wars Caudine Forks 321 BC -Samnites trap Romans in a mountain ridge -Romans forced under the yoke -2 nd Samnite War Lautulae 315 BC -Samnites defeat Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus -2 nd Samnite War Sentinum 295 BC -Romans under Fabius Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus defeat Samnites, forcing a peace. -Decius Mus commits devotio by sacrificing himself to inspire the troops -3 rd Samnite War Pyrrhic War Heraclea 280 BC -Pyrrhus defeats the Romans in their first encounter, but at great cost (Pyrrhic victory) Asculum 279 BC -Pyrrhus defeats the Romans again (Pyrrhic victory); another Decius Mus commits devotio Beneventum 275 BC -M. Curius Dentatus finally defeats Pyrrhus to end the war -Area was known as Maleventum (bad wind) before the battle 1 st Punic War Agrigrentum 261 BC -Romans take most of Sicily from Carthage by defeating Hannibal Gisco and Hanno Mylae 260 BC -Rome s first naval victory, by Gaius Duilius -corvus raven plank for boarding enemy ships Cape Ecnomus 256 BC -Roman naval victory; one of largest sea battles ever Bagradas 255 BC -Xanthippus (Spartan mercenary for Carthage) defeats and captures Regulus in Africa

2 Panormus 251 BC -Metellus fights off a Carthaginian siege; Carthage decides to send Regulus to ask for peace Lilybaeum 250 BC -Roman siege; eventually lifted after the loss at Drepana in 249 Drepana 249 BC -Publius Claudius Pulcher consults the sacred chickens; they don t eat, so he lets them drink and throws them overboard. The Romans suffer a disastrous defeat. Aegates Islands 242 BC -G. Lutatius Catulus defeats Hanno the Great at sea, ending the 1 st Punic War 2 nd Punic War Saguntum 218 BC -Hannibal besieges the Spanish city south of the Ebro, starting the 2 nd Punic War Ticinus 218 BC -Hannibal defeats P. Cornelius Scipio the Elder -Scipio the future Africanus saves Scipio the Elder, his father Trebia 218 BC -Hannibal lures Tib. Sempronius Longus into a trap and defeats him Trasimene 217 BC -Hannibal defeats Gaius Flaminius in an ambush; Flaminius is killed Cannae 216 BC -Hannibal destroys the Roman army under G. Terentius Varro and L. Aemilius Paullus -L. Aemilius Paullus is killed; Varro escapes -Double envelopment strategy successful Baecula 208 BC -Scipio (future Africanus) defeats Hasdrubal in Spain Metaurus 207 BC -Hasdrubal is killed in Italy; M. Livius Salinator is reinforced by G. Claudius Nero Ilipa 206 BC -Scipio (future Africanus) defeats Mago and Hasdrubal Gisco with a reverse Cannae tactic Utica 203 BC -Scipio (future Africanus) defeats Hasdrubal Gisco in Africa, forcing the recall of Hannibal Zama 202 BC -Scipio defeats Hannibal in Africa to end the war, earning the title Africanus -Numidians led by Masinissa ally with Rome Macedonian Wars Cynoscephalae 197 BC -T. Quinctius Flamininus defeats Phillip V of Macedon -Legion proven superior to phalanx; 2 nd Macedonian War Pydna 168 BC -L. Aemilius Paullus defeats Perseus of Macedon (Paullus Pounded Perseus at Pydna) -3 rd Macedonian War

3 Seleucid War Thermopylae 191 BC -Manius Acilius Glabrio prevents the Seleucids (Antiochus III) out of Greece Magnesia 190 BC -Scipio Africanus and Scipio Asiaticus defeat Antiochus III Third Punic War Carthage 146 BC -Scipio Aemilianus destroys Carthage to end the short-lived Third Punic War Late 2 nd Century BC Corinth 146 BC -Lucius Mummius defeats the Achaean League and begins the era of Roman Greece Numantia 133 BC -Scipio Aemilianus besieges and captures Numantia in Spain War with Cimbri and Teutones Arausio 105 BC -Disastrous defeat of Servilius Caepio and Mallius Maximus by the Cimbri and Teutones Aquae Sextiae 102 BC -Gaius Marius defeats the Teutones Vercellae 101 BC -Marius and Quintus Lutatius Catulus defeat the Cimbri Colline Gate 82 BC -Sulla s march on Rome results in him defeating his rivals and gaining control of Rome Caesar s Gallic Wars Arar 58 BC -Caesar defeats migrating Helvetians Bibracte 58 BC -Caesar defeats Helvetians under Divico Gergovia 52 BC -Vercingetorix defeats Caesar Alesia 52 BC -Caesar s successful siege against Vercingetorix swings the Gallic Wars in Rome s favor Carrhae 53 BC -Crassus dies fighting the Parthians, losing the standards; First Triumvirate crumbles and Pompey/senate try to make Caesar lay down his command in 50 BC Caesar s Civil War vs. Pompey Caesar crosses Rubicon into Italy Jan. 10, 49 BC, declaring war in doing so Alea iacta est The die is cast Ilerda 49 BC -Caesarian victory against Pompey s commanders in Spain

4 Utica 49 BC -Caesar s general G. Scribonius Curio defeats Publius Attius Varus in North Africa -Varus fights on behalf of the optimates using troops from King Juba I of Numidia Bagradas 49 BC -Varus and Juba defeat and kill Curio in North Africa Dyrrhachium 48 BC -Pompey s successful siege in modern Albania leads Caesar to retreat Pharsalus 48 BC -Caesar defeats Pompey in Greece, causing Pompey to flee to Egypt -Ptolemy XIII assassinates Pompey, actually angering Caesar Nile 47 BC -Caesar and Cleopatra defeat Ptolemy XIII for control of Egypt Zela 47 BC -Caesar launches a successful 5-day campaign against Pharnaces II of Pontus -Pharnaces had defeated Calvinus at Nicopolis in 48 BC -Battle is in modern Turkey; afterwards Caesar says Veni, vidi, vici - I came, I saw, I conquered Ruspina 46 BC -Titus Labienus, Caesar s lieutenant in Gaul who had defected to Pompey, almost defeats Caesar but is forced to flee; battle is in north Africa Thapsus 46 BC -Caesar defeats leftover optimates & Juba in north Africa Munda 45 BC -Caesar defeats and kills Labienus and Varus in Spain, clearing way for him politically Octavian s Civil Wars Forum Gallorum 43 BC -Antony marched against the assassin Decimus Junius Brutus, governor of Gallia Cisalpina, on his own -Antony defeats the consul Pansa, only to be defeated by the consul Hirtius, both sent to support Decimus Brutus Mutina 43 BC -Six days after Forum Gallorum, Octavian reinforces Hirtius and they defeat Antony -Hirtius dies in the battle; Pansa dies soon after from wounds sustained at Forum Gallorum -Octavian s coming of age in a way; truce signed with Antony -Second Triumvirate formed between Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus Philippi 42 BC -Two battles in Macedonia by Octavian and Antony against Caesar s assassins M. Brutus and Cassius - 1 st battle: Cassius hears incorrectly about Brutus s defeat, commits suicide -2 nd battle: Brutus is defeated and commits suicide Perusia BC -Antony s wife Fulvia and brother Lucius Antonius raise an army to support him as sole ruler -Octavian besieges the city, spares and exiles the two, and butchers the citizens

5 Naulochus 36 BC -M. Vipsanius Agrippa defeats Sextus Pompeius (son of Pompey) who was preventing grain flow Actium 31 BC -September 2 off the coast of Greece -Agrippa defeats Cleopatra and Antony on behalf of Octavian -Antony and Cleopatra flee to Alexandria and commit suicide by sword and snake bite, respectively (snake was an asp) Imperial Battles Teutoberg Forest 9 AD -Arminius (Hermann the German) leads Cherusci against Quinctilius Varus -Utter disaster for Romans; 3 legions lost Wattling Street 60/61 AD -Revolt of Queen Boudicca of the Iceni put down by G. Suetonius Paulinus Cremona/Bedriacum I 69 AD -Valens and Caecina defeat Otho on behalf of Vitellius Cremona/Bedriacum II 69 AD -Antonius Primus defeats Vitellius on behalf of Vespasian First Roman-Jewish War Jerusalem 70 AD -Sacked by Titus, for which the Arch of Titus was built; end of most outright conflict, but Jewish strongholds remained Masada 73 AD -L. Flavius Silva besieges a mountain fortress of Jewish rebels in Israel -Builds a giant ramp up to the fort -Mass suicide by Jewish rebels inside More Imperial Battles Mons Graupius 84 AD -Gnaeus Julius Agricola, governor of Britain, defeats Calgacus in Caledonia (Scotland) -Romans don t follow up on victory and Caledonia remains unconquered -Shaky peace and quiet with Caledonia follows Tapae 87 AD -Domitian s failed invasion of Dacia under Decebalus; peace treaty Tapae 101 AD -Trajan s successful invasion of Dacia under Decebalus Sarmizegethusa 106 AD -Siege of the Dacian capital, won by Trajan

6 Septimius Severus s Rise to Power Severus was challenged by two contenders after an auction for the throne: Pescennius Niger in Syria and Clodius Albinus in Britain. Remember where each is by their names: niger means black while albus means white like albino. People in Syria will have darker skin than those in Britain. Cyzicus 193 AD -Severus defeats Pescennius Niger in northern Turkey Nicaea 193 AD -Severus defeats Niger Issus 194 AD -Severus defeats Niger for good Lugdunum 197 AD -Severus defeats Clodius Albinus at modern London Late Imperial Battles Edessa AD -Emperor Valerian is completely defeated and captured by King Shapur I of the Sassanids -Valerian is forced to drink molten gold, according to some sources -also might have been used as Shapur s stepstool Milvian Bridge 312 AD -October 28; Constantine s vision in the sky -in hōc signō vincēs, In this sign you will conquer -Constantine defeats Maxentius, who drowns in the Tiber -End of Tetrachy system; paves way for Christianity in the Empire Adrianople 378 AD -Also called Hadrianopolis - Fritigern and the Goths defeat Eastern Emperor Valens and his western reinforcements -Beginning of the end for Rome Sack of Rome 410 AD -Alaric and the Visigoths Chalons 451 AD -Flavius Aëtius and the Visigoth Theodoric I stop the advance of the Huns -Theodoric dies Sack of Rome 455 AD -Genseric and the Vandals Ravenna 476 AD -September 2, eastern coast of Italy -Odoacer/Odovacer leads German mercenaries formerly allied to Rome -Ravenna currently the capital of the Western Empire -the boy Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the west, forced to abdicate -Western Roman Empire comes to an end