Roman History timeline
Outline from your course outlineYour notes from your notesGeneral standard knowledge (double-check)
- 63 BCYour notes
44 – Octavius (born 63 BC), Caesar's great-nephew, is adopted in Caesar's will and becomes "C. Julius Caesar" (Octavian). He raises a private army (*Res Gestae* 1). –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 49 BCGeneral
Caesar crosses the Rubicon; civil war begins
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 45 BCGeneral
Battle of Munda ends Caesar's civil wars
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 44 BCGeneral
Assassination of Julius Caesar (Ides of March)
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 43 BCYour notes
Triumvirate – Rule by three men; the Second Triumvirate was legal (43 BC). –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 43 BCYour notes
*Q2: What was the significance of the lex Titia (43 BC)?
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 42 BCGeneral
Battle of Philippi: Antony and Octavian defeat Brutus and Cassius
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 42 BCYour notes
Background: born 42 BC, the son of Livia and Ti. Claudius Nero. A highly successful general in Pannonia and Germany.
Tiberius in power - 38 BCYour notes
Livia: Augustus' wife from 38 BC; very influential. Tacitus insinuates that she poisoned rivals and perhaps Augustus himself (*Ann.* 1.3–1.5). Augustus' will made her "Julia Augusta".
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 32 BCYour notes
*Q1: Why did Octavian declare war on Cleopatra rather than Antony in 32 BC?
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 31 BCGeneral
Battle of Actium: Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 31 BCYour notes
*Exam board: OCR A Level Ancient History (H407). In Year 12 you study the Roman period study, "The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC–AD 68". Your Year 13 depth study (Ruling Roman Britain, AD 43–c.128) matches component H40
- 30 BCGeneral
Deaths of Antony and Cleopatra; Egypt annexed
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 29 BCYour notes
- The provinces: Augustus permitted a cult of Roma and Augustus at Pergamum and Nicomedia (29 BC) for provincials, while Romans there worshipped Roma and Divus Julius (Dio 51.20).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 28 BCYour notes
28 BC – Octavian and Agrippa hold a census and purge the senate. The illegal acts of the triumviral period are annulled. An aureus of 28 BC proclaims that he "restored to the Roman people their laws and rights". – Dio 53
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 28 BCYour notes
- Restoration of 82 temples in 28 BC (*RG* 20).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 28 BCYour notes
- Purges (*lectiones*): membership was reduced from about 1,000 to 800 in 29/28 BC, and to 600 in 18 BC. The property qualification was raised to 1 million sesterces.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 28 BCYour notes
- The Temple of Apollo on the Palatine (28 BC) was linked to Actium; the Sibylline Books were moved there.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 28 BCYour notes
The Mausoleum of Augustus (begun 28 BC). The Ara Pacis (13–9 BC).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 27 BCGeneral
First settlement: Octavian receives the name Augustus
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 27 BCYour notes
13–16 January, 27 BC: the First Settlement – He "transferred the state from my power to the control of the senate and people" (*RG* 34). The senate gave him a provincia of Spain, Gaul, Syria (plus Egypt), i.e. most of th
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 27 BCYour notes
Provincia – A sphere of command; in 27 BC, the provinces assigned to Augustus. –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 26–19 BCYour notes
- Spain: the Cantabrian wars, 26–19 BC.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 25 BCYour notes
Marcellus, nephew; married Julia (25 BC) – Died 23 BC –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 23 BCGeneral
Second settlement: tribunician power and maius imperium
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 23 BCYour notes
23 BC: the Second Settlement – After a serious illness and the conspiracy of Caepio and Murena (dated to 23 or 22), he resigned the consulship. He received tribunicia potestas (tribunician power) for life, counted annual
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 23 BCYour notes
- It is self-presentation that omits his military power base, the provincia with the legions, and the 23 BC powers.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 23 BCYour notes
*Q1: What powers did Augustus receive in 23 BC?
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 23 BCYour notes
Illness: 23 BC.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 23 BCYour notes
Accession – Civil war victory; settlements of 27/23 BC – Adopted heir; hesitant senate debate – Will annulled; Macro and the praetorians – Made by the praetorians (donative) – Agrippina's manoeuvres; Burrus and the guard
Synoptic review - 22 BCYour notes
- Caepio and Murena (23/22 BC);
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 22 BCYour notes
- The grain dole for about 200,000 recipients; Augustus took charge of the grain supply in a crisis of 22 BC (*RG* 5).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 21 BCYour notes
Agrippa, loyal general; married Julia (21 BC); shared tribunician power – Died 12 BC (the laudatio Agrippae, T14) –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 20 BCYour notes
The Parthian standards (20 BC): the standards lost by Crassus (53 BC) and Antony were recovered by diplomacy, not war.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 20 BCYour notes
*Q4: How did Augustus present the return of the Parthian standards (20 BC)?
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 19 BCYour notes
19 BC – (Probably) consular powers and insignia within Rome – Dio 54 (debated) –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 19 BCYour notes
- Egnatius Rufus (19 BC);
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 19 BCYour notes
Agrippa's buildings: the original Pantheon, the Baths of Agrippa and the Aqua Virgo (19 BC).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 18 BCYour notes
- 18 BC: the lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus (encouraging marriage among the upper classes) and the lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis (making adultery a public crime).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 17 BCYour notes
- The Secular Games (*Ludi Saeculares*), 17 BC, celebrating a new age. Horace wrote the hymn, the Carmen Saeculare.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 17 BCYour notes
Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Agrippa and Julia's sons, adopted by Augustus in 17 BC; "princes of the youth" – Lucius died AD 2; Gaius died AD 4 –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 16 BCYour notes
Military setbacks: the Lollian defeat (16 BC); the Pannonian revolt (AD 6–9); the Varian disaster (AD 9).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 13 BCYour notes
*A: The Altar of Augustan Peace, vowed in 13 BC and dedicated in 9 BC. Its sculpted reliefs celebrate peace, fertility, piety and the imperial family.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 12 BCYour notes
12 BC – Pontifex maximus after Lepidus' death (*RG* 10) – RG 10 –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 12 BCYour notes
- Pontifex maximus from 12 BC.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 12 BCYour notes
- The Altar of the Three Gauls at Lugdunum (12 BC).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 11 BCYour notes
Tiberius, Livia's son; forced to divorce Vipsania and marry Julia (11 BC); retired to Rhodes (6 BC–AD 2) – Adopted in AD 4 and made to adopt Germanicus; given tribunician power and imperium. Succeeded in AD 14. –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 10 BCYour notes
Born 10 BC at Lugdunum, the son of Drusus the Elder and Antonia; Germanicus' younger brother.
Claudius in power - 9 BCYour notes
- The Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustan Peace), dedicated 9 BC.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 7 BCYour notes
- The fourteen regions and their vici (neighbourhoods), reorganised in 7 BC, with local magistrates (*vicomagistri*) who worshipped the Lares Augusti and the genius of Augustus. This tied ordinary people to the regime.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 4 BCYour notes
- The Edicts of Cyrene (M60, 7/6 and 4 BC) show Augustus intervening in a public province. They reformed jury composition for Greeks and introduced a quicker senatorial procedure for extortion cases (the *senatus consult
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
2 BC – Pater patriae ("Father of the Fatherland") (*RG* 35) – RG 35 –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
Pater patriae – "Father of the Fatherland": a title given in 2 BC. –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
- Augustus' daughter Julia was exiled in 2 BC for adultery, and his granddaughter Julia the Younger in AD 8.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
- Iullus Antonius, linked to Julia (2 BC).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
- The Praetorian Prefects (two from 2 BC).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
- the Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus (dedicated 2 BC), with statues of Roman heroes (*summi viri*) and of Aeneas and Romulus;
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - 2 BCYour notes
Family scandals: Julia (2 BC); Julia the Younger and Agrippa Postumus (AD 7–8).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 4Your notes
Agrippa Postumus – Adopted in AD 4, then exiled; killed at the start of Tiberius' reign (Tac. Ann. 1.6) –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 6Your notes
- The aerarium militare (military treasury, AD 6) paid discharge bonuses. It was funded by inheritance and sales taxes, with a personal gift from Augustus (*RG* 17).
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 6Your notes
Aerarium militare – The military treasury funding veterans' pensions (AD 6). –
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 6Your notes
- Fire brigade (*vigiles*, AD 6); water board (*curatores aquarum*, 11 BC, building on Agrippa's work as aedile in 33 BC); urban cohorts.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 6Your notes
Safety – The vigiles (AD 6); urban cohorts; Nero's building codes (Tac. 15.43) – The fire of AD 64; urban violence –
Synoptic review - AD 8Your notes
Virgil, Horace, Ovid – Augustan poets; Virgil and Horace were part of Maecenas' circle – Poetry: epic, lyric, elegy – They reflect and shape the Augustan ideology of peace, piety and renewal. Patronage complicates "since
- AD 8Your notes
- Ovid, Fasti: e.g. 2.119–144 (Augustus as pater patriae, superior to Romulus); 2.55–66 (temple restoration); 5.140–158 (the Lares). Note that Ovid himself was exiled to Tomis in AD 8, for "a poem and a mistake", which s
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 9Your notes
- The Varian disaster (AD 9): three legions under Quinctilius Varus were destroyed in the Teutoburg Forest.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 9Your notes
- AD 9: the lex Papia Poppaea modified these laws. Ironically, both consuls who gave their names to it were unmarried.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 12Your notes
- Born AD 12, the son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder.
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 13–14Your notes
Res Gestae Divi Augusti – Augustus himself, written in his 76th year (AD 13–14); set up on bronze pillars outside his Mausoleum (the best copy is at Ancyra/Ankara) – A first-person record of achievements: self-presentati
- AD 14Your notes
Evaluation: the cult was a flexible tool of loyalty: restrained in Rome, encouraged in the provinces. Augustus was deified after his death in AD 14.
Background context: Roman Republic & Augustus’ rise to power · Augustus in power - AD 14Your notes
Elections moved from the people's assemblies to the senate (AD 14; Tac. Ann. 1.15).
Tiberius in power - AD 14–16Your notes
- Campaigned in Germany (AD 14–16), visiting the Teutoburg site and burying the dead (*Ann.* 1.61–62).
Tiberius in power - AD 14Your notes
Death and successor – Natural (AD 14); Tiberius – Natural (AD 37), rumours of smothering; Gaius – Assassinated (AD 41); Claudius – Poisoned? (AD 54); Nero – Suicide (AD 68); Galba –
Synoptic review - AD 15Your notes
Velleius Paterculus – An equestrian officer under Tiberius, later praetor (AD 15); published c. AD 30 – A short history ending in panegyric of Tiberius and Sejanus – A contemporary eyewitness of Tiberius' campaigns, but
- AD 17Your notes
- Recalled in AD 17; celebrated a triumph; sent to the East with imperium maius.
Tiberius in power - AD 19Your notes
Death: he died at Antioch in AD 19, convinced that Piso had poisoned him (*Ann.* 2.69–73).
Tiberius in power - AD 19Your notes
- He expelled the Egyptian and Jewish cults and astrologers from Rome (AD 19; Suet. Tib. 36).
Tiberius in power - AD 20Your notes
- Piso's trial (AD 20) ended in his suicide. A senatorial decree on Piso survives on bronze from Spain (not prescribed).
Tiberius in power - AD 23Your notes
- He concentrated the guard in a single camp (the Castra Praetoria, AD 23; Ann. 4.2).
Tiberius in power - AD 23Your notes
Tacitus, Ann. 4.1–3: he was ambitious and seduced Livilla, the wife of Tiberius' son Drusus. Drusus died in AD 23, later said to have been poisoned by Sejanus and Livilla.
Tiberius in power - AD 23Your notes
Castra Praetoria – The single camp of the Praetorian Guard on the edge of Rome (from AD 23). –
Tiberius in power - AD 25Your notes
- Cremutius Cordus (AD 25, Ann. 4.34–35): a historian accused of praising Brutus and Cassius. He made a defence of free speech, starved himself, and his books were burned.
Tiberius in power - AD 25Your notes
- Tiberius refused divine honours for himself in the West. In AD 25 he refused Further Spain's request for a temple to himself and Livia, saying he was mortal and wished to be remembered for his deeds (Tac. Ann. 4.37–38)
Tiberius in power - AD 26Your notes
The withdrawal from Rome: to Campania in AD 26, then Capri from 27 (Tac. Ann. 4.57: Tacitus weighs the reasons, which include Sejanus' influence and Tiberius' wish to hide his cruelty and lusts, or his appearance). He go
Tiberius in power - AD 26Your notes
- But he allowed Asia a temple (at Smyrna) to himself, Livia and the senate (AD 26), following the precedent of Augustus at Pergamum.
Tiberius in power - AD 27Your notes
- He acted in crises: the fire on the Caelian Hill (AD 27, Tac. Ann. 4.64) and the financial crisis of AD 33.
Tiberius in power - AD 29–33Your notes
Attacks on Germanicus' family: Sejanus attacked Agrippina the Elder and her sons Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, who were imprisoned or exiled and died (AD 29–33).
Tiberius in power - AD 31Your notes
His power while Tiberius was on Capri: he controlled access to Tiberius. Statues were raised to him and his birthday celebrated (Dio 58.2–4). He was consul with Tiberius in AD 31.
Tiberius in power - AD 31Your notes
*A: In AD 31, Tiberius sent a long letter to the senate denouncing him, while Macro took control of the Praetorian Guard. Sejanus was arrested and executed (Dio 58.8–11).
Tiberius in power - AD 37–41Your notes
Topic 4: Gaius ("Caligula") in power (AD 37–41)
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 37Your notes
- Gemellus was adopted and then killed (late AD 37 or 38).
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 38Your notes
- Incest with his sisters, especially Drusilla, who was deified in AD 38 after her death (Suet. Gaius 24, not prescribed; Dio 59.11).
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 38Your notes
Began two aqueducts, the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus (AD 38), completed by Claudius.
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 38Your notes
Messalina (married c. AD 38) – Mother of Octavia and Britannicus. The sources say she was promiscuous and murderous, e.g. the destruction of Valerius Asiaticus (AD 47). In AD 48 she went through a "marriage" with Gaius S
Claudius in power - AD 39Your notes
- Good relations at first. Then, in AD 39, he attacked the senate in a speech, praised Tiberius, and revived the treason trials (Dio 59.16).
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 39Your notes
- The conspiracy of Lepidus and Gaetulicus (AD 39) led to executions and the exile of his sisters Agrippina and Livilla.
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 39Your notes
*Q4: What did Gaius do in AD 39 that changed relations with the senate?
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 39Your notes
The senate – Respect, purges, auctoritas – Respect, then trials and Capri – Honeymoon, then attack (AD 39) – Consulted, but executions – Promises, then purges after 62 and 65 –
Synoptic review - AD 40Your notes
Outside Rome: the order to place his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem (AD 40). It was delayed by the Syrian governor Petronius and by Agrippa I (Philo, Josephus).
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 40Your notes
"Mad" emperor (the ancient tradition): Suetonius; Seneca; Philo (who reports his erratic behaviour during the Jewish embassy of AD 40). Possible illness, e.g. after the illness of 37.
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 41Outline
Assassination of Gaius; Claudius becomes emperor
Your outline: 'The assassination of AD41'.
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 41–49Your notes
Seneca the Younger – A philosopher-statesman; exiled by Claudius (AD 41–49); tutor and adviser to Nero; forced to commit suicide in AD 65 – Philosophical essays (*On Clemency*, On Anger, etc.) – A contemporary, but perso
- AD 41Your notes
*A: The praetorian tribunes Cassius Chaerea and Cornelius Sabinus (with others), on 24 January AD 41, during the Palatine Games.
Gaius in power (Spring, second half) - AD 41Your notes
Refusing divine honours: Claudius' letter to the Alexandrians (AD 41, L17) refuses a temple and high priests for himself, not wishing to seem offensive to his contemporaries, but accepts statues and other honours. It als
Claudius in power - AD 41Your notes
*A: Gaius was assassinated (AD 41). Nero committed suicide (AD 68). Claudius was probably poisoned (AD 54). Augustus died naturally (AD 14). Tiberius died apparently naturally (AD 37), although Tacitus reports a story th
Synoptic review - AD 41Your notes
*A: Claudius (AD 41). It showed that real power rested on military support, not on the senate.
Synoptic review - AD 42Your notes
The conspiracy of Scribonianus (AD 42): the governor of Dalmatia rebelled, but his legions refused to follow him. Senators and equestrians were implicated (Dio 60.15; Suet. Claud. 13).
Claudius in power - AD 42Your notes
Divus Augustus: he promoted the cult of Augustus and deified Livia (AD 42).
Claudius in power - AD 43Your notes
Military and foreign policy – Expansion; standards; Varus – Germanicus' campaigns, then consolidation – The "seashells" campaign – Britain (AD 43) – Corbulo in Armenia; Boudica; the Jewish revolt –
Synoptic review - AD 46Your notes
The harbour at Ostia (Portus) (inscription K16, AD 46): a new artificial harbour to secure the grain supply. It was completed under Nero (coins).
Claudius in power - AD 47–48Your notes
Censor – A magistrate who revised the citizen and senate rolls; Claudius held the office AD 47–48. –
Claudius in power - AD 48Your notes
- Tacitus, Ann. 11.24 (AD 48): his speech supported admitting Gallic nobles to the senate, using historical examples of Rome absorbing outsiders. A bronze copy, the Lyon Tablet, survives and allows comparison with Tacitu
Claudius in power - AD 49Your notes
Agrippina the Younger (married AD 49) – Germanicus' daughter and Claudius' niece; a senatorial decree permitted the marriage. Her son Lucius Domitius (Nero) was adopted in AD 50 (Tac. Ann. 12.25–26), giving him precedenc
Claudius in power - AD 49Your notes
Extension of the pomerium (Rome's sacred boundary) in AD 49 (inscription N24), justified by his expansion of the empire (Britain).
Claudius in power - AD 50Your notes
- She secured Nero's adoption (AD 50) and his early coming of age (*toga virilis*, AD 51).
Claudius in power - AD 51Your notes
- The Arch of Claudius in Rome (dedicated AD 51/52) boasted that he received the surrender of eleven British kings without loss.
Claudius in power - AD 52Your notes
Aqueducts: completed the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus (AD 52; Pliny, NH 36.122–123).
Claudius in power - AD 53Your notes
Equestrians: some advancement (e.g. procurators gained judicial powers in AD 53).
Claudius in power - AD 53Your notes
Octavia (married AD 53), Claudius' daughter – Gave legitimacy. Divorced in AD 62 on false charges of adultery and barrenness. There were popular protests in her favour. Exiled to Pandateria and killed (Tac. Ann. 14.60–64
Nero in power - AD 54Your notes
- Coins: in AD 54, Nero's coins show Agrippina facing Nero with her titles on the obverse. In AD 55, the coins show Agrippina behind Nero (jugate), with Nero's titles. This is visual evidence of her declining influence.
Nero in power - AD 54Your notes
*Q4: How do Nero's coins of AD 54 and AD 55 show Agrippina's changing role?
Nero in power - AD 54Your notes
*A: In AD 54, her portrait faces Nero's as an equal, with her titles prominent. By AD 55 she appears behind Nero (jugate), with his titles dominant, showing her decline.
Nero in power - AD 55Your notes
- AD 55: she was moved out of the palace and lost her bodyguard, after quarrels over Nero's affair with the freedwoman Acte.
Nero in power - AD 55Your notes
- Britannicus was poisoned at dinner (AD 55; Tac. Ann. 13.15–17, not prescribed).
Nero in power - AD 58–63Your notes
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo campaigned against Parthia over Armenia (AD 58–63).
Nero in power - AD 58Your notes
Tax reform proposals: in AD 58, Nero proposed abolishing indirect taxes, but the senators dissuaded him (Tac. Ann. 13.50–51, not prescribed).
Nero in power - AD 59Your notes
Nero held the Juvenalia (AD 59) and the Neronia (AD 60, Greek-style games).
Nero in power - AD 60Your notes
Outside Rome: a Temple to Divus Claudius at Camulodunum (Colchester), a focus of British resentment in AD 60/61 (Year 13 link).
Claudius in power - AD 62Your notes
Poppaea Sabina (married AD 62) – Ambitious; Tacitus portrays her as influencing the murder of Agrippina. Their daughter Claudia died in infancy. Poppaea died in AD 65: Suetonius says Nero kicked her while she was pregnan
Nero in power - AD 64Your notes
Currency reform (AD 64): the weight of the gold and silver coins was reduced. This possibly helped pay for rebuilding.
Nero in power - AD 64Your notes
Domus Aurea – Nero's "Golden House": a palace complex built after the fire of AD 64. –
Nero in power - AD 64Your notes
*Q1: What happened to the 14 districts of Rome in the fire of AD 64, according to Tacitus?
Nero in power - AD 65Your notes
- He refused a temple to "Divus Nero" in Rome in AD 65 (Tac. Ann. 15.74), because divine honours were only for dead emperors. He feared it would be an omen of his death.
Nero in power - AD 65Your notes
Pisonian Conspiracy – The failed plot of AD 65 to replace Nero with C. Calpurnius Piso. –
Nero in power - AD 66Your notes
- Nero's paranoia increased, leading to further purges (e.g. Thrasea Paetus, AD 66).
Nero in power - AD 66Your notes
A compromise followed: the Parthian prince Tiridates was crowned king of Armenia by Nero in Rome in AD 66 (Suet. Nero 13). This was a grand spectacle, and the doors of Janus were closed.
Nero in power - AD 66–67Your notes
The tour of Greece (AD 66–67): he competed in the games and declared "freedom" for Greece at the Isthmus (AD 67).
Nero in power - AD 67Your notes
Corbulo was later ordered to commit suicide (AD 67). This shows Nero's distrust of successful generals.
Nero in power - AD 68Your notes
The revolt of Vindex, the death of Nero and the accession of Galba (AD 68)
Nero in power - AD 68Your notes
- But: the fire and the land confiscated for the Golden House were costly. Grain shortages in AD 68 hurt.
Nero in power - AD 68Your notes
Hostis – A public enemy: Nero was declared one by the senate in AD 68. –
Nero in power - AD 68–69Your notes
Peace and stability after civil war – Tac. Ann. 1.2 ("the sweetness of peace"); Janus closed (*RG* 13); Virgil and Horace – Paid for with loss of political liberty. Civil war returned in AD 68–69. –
Synoptic review - AD 79Your notes
Pliny the Elder, Natural History – An equestrian; died in the eruption of Vesuvius (AD 79) – An encyclopaedia – Incidental facts (aqueducts, harbour, wealth). Hostile to Gaius and Nero. –
- AD 93Your notes
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 19 – A Jewish historian at Rome; wrote c. AD 93/94 – The most detailed account of Gaius' assassination and Claudius' accession – Probably used a lost Roman eyewitness source. Emphasises the r
- AD 97Your notes
Tacitus, Annals – A senator and consul (AD 97); wrote c. AD 115–120 under Trajan and Hadrian – Annalistic history (year by year) of Tiberius to Nero, moralising – Uses the senate's records (*acta senatus*) and earlier hi
- AD 200–230Your notes
Cassius Dio, Roman History – A Greek senator from Bithynia; consul in the early 3rd century; wrote c. AD 200–230 – Annalistic history of Rome – A senator's insight into politics. But he wrote about 200 years later, may p