Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic (54 page)

The Republic had long been dead – now it was passing out of fashion too. ‘Shaggy simplicity is yesterday’s news. Rome’s made of gold,/And coins in all the wealth of the conquered globe.’
³⁷
Greatness might have cost the Romans their freedom, but it had given them the world. Under Augustus their legions had continued to display all the martial qualities of old – pushing back the empire’s frontiers, slaughtering barbarians – but to the urbane consumer back on the Campus Martius, it was only distant noise. War no longer disturbed his reckoning. Nor, much, did morality, or duty, or the past. Nor, even, did warnings from the heavens. ‘Portents’, a contemporary historian noted with perplexity, ‘are never reported or chronicled nowadays.’
³⁸
But for this there was a self-evident explanation: the gods, surveying the scene of leisure and peace that Rome had become, had clearly decided that there was nothing left for them to say.

‘The fruit of too much liberty is slavery’
³⁹
had been the mournful judgement of Cicero – and who was to say that his own generation, the last of a free Republic, had not proved it true? But the fruit of slavery? That was for a new generation, and a new age, to prove.

All dates are
BC
unless otherwise stated.

753
The foundation of Rome.

509
The downfall of the monarchy, and the establishment of the Republic.

390
The capture of Rome by the Gauls.

367
Legal restrictions on the right of plebeians to hold the consulship are abolished.

343–40
First Samnite war.

321
The Romans are defeated at the Caudine Forks.

290
The Romans complete the conquest of Samnium.

264–41
The first war against Carthage.

219–18
The start of the second war against Carthage. Hannibal marches on Italy, through southern Gaul, and across the Alps.

216
The battle of Cannae.

202
The defeat of Hannibal in Africa.

148
Macedon becomes a Roman province.

146
The destruction of Carthage and Corinth.

133
The tribunate and murder of Tiberius Gracchus. Attalus III of Pergamum leaves his kingdom to Rome in his will.

123
The first tribunate of Gaius Gracchus (starting on 10 December 124). Pergamum subjected to organised taxation.

122
The second tribunate of Gaius Gracchus.

121
The murder of Gaius Gracchus.

118
The establishment of a province in southern Gaul secures the land route to Spain. Probable birthdate of Lucullus.

115
Birth of Crassus.

112
Mithridates VI establishes himself as King of Pontus.

107
Marius’ first consulship. He abolishes property qualifications for recruitment to the army.

106
Birth of Pompey and Cicero.

104–100
  Marius as Consul. Victorious campaigns against barbarian invaders from the north.

100
Birth of Caesar.

93
Birth of Clodius.

92
The conviction and exile of Rutilius Rufus for extortion.

91
Outbreak of the Italian revolt against Rome.

90
Citizenship offered to Italians loyal to Rome.

89
Sulla, campaigning in Samnium, brings an effective end to the Italian revolt. Mithridates invades the Roman province of Asia.

88
Sulla as consul. Marius, with the assistance of the tribune Sulpicius, has the Mithridatic command transferred to himself. Sulla marches on Rome. The execution of Sulpicius, and escape of Marius into exile. In Asia, Mithridates orders the massacre of 80,000 Romans and Italians.

87
Cinna as consul. Sulla leaves for Greece and the war against Mithridates. The death of Pompeius Strabo. Marius returns to power in Rome.

86
Cinna as consul. The death of Marius. Athens falls to Sulla.

85
Cinna as consul. Sulla signs a peace treaty with Mithridates.

84
Cinna as consul. He is murdered by mutineers.

83
Crassus joins Sulla in Greece. Sulla crosses to Italy, where he is joined by Pompey. The battle of the Colline Gate, and the massacre of the Samnite prisoners in the Villa Publica.

82
Proscriptions in Rome. Caesar in hiding.

81
Sulla as Dictator. He launches major constitutional reforms, including the hamstringing of the tribunate. Cicero’s first case.

80
Sulla as consul. Caesar leaves for military service in Asia.

79
Sulla relinquishes his magistracies. Cicero leaves on a two-year trip to the East.

78
Catulus as consul. The death of Sulla.

77
Pompey is given a command in Spain.

75
Cicero as quaestor. Mithridates declares war on Rome.

74
Lucullus as consul. Mithridates invades the province of Asia a second time. M. Antonius is given a command against the pirates.

73
The outbreak of a slave revolt, led by Spartacus. Lucullus expels Mithridates from Asia.

72
Crassus is appointed to command of the war against Spartacus. The end of Pompey’s campaigning in Spain.
Lucullus is victorious against Mithridates in Pontus. M. Antonius is defeated by the pirates off Crete.

71
The defeat and death of Spartacus. The return of Pompey to Italy. Lucullus completes the conquest of Pontus. Mithridates takes refuge with Tigranes of Armenia.

70
Pompey and Crassus as consuls. Full powers are restored to the tribunate, after their abolition by Sulla. The prosecution of Verres.

69
The battle and sack of Tigranocerta.

68
Lucullus’ army mutinies. The birth of Cleopatra.

67
Pompey sweeps the seas clear of pirates.

66
Lucullus is replaced by Pompey as proconsul of the East. Cicero as praetor.

65
Caesar as aedile.

64
Pompey establishes Syria as a new Roman province. Cato as quaestor.

63
Cicero as consul. Caesar becomes
Pontifex Maximus.
Lucullus celebrates his triumph. Pompey storms Jerusalem. The death of Mithridates. The Catilinarian conspiracy, and execution of the ringleaders. Catiline raises an army in northern Italy. The birth of Octavian.

62
Caesar as praetor. The defeat and death of Catiline. Pompey returns to Italy. Clodius profanes the rites of the Good Goddess.

61
Caesar as governor in Spain. The trial and acquittal of Clodius. Pompey’s third triumph.

60
Caesar returns to Rome. The formation of an informal alliance between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus.

59
Caesar and Bibulus as consuls. ‘The First Triumvirate’. Pompey marries Julia, Caesar’s daughter. Clodius becomes a plebeian, and is elected to the tribunate.

58
Caesar campaigns against the Helvetians. Clodius as tribune. Cicero leaves Rome for exile, Cato for Cyprus.

57
Caesar campaigns against the Belgae. Street fighting between the gangs of Clodius and Milo. Cicero returns from exile.

56
The trial and acquittal of Caelius. The conference of Lucca, and the renewal of the Triumvirate. Cato returns to Rome from Cyprus.

55
Pompey and Crassus as consuls. Pompey dedicates his stone theatre. Caesar crosses the Rhine, then leads an expedition to Britain.

54
Domitius and Appius as consuls, Cato as praetor. Crassus leaves for Syria. Caesar leads a second expedition to Britain. The death of Pompey’s wife, Julia.

53
The battle of Carrhae, and the death of Crassus.

52
The murder of Clodius, and conviction of Milo. Pompey as sole consul until August. He marries Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio. Caelius as tribune. Vercingetorix leads Gaul in revolt against Caesar, but is defeated at Alesia, and surrenders.

50
Curio as tribune. The death of Hortensius. Pompey is called upon by the consul Marcellus to ‘rescue the Republic’.

49
Caesar crosses the Rubicon. The Senate evacuates Rome. Domitius surrenders Corfinium. Pompey leaves Italy for Greece. The defeat and death of Curio in
Africa. Caesar defeats the Pompeian armies in Spain, and is elected dictator.

48
The deaths of Milo and Caelius. The battle of Pharsalus. The murder of Pompey. Caesar trapped in Alexandria.

47
Caesar’s cruise with Cleopatra down the Nile. The birth of Caesarion. Caesar defeats Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, returns to Italy, then crosses to Africa.

46
Caesar defeats Scipio. Cato commits suicide, Scipio drowns. Caesar celebrates four triumphs. Cleopatra arrives in Rome. Caesar leaves for Spain.

45
Caesar defeats the sons of Pompey, and returns to Rome. He publishes his
Anti-Cato.

44
Caesar is appointed dictator for life. Antony as consul. Caesar is assassinated on the ides of March. Octavian arrives in Rome. Brutus and Cassius leave for the East. Cicero delivers a series of speeches against Antony.

43
Hirtius and Pansa as consuls. They are killed in battle with Antony. The formation of the Second Triumvirate: Antony, Octavian and Lepidus. Octavian’s first consulship. The proscriptions. The death of Cicero.