ROMAN PERIOD : Roman Emperors

Mithridates VI of Pontus

Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI, also known as Mithridates the Great (Megas) and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia (now in Turkey) from about 119 to 63 BC. Mithridates was a king of Persian origin, and cla...

115 BC - 53 BC

Billionaires

Crassus, Roman General

Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who commanded Sulla's decisive victory at Colline gate, suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus and entered into a secret pact, known as the First Triumvirate, with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnu...

106 BC - 43 BC

Jurists

Cicero, Roman Philosopher

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orator...

106 BC - 48 BC

Pompey, Rival of Julius Caesar

Pompey (the Great), was a distinguished and ambitious Roman military leader, provincial administrator and politician of the 1st century BC, the period of the Late Republic. Hailing from an Italian provincial background, Pompey first distinguished him...

100 BC - 44 BC

Julius Caesar, Rise of the Roman Empire

Gaius Julius Caesar is remembered as one of history's greatest generals and a key ruler of the Roman empire. As a young man he rose through the administrative ranks of the Roman republic, accumulating power until he was elected consul in 59 B.C. Over...

99 BC - 55 BC

Philosophers

Lucretius, Roman Poet & Philosopher

Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem on Epicureanism De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe". According to Lucretius'...

83 BC - 30 BC

Marc Antony, General of Julius Caesar

Marcus Antonius or Marc Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from an oligarchy into the autocratic Roman Empire. Antony was a supporter of Julius Caesar, and served as on...

82 BC - 46 BC

Vercingetorix, Gallic Warrior defied Rome

Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe known as the man who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Vercingetorix came to power in 52 BC, when he r...

73 BC - 4 BC

Herod the Great, King of Israel

Herod, also known as Herod I or Herod the Great, was a Roman client king of Israel. He was (descended from converts to Judaism) serving as a servant first. Described as A madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis. He is commonly conf...

70 BC - 19 BC

Poets

Virgil, Roman Poet

Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of mi...

69 BC - 30 BC

Cleopatra VII, the Last Pharaoh

Cleopatra was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, briefly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire. Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a famil...

63 BC - 14

Billionaires

Augustus, (Octavius) 1st Roman Emperor

Emperor Augustus of Rome was born with the given name Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 B.C. He took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian) in 44 B.C. after the murder of his great uncle, Julius Caesar. In his will Caesar had adopted Oct...

63 BC - 24

Explorers

Strabo, Greek Historian

Strabo was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. Strabo is mostly famous for his 17-volume work Geographica, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era. Although the Geogra...

59 BC - 17

Livy, Writer of the History of Rome

Titus Livius, or Livy, was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled Ab Urbe Condita, "From the Founding of the City", covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional foundation...

45 BC

Inventions

The Julian Calendar

The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. It was in common use until the 1500s, when countries started changing to the Gregorian Calendar. However, some countries (for example, Greece and Russia) used it into this century, and the...

43 BC - 17

Poets

Ovid, Roman Poet

Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for collections of love poetry in elegiac couplets, es...

42 BC - 37

Tiberius, 2nd Roman Emperor

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (or Tiberius I), was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was one of Rome's greatest generals, whose campaigns in Pannonia, Illyricum, Rhaetia and Germania l...

31 BC

Wars

Battle of Actium, Begin of the Roman Empire

The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian S...

25 BC

Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus

Mary of Nazareth often referred to by Christians as the Virgin Mary or Saint Mary, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the mother of Jesus Christ. Muslims also refer to her as the Virgin Mary or Syeda Mariam,...

18 BC - 21

Arminius, Victory at the Teutoburg Forest - AD 9

Arminius also known as Armin or Hermann, was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius's influence held an allied coalition of Germanic tribes together in opposition to the Romans b...

15 BC - 19

Germanicus, Defeated Arminius - AD 16

Germanicus was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the Roman Empire known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, Germanicus was born into a prominent branch of the patrician gen...

10 BC - 54

Claudius, 4th Roman Emperor

Claudius was Roman emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul, the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Because he was afflicted with a limp and...

5 BC - 67

Saint Paul, The Apostle

Paul the Apostle commonly known as Saint Paul and also known by his Hebrew name Saul of Tarsus, was an apostle (although not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. Paul is generally considered one of t...

5 BC - 64

Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles

Saint Peter (died c. 64 AD), also known as Simon Peter, according to the New Testament, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, leaders of the early Christian Church. The Roman Catholic Church considers him to be the first pope, ordained by J...

5 BC

Mary Magdalene, Disciple of Jesus

Mary Magdalene is described, both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted disciple of Jesus. She is considered by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches to be a saint, with a feast day of J...

4 BC - 30

Jesus Christ, of Nazareth

Jesus (c. 4 BC – AD 30 / 33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus of Galilee, is the central figure of Christianity, whom the teachings of most Christian denominations hold to be the Son of God. Christianity regards Jesus as the awaited M...

4 BC - 65

Philosophers

Seneca the Younger, Philosopher

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. While he was later forced to commit suicide for alleged compli...

3 BC - 69

Galba, 6th Roman Emperor

Servius Sulpicius Galba, also called, was Roman Emperor from June 8, 68 until his death. He was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. Galba's primary concern during his brief reign was in restoring state finances, and to this end he...

9 - 79

Vespasian, 9th Roman Emperor

Titus Flavius Vespasianus was the ninth Roman Emperor, who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the short-lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 AD and 96 AD. He was succeeded by his sons T...

12 - 41

Caligula, 3rd Roman Emperor

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, more commonly known by his nickname Caligula, was the 3rd Roman Emperor who reigned from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41. Caligula was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty which descende...

37 - 68

Nero, 5th Roman Emperor

Nero was the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius and became Claudius' heir and successor. Like Claudius, Nero became emperor with the consent of the Praetorian Guard. Nero's mother, Agrippina the You...

37 - 100

Flavius Josephus, Romano-Jewish Historian

Titus Flavius Josephus was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Romans during the First...

51 - 96

Domitian, 11th Roman Emperor

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty. Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roma...

56 - 117

Tacitus, Roman Historian

One of the greatest historians of ancient Rome, Cornelius Tacitus is a primary source for much of what is known about life the first and second centuries after the life of Jesus. His most famous works, Histories and Annals, exist in fragmentary form,...

Revolutions

Boudica, British Celtic Queen

Boudica (d. AD 60 or 61) was a queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. Boudica's husband Prasutagus ruled as a nominally independent ally of Rome and left his kingdom jointly t...

Buildings

Destruction of the 2nd Temple at Jerusalem

The Second Temple is the term used for the Jewish holy temple, which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, actually two temple complexes which succeeded each other and allowed almost uninterrupted temple service between c. 516 BCE and 70 CE. It gav...

76 - 138

Hadrian, Roman Emperor

Hadrian was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. In Latin, the full imperial title of Hadrian was also rendered as Tito Ael Hadriano, just as it appears in ancient epigraphic records. He re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. H...

90 - 168

Astronomers

Ptolemy, Astronomer / Mathematician

Claudius Ptolemy was a Greco-Egyptian writer of Alexandria, known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt, wrote in...

121 - 180

Philosophers

Marcus Aurelius, 16th Roman Emperor

Marcus Antoninus the Philosopher, Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. It is this quality of Marcus' character which has made him a unique figure in Roman history, since he was the only emperor whose life was molded by, and devoted to, philoso...

122

Buildings

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall, also called the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Hadriani in Latin, was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near...

161 - 192

Commodus, 18th Roman Emperor

Commodus was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as...

244 - 311

Diocletian, 51st Roman Emperor

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus was Roman Emperor from 20 November 284 to 1 May 305. Diocletian was one of the few emperors of the third and fourth centuries to die naturally, and the first in the history of the empire to retire voluntarily. Onc...

256 - 336

Arius, Father of Arianism

Arius was an ascetic Christian presbyter of Libyan origins, and priest in Alexandria, Egypt, of the church of Baucalis. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's divinity over the Son, and his opposition to Homoousi...

267

Migrations

The Goths, Invasions of the Roman Empire

The Goths were an East Germanic tribe which according to their own traditions originated in Scandinavia (specifically Götaland and Gotland). They migrated southwards and conquered parts of the Roman empire. A force of Goths launched one of the fir...

270

Migrations

The Vandals, Invading Roman Territory

It's not known to many people today that long time ago the Vandal warriors, a Germanic tribe, once established a kingdom in North Africa as their base for raiding the Mediterranean Sea, much like the Vikings. Like the Goths and Attila's Huns, the Van...

272 - 337

Empires

Constantine The Great, Roman Emperor

Constantine, The Great was the 57th Emperor of the Roman Empire from 306, and the sole holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337. Best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine reversed the persecutions of his predece...

275 - 303

Saint George, and the Dragon

Saint George, according to legend, was a Roman soldier of Greek origin and officer in the Guard of Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced to death for failing to recant his Christian faith. As a Christian martyr, he later became one of the most...

325

Theories

The Council of Nicea, The Trinity

The Council of Nicea convened on May 20, 325 A.D. The 230 church leaders were there to consider a question vital to the church: Was Jesus Christ equal to God the Father or was he something else? Athanasius, only in his twenties, came to the council t...

330 - 1453

Periods

BYZANTINE PERIOD : Eastern Roman Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium. Often...

347 - 395

Theodosius the Great, Roman Emperor

Theodosius also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. After his death,...

354 - 430

Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian theologian and philosopher from Numidia whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius in north Africa and is viewed as one of the...

380 - 461

Christianity

Pope Leo I, The Great

Pope Leo I or Leo the Great, was pope of the Roman Catholic Church from September 29, 440 to November 10, 461. He was a Roman aristocrat and the first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church to whom the title "the Great" was attached. He is perhaps best kn...

401 - 474

Leo I the Thracian, Byzantine Emperor

Flavius Valerius Leo (401–18 January 474), known in English as Leo the Thracian or Leo I, was a Byzantine Emperor who ruled from 457 to 474. He was known as Magnus Thrax (the "Great Thracian") by his supporters, and Macellus ("the Butcher") by his en...

406 - 453

Attila, King of the Huns

Attila the Hun was the Emperor of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the River Danube to the Baltic Sea. During his rule, he was one of the most fearsom...

433 - 493

Empires

Odoacer, 1st Barbarian King of Italy

Flavius Odoacer, was a soldier, who in 476 became the first King of Italy (476–493). His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of J...

454 - 526

Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths

Theoderic the Great, often referred to as Theodoric, was king of the Germanic Ostrogoths (475–526), ruler of Italy (493–526), regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a patricius of the Eastern Roman Empire. His Gothic name translates into "people-king...

470 - 544

Dionysius, Introduction 'Anno Domini'

Dionysius Exiguus has left his mark conspicuously, for it was he who introduced the use of the Christian Era according to which dates are reckoned from the Incarnation, which he assigned to 25 March, in the year 754 from the foundation of Rome (A.U.C...

476 - 1350

Periods

MIDDLE AGES : Rise of Western Monarchies

The Middle Ages was the middle period in a schematic division of European history into three 'ages': Classical civilization, the Middle Ages, and Modern Civilization. It is commonly considered as having lasted from the end of the Western Roman Empire...

483 - 565

Justinian I, East Roman Emperor

Justinian I, commonly known as Justinian the Great, was East Roman (Byzantine) Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire. One of the...

500 - 552

Totila, Last King of the Ostrogoths

Totila was king of the Ostrogoths from 541 until his death. He waged the Gothic War against the Byzantine Empire for the mastery of Italy. Most of the historical evidence for Totila consists of chronicles by the Byzantine historian Procopius, who acc...

500 - 565

Belisarius, Byzantine General

Flavius Belisarius was one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the old Western Roman Empire, which had been lost just under a century previously. One...

500 - 565