istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Hannibal surprises and traps a Roman army on a narrow plain beside Lake Trasimene
Hannibal destroys a Roman army at Cannae, in the most severe defeat ever suffered by Rome
Carthaginian Spain is handed over to Rome to become two new provinces, at the end of the Second Punic War
The Romans, after defeating Macedon, announce at the Isthmian Games that all Greek states are now free under Roman protection
Sparta's ancient political system comes to an end, but the ordeal by flogging lingers on as a tourist attraction in the temple of Artemis
Plautus and Terence, in the second and third century BC, create a Roman drama based on Greek originals
The Roman statesman Cato the Elder writes Origines ('Origins'), a history of Rome which survives only in fragments
Rome picks a quarrel with Carthage to begin the Third Punic War
Carthage is destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War
The Greek astronomer Hipparchus is credited with the invention of the astrolabe, measuring the angle of sun or star above the horizon
A secret ballot is instituted for Roman citizens, who mark their vote on a tablet and place it in an urn
The tribune Tiberius Gracchus is murdered by a mob which includes Roman senators
The Greek astronomer Hipparchus, mapping the stars, observes but cannot explain the precession of the equinoxes
Hipparchus proposes a grid of 360° of latitude and longitude for mapmaking
Hipparchus completes the first scientific star catalogue, mapping some 850 stars
The Romans establish a province in the south of France, still acknowledged in the name Provence
The tribune Gaius Gracchus is murdered by an armed group, led by a consul, after which 3000 of his supporters are rounded up and executed
The Roman general Gaius Marius defeats the Teutones, a German tribe which has made deep inroads into southern Gaul
A German tribe, the Cimbri, press into northern Italy until they are defeated at Vercellae and driven out of the peninsula
A Venus is carved in marble, and centuries later becomes an ideal of female beauty after being found on the island of Milo
Julius Caesar is born into a patrician Roman family
A three-year war, known as the Social War, breaks out between Rome and her Italian allies
The Roman general Sulla takes the unprecedented step of marching upon Rome with a Roman army, to restore his own faction to power
Sulla, campaigning to the east, besieges Athens and then allows his army to loot the city
Gaius Marius, uncle of Julius Caesar, marches on Rome and massacres many of the supporters of Sulla
