The Celtic leader Vercingetorix inflicts an unaccustomed defeat on Julius Caesar, at Gergovia, but is captured later in the year

In his winter quarters Julius Caesar writes The Gallic War, an account of his own achievements in suppressing the Gauls

Gladiators have metal studs on their boxing gloves, and a public bout is expected to go on until the loser dies

The senate, controlled by Pompey and his faction, orders Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome

Julius Caesar crosses the river Rubicon (the southern boundary of Gaul) with his army – and in doing so launches a civil war

Pompey flees from Rome at the approach of Caesar, and boards a ship at Brindisi to sail eastwards

Julius Caesar moves fast to drive Pompey's supporters from Italy and to crush forces loyal to him in Spain

Julius Caesar defeats his rival Pompey at Pharsalus, in Greece, and makes himself master of the Roman world

Cleopatra gives birth to a son and calls him Ptolemy XV Caesar (later known by the nickname Caesarion)

Vercingetorix is a prize exhibit in Caesar's great triumph in Rome, but the Celtic chieftain is strangled once the procession is over

Julius Caesar goes to Africa to confront the remainder of Pompey's forces, and defeats them at Thapsus – but two of Pompey's sons escape to Spain

Cleopatra travels to Rome with Caesarion, whom Caesar now officially recognizes as his son

In the final act of his long struggle with supporters of Pompey, Julius Caesar defeats their last survivors at Munda in Spain

Julius Caesar's new calendar is introduced, at a time when its predecessor has become out of step with the seasons by three months

On March 15, the Ides of March, Julius Caesar is stabbed to death during a meeting of the senate

Mark Antony gives a dramatic speech in praise of Caesar, calming the crowd but also positioning himself for the next stage in an ongoing power struggle

Octavian, an 18-year-old student in Apollonia, hears that he has been named by his uncle, Julius Caesar, as his successor and heir

Soon after the assassination of Caesar, Cleopatra and Caesarion return to Egypt

Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus meet in Bologna and form an alliance known as the second triumvirate

Octavian and Mark Antony defeat the armies of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, after which Brutus and Cassius commit suicide

After their victory at Philippi, Octavian returns to Rome and Mark Antony remains in the east to control the extremities of the empire

Virgil's reputation is established by his ten Eclogues, influenced by the Italian countryside in the region of his birth near Mantua

Maecenas buys a farm for Horace, in the Sabine hills near Tivoli - the most fruitful of his many acts of patronage

Octavian defeats the forces of Antony and Cleopatra (both are at sea with their fleets) in a battle off the Greek coast at Actium

When Octavian's Egyptian hoard reaches Rome, the standard rate of interest falls from 12% to 4%