From the foundation of the Roman republic to the principate of Augustus.

509 - Foundation of Roman republic

508 - reforms of Cleisthenes at Athens

506 - Athens defeats Chalcis and Beotians

490 - battle of Marathon

480 - Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis

478 - foundation of the Delian League against Persia

474 - Syracuse defeats Etruscans at battle of Cumae

461-451 - first Peloponnesian war

431-404 - second Peloponnesian war

396 - Romans capture Etruscan city of Veii

390 - Gauls sack Rome

378 - foundation the second Athenian Confederacy

366-360 - Satraps' Revolt from Persian King

359 - Philip II becomes King of Macedon

357 - war between Macedon and Athens; Social War between Athens and members of her confederacy (357-55)

340-338 - Latin War - Rome incorporates Latium and Campania

338 - Philip defeats Athens & Thebes

336-323 - reign of Alexander the Great

334 - Alexander crosses into Asia, conquest of Asia Minor

331 - foundation of Alexandria; defeat of Darius at Gaugamela, capture of Mesopotamia, Babylon, Persepolis and Pasargadae

326 - Alexander conquers Punjab, reaches Indian Ocean

c325 - Pytheas of Massilia’s voyage to Britain

311 - division of Alexander’s empire; foundation of Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt

310 - Romans advance into Etruria

303 - Seleucus cedes Indian territories to Chandragupta, founder of the Mauryan dynasty

279 - invasion of Macedon and Greece by Gauls

272 - surrender of Tarentum, Roman alliance with southern Italian Greek cities

298-290 - Third Samnite war

264-241 - First Punic War - Rome gains control of Sicily

228 - Rome establishes protectorate over the Illyrian coast

219-217 - Fourth Syrian War between Egypt and Seleucid Empire

218-201 - Second Punic War - Rome gains colonies in Spain

214-205 - first Macedonian War between Rome and Philip V

202-191 - Roman conquest of Cisapline Gaul

197-133 - wars in Spain

167 - defeat of Macedon; Romans order Antiochus IV out of Egypt; Maccabean revolt against Antiochus

149-146 - third Carthaginian War - destruction of Carthage, Africa becomes a Roman province

148 - fourth Macedonian war; sack of Corinth. Macedonia becomes a Roman province

141-130 - Parthians attack Seleucid Empire

133 - Pergamum bequeathed to Rome; becomes province of Asia (129)

88-63 - Mithridatic wars. Pompey victorious; establishment of provinces of Bithynia, Cilicia, Syria, Crete

82-80 - Dictatorship of Sulla

73-71 - slave revolt of Spartacus

63 - Consulate of Cicero; Catilinarian conspiracy; Caesar elected pontifex maximus

60 - first triumvirate - Pompey, Crassus and Caesar

58-49 - Caesar campaigns in Gaul

55-53 - Crassus campaigns in the East, killed by the Parthians at the battle of Carrhae

49 - Ceasar crosses the Rubicon

47-44 - Dictatorship of Ceasar

42 - Republicans defeated at Philippi; Brutus & Cassius commit suicide

31 - Octavian defeats Antony at battle of Actium

30 - annexation of Egypt by Rome

27 - ‘Republic restored’; Octavian given the name ‘Augustus’.

Key sources:

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Roman World (Boardman, Oxford, 1986)

The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World (Boardman, Oxford, 1986)

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Scarre, Penguin, 1995)

The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek (Cunliffe, Penguin, 2002)