UNRV Ancient Roman Empire History

The Punic Wars thrust Rome onto center stage in world politics, diplomacy and warfare. The First Punic War began with the invasion of Sicily, and after 23 exhausting years of conflict with Carthage, Rome was the master of the Mediterranean sea, and the fledgling Empire had added its first 2 provinces. Despite Rome’s moderate victory, [...]

A new chapter in the Roman History series has been added as an introduction to the Punic Wars. This section will include articles about all 3 Roman wars with Carthage and delve into further Roman expansion efforts in the same time period. Also included will be the Illyrian Wars, the Macedonian Wars, and the Syrian [...]

An additional Roman Province description has been added. Asia Minor was epitomy of the combined cultural achievements of Rome and Greece. Hellenized for centuries, Asia Minor was mainly a peaceful and prosperous in the eastern part of the Roman Empire through to the Byzantines. Also be sure to check the Roman Province index (growing quickly), [...]

Today we’ve added a new section, Roman Books, that we hope vistors will find useful. In an attempt to compile a list of all books (and other media) related to the Roman world, we’ll be adding a title a day to the list. The list will be searchable by title, or author, and also sortable [...]

With expansion in southern Italy, the Romans were soon faced with the considerable force of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. After invading Italy the Pyrrhic War was on and the Greek Epirotes would quickly score several “Pyrrhic Victories.” Carthaginian intervention would turn the tide leading directly into newer and greater conflicts with the power of the [...]

In order to better clarify the acquisition of Roman Provinces, we’ve added a table listing the acquisitions in chronologic order. Roman Province Chronology lists the year of conquest or provincial assignment along with important leaders or events that shaped the circumstances. Also included are the dates or time periods that the particular territories fell out [...]

The Province of Moesia was an important territorial buffer between the mainland Greek provinces and the Germanic Goths, while providing important economic advantages in its own right. During his reign, Augustus commissioned, Marcus Licinius Crassus, grandson of the original Caesarian Triumvir, as proconsul of Macedonia to subdue the local tribes and brings its wealth under [...]

Today’s update is a brief look at the history of the Roman Navy. “The imperial navy after Augustus, aside from the occasional conflicts in civil wars, once again was primarily charged with the protection of shipping and deterring piracy. Rome maintained two large fleets, the Classis Praetoria Misenensis and Classis Praetoria Ravennatis based in the [...]

The actual battles that occured throughout the history of Roman warfare are as important as the wars themselves. We’ve collected and organized the known battles, significant and insignificant and ordered them by historical period. Included are the dates, places, victors and detrimentum (losers). With the large collection of information (over 200 entries), there are bound [...]

Closing out a series of Samnite Wars the Third Samnite War put an end to threats from Rome’s neighbors in Central Italy and left only the Greek city-state of Tarentum as opposition on the Italian Peninsula. Final victory over the Samnites consolidated Rome’s strength in Italy, but also exposed her to more dangerous threats abroad, [...]

Nearing the conclusion of the Conquest of Italy chapter, we’ve added the Great or Second Samnite War. Initially a bitter struggle that saw several Roman defeats, victory established Rome’s permanent establishment in central Italy and opened the door to the south.

A Roman Empire Map has been added to the Empire section. It contains all the Roman provinces, regardless of timeframe, and the Roman names for the seas and oceans. Expect more original maps to be added in the future.

With the end of the first Samnite War, Rome faced another challenge from her Latin neighbors. Open revolt turned into a war that would clearly make Rome the master of Central Italy. The Latin Revolt has been added as a new chapter of the Conquest of Italy section of the Roman History series.