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A 21st-century Classicist dies and is reborn into Ancient Rome.  Here are five things the history textbooks don’t usually tell you.

1. Many people wouldn’t have died so young if they knew germs existed. 2. The people who really pulled the strings in society were, as always, women. 3. The Romans didn’t have pasta. 4. Granting literacy to the poor was seen as dangerous and incendiary. 5. Julius Caesar was . . . kind of a silver fox?

[res-gestandae-blog]

Roman History 101 for Writers: A General Timeline

Lots of writers like their historical AU’s and novels (me included). If your story is set in the Ancient or Classical Era anywhere in the vicinity of the Mediterranean, you’re probably going to want to at least mention the Romans at some point. I mean, look at that monster! It’s everywhere!

As Cicero—the orator we all love to hate—noted in In Verrem, declaring “Civis Romanus sum” (I am a Roman citizen) anywhere within the bounds of the empire should be enough to guarantee your safety. So that’s a lot of land where a Roman citizen ought to be able to frolic at leisure.

But here’s the thing. Rome didn’t always look like that map above. Of course, I’m not expecting anyone to know how many provinces Rome had at any given time. However, you should probably keep in mind a basic time frame of how Rome was developing. If I see another fanfic set in 3000 BCE Egypt talking about trading with the Roman Empire, I’m going to face-palm, because according to legend, Rome the settlement wasn’t even founded until 753 BCE.

So allow me to present a bare-bones outline of Roman history, in order that we don’t get King Tut and Julius Caesar having a political meeting. We’ll save the timeline crossovers for Sid Meier’s Civilization.

^^Julius Caesar was NOT an emperor! He died while the Roman Republic was in its death throes.

1000 BCE

Archaeological evidence of the beginnings of settlement at Rome’s site.

753 BCE

According to legend, this is when Romulus founded Rome (and killed his twin Remus).

753-510 BCE

The traditional dates for Rome’s monarchy/seven kings.

Circa 500 BCE

The establishment of the Roman Republic.

218-201 BCE

The Second Punic War, of Hannibal fame. Rome ultimately wins, as it does all three wars against Carthage.

133-30 BCE

Lots of civil wars and socio-political turmoil in Rome during this century.

73-71 BCE

Spartacus leads a slave revolt in Italy.

60-44 BCE

Julius Caesar, from the First Triumvirate to his assassination. Caesar famously crosses the Rubicon in January 49 BCE. He goes to Egypt and meets Cleopatra in 48-47 BCE.

44-30 BCE

Caesar’s great-nephew and heir Octavian (the future Augustus) allies with Mark Antony and Lepidus (the Second Triumvirate) to defeat Caesar’s assassins. Then Octavian defeats now-enemy Antony as well as Cleopatra and makes Egypt a Roman province.

14-68 CE

Augustus dies, and the Julio-Claudian Dynasty begins with Emperor Tiberius, followed by Caligula, Claudius, and finally Nero.

79 CE

Vesuvius explodes and destroys Pompeii and Herculaneum.

180 CE

Marcus Aurelius, the last of the “Good Emperors,” dies, and Rome kind of just goes downhill from here.

(No, Joaquin Phoenix did not actually kill Dumbledore.)

293 CE

Emperor Diocletian institutes the Tetrarchy—the system of four emperors—and divides the empire into a Western and an Eastern half.

303 CE

The “Great Persecution” of Christians, until 305 in the West and 311 in the East.

313 CE

Emperor Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, which permanently established religious toleration of Christianity in the empire.

476 CE

Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman Emperor (in the West), is ousted by Germanic leader Odoacer, and the Roman Empire as we knew it is no more.

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more Roman History/Greek History/Mythology/Latin 101. If there’s a particular subject you’d like to know more about, feel free to submit an Ask!

*All dates above sourced from A Brief History of the Romans by Boatwright, Gargola, and Talbert. Except 476 CE, which is arguably common knowledge among a certain faction of nerds and scholars.