Roman Republic

State · 500–32 BCE · at its largest around 44 BCE

A city of citizens and senators that grew into master of the Mediterranean, building roads, aqueducts and a body of law. Its politics produced Cicero's speeches and Caesar's ambition, and its ideal of a republic with checks on power inspired revolutionaries centuries later.

Its battles, in Battle View

Battle of Cannae (216 BCE)
Battle of Zama (202 BCE)
Siege of Alesia (52 BCE)

On its lands while it lasted

Carthage (c. 814–146 BCE): Traditionally founded by Phoenician settlers from Tyre, Carthage grew into the capital of a maritime empire that dominated the western Mediterranean until Rome destroyed it.
Battle of Marathon (490 BCE): Athenians and Plataeans defeated the first Persian invasion of Greece, sent by Darius I, on the plain of Marathon.
Battle of Salamis (480 BCE): Decisive naval victory of the Greek fleet under Themistocles over the Persian fleet of Xerxes in the straits of Salamis.
Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE): A small Greek force led by King Leonidas I of Sparta held the pass of Thermopylae for three days against the army of Xerxes I before being overwhelmed.
Xerxes’ invasion of Greece (480–479 BCE): Xerxes I led a vast Persian army from Sardis across the Hellespont into Greece, won at Thermopylae and burned Athens, but was defeated at sea at Salamis (480 BCE) and on land at Plataea (479 BCE).
Socrates (c. 470 BCE – 399 BCE): Athenian philosopher who examined ethics through questioning dialogue; he was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock in 399 BCE.
La Tène culture (c. 450–50 BCE): Iron Age Celtic culture named after a site on Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, known for its flowing curvilinear art; it spread across much of Europe.
Parthenon (447 BCE): Temple of Athena on the Athenian Acropolis, built 447–432 BCE under Pericles; the supreme monument of classical Greek architecture.
Parthenon Marbles (438 BCE): Frieze, metopes and pediment sculptures of the Parthenon, made under Phidias; about half were removed by agents of Lord Elgin in 1801–1812 and are now in the British Museum, the rest in the Acropolis Museum.
Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE): War between Athens and its empire and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta, ending in Athens' defeat; chronicled by Thucydides.
Aristotle (384 BCE – 322 BCE): Philosopher and polymath, student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great, who founded the Lyceum and wrote on logic, biology, ethics and politics.
Alexander the Great (356 BCE – 323 BCE): King of Macedon who conquered the Persian Empire and reached India, spreading Greek culture across the Near East before dying in Babylon at 32.
Julius Caesar (100 BCE – 44 BCE): Roman general and statesman who conquered Gaul, won a civil war and became dictator; his assassination led to the end of the Republic.
Cleopatra (69 BCE – 30 BCE): The last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, she allied with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony; her death after defeat by Octavian ended the dynasty and Egypt became a Roman province.
Augustus (63 BCE – 14 CE): First Roman emperor, who ended the civil wars and ushered in the Pax Romana, a long period of relative peace.