Events

By N.S. Gill, About.com Guide to Ancient / Classical History

Events, including timelines, wars, festivals, and the fall of Rome, in the ancient / classical world.

1. Timelines
2. War & Battles
3. Daily Life & Death

4. Marriage & Divorce
5. Fall of Rome
6. Festivals

Timelines

Part of a study of history includes knowing when events happened. Timelines give you a look at a glance at the sequence or chronology. On this site you'll find general and specific chronologies, for the whole ancient world and for specific ancient cultures. You'll also find dynasties and kings' lists.

• Major Events in Ancient History
• China - Major Periods of Ancient China
• Major Events in the History of Ancient Greece
• Persian War Timeline
• Alexander the Great Timeline
• Ancient Rome From 753 B.C. - A.D. 476
• Spanish Wars Chronology
• Major Events in Imperial Rome
• List With Dates for the Roman Consuls

• Dates of the Roman Emperors
• Cleopatra Timeline
• Dynasties of Ancient Egypt
• Periods and Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt
• Dynasties of the Hebrew Kings
• Roman Britain Timeline
• Visigoth Kings Timeline
• Achaemenid Persian Kings Dates
• Sassanid Dynasty Persian Kings Dates

War & Battles

Ancient civilizations may have started as farming communities, but much of ancient history is the story of annual battle seasons. Here you'll find information on many of the ancient battles and campaigns, especially those waged by the Romans and the Greeks.

• Trojan War
• Persian Wars
• Battle of Thermopylae
• Battle of Salamis
• Peloponnesian War Timeline
• Battle of Chaeronea
• Battle of Granicus
• Battle at Issus
• Battles of the Roman Republic

• Punic War II (Rome vs. Hannibal)
• Worst Roman Defeats
• Caesar's Gallic Wars
• Battle of Actium
• Publius Quinctilius Varus and the Battle in the Teutoburg Forest
• Roman Arsenals
• Battle of Megiddo
• War Gods and Goddesses

Daily Life & Death

Information on many of the aspects of daily life, including hygiene, education, birth and death, slavery, and religion. Much of what we know about early cultures comes from burial sites. Some ancient views on the Underworld or Afterlife were very different from modern religious concepts.

• Food and Drink
• Roman Burial and Cremation
• Odysseus in the Underworld
• Latin Death Vocabulary
• Pyramids and the Egyptian View of Death
• Greek Agricultural Festival

• Aqueducts, Sewage, and Water
• Parthenon
• Slave Revolts
• Lupercalia
• Saturnalia
• Curse Tablets

Marriage & Divorce

Marriage and divorce in the ancient world served to unite or separate families acting as financial and social cement. Women in most ancient societies had limited rights. Marriage transferred power over a woman from one male head of the family to the next. There were exceptional circumstances, though when a woman could manage herself and her property. Children, too, were under the power of the head of the family.

• Ancient Greek Marriage
• Ancient Roman Marriage
• Ancient Roman Divorce

• Latin Marriage Words
• The Father in Ancient Greece and Rome
• Love Magic

Fall of Rome

According to many, ancient history ends in A.D. 476. This is Edward Gibbon's date for the fall of Rome based on the fact that the Germanic Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor to rule the Western Empire. However, the people who lived through the takeover would probably be surprised by the importance we place on this event.

• When Did Rome Fall?
• Why Did Rome Fall?

Festivals

Life among the Greeks and Romans was punctuated by holidays. Many of the holidays were in honor of specific gods. Some had games or other spectator events attached. Some have survived to modern times in modified form. Here are some of the festivals celebrated by ancient people.

• Winter Festivals
• Lupercalia
• Olympics
• Thesmophoria

• Floralia
• Ludi Romani
• Matronalia
• Megalesia