Timeline of Rome

Roman History Timeline from 1000 – 700 BC

This text highlights key developments in Italy during the first millennium BC, from Phoenician and Greek colonization to the rise of Etruscan power, the spread of Indo-European peoples, and the legendary founding of Rome.

I. Around 1000 BC

  • (c.) Aurunci enter southern Italy.
  • (c.) Phoenicians establish trading centers and colonies on Sicily and Sardinia.
  • (c.) Earliest Latin-speakers begin migrating into Italy from regions near the Danube.
  • (c.) Sikel settlement at the site of later Morgantina (survives until c. 450 BC).
  • (c.) Last known eruption on Pantelleria Island.
  • (c.) Cult of Dionysus spreads through the Greek world.
  • (c. 930 BC): Eruption on Ischia.

II. 9th Century BC

  • Iapygian Iron Age culture flourishes in Apulia.
  • Iron Age inhumation burials in rock-cut ditch graves near modern Altamura (La Mena, Castiglione, Scalcione), continuing into the 8th century BC.
  • Villanovan Culture expands into Campania.
  • Etruscan civilization emerges in central Italy.
  • Necropolis established on Alicudi Island (off Messina).
  • (c. 900 BC): Powerful eruption of Mt. Vesuvius leaves heavy ash deposits east of the volcano.
    • Sikans and Sikels continue establishing farming settlements in central Sicily, apparently coexisting peacefully.
  • (c. 890 BC ±100 yrs): Another eruption of Vesuvius.
  • (c. 814 BC): Phoenicians found Carthage on the North African coast (traditional date).
  • Late 9th Century: Ausonian settlements on Lipari Island are burned.

III. 8th Century BC

A. General Developments (c. 800–700 BC)

  • Iron Age settlement arises on the future site of Pompeii.
  • Ausones occupy territory from southern Lazio to the Sele River in Campania, and possibly near modern Reggio di Calabria.
  • Motya (Phoenician colony) founded on the west coast of Sicily.
  • Bronze Age settlement established on Filicudi Island.
  • Greek arrivals (first half of the 8th century) in the valleys of the Agri and Sauro Rivers (near modern Aliano and Alianello), lasting until the late 4th / early 3rd century BC.
  • (c. 800 BC): Ausonian site on Lipara is burned and not rebuilt; Phoenicians begin colonizing Sardinia.

B. Olympiads and Key Foundations

  • 776 BC (June 22): 1st Olympiad in Greece.
  • 774 BC: 2nd Olympiad.
  • 771 BC: Traditional birth of Romulus, future founder of Rome.
  • (c. 770 BC):
    • Euboean Greeks (Eretria, Chalkis, Kyme) establish a colony on Pithekoussai (Ischia), though Mycenaean traders may have used the island since c. 1400 BC.
    • Metal smelting centers cater to trade with Etruria.
    • Cultivation of olive trees and vineyards spreads in southern Italy, building on earlier Etruscan practices.
  • 768 BC: 3rd Olympiad.
  • 764 BC: 4th Olympiad.
  • 760 BC: 5th Olympiad.

C. Rome’s Legendary Foundation

  • 753 BC (Apr 21): Traditional date for founding Rome on the Palatine Hill—marked as year 1 AUC.
    • Romulus becomes first king; the “Rape of the Sabine Women” myth merges Latins and Sabines.
    • Most Sabines remain independent until the 3rd century BC.
  • 752 BC: 7th Olympiad.
  • (c. 750 BC): Eruption on Ischia; Greeks add vowel symbols to their alphabet around this time.
    • Etruscans begin adopting Greek cultural elements.
  • 748 BC: 8th Olympiad.
  • 744 BC: 9th Olympiad.
  • 740 BC: 10th Olympiad.

D. Greek Colonization of Sicily

  • 736 BC: 11th Olympiad. Greeks also begin to colonize Malta.
  • (c. 735 BC): Possible eruption of Mt. Etna.
  • 734 BC:
    • Naxos (in eastern Sicily) founded by Euboean Greeks from Chalcis (alt. date 741 BC). Altar dedicated to Apollo Archegetes.
    • Greek Archaic Period begins (to 480 BC).
  • 733 BC:
    • Syracuse (Siracusa) founded on Ortygia by Dorians from Corinth under Archias (alt. date 734 BC). Quickly becomes a major Greek center.
  • 732 BC: 12th Olympiad.
    • Zankle (Messina) colonized by Euboeans from Kyme and Chalkis. Named for its sickle-shaped harbor (alt. date 756 BC).
  • 729 BC:
    • Katane (Catania) colonized by Chalcidian Greeks led by Euarchus.
    • Leontini (Lentini) established as a daughter-colony of Naxos.
  • 728 BC: 13th Olympiad.
    • Megara Hyblaea colonized by Chalcidians from Megara (per Thucydides).

E. Greek Expansion in Southern Italy

  • 725 BC (c.):
    • Kyme (Cumae) founded in Campania by colonists from Pithekoussai and Chalkis. Earliest permanent Greek settlement on the mainland.
  • 723 BC: 14th Olympiad.
  • 722 BC: Elsewhere: Assyrians conquer Israel.
  • 720 BC: 15th Olympiad.
    • Sybaris founded on the Gulf of Taranto (Calabria) by Achaeans under Is (Isus of Helice).
    • Rhegion (Reggio di Calabria) founded by Greeks from Chalcis and Zankle (alt. date 730 BC).
  • 717 BC: Traditional date for death of Romulus.
  • 716 BC: 16th Olympiad.
    • Mylae/Mylai (Milazzo) on Sicily’s north coast colonized by Greeks from Zankle.
  • 715 BC: Numa Pompilius becomes second king of Rome (alt. date 717 BC).
  • 712 BC: 17th Olympiad.
  • 710 BC: Kroton/Croton (Crotone) founded by Achaeans (alt. date 708 BC).
  • 708 BC: 18th Olympiad.
  • 706 BC (c.):
    • Taras (Tarentum) founded in Apulia by Spartans (the Partheniae). (Alt. date 703 BC.)
  • 704 BC: 19th Olympiad.