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.