Roman History Timeline from 3000 – 1000 BC
This text surveys Italy in the 3rd through the 2nd millennium BC, covering Chalcolithic and Bronze Age cultures, volcanic eruptions, and the arrival of Indo-European and other groups, setting the stage for early urban settlements and trade networks across the peninsula and islands.
3RD MILLENNIUM – 2ND MILLENNIUM BC
I. Gaudo Culture (Chalcolithic, Campania)
- Flourishes in Campania during the Copper/Chalcolithic Age.
- Known primarily from necropoli (chamber tombs cut into rock) used for multiple burials.
- Grave goods include pottery, flint, and copper blades.
II. c. 3000 BC
- Copper tools in use on Sicily, likely introduced by external traders.
- Neolithic settlement on the island of Filicudi (Aeolian Islands).
III. Late 3rd Millennium BC
- c. 2890 BC: Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
- c. 2800 BC: Copper Age spreads throughout the Italian mainland (to c. 1800 BC).
- c. 2700 BC: Eruption on Ischia.
- c. 2640 BC: Eruption on Vulcano Island.
- c. 2580 BC (± 50 yrs): Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
- c. 2500 BC: Bronze in use across Sicily.
- c. 2440 BC: Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
- c. 2350 BC: Eruption on Ischia; Campi Flegrei erupts again (± 150 yrs). Mt. Etna also erupts (± 100 yrs).
- c. 2300 BC: Sikel center established at the site of modern Furci Siculo (Messina province).
- c. 2200 – 2040 BC: Multiple eruptions of the Campi Flegrei, noted at intervals (± various years).
IV. c. 2000 BC
- Enotian settlements in Calabria.
- Indo-European Italic tribes (Latino-Faliscan) begin entering Italy (to c. 1000 BC), introducing the horse, wheeled carts, and bronze-casting.
- Bronze Age Castelluccio Culture develops in Sicily:
- Pastoral economy
- Unique black-painted, red-slipped ceramic jars with complex linear patterns (to c. 1400 BC).
- Another eruption of the Campi Flegrei (± 150 yrs).
- Egyptians adopt papyrus as writing material (historical milestone outside Italy).
V. Early 2nd Millennium BC (c. 1900 – 1800 BC)
- c. 1900 BC (± 150 yrs): Eruption of Vesuvius.
- c. 1870 BC (± 50 yrs): Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
- c. 1800 BC:
- Earliest use of bronze in Sicily.
- Earliest known human settlement on Procida.
- Another eruption of Vesuvius (± 200 yrs).
VI. Mid-2nd Millennium BC (c. 1780 – 1600 BC)
- c. 1780 BC: Eruption of Vesuvius destroys settlements northwest of the volcano; evidence suggests inhabitants fled in time (excavations at Nola).
- c. 1740 BC: Another eruption of Vesuvius.
- 17th Century BC:
- Ausonians in Italy.
- First settlement on Alicudi (Aeolian Islands).
- c. 1650 BC (± 100 yrs): Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
- c. 1600 BC:
- Mycenaeans establish a trading colony on Procida.
- Possible Bronze Age fertility shrine near modern Trinitapoli, Puglia, featuring animal sacrifices in a large well and nearby tombs. Excavation in 2005 reveals a tall man’s skeleton (1.85 m).
VII. Late 2nd Millennium BC (c. 1500 – 1400 BC)
- c. 1500 BC:
- Sikans arrive in Sicily (alternative date to c. 6000 BC). They spread agricultural settlements; language remains poorly understood.
- Mt. Etna erupts (± 50 yrs).
- Settlement established beside the Sarno River (6 miles NE of future Pompeii), surviving until the 6th Century BC.
- Earliest known settlement at Bari (Apulia).
- Ustica colonized by Phoenicians.
- c. 1430 BC (± 300 yrs): Eruption of Vesuvius.
- c. 1400 BC:
- Sikel expansion in eastern Sicily; Sikans pushed west.
- Sikels possibly linked to the Sea Peoples (Shekelesh), though dates and identifications vary. They speak an Indo-European language and found many towns later occupied by Greeks.
- Mycenaean Greeks establish trading posts along coasts of southern Italy and Sicily. These sites decline after the Mycenaean collapse in the 13th century, though memories of these regions remain in Greek myth (e.g., Homer’s Odyssey).
VIII. Late Bronze Age Migrations and Settlements (c. 1360 – 1100 BC)
- c. 1360 BC: Múrika (modern Modica) founded in Sicily by the Sikels.
- c. 1300 BC: Possible eruption on Vulcano Island.
- c. 1270 BC: Ausonians migrate into Sicily from the mainland.
- c. 1226 BC: Mt. Etna erupts.
- c. 1219 BC: Sardinians (Shardana), Sikels (Shekelesh), Lucani (Lukka), and Etruscans (Teresh) join other “Sea Peoples” in an unsuccessful attack on Egypt.
- c. 1200 BC:
- Elymi (Elymians) settle in western Sicily (cities include Erice, Egesta, Entella). Tradition links them to Trojan refugees; Roman authors accept them as Trojan kindred.
- Illyrian (Messapic) tribes cross from the Balkans to southern Italy.
- Dolmen of Bisceglie (Apulia) constructed (to c. 1000 BC).
- Osco-Umbrian tribes begin settling on the Italian mainland.
IX. Early Iron Age Transition (c. 1170 – 1050 BC)
- c. 1170 BC: Mt. Etna erupts.
- c. 1149 BC: Mt. Etna erupts again.
- c. 1110 BC: Phoenicians begin their age of colonization.
- c. 1100 BC: Iron Age developments around future Naples (Neapolis).
- c. 1080 BC: Eruption on Pantelleria Island.
- c. 1050 BC (± 75 yrs): Eruption of Mt. Etna.