1st century BC

Map of the world in 100 BC, the beginning of the first century BC
Map of the world in 50 BC
Map of the world in 1 AD, shortly after the end of the first century BC

The 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero; however, astronomical year numbering does use a zero, as well as a minus sign, so "2 BC" is equal to "year –1". 1st century AD (Anno Domini) follows.

In the course of the century, all the remaining independent lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea were steadily brought under Roman control, being ruled either directly under governors or through puppet kings appointed by Rome. The Roman state itself was plunged into civil war several times, finally resulting in the marginalization of its 500-year-old Roman Republic, and the embodiment of total state power in a single man—the Roman emperor.

The internal turbulence that plagued Rome at this time can be seen as the death throes of the Roman Republic, as it finally gave way to the autocratic ambitions of powerful men like Sulla, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian. Octavian's ascension to total power as the emperor Augustus is considered to mark the point in history where the Roman Republic ends and the Roman Empire begins. Some scholars refer to this event as the Roman Revolution.

In the eastern mainland, the Han dynasty began to decline and the court of China was in chaos in the latter half of this century. Trapped in a difficult situation, the Xiongnu had to begin emigration to the west or attach themselves to the Han.

Events

90s BC

Main article: 90s BC
Sulla's march on Rome in 88 BC was an early step in the Crisis of the Roman Republic.

80s BC

Main article: 80s BC
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Coin of Maues
Burebista
Dacian king Burebista
  • 89 BC: Mithridates VI of Pontus's invasion of Cappadocia leads to the First Mithridatic War with the Roman Republic.
  • 89 BC: Valagamba of Anuradhapura gains control of all of Sri Lanka
  • 88 BC: 80,000 Roman civilians killed in the Asiatic Vespers in Asia Minor
  • 87 BC: Emperor Wu of Han dies and is succeeded by his eight-year-old son Zhao, with Jin Midi, Shangguang Jie and Huo Guang as regents.
  • 88 BC: Sulla becomes the first Roman general in history to march on Rome[1]
  • 87 BC: Civil war between the Roman consuls Cornelius Cinna and Octavius
  • 86 BC: Siege of Athens ends with Roman conquest of Athens.[1]
  • 86 BC: the death of the regent of China Jin Midi unleashes the rivalry of his co-regents Shangguang Jie and Huo Guang.
  • 85 BC: Sulla defeats the forces of Mithridates VI in Greece at the Battle of Orchomenus
  • 85 BC: Aretas III of the Nabataeans conquers Damascus.
  • 83 BC: Sulla makes peace with Mithridates VI and marches on Rome.
  • 83-81 BC: Lucius Licinius Murena wages the Second Mithridatic War.[1]
  • 82 BC: Sertorius flees from Sulla to North Africa via Hispania
  • 82 BC: The Dacian king Burebista comes to power and unites the Dacian tribes
  • c.83 BC: Tigranes of Armenia takes control of Syria after the implosion of the Seleucid dynasty.
  • 81 BC: Sulla is appointed dictator of the Roman state, and brings about major reforms.[1]
  • 80 BC: Sertorius invades Hispania and sets up his own regime, beginning the Sertorian War (80-72).[1]
  • 80 BC: conflict between the regents Shangguang Jie and Huo Guang results in the destruction of the Shangguang clan and Huo Guang becoming the de facto ruler of China.
  • c.80 BC: Maues, King of the Sakas, conquers Gandhara and Taxila.

70s BC

Main article: 70s BC
Huo Guang
Tigranes the Great

60s BC

Main article: 60s BC
  • 69 BC: Lucullus invades Armenia (Battle of Tigranocerta) and reestablishes the Seleucids in Syria.
  • 68 BC: Pompey replaces Lucullus as leader of the Roman forces in the Third Mithridatic War.
  • 68 BC: Huo Guang dies and Emperor Xuan of Han assumes full power. The Huo clan is eliminated over the following two years.
  • 67 BC: Pompey is given a three-year extraordinary command against the pirates plaguing the Mediterranean and defeats them in forty days.
  • 66 BC: Pompey drives Mithridates VI out of Asia Minor (Battle of the Lycus).[1]
  • 66 BC: Aristobulus II seizes power from John Hyrcanus II in Judea.
  • 63 BC: Mithridates VI commits suicide, ending the Third Mithridatic War.[1]
  • 63 BC: Cicero denounces and defeats the Catilinarian conspiracy.
  • 63 BC: Pompey captures Jerusalem, and establishes Roman annexation of Judea as a client kingdom. He also permanently abolishes Seleucid Syria. Aristobulus II of Judea removed from power & John Hyrcanus II restored as Roman vassal.
  • 62 BC: Nabataean kingdom becomes a Roman vassal.
  • 61 BC: Orgetorix and the Helvetii's attempt to migrate into southwestern France leads Julius Caesar to take military action, beginning the Gallic Wars
  • 60 BC: Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus form the First Triumvirate
  • c. 60 BC: the Sakas conquer Mathura.

50s BC

Main article: 50s BC
Map of the world in 50 BC
50 BC
Map of Europe, North Africa and Middle East around 50-40 BC

40s BC

Main article: 40s BC
Cleopatra VII and her son Caesarion at the Temple of Dendera
Marcus Junius Brutus

30s BC

Main article: 30s BC
Caesar Augustus

20s BC

Main article: 20s BC
Livia Drusilla
  • 27 BC: the Roman Senate votes Octavian the title of Augustus. Augustus eventually assumes all authority formerly held by the Roman senate becoming the first emperor. This is traditionally taken as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Principate (27 BC-AD 235).[1]
  • 25 BC: Galatia annexed by Rome after the death of Amyntas of Galatia.[1]
  • Second half of 1st century BC – Chaitya hall at Karli, India, Maharashtra, is made. Early Andhra period.

10s BC

Main article: 10s BC
  • 19 BC: conclusion of major fighting in the Cantabrian Wars marks the end of the Roman conquest of Hispania
  • 18 BC: Baekje is founded in mid-western Korea (traditional date according to Samguk Sagi).
  • 16-13 BC: Augustus establishes the Rhine limes.
  • Maison Carrée and Pont du Gard built.

0s BC

Main article: 0s BC
  • 9 BC: Pannonia annexed to the Roman empire by the future emperor Tiberius
  • 8 BC: Wang Mang becomes head of the Chinese armed forces and administration.
  • 7 BC: Emperor Cheng of Han dies and is succeeded by his nephew Ai. Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun becomes Grand Empress Dowager and the Emperor's grandmother Consort Fu becomes Empress Dowager. Wang Mang resigns as head of the armed forces and administration. The reign is dominated by the destabilising intrigues of the Wang and Fu clans.
  • c. 6 BC – 4 BC: birth of Jesus of Nazareth (see Chronology of Jesus' birth and death, Anno Domini, and Common Era for further details).
  • 4 BC: Judea annexed to the Roman province of Syria after the death of King Herod.
  • 2 BC: Emperor Ai of Han appoints his unpopular homosexual lover Dong Xian as head of armed forces and administration.
  • 1 BC: Emperor Ai of Han dies and is succeeded by his eight year old cousin Ping. Wang Mang is appointed regent and begins wide-ranging reforms.

Significant people

Pompey the Great
Julius Caesar
Cicero
Cleopatra
Virgil
Sima Qian

Politics (and relatives of political figures)

Religion

Literature, science, and philosophy

  • Aemilius Macer, Roman didactic poet
  • Alfenus Varus, Roman jurist
  • Afranius, Roman dramatist
  • Antiochus of Ascalon, Syrian Greek philosopher
  • Antipater of Thessalonica, Greek poet
  • Apollonius of Citium, Cypriot Greek doctor
  • Asinius Pollio, Roman poet and historian
  • Asclepiodotus, Greek philosopher and writer on tactics
  • Athenaeus Mechanicus, Greek writer on siege weapons
  • Consort Ban, Chinese poet
  • Calvus, Roman poet and orator
  • Catullus, Roman poet
  • Cicero, Roman writer, philosopher and politician
  • Cornelius Gallus, Roman poet and politician
  • Cornelius Nepos, Roman biographer
  • Crinagoras of Mytilene, Greek poet
  • Didymus Chalcenterus, Alexandrian Greek grammarian
  • Diodorus Siculus, Sicilian Greek historian
  • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Greek historian and grammarian
  • Elephantis, Greek poet and medical writer
  • Geminus, Rhodian Greek astronomer and mathematician
  • Helvius Cinna, Roman poet
  • Horace, Roman poet
  • Huan Tan, Chinese poet, philosopher and politician
  • Jing Fang, Chinese mathematician and music theorist
  • Marcus Antistius Labeo, Roman jurist
  • Livy, Roman historian
  • Liu Xiang, Chinese poet and librarian
  • Liu Xin, Chinese astronomer, mathematician, and librarian
  • Lucretius, Roman poet and philosopher
  • Meleager of Gadara, Syrian Greek poet and anthologist
  • Nigidius Figulus, Roman philosopher and polymath
  • Ovid, Roman poet
  • Parmenion, Greek poet
  • Parthenius of Nicaea, Bithynian Greek poet and grammarian
  • Philodemus, Syrian Greek poet and philosopher
  • Lucius Pomponius, Roman dramatist
  • Pompeius Trogus, Roman historian
  • Marcus Porcius Latro, Roman orator
  • Posidonius, Syrian Greek philosopher, geographer, and polymath
  • Propertius, Roman poet
  • Rutilius Lupus, Roman rhetorician
  • Publilius Syrus, Syrian/Roman poet and dramatist
  • Sallust, Roman historian, politician
  • Sima Qian, Chinese historian, father of Chinese historiography
  • Sisenna, Roman historian
  • Strabo, Pontian Greek geographer and historian
  • Themison of Laodicea, Syrian Greek doctor, founder of Methodic school of medicine
  • Tibullus, Roman poet
  • Tryphon, Alexandrian Greek grammarian
  • Valerius Antias, Roman historian
  • Varro, Roman polymath
  • Verrius Flaccus, Roman grammarian
  • Virgil, Roman poet
  • Vitruvius, Roman writer, architect and engineer
  • Wang Bao, Chinese poet
  • Yang Xiong, Chinese poet and philosopher
  • Sangam literature, ancient Tamil literary works.

Others

  • Crixus, Gallic gladiator and rebel leader
  • Jin Midi, Chinese official
  • Spartacus, gladiator and insurgent leader of the Third Servile War

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

  • The Antikythera mechanism is made.
  • The Chinese Ji Jiu Pian dictionary published in 40 BC during the Han dynasty is the earliest known reference to the hydraulic-powered trip hammer device.
  • 36 BC: Maya numeral for Zero was written in Chiapa; it is the oldest zero in The Americas.

Sovereign states

See: List of sovereign states in the 1st century BC.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Roman Timeline 1st Century BC". UNRV. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
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