January 1 – The Roman Senate receives a proposal from Julius Caesar that he and Pompey should lay down their commands simultaneously. The Senate responds that Caesar must immediately surrender his command.
January – Caesar leads his army across the Rubicon, which separates his jurisdiction in Cisalpine Gaul from that of the Senate in Rome, and thus initiates a civil war.[1]
February – Pompey's flight to Epirus (in Western Greece) with most of the Senate.
March 9 – Caesar advances against Pompeian forces in Spain.
September – Brutus defeats the combined Pompeian-Massilian naval forces of the siege of Massilia, while the Caesarian fleet in the Adriatic Sea is defeated near Curicta (Krk).
September 6 – Massilia surrenders to Caesar, as he is coming back from Spain.
September 28 – Pompey the Great is assassinated on the orders of King Ptolemy XIII, after landing in Egypt (may have occurred September 29, records unclear).
October – Julius Caesar reaches Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander the Great. He is met by an Egyptian delegation from Ptolemy XIII. The Egyptians offer him gifts: the ring of Pompey and his head.
Queen Cleopatra VII returns to the palace rolled into a Persian carpet and has it presented to Caesar by her servant. The Egyptian princess, only twenty-one years old, becomes his mistress.
December – Battle in Alexandria: Forces of Caesar and his ally Cleopatra VII and those of rival King Ptolemy XIII and Queen Arsinoe IV. The latter two are defeated and flee the city, but during the battle part of the Library of Alexandria catches fire.
Battle at Mount Tabor in Judea: Roman troops, commanded by Gabinius, defeat the forces of Alexander, son of Aristobulus II of Judea, who is attempting to re-establish Judean independence. Some 10,000 Jews die at the hands of the Romans.
April 20 – Cicero, in Rome, writes to Varro "If our voices are no longer heard in the Senate and in the Forum, let us follow the example of the ancient sages and serve our country through our writings, concentrating on questions of ethics and constitutional law."
Caesar's erstwhile mistress, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and his son by her, Caesarion, take up residence in one of the dictator's estates on the Tiber.
November – Caesar leaves for Hispania to deal with a fresh outbreak of resistance.
Caesar reforms the Roman calendar to create the Julian calendar. The transitional year is extended to 445 days to synchronize the new calendar and the seasonal cycle. The Julian Calendar would remain the standard in the western world for over 1600 years, until superseded by the Gregorian Calendar in 1582.
January 1 – The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Empire, establishing a solar calendar that is based on the Egyptian calendar of the day.
February – Rome celebrates the festival of the Lupercal. Mark Antony twice presents Caesar with a royaldiadem, urging him to take it and declare himself king. He refuses this offer and orders the crown to be placed in the Temple of Jupiter.
March 20 – Caesar's funeral is held. Marcus Antony gives a eulogy and in his speech he makes accusations of murder and ensures a permanent breach with the conspirators against Caesar. He snatches Caesar's bloody tunic and purple toga to show the crowd the stab wounds; the citizens tear apart the forum and cremate their Caesar on a makeshift pyre. Antony becomes the highest ranking politician in Rome.
March – Vibius Pansa set out to link up with Hirtius and Octavian, bringing four legions of recruits, having left one, the legio urbana, to defend Rome.
Summer – Gaius Cassius captures Rhodes after they refuse to pay tribute. Their fleet is defeated by Roman galleys in the Aegean Sea. He lands a military force on the island and plunders the city. Cassius puts to death 50 of the leading citizens and seizes all the gold he can lay hands on.[9]
July–August – Antony is again at the head of a large army; Octavian enters Rome in force without opposition. It is clear that Cicero's plan to divide them against each other has failed.
August 19 – Octavian takes office as consul. He's prevailed to pass the lex Pedia, a law establishing the murder of Caesar as a capital crime.
November – The triumvirs introduce proscriptions in which allegedly 130 senators and 2,000 equites are branded as outlaws and deprived of their property.
Marcus Brutus begins to plunder the cities of Asia Minor, in order to obtain money and soldiers. The inhabitants of Lycia refuse to submit to Rome, and Brutus besiegesXanthus. After destroying their suburbs, the Xanthians withdraw into the heavily fortified city. The Roman legionaries (2,000 men) force the gate and fight their way into the forum. The citizens make a last stand by the temple of Sarpedon and, as night falls, the Roman army conquers the city.
September – Brutus and Cassius cross the Hellespont. They march to Doriscus but further progress is blocked by Saxa's occupation of the Corpili Pass.
Saxa retreats to link up with Norbanus at the Sapaei Pass. The Republicans outflank the enemy, forging an alternate route through the mountains in the north.
Brutus and Cassius advance to Philippi and build fortifications. Antony links up with Norbanus and Saxa at Amphipolis, Octavian arrives on a litter 10 days later.
October 3 – First Battle of Philippi: The Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's assassins Marcus Brutus and Cassius. The Roman forces including 2,000 Spartans, who have just arrived, are routed. Octavian takes refuge in the marsh. Cassius' camp is captured by Antony's men and, wrongly fearing that Brutus is dead, Cassius commits suicide. He orders his freedman Pindarus to kill him. Brutus, fearing the impact on morale, secretly buries his beheaded body on Thasos. The Republican navy, in the Adriatic, intercept and destroy the supply ships with two legions of the Triumvirs.
October 23 – Second Battle of Philippi: Brutus' army is defeated by Antony and Octavian. The Triumvirs smash through the weakened Republican centre and take Brutus's right wing in their flank. After the battle, 14,000 legionaries lay down their arms. Brutus flees to the heights of Philippi, where he commits suicide the following day. After the victory, Brutus' body is brought to Antonius' camp, where he casts his purple paludamentum over his dead body and orders an honourable funeral for his erstwhile comrade. The Republican cause is crushed, and Rome rests in the hands of the Second Triumvirate.
Sextus' fleet raids the ports of Puteoli and Ostia. The populace hold the Triumvirs responsible for prolonging the war, provoking a riot on the Forum. Octavian, with the Praetorian Guard, goes to intercept the riot, and only escapes with his life because Antony summons troops to rescue his junior colleague.
Mark Antony leaves Alexandria. After receiving news of the outcome at Perusia while en route to Phoenicia, he sets sail for Italy meeting the ambassadors of Sextus Pompey in Athens.
Igodomigodo Kingdom
Ogiso Igodo dissolves the Ik’edionwere Council (western Africa). establishes the Royal Council with members of the disbanded Ik’edionwere Council and the Odibo-Ogiso group. He names his combined territories, Igodomigodo with its capital at Ugbekun.[11]
Greece
Athenodorus, a philosopher, encounters a ghost in Athens. This popular story is one of the first poltergeist stories in history.
Parthia
Pacorus crosses, with the help of Quintus Labienus, the Euphrates and invades Syria. The capital Antioch surrenders, and the Parthians take Phoenicia and Judea. However, they cannot besiege the fortified city of Tyre, because they have no fleet.
The Ji Jiu Pian dictionary, published about this year during the Han dynasty, is the earliest known reference to the hydraulic-powered trip hammer device.
^ abcdefgLeGlay, Marcel; Voisin, Jean-Louis; Le Bohec, Yann (2001). A History of Rome (Second ed.). Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell. p. 129. ISBN0-631-21858-0.
^Stambaugh, John E. (1988). The Ancient Roman City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 275. ISBN0-8018-3574-7.
^ abToynbee, Arnold Joseph. "Julius Caesar". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
