This chart gives some important dates for the literary history of classical Rome. Dates are BC until marked AD.
| 753 | Founding of the city of Rome (traditional date) |
| 509 | Expulsion of the kings and introduction of the republic (traditional date) |
| 264-242 | First Punic War, between Rome and Carthage |
| 218-201 | Second Punic War, ending with Scipio's defeat of Hannibal |
| 204-169 | Q. Ennius active |
| 200-184 | T. Macchius Plautus active; born somewhere between 255 and 225 |
| 200 | Plautus's Stichus at the Plebeian games |
| 192 | Plautus's Pseudolus at the Megalensian games |
| 190 | Birth of P. Terentius Afer (Terence) |
| 184 | Cato the Elder is censor |
| 159 | Death of Terence |
| 149-146 | Third Punic War, ending with destruction of Carthage |
| 133 | T. Sempronius Gracchus is tribune, and is murdered |
| 123-122 | C. Sempronius Gracchus is tribune |
| 121 | C. Sempronius Gracchus is murdered |
| 107-100 | C. Marius consul 6 years out of 7 |
| 106 | Birth of M. Tullius Cicero |
| 100 | Birth of C. Julius Caesar |
| 88-82 | Civil war between supporters of C. Marius and L. Cornelius Sulla |
| 86 | Death of C. Marius; birth of C. Sallustius Crispus |
| 82 | Birth of C. Valerius Catullus (probable date) |
| 81-79 | Sulla is dictator, then consul |
| 78 | Death of L. Cornelius Sulla |
| 70 | Consulate of C. Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) and M. Licinius Crassus. Birth of P. Vergilius Maro |
| 65 | Birth of Q. Horatius Flaccus |
| 63 | Consulate of M. Tullius Cicero; conspiracy led by L. Sergius Catilina. Birth of C. Octavius, later C. Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian), later Augustus. |
| 60 | C. Julius Caesar, C. Pompeius Magnus, and M. Licinius Crassus form first triumvirate |
| 59 | Birth of T. Livius |
| 58 | P. Clodius Pulcher is tribune; Cicero exiled |
| 57 | Riots between supporters of Clodius and those of T. Annius Milo. Cicero recalled from exile |
| 55 | Consulate of Pompey and Crassus, for the second time; riots in Rome continue |
| 55-48 | Birth of Albius Tibullus somewhere in this period |
| 52 | Death of Catullus |
| 49 | Civil war begins between Caesar and Pompey |
| 48 | Battle of Pharsalus, in which Caesar defeats Pompey |
| 44 | Assassination of C. Julius Caesar. M. Antonius (Antony) takes over Caesar's side of the war. Cicero's first Philippic against him. |
| 43 | Assassination of M. Tullius Cicero. Octavian, Antony, and M. Lepidus form Second Triumvirate; Octavian consul for the first time. Birth of P. Ovidius Naso. |
| 42 | Sallust writes Catiline's Conspiracy (approximate date) |
| 39 | Virgil publishes his Eclogues (probable date) |
| 34 | Death of Sallust |
| 31 | Battle of Actium, in which Octavian (later Augustus) defeats Antony and Cleopatra and gains sole power at Rome |
| 30 | Horace publishes his Epodes and Satires (approximate date) |
| 29 | Virgil publishes his Georgics |
| 27 | Senate gives Octavian title "Augustus"; civil war brought to an end. |
| 25 | Livy's first five books probably finished by now |
| 23 | Horace publishes his first three books of Odes |
| 22 | Senate offers Augustus consulship for life, but he refuses |
| 19 | Death of Virgil; the Aeneid, not quite finished, is published thereafter. Death of Tibullus. |
| 17 | Augustus's Saecular Games, for which Horace writes the "theme music" |
| 16 | Ovid publishes the second edition of his Amores (probable date) |
| 8 | Death of Horace |
| 1 | Ovid publishes his Art of Love |
| AD 4 | Augustus adopts Tiberius |
| 8 | Ovid sent into exile; his Metamorphoses are substantially complete |
| 14 | Death of Augustus. Tiberius becomes princeps. |
| 17 | Death of Livy and of Ovid |
| 37 | Death of Tiberius; accession of Gaius (Caligula) |
| 39 | Birth of M. Annaeus Lucanus (Lucan) |
| 41 | Caligula is murdered; Claudius becomes princeps. |
| 54 | Death of Claudius; accession of Nero |
| 56 | Birth of Cornelius Tacitus |
| 62 | Birth of D. Iunius Iuvenalis (Juvenal), approximate date |
| 65 | Death of Lucan; his epic on the Civil War is left unfinished |
| 68 | Death of Nero; Galba named emperor by the Senate |
| 69 | Galba killed; Otho recognized by the Senate, but Vitellius by the army. They fight and Otho kills himself in defeat; Senate recognizes Vitellius. Vespasian claims the throne, defeats Vitellius, and is named emperor. Birth of C. Suetonius Tranquillus |
| 79 | Death of Vespasian; his son Titus acceeds |
| 81 | Death of Titus; accession of his brother Domitian |
| 96 | Death of Domitian; accession of Nerva |
| 98 | Death of Nerva; accession of Trajan |
| 115 | Tacitus's Annals in progress; possibly not finished until later |
| 117 | Death of Trajan; accession of Hadrian |
| 118 | Death of Tacitus (probable date) |
| 121 | Death of Suetonius |
| 127 | Death of Juvenal (earliest date) |
| 138 | Death of Hadrian; accession of Antoninus Pius |
| 4th century | Conversion from scroll to codex technology (gradual process over decades) |
| 475-476 | Romulus Augustulus last emperor in the West; start of Byzantine period of Greek history |
| 768-814 | Life of Charlemagne; Carolingian Renaissance |
| 1180-1250 | Founding of the earliest European universities, including Paris, Bologna, Oxford |
| 1300 | Approximate date for beginning of Italian humanism and the Renaissance. Rediscovery of Catullus, Cicero's letters, other Roman texts |
| 1453 | Turks conquer Constantinople; final end of Roman empire |
| 1460-1480 | Introduction of printing in Europe |
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