List of Roman wars
Encyclopedia
The following is a List of Roman wars fought by the ancient Roman Kingdom
, Roman Republic
and Roman Empire
, organized by date.
Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a monarchical form of government of the city of Rome and its territories....
, Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
and Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, organized by date.
8th century BC
- Wars with various Latin cities and the Sabines after the Rape of the Sabine Women
- War with Fidenae and Veii
7th century BC
- War with Alba Longa
- Second war with Fidenae and Veii
- Second Sabine War
- War with the Latins
6th century BC
- War with the Latins under Tarquinius Priscus
- War with the Sabines under Tarquinius Priscus
- War with Veii and the Etruscans under Servius Tullius
- War with the Volsci under Tarquinius Superbus
- War with Gabii under Tarquinius Superbus
- War with the Rutuli under Tarquinius Superbus
4th century BC
- Roman-Etruscan WarsRoman-Etruscan WarsThe Roman-Etruscan Wars were a series of wars fought between ancient Rome and the Etruscans, from the earliest stages of the history of Rome....
(ongoing) - First Samnite War (343-341 BC)
- Latin WarLatin WarThe Latin War was a conflict between the Roman Republic and its neighbors the Latin peoples of ancient Italy. It ended in the dissolution of the Latin League, and incorporation of its territory into the Roman sphere of influence, with the Latins gaining partial rights and varying levels of...
(340-338 BC) - Second Samnite War (326-304 BC)
3rd century BC
- Third Samnite War (298-290 BC)
- Pyrrhic WarPyrrhic WarThe Pyrrhic War was a complex series of battles and shifting political alliances among the Greeks , Romans, the Italian peoples , and the CarthaginiansThe Pyrrhic War initially started as a minor conflict between Rome and the city of Tarentum over a naval...
(280-275 BC) - First Punic WarFirst Punic WarThe First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
(264-241 BC) - First Illyrian War (229-228 BC)
- Second Illyrian War (220-219 BC)
- Second Punic WarSecond Punic WarThe Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
(218-201 BC) - First Macedonian WarFirst Macedonian WarThe First Macedonian War was fought by Rome, allied with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon, contemporaneously with the Second Punic War against Carthage...
(214-205 BC)
2nd century BC
- Second Macedonian WarSecond Macedonian WarThe Second Macedonian War was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in Greece...
(200-196 BC) - Roman-Spartan War (195 BC)
- Roman-Syrian WarRoman-Syrian WarThe Roman–Syrian War , also known as War of Antiochos or Syrian War, was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire under Antiochus the Great...
(192 BC - 188 BC) - Aetolian WarAetolian WarThe Aetolian War was fought between the Romans and their Achaean and Macedonian allies and the Aetolian League and their allies, the kingdom of Athamania. The Aetolians had invited Antiochus the Great to Greece, who after his defeat by the Romans had returned to Asia. This left the Aetolians and...
(191-189 BC) - First Celtiberian WarFirst Celtiberian WarThe First Celtiberian War was the first of a series of three wars known as the Celtiberian Wars. It was fought between the advancing legions of the Roman Republic and the Celtiberian tribes of Hispania Citerior from 181 to 179 BC....
(181-179 BC) - Third Macedonian WarThird Macedonian WarThe Third Macedonian War was a war fought between Rome and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus, took his throne. Perseus married Laodike, daughter of King Seleucus IV Keraunos of Asia, and increased the size of his army...
(171-168 BC) - Lusitanian WarLusitanian WarThe Lusitanian War, called the Purinos Polemos , was a war of resistance fought between the advancing legions of the Roman Republic and the Lusitani tribes of Hispania Ulterior from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitani revolted on two separate occasions and were pacified...
(155-139 BC) - First Numantine WarNumantine WarThe Numantine War was the last conflict of the Celtiberian Wars fought by the Romans to subdue those people along the Ebro. It was a twenty year long conflict between the Celtiberian tribes of Hispania Citerior and the Roman government. It began in 154 BC as a revolt of the Celtiberians of...
/Second Celtiberian War (154-151 BC) - Fourth Macedonian WarFourth Macedonian WarThe Fourth Macedonian War was the final war between Rome and Macedon. It came about as a result of the pretender Andriscus's usurpation of the Macedonian throne, pretending to be the son of Perseus, the last King of Macedon, deposed by the Romans after the Third Macedonian War in 168 BC...
(150-148 BC) - Third Punic WarThird Punic WarThe Third Punic War was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between the former Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic...
(149-146 BC) - Second Numantine WarNumantine WarThe Numantine War was the last conflict of the Celtiberian Wars fought by the Romans to subdue those people along the Ebro. It was a twenty year long conflict between the Celtiberian tribes of Hispania Citerior and the Roman government. It began in 154 BC as a revolt of the Celtiberians of...
/Third Celtiberian War (143-133 BC) - First Servile WarFirst Servile WarThe First Servile War of 135–132 BC was an unsuccessful rebellion of slaves against the Roman Republic. The war was prompted by slave revolts in Enna on the island of Sicily. It was led by Eunus, a former slave claiming to be a prophet, and Cleon, a Cilician who became Eunus's military commander...
(135-132 BC) - Cimbrian WarCimbrian WarThe Cimbrian War was fought between the Roman Republic and the Proto-Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons , who migrated from northern Europe into Roman controlled territory, and clashed with Rome and her allies...
(113-101 BC) - Jugurthine WarJugurthine WarThe Jugurthine War takes its name from the Berber king Jugurtha , nephew and later adopted son of Micipsa, King of Numidia.-Jugurtha and Numidia:...
(112-105 BC) - Second Servile WarSecond Servile WarThe Second Servile War was an unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman Republic on the island of Sicily. The war lasted from 104 BC until 100 BC....
(104-103 BC)
1st century BC
- Roman-Persian WarsRoman-Persian WarsThe Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranic empires: the Parthian and the Sassanid. Contact between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued...
(92 BC - ongoing) - Social War (91-88 BC)
- First Mithridatic WarFirst Mithridatic WarThe First Mithridatic War was a war challenging Rome's expanding Empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Rome were led by Mithridates VI of Pontus against the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Bithynia...
(90-85 BC) - First Marian-Sullan Civil WarSulla's first civil warSulla's first civil war was one of a series of civil wars in ancient Rome, between Gaius Marius and Sulla, between 88 and 87 BC.- Prelude - Social War :...
(88-87 BC) - Second Mithridatic WarSecond Mithridatic WarThe Second Mithridatic War was one of three wars fought between Pontus and the Roman Republic. The second Mithridatic war was fought between King Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman general Lucius Licinius Murena....
(83-82 BC) - Sertorius' revolt (83-81 BC)
- Second Marian-Sullan Civil WarSulla's second civil warSulla's second civil war was one of a series of civil wars of ancient Rome. It was fought between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius the younger in 82 BC.-Prelude:...
(82-81 BC) - Third Mithridatic WarThird Mithridatic WarThe Third Mithridatic War was the last and longest of three Mithridatic Wars fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and his allies and the Roman Republic...
(73-63 BC) - Third Servile WarThird Servile WarThe Third Servile War , also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Roman Servile Wars...
(73-71 BC)
- Catilinarian Civil War (63-62 BC)
- Gallic WarsGallic WarsThe Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
(59-51 BC) - Caesar's civil warCaesar's civil warThe Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
(49-45 BC) - Post-Caesarian civil war (44 BC)
- Liberators' civil warLiberators' civil warThe Liberators' civil war was started by the Second Triumvirate to avenge Julius Caesar's murder. The war was fought by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian against the forces of Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC.-Prelude:After the murder of Caesar,...
(44-42 BC) - Sicilian revoltSicilian revoltThe Sicilian revolt was a revolution against the Second Triumvirate of the Roman Republic which occurred between 44 BC and 36 BC. The revolt was led by Sextus Pompeius, and ended in a Triumvirate victory.- Context :...
(44-36 BC) - Fulvia's civil war (Perusine War)Fulvia's civil warThe Perusine War was a civil war of the Roman Republic, which lasted from 41 to 40 BC. It was fought by Lucius Antonius and Fulvia to support Mark Antony against his political enemy , Octavian....
(41-40 BC) - Final war of the Roman RepublicFinal war of the Roman RepublicThe final war of the Roman Republic, also known as Antony's civil war or the war between Antony and Octavian, was the last of the Roman civil wars of the republic, fought between Cleopatra and Octavian...
(32-30 BC)
1st century
- Roman-Persian WarsRoman-Persian WarsThe Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranic empires: the Parthian and the Sassanid. Contact between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued...
(ongoing) - Roman conquest of BritainRoman conquest of BritainThe Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
(43) - First Jewish-Roman WarFirst Jewish-Roman WarThe First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
(66-73) - Roman Civil War of 68-69 ADYear of the Four EmperorsThe Year of the Four Emperors was a year in the history of the Roman Empire, AD 69, in which four emperors ruled in a remarkable succession. These four emperors were Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian....
2nd century
- Roman-Persian WarsRoman-Persian WarsThe Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranic empires: the Parthian and the Sassanid. Contact between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued...
(ongoing) - First Dacian WarFirst Dacian WarThe First Dacian War took place from 101 to 102 AD. The kingdom of Dacia, under king Decebalus, had become a threat to Roman supremacy and had defeated several of Rome's armies during Domitian's reign . The emperor Trajan was set on ridding this threat to Rome's power and in 101 set out...
(101-102) - Second Dacian WarSecond Dacian WarThe Second Dacian War was fought in 105 to 106 because the Dacian king Decebalus had broken his peace terms with the Roman emperor Trajan from the First Dacian War...
(105-106) - Kitos WarKitos WarThe Kitos War , translation: Rebellion of the exile) is the name given to the second of the Jewish–Roman wars. Major revolts by diasporic Jews in Cyrene , Cyprus, Mesopotamia and Aegyptus spiraled out of control resulting in a widespread slaughter of Roman citizens and others by the Jewish rebels...
(115-117) - Bar Kokhba's revoltBar Kokhba's revoltThe Bar Kokhba revolt 132–136 CE; or mered bar kokhba) against the Roman Empire, was the third major rebellion by the Jews of Judaea Province being the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars. Simon bar Kokhba, the commander of the revolt, was acclaimed as a Messiah, a heroic figure who could restore Israel...
(132-135) - Marcomannic WarsMarcomannic WarsThe Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples, along both sides of the upper and middle Danube...
(166-180) - Roman Civil War of 193-197 ADYear of the Five EmperorsThe Year of the Five Emperors refers to the year 193 AD, in which there were five claimants for the title of Roman Emperor. The five were Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus and Septimius Severus....
3rd century
- Roman-Persian WarsRoman-Persian WarsThe Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranic empires: the Parthian and the Sassanid. Contact between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued...
(ongoing) - Roman Civil War of 238 ADYear of the Six EmperorsThe Year of the Six Emperors refers to the year 238, during which six people were recognised as emperors of Rome.The emperor at the beginning of the year was Maximinus Thrax, who had ruled since 235. Later sources claim he was a cruel tyrant, and in January 238 a revolt erupted in North Africa...
- First Roman-Gothic War (249-252 AD)
- Second Roman-Gothic War (253-268 AD)
- Third Roman-Gothic War (270 AD)
4th century
- Roman-Persian WarsRoman-Persian WarsThe Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranic empires: the Parthian and the Sassanid. Contact between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued...
(92 BC - 627 AD) - Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy (306-324 AD)Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy (306-324 AD)The Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy were a series of conflicts between the co-emperors of the Roman Empire, starting in 306 AD with the usurpation of Maxentius and the defeat of Severus, and ending with the defeat of Licinius at the hands of Constantine I in 324 AD.-Background:The Tetrarchy refers to...
- Roman Civil War of 350-351 AD
- Roman Civil War of 360-361 AD
- Fourth Roman-Gothic War (367-369 AD)
- Gothic War (376-382)
- Roman Civil War of 387-388 AD
- Roman Civil War of 394 ADRoman civil war of 394 ADThe Roman civil war of 394 AD was fought between political factions based in Rome and Constantinople. Because the Western Emperor Eugenius had pagan sympathies, the war assumed religious overtones, with Christianity pitted against the last attempt at a pagan revival.-Background:Arbogast was a...