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This is an abridged list of important events that have helped to shape
Italy today. If you would like to see a more complete list I recommend
the book that was used as a source for this page. In addition to
an extensive chronology you will also find a wealth of information about
the history and cultural development of the people who have made their
home on the peninsula over the centuries.
Lintner, Valerio.
"A Traveler’s History of Italy - Fifth Edition", New York: Interlink
Books, 1998, Pages 240-252.
B.C.
200,000 First
traces of human life in the peninsula
60,000 Middle
Palaeolithic period; Neanderthal humans
30,000 Upper
Palaeolithic period; first humans in Sicily
10,000 Cro-Magnon
human life
5000
Mesolithic period
3500-2500
Neolithic period
2000-1800
Copper Age; Palafitte culture
1800-1000
Bronze Age; Terramare and Apennine cultures
1400
Mycenaean traders in Sicily
800
Iron Age; Villanovan cultures; Greek settlement in Sicily and the south
753
Foundation of Rome by Romulus
753-617
First four Roman monarchs
700
Beginning of Etruscan period
524
Battle of Cumae; Greeks halt Etruscan expansion to the south
509
Beginning of the Roman republic; Roman domination of Latium
500
Etruscan expansion in northern Italy
451-450
Twelve tables of law published in Rome
433
Temple of Apollo
350
Felsina taken by the Romans
334-264 Roman
conquest and colonisation of Italy
312 Via Appia
and Aqua Appia
289 Roman
mint established
289-275 Roman
war with Pyrrhus
265 Volsinii
captured by the Romans; end of Etruscan period
241 Sicily
made first Roman province
238 Provinces
of Sardinia and Corsica
200-197
Second Macedonian war
172-168 Third
Macedonian war
149-146 Third
Punic war; destruction of Carthage
136-132 First
slave war in Sicily
120 Temple
of Fortuna in Praeneste
101 Defeat
of Germanic invasion
73-71 Spartacus
in revolt
49-44 Julius
Caesar dictator
A.D.
27 BC-AD
68 Julio-Claudian emperors
43 Britain
occupied
64 Fire of
Rome
79 Vesuvius
erupts; Colosseum completed
117-193 Antonine
emperors
122-142 Hadrian’s
Wall built in Britain
128 Rebuilding
of Pantheon completed
134 Hadrian’s
Villa at Tivoli completed
167 Barbarians
invade Dacia
219 Caracalla’s
Baths built
271 Aurelius
builds walls around Rome
303-305 Persecution
of Christians
313 Freedom
of worship for Christians
315 Constantine’s
Arch built in Rome
324-337 Constantine
sole emperor
376 Goths
permitted to settle in empire
395 Final
East-West division of empire; Visigoths invade Greece
476 Last
western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, deposed; Odoacer becomes king of Italy
490 Theodoric
invades Italy
490-552
Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy
526 Death
of Theodoric
535-540 Byzantine
reconquest
568-774
Lombard kingdom of Italy
700-720 Monasteries
built at Farfa, San Vincenzo and Montecassino
754 Pepin
III invades Italy
773-774 Charlemagne
conquers Italy
827 Arab
invasion of Sicily
839-849 Civil
war in Benevento
855-875 Louis
11 emperor
899 First
Hungarian invasion
902 Arabs
complete capture of Sicily
962-973 Otto
I first German emperor
1034 Aversa
granted to Normans by the duke of Naples
1061-91 Norman
conquest of Sicily
1071 Normans
capture Bari; end of Byzantine rule
1072 Normans
take Palermo
1075 Normans
capture Salerno
1081 Henry
IV invades Italy
1082 Florence
goes to war against Siena
1111 Henry
V crowned emperor
1135 Amalfi
sacked by Pisa
1147-49 Second
Crusade
1155 Rome
under Interdict; Frederick Barbarossa crowned emperor
1162 Milan
burned by Barbarossa
1176 Barbarossa
defeated by Lombard League at Legnano
1190 Barbarossa
dies on Third Crusade
1191-96 Henry
VI emperor
1194 Henry
VI conquers Sicily
1198 Frederick
II becomes king of Sicily
1204 Sack
of Constantinople on Fourth Crusade
1216 Dominican
Order founded
1220 Frederick
II crowned emperor
1223 Franciscan
Order founded
1237 Lombard
League defeated by Frederick II at Cortenuova
1250 Death
of Frederick II
1252 First
European gold coins minted in Florence
1282 Revolt
of Sicilian Vespers
1294 Battle
of Meloria, Genoa defeats Pisa
1296 Building
of Florentine Duomo begins
1298 Marco
Polo returns to Venice
Back
to Palimpsest home Timeline
from 1300 to Present
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