Consuls of the
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic
509 BC	L. Iunius M.f. Brutus L. Tarquinius Collatinus Suffecti:  P. Valerius Volusi f. Publicola T. Lucretius T.?f. Tricipitinus M. Horatius M.f. Pulvillus
508	P. Valerius Volusi f. Publicola II T. Lucretius T.f. Tricipitinus
507	P. Valerius Volusi f. Publicola III M. Horatius M.f. Pulvillus II
506	Sp. Larcius Rufus T. Herminius Aquilinus
505	M. Valerius Volusi f. (Volusus?) P. Postumius Q.f. Tubertus
504	P. Valerius Volusi f. Publicola IV T. Lucretius T.f. Tricipitinus II
503	Agrippa Menenius C.f. Lanatus P. Postumius Q.f. Tubertus II
502	Opiter Verginius Opit. f. Tricostus Sp. Cassius Vecellinus
501	Postumius Cominius Auruncus T. Larcius Flavus (or Rufus)
500	Ser. Sulpicius P.f. Camarinus Cornutus M'. Tullius Longus
499	T. Aebutius T.f. Helva C. (or P.) Veturius Geminus Cicurinus
498	Q. Cloelius Siculus T. Larcius Flavus (or Rufus) II
497	A. Sempronius Atratinus M. Minucius Augurinus
496	A. Postumius P.f. Albus (Regillensis) T. Verginius A.f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus
495	Ap. Claudius M.f. Sabinus Inregillensis P. Servilius P.f. Priscus Structus
494	A. Verginius A.f Tricostus Caeliomontanus T. Veturius Geminus Cicurinus
493	Postumus Cominius Auruncus II Sp. Cassius Vecellinus II
492	T. Geganius Macerinus P. Minucius Augurinus
491	M. Minucius Augurinus II A. Sempronius Atratinus II
490	Q. Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus Sp. Larcius Flavus (or Rufus) II
489	C. Iulius Iullus P. Pinarius Mamertinus Rufus
488	Sp. Nautius Sp.?f. Rutilus Sex. Furius Medullinus? Fusus?
487	T. Sicinus Sabinus? C. Aquillius Tuscus?
486	Sp. Cassius Vicellinus III Proculus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus
485	Ser. Cornelius Maluginensis Q. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus
484	L. Aemilus Mam.f. Mamercus K. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus
483	M. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus L. Valerius M.f. Potitus
482	Q. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus II C. Iulius C.f. Iullus
481	K. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus II Sp. Furius Fusus
480	M. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus II Cn. Manlius P.f. Cincinnatus
479	K. Fabius K.f. Vibulanus III T. Verginius Opet.f. Tricostus Rutilus
478	L. Aemilius Man.f. Mamercus II C. Servilius Structus Ahala suff.: Opet. Verginius Esquilinus
477	C. (or M.) Horatius M.f. Pulvillus T. Menenius Agrippae f. Lanatus
476	A. Verginius Tricostus Rutilus Sp. Servilius (P.f.?) Structus
475	P. Valerius P.f. Publicola C. Nautius Sp.f. Rutilus
474	L. Furius Medullinus A. Manlius Cn.f. Vulso
473	L. Aemilius Mam.f. Mamercus III Vopiscus Iulius C.f. Iullus
472	L. Pinarius Mamercinus Rufus P. Furius Medullinus Fusus
471	Ap. Claudius Ap.f. Crassinus Inregilliensis Sabinus T. Quinctius L.f. Capitolinus Barbatus
470	L. Valerius M.f. Potitus II Ti. Aemilius L.f. Mamercus
469	T. Numicius Priscus A. Verginius Caeliomontanus
468	T. Quinctius L.f. Capitolinus Barbatus II Q. Servilius Structus Priscus
467	Ti. Aemilius L.f. Mamercus II Q. Fabius M.f. Vibulanus
466	Q. Servilius Priscus II Sp. Postumius A.f. Albus Regillensis
465	Q. Fabius M.f. Vibulanus II T. Quinctius L.f. Capitolinus Barbatus III
464	A. Postumius A.f. Albus Regillensis Sp. Furius Medullinus Fusus
463	P. Servilius Sp.f. Priscus L. Aebutius T.f. Helva
462	L. Lucretius T. f. Tricipitinus T. Veturius T.f. Geminus Cicurinus
461	P. Volumnius M.f. Amintinus Gallus Ser. Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus
460	P. Valerius P.f. Poblicola C. Claudius Ap.f. Inregillensis Sabinus suff.: L. Quinctius L.f. Cincinnatus
459	Q. Fabius M.f. Vibulanus III L. Cornelius Ser.f. Maluginensis Uritus
458	C. Nautius Sp.f. Rutilus II Carvetus ? suff.: L. Minucius. P.f. Esquilinus Augurinus
L. Quinctius L.f. Cincinnatus, Dictator, 458
457	C. (or M.) Horatius M.F. Pulvillus II Q. Minucius P.f. Esquilinus
456	M. Valerius M'.f. Maximus Lactuca Sp. Verginius A.f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus
455	T. Romilius T.f. Rocus Vaticanus C. Veturius P.f. Cicurinus
454	Sp. Tarpeius M.f. Montanus Capitolinus A. Aternius Varus Fontinalis
453	Sex. Quinctilius Sex.f. P. Curiatus Fistus Trigeminus
452	T. Menenius Agripp.f. Lanatus P. Sestius Q.f. Capito Vaticanus
451	Ap. Claudius Ap.f. Crassus Inregillensis Sabinus II T. Genucius L.f. Augurinus
450	Decemviri
449	L. Valerius P.f. Potitus M. Horatius Barbatus
448	Lars (or Sp.) Herminius Coritinesanus T. Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus
447	M. Geganius M.f. Macerinus C. Iulius (Iullus?)
446	T. Quinctius L.f. Capitolinus Barbatus IV Agrippa Furius Fusus
445	M. Genucius Augurinius C. (or Agripp.) Curtius Philo
444	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot. suff.: L. Papirius Mugillanus L. Sempronius A.f. Atratinus
443	M. Geganius M.f. Macerinus II T. Quinctius L.f. Capitolinus Barbatus V
442	M. Fabius Q.f. Vibulanus Post. Aebutius Helva Cornicen
441	C. Furius Pacilus Fusus M'. (or M.) Papirius Crassus
440	Proculus Geganius Macerinus T. Menenius Agripp. Lanatus II
439	Agrippa Menenius T.f. Lanatus T. Quinctius L.f Capitolinus Barbatus VI
L. Quinctius L.f. Cincinnatus, Dictator, 439
438	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
437	M. Geganius M.f Macerinus III L. Sergius L.f. Fidenas Suff.: M. Valerius M.f. Lactuca Maximus
436	L. Papirius Crassus M. Cornelius Maluginensis
435	C. Iulius (Iullus?) II L. (or Proc.) Verginius Tricostus
434	C. Iulius Iullus III L. (or Proc.) Verginus Tricostus II or M. Manlius Capitolinus Q. Sulpicius Ser.?f. Camerinus Praetextatus
433-432	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
431	T. Quinctius L.f. Poenus Cincinnatus C. (or Cn) Iulius Mento
430	L. (or C.) Papirius Crassus L. Iulius Vop.f Iullus
429	Hostus Lucretius Tricipitinus L. Sergius C.f Fidenas II
428	A. Cornelius M.f. Cossus T. Quinctius L.f Poenus Cincinnatus II (Listed by Diodorus between the colleges of 428 and 427: L. Quinctius (L.f. Cincinnatus) A. Sempronius (L.f. Atratinus))
427	C. Servilius Structus Ahala L. Papirius L.f Mugillanus
426-424	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
423	C. Sempronius Atratinus Q. Fabius Q.f. Vibulanus
422	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
421	Cn. (or N.) Fabius Vibulanus T. Quinctius T.f Capitolinus Barbatus
420-414	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
413	A. (or M.?) Cornelius Cossus L. Furius L.f. Medullinus
412	Q. Fabius Ambustus Vibulanus C. Furius Pacilus
411	L. Papirius L.f. Mugillanus Sp. (or C.) Nautius Sp.f. Rutilus
410	M'. Aemilius Mam.f. Mamercinus C. Valerius L.f. Potitus Volusus
409	Cn. Cornelius A.f. Cossus L. Furius L.f. Medullinus II
408-394	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
Siege & Capture of Veii, 405-396
393	L. Valerius L.f. Potitus P.? (or Ser.) Cornelius Maluginensis Suff.: L. Lucrrtius Tricipitinus Flavus Ser. Sulpicius Q.f. Camerinus
392	L. Valerius L.f. Potitus II M. Manlius T.f. Capitolinus
391-376	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
Gauls sack Rome, 390
370-367	Trib. Mil. Cons. Pot.
Reform of Tribune G. Licinius Stolo, one Consul hencefore a Plebeian, 367
366	L. Aemilius L.f. Mamercinus L. Sextius f. Sextinus Lateranus
365	L. Genucius M.f. Aventinensis Q. Servilius Q.f. Ahala
364	C. Sulpicius M.f. Peticus C. Licinius C.f. Stolo or Calvus
363	Cn. Gentucius M.f Aventinensis L. Aemilius L.f. Mamercinus II
362	Q. Servilius Q.f. Ahala II L. Genucius M.f. Aventinensis II
361	C. Licinius C.f. Calvus or Stolo C. Sulpicius M.f. Peticus II
360	M. Fabius N.f. Ambustus C. Poetelius C.f. Libo Visolus
359	M. Popillius M.f. Laenas Cn. Manlius L.f. Capitolinus Imperiosus
358	C. Fabius N.f. Ambustus C. Plautius P.f. Proculus
357	C. Marcius L.f. Rutilus Cn. Manlius L.f. Capitolinus Imperiosus II
356	M. Fabius N.f. Ambustus II M. Popillius M.f. Laenas II
355	C. Sulpicius M.f. Peticus III M. Valerius L.f. Poplicola
354	M. Fabius N.f. Ambustus III T. Quinctius Poenus Capitolinus Crispinus
353	C. Sulpicius M.f. Peticus IV M. Valerius L.f. Poplicola II
352	P. Valerius P.f. Poplicola C. Marcius L.f. Rutilus II
351	C. Sulpicius M.f. Peticus V T. Quinctius Poenus Capitolinus Crispinus II
350	M. Popillius M.f. Laenas III L. Cornelius P.f. Scipio
349	L. Furius M.f. Camillus Ap. Claudius P.f. Crassus Inregillensis (Listed under this year by Diodorus: M. Aemilius, T. Quinctius)
348	M. Valerius M.f. Corvus M. Popillius M.f. Laenas IV
347	C. Plautius Venno (or Venox) T. Manlius L.f. Imperiosus Torquatus
346	M. Valerius M.f. Corvus II C. Poetelius C.f. Libo Visolus II
345	M. Fabius Dorsuo Ser. Sulpicius Camerinus Rufus
344	C. Marcius L.f. Rutilus III T. Manlius L.f. Imperiosus Torquatus II
343	M. Valerius M.f. Corvus III A. Cornelius P.f. Cossus Arvina
First Samnite War, 343-341
342	Q. Servilius Q.f. Ahala III C. Marcius L.f. Rutilus IV
341	C. Plautius Venno (Venox) II L. Aemilius L.f. Mamercinus Privernas
340	T. Manlius L.f. Imperiosus Torquatus III P. Decius Q.f. Mus
Latin War, 340-338
339	Ti. Aemilius Mamercinus Q. Publilius Q.f. Philo
338	L. Furius Sp.f. Camillus C. Maenius P.f.
Annexation of Campania, 338
337	C. Sulpicius Ser.f Longus P. Aelius Paetus
336	L. Papirius L.f. Crassus K. Duillius
335	M. Atilius Regulus Calenus M. Valerius M.f. Corvus IV
334	Sp. Postumius Albinus (Caudinus) T. Veturitis Clavinus
333	Dictator year
332	Cn. Domitius Cn.F. Calvinus A. Cornelius P.f. Cossus Arvina II
331	C. Valerius L.f. Potitus M. Claudius C.f. Marcellus
330	L. Papirius L.f. Crassus II L. Plautius L.f. Venno (Venox)
329	L. Aemilius L.f Mamercinus Privernas II C. Plautius P.f. Decianus
328	C. Plautius Decianns II or P. Plautius Proculus P. Cornelius Scapula or P. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus
327	L. Cornelius Lentulus Q. Publilius Q.f. Philo II
Second Samnite War, 326-304
326	C. Poetelius C.f. Libo Visolus III L. Papirius Sp.f. Cursor
325	L. Furius Sp.f. Camillus II D. Iunius Brutus Scaeva
324	Dictator year
323	C. Sulpicius Ser.f. Longus II Q. Aulius Q.f. Cerretanus
322	Q. Fabius M.f. Maximus Rullianus L. Fulvius L.f. Curvus
321	T. Veturius Calvinus II Sp. Postumius Albinus (Caudinus) II
320	L. Papirius Sp.f. Cursor II Q. Publilius Q.f. Philo III
319	L. Papirius Sp.f. Cursor III Q. Aulius Q.f. Cerretanus II
318	L. Plautius L.f. Venno (Venox) M. Folius C.F. Flaccinator
317	Q. Aemilius Q.f. Barbula C. Iunius C.f. Bubulcus Brutus
316	Sp. Nautius Sp.f. Rutilus M. Popillius M.f. Laenas
315	L. Papirius Sp.f. Cursor IV Q. Publilius Q.f. Philo IV
314	M. Poetelius M.f. Libo C. Sulpicius Ser.f. Longus III
313	L. Papirius Sp.f. Cursor V C. Iunius C.f. Bubulcus Brutus II
312	M. Valerius M.f Maximus (Corrinus) P. Decius P.f. Mus
311	C. Iunius C.f Bubulcus Brutus III Q. Aemilius Q.f. Barbula II
310	Q. Fabius M.f. Maximus Rullianus II C. Marcius C.f. Rutilus (Censorinus)
309	Dictator year
308	P. Decius P.f. Mus II Q. Fabius M.f. Maximus Rullianus III
307	Ap. Claudius C.f. Caenus L. Volumnius C.f. Flamma Violens
306	Q. Marcius Q.f. Tremulus P. Cornelius A.f. Arvina
305	L. Postumius L.f. Megellus Ti. Minucius M.f. Augurinus Suff.: M. Fulvius L.f. Curvus Paetinus
304	P. Sempronius P.f. Sophus P. Sulpicius Ser.f. Saverrio
303	Ser. Cornelius Cn.f. Lentulus L. Genucius Aventinensis
302	M. Livius Denter M. Aemilius L.f. Paullus
301	Dictator year
300	M. Valerius M.f. Corvus V Q. Appuleius Pansa
299	M. Fulvius Cn.f. Paeyinus T. Manlius T.f. Torquatus Suff.: M. Valerius M.f. Corvus VI
298	L. Cornelius Cn.f. Scipio Barbatus Cn. Fulvius Cn.f. Maximus Centumalus
Third Samnite War, 298-290
297	Q. Fabius M.f. Maximus Rullianus IV P. Decius P.f. Mus III
296	Ap. Claudius C.f. Caecus II L. Volumnius C.f. Flamma Violens II
295	Q. Fabius M.f. Maximus Rullianus V P. Decius P.f. Mus IV
294	L. Postumius L.f. Megellus II M. Atilius M.f. Regulus
293	L. Papirius L.f. Cursor Sp. Carvilius C.f. Maximus
292	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Gurges D. Iunius D.f. Brutus Scaeva
291	L. Postumius L.f. Megellus III C. Iunius C.f. Bubulcus Brutus
290	M'. Curius M'.f Dentatus P. Cornelius Cn.f. Rufinus
289	M. Valerius M.f. Maximus Corvinus II Q. Caedicius Q.f. Noctua
288	Q. Marcius Q.f Tremulus II P. Cornelius A.f. Arvina II
287	M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus C. Nautius Rutilus
286	M. Valerius Maximus (Potitus?) C. Aelius Paetus
285	C. Claudius M.f. Canina M. Aemilius Lepidus
284	C. Servilius Tucca L. Caecilius Metellus Denter
283	P. Cornelius Dolabella Cn. Domitius Cn.f. Calvinus Maximus
282	C. Fabricius C.f. Luscinus Q. Aemilius Cn.f. Papus
281	L. Aemilius Q.f. Barbula Q. Marcius Q.f. Philippus
280	P. Valerius Laevinus Ti. Coruncanius Ti.f.
War with Pyrrhus, 280-275
279	P. Sulpicius P.f. Saverrio P. Decius P.f. Mus
278	C. Fabricius C.f. Luscinus II Q. Aemilius Cn.f. Papus II
277	P. Cornelius Cn.f. Rufinus II C. Iunius C.f. Bubulcus Brutus I
276	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Gurges II C. Genucius L.f. Clepsina
275	M'. Curius M'.f. Dentatus II L. Cornelius Ti.f. Lentulus Caudinus
274	M'. Curius M'.f. Dentatus III Ser. Cornelius P.f. Merenda
273	C. Fabius M.f. Licinus C. Claudius M.f. Canina II
272	L. Papirius L.f. Cursor II Sp. Carvilius C.f. Maximus II
Surrender of Tarentum, 272
271	K. Quinctius L.f. Claudus L. Genucius L.f. Clepsina
270	C. Genucius L.f. Clepsina II Cn. Cornelius P.f. Blasio
269	Q. Ogulnius L.f. Gallus C. Fabius C.f. Pictor
268	P. Sempronius P.f. Sophus Ap. Claudius Ap.f. Russus
267	M. Atilius M.f. Regulus L. Iulius L.f. Libo
266	D. Iunius D.f. Pera N. Fabius C.f Pictor
265	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Gurges L. Mamilus Q.f. Vitulus
264	Ap. Claudius C.f. Caudex M. Fulvius Q.f. Flaccus
First Punic War, 264-241
263	M'. Valerius M.f. Maximus (Messalla) M'. Otacilius C.f. Crassus
262	L. Postumius L.f. Megellus Q. Mamilius Q.f. Vitulus
261	L. Valerius M.f. Flaccus T. Otacilius C.f. Crassus
260	Cn. Cornelius L.f Scipio Asina C. Duilius M.f.
259	L. Cornelius L.f. Scipio C. Aquillius M.f. Florus
258	A. Atilius A.f. Caiatinus C. Sulpicius Q.f. Paterculus
257	C. Atilius M.f. Regulus Cn. Cornelius P.f. Blasio II
256	L. Manlius A.f. Vulso Longus Q. Caedicius Q.f. Suff.: M. Atilius M.f. Regulus II
255	Ser. Fulvius M.f Paetinus Nobilior M. Aemilius M.f. Paullus
254	Cn. Cornelius L.f. Scipio Asina II A. Atilius A.f. Caiatinus II
253	Cn. Servilius Cn.f. Caepio C. Sempronius Ti.f. Blaesus
252	C. Aurelius L.f. Cotta P. Servilius Q.f. Geminus
251	L. Caecilius L.f. Metellus C. Furius C.f. Pacilus
250	C. Atilius M.f. Regulus II L. Manlius A.f. Vulso II
249	P. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher L. Iunius C.f. Pullus
248	C. Aurelius L.f. Cotta II P. Servilius Q.f. Geminus II
247	L. Caecilius L.f. Metellus II N. Fabius M.f. Buteo
246	M'. Otacilius C.f. Crassus II M. Fabius C.f. Licinus
245	M. Fabius M.f. Buteo C. Atilius A.f. Bulbus
244	A. Manlius T.f. Torquatus Atticus C. Sempronius Ti.f. Blaesus II
243	C. Fundanius C.f. Fundulus C. Sulpicius C.f. Galus
242	C. Lutatius C.f. Catulus A. Postumius A.f. Albinus
241	A. Manlius T.f. Torquatus Atticus II Q. Lutatius C.f. Cerco
240	C. Claudius Ap.f Centho M. Sempronius C.f. Tuditanus
239	C. Mamilius Q.f. Turrinus Q. Valerius Q.f. Falto
238	Ti. Sempronius Ti.f. Gracchus P. Valerius Q.f. Falto
237	L. Cornelius L.f. Lentulus Caudinus Q. Fulvius M.f. Flaccus
Occupation of Corsica & Sardinia, 237
236	P. Cornelius L.f Lentulus Caudinus C. Licinius P.f. Varus
235	T. Manlius T.f. Torquatus C. Atilius A.f. Bulbus II
234	L. Postumius A.f. Albinus Sp. Carvilius Sp.f. Maximus (Ruga)
233	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Verrucosus M'. Pomponius M'.f. Matho
232	M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus M. Publicius L.f Malleolus
231	M. Pomponius M'.f. Matho C. Papirius C.f. Maso
230	M. Aemilius L.f. Barbula M. Iunius D.f. Pera
229	L. Postumius A.f. Albinus II Cn. Fulvius Cn.f. Centumalus
First Illyrian War, 229-228
228	Sp. Carvilius Sp.f. Maximus II Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Verrucosus II
227	P. Valerius L.f. Flaccus M. Atilius M.f. Regulus
226	M. Valerius M'.f. (Maximus) Messalla L. Apustius L.f. Fullo
225	L. Aemilius Q.f. Papus C. Atilius M.f. Regulus
224	T. Manlius T.f Torquatus II Q. Fulvius M.f. Flaccus II
223	C. Flaminius C.f. P. Furius Sp.f. Philus
222	Cn. Cornelius L.f. Scipio Calvus M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus
221	P. Cornelius Cn.f. Scipio Asina M. Minucius C.f. Rufus Suff.: M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus II
220	M. Valerius P.f. Laevinus Q. Mucius P.f. Scaevola Suff(?): L. Veturius L.f. Philo C. Lutatius C.f. Catulus
219	L. Aemilius M.f. Paullus M. Livius M.f. Salinator
218	P. Cornelius L.f. Scipio Ti. Sempronius C.f. Longus
Second Punic War, 218-201; Defeat by Hannibal at Trebia River, 218
217	Cn. Servilius P.f. Geminus C. Flaminius C.f. II Suff.: M. Atilius M.f. Regulus II
Defeat by Hannibal at Lake Trasimene, Flaminius killed; Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Verrucosus Dictator, 217
216	L. Aemilius M.f. Paullus II C. Terentius C.f. Varro
Defeat by Hannibal at Cannae, Paullus killed, Varro escapes, 216
215	Ti. Sempronius Ti.f. Gracchus L. Postumius A.f. Albinus III Suff.: M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus II abd. Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Verrucosus (Cunctator) III
214	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Verrucosus IV M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus III
First Macedonian War, 214-205
213	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Ti. Sempronius Ti.f. Gracchus II
212	Ap. Claudius P.f. Pulcher Q. Fulvius M.f. Flaccus III
211	P. Sulpicius Ser.f. Galba Maximus Cn. Fulvius Cn.f. Centumalus Maximus
210	M. Valerius P.f. Laevinus II M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus IV
209	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Verrucosus V Q. Fulvius M.f. Flaccus IV
208	M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus V T. Quinctius L.f. Crispinus
207	C. Claudius Ti.f. Nero M. Livius M.f. Salinator II
206	Q. Caecilius L.f. Metellus L. Veturius L.f. Philo
205	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Africanus P. Licinius P.f. Crassus Dives
204	M. Cornelius M.f. Cethegus P. Sempronius C.f. Tuditanus
Scipio Africanus invades Africa, 204
203	Cn. Servilius Cn.f. Caepio C. Servilius C.f. Geminus
202	Ti. Claudius P.f. Nero M. Servilius C.f. Pulex Geminus
Scipio Africanus defeats Hannibal at Zama, 202
201	Cn. Cornelius L.f. Lentulus P. Aelius Q.f. Paetus
200	P. Sulpicius Ser.f. Galba Maximus II C. Aurelius C.f. Cotta
Second Macedonian War, 200-196
199	L. Cornelius L.f. Lentulus P. Villius Ti.f. Tappulus
198	T. Quinctius T.f. Flamininus Sex. Aelius Q.f. Paetus Catus
197	C. Cornelius L.f Cethegus Q. Minucius C.f. Rufus
196	L. Furius Sp.f. Purpureo M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus
195	M. Porcius M.f. Cato (the Elder) L. Valerius P.f. Flaccus
194	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Africanus II Ti. Sempronius Ti.f. Longus
193	L. Cornelius L.f. Merula A. Minucius Q.f. Thermus
192	L. Quinctius T.f. Flamininus Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus
Syrian War, 192-188
191	M'. Acilius C.f. Glabrio P. Cornelius Cn.f. Scipio Nasica
190	L. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Asiaticus/Asiagenus C. Laelius C.f.
Defeat of Antiochus III the Great, 190
189	Cn. Manlius Cn.f. Vulso M. Fulvius M.f. Nobilior
188	C. Livius M.f. Salinator M. Valerius M.f. Messalla
187	M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus C. Flaminius C.f.
186	Sp. Postumius L.f. Albinus Q. Marcius L.f. Philippus
185	Ap. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher M. Sempronius M.f. Tuditanus
184	P. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher L. Porcius L.f. Licinus
183	Q. Fabius Q.f. Labeo M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus
182	L. Aemilius L.f. Paullus Cn. Baebius Q.f. Tamphilus
181	P. Cornelius L.f. Cethegus M. Baebius Q.f. Tamphilus
180	A. Postumius A.f. Albinus (Luscus) C. Calpurnius C.f. Piso Suff.: Q. Fulvius Cn.f. Flaccus
179	L. Manlius L.f. Acidinus Fulvianus Q. Fulvius Q.f. Flaccus
178	M. Iunius M.f. Brutus A. Manlius Cn.f. Vulso
177	C. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher Ti. Sempronius P.f. Gracchus
176	Cn. Cornelius Cn.f. Scipio Hispallus Q. Petillius Suff.: C. Valerius M.f. Laevinus
175	P. Mucius Q.f. Scaevola M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus II
174	Sp. Postumius A.f. Albinus Paullulus Q. Mucius Q.f. Scaevola
173	L. Postumius A.f. Albinus M. Popillius P.f. Laenas
172	C. Popillius P.f. Laenas P. Aelius P.f. Ligus
Third Macedonian War, 172-168/7
171	P. Licinius C.f. Crassus C. Cassius C.f. Longinus
170	A. Hostilius L.f. Mancinus A. Atilius C.f. Serranus
169	Q. Marcius L.f. Philippus II Cn. Servilius Cn.f. Caepio
168	L. Aemilius L.f. Paullus II C. Licinius C.f. Crassus
167	Q. Aelius P.f. Paetus M. Iunius M.f. Pennus
166	C. Sulpicius C.f. Galus M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus
165	T. Manlius A.f. Torquatus Cn. Octavius Cn.f.
164	A. Manlius A.f. Torquatus Q. Cassius L.f. Longinus
163	Ti. Sempronius P.f. Gracchus II M'. Iuventius T.f. Thalna
162	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Nasica (Corculum) C. Marcius C.f. Figulus Suff.: P. Cornelius L.f. Lentulus Cn. Domitius Cn.f. Ahenobarbus
161	M. Valerius M.f. Messalla C. Fannius C.f. Strabo
160	L. Anicius L.f. Gallus M. Cornelius C.f. Cethegus
159	Cn. Cornelius Cn.f. Dolabella M. Fulvius M.f. Nobilior
158	M. Aemilius M'.f. Lepidus C. Popillius P.f. Laenas II
157	Sex. Iulius Sex.f. Caesar L. Aurelius L.f. Orestes
156	L. Cornelius Cn.f. Lentulus Lupus C. Marcius C.f. Figulus II
155	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Nasica II M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus II
Carneades at Rome, introduces Greek philosophy, 155
154	Q. Opimius Q.f. L. Postumius Sp.f. Albinus Suff.: M'. Acilius M'.f. Glabrio
153	Q. Fulvius M.f. Nobilior T. Annius T.f. Luscus
152	M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus III L. Valerius L.f. Flaccus
151	L. Licinius M.f. Lucullus A. Postumius A.f. Albinus
150	T. Quinctius T.f. Flamininus M'. Acilius L.f. Balbus
149	L. Marcius C.f. Censorinus M'. Manilius P.f.
Third Punic War, 149-146
148	Sp. Postumius Sp.f. Albinus Magnus L. Calpurnius C.f. Piso Caesoninus
Fourth Macedonian War, Rome annexes Greece & Macedonia, 148
147	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Africanus Aemilianus C. Livius M. Aemiliani f. Drusus
146	Cn. Cornelius Cn.f. Lentulus L. Mummius L.f.
Carthage destroyed by Scipio Aemilianus, 146
145	Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Aemilianus L. Hostilius L.f. Mancinus
144	Ser. Sulpicius Ser.f Galba L. Aurelius L.?f. Cotta
143	Ap. Claudius C.f. Pulcher Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Macedonicus
142	L. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Calvus Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus Servilianus
141	Cn. Servilius Cn.f. Caepio Q. Pompeius A.f.
140	C. Laelius C.f. Q. Servilius Cn.f. Caepio
139	Cn. Calpurnius Piso M. Popillius M.f. Laenas
138	P. Cornelius P.F. Scipio Nasica Serapio D. Iunius M.f. Brutus (Callaicus)
137	M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus Porcina C. Hostilius A.f. Mancinus
136	L.? Furius Philus Sex. Atilius M.f. Serranus
First Sicilian Slave War, 136-132
135	Ser. Fulvius Q.f. Flaccus Q. Calpurnius C.f. Piso
134	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Africanus Aemilianus II C. Fulvius Q.f. Flaccus
133	P. Mucius P.f. Scaevola Calpurnius L.f. Piso Frugi
Pergamum willed to Rome, 133; Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, Tribune of the Plebes, 133 BC, assassinated, 132
132	P. Popillius C.f. Laenas P. Rupilius P.f.
131	P. Licinius P.f. Crassus Mucianus L. Valerius L.f. Flaccus
130	L. Cornelius Lentulus M. Perperna M.f. Suff.: Ap. Claudius Pulcher
129	C. Sempronius C.f. Tuditanus M'. Aquillius M'.f.
128	Cn. Octavius Cn.f. T. Annius Rufus
127	L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla L. Cornelius L.f. Cinna
126	M. Aemilius Lepidus L. Aurelius L.f. Orestes
125	M. Plautius Hypsaeus M. Fulvius M.f. Flaccus
124	C. Cassius Longinus C. Sextius C.f. Calvinus
123	Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus (Baliaricus) T. Quinctius T.f. Flamininus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, Tribune of the Plebs, 123
122	Cn. Domitius Cn.f. Ahenobarbus C. Fannius M.f.
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, Tribune of the Plebs, 122, assassinated 121
121	L. Opimius Q.f. Q. Fabius Q. Aemiliani f. Maximus
120	P. Manilius P.?f. C. Papirius Carbo
119	L. Caecilius L.f. Metellus (Delmaticus) L. Aurelius Cotta
118	M. Porcius M.f. Cato Q. Marcius Q.f. Rex
117	L. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Diadematus Q. Mucius Q.f. Scaevola
116	C. Licinius P.f. Geta Q. Fabius Q. Serviliani f. (Augur) Maximus Eburnus
115	M. Aemilius M.f. Scaurus M. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus
114	M'. Acilius M'.f. Balbus C. Porcius M.f. Cato
113	C. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Caprarius Cn. Papirius C.f. Carbo
112	M. Livius C.F. Drusus L. Calpurnius L.f. Piso Caesoninus
War against Jugurtha, 112-106
111	P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Nasica Serapio L. Calpurnius Bestia
110	M. Minucius Q.f. Rufus Sp. Postumius Albinus
109	Q. Caecilius L.f. Metellus (Numidicus) M. Iunius D.f. Silanus
l08	Ser. Sulpicius Ser.f. Galba Q.? Hortensius Suff.: M. Aemilius Scaurus
107	L. Cassius L.f. Longinus C. Marius C.f.
l06	C. Atilius Serranus Q. Servilius Cn.f. Caepio
105	P. Rutilius P.f. Rufus Cn. Mallius Cn.f. Maximus
104	C. Marius C.f. II C. Flavius C.f. Fimbria
Second Sicilian Slave War, 104-100
103	C. Marius C.f. III L. Aurelius L.f. Orestes
102	C. Marius C.f. IV Q. Lutatius Q.f. Catulus
Marius defeats Teutones & Cimbri, 102-101; anti-piracy campaign in Cilicia, 102
101	C. Marius C.f. V M'. Aquillius M'.f.
100	C. Marius C.f VI L. Valerius L.f. Flaccus
99	M. Antonius M.f. A. Postumius Albinus
98	Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Nepos T. Didius T.f.
97	Cn. Cornelius Cn.f. Lentulas P. Licinius M.f. Crassus
96	Cn. Domitius Cn.f. Ahenobarbus C. Cassius L.f. Longinus
95	L. Licinius L.f. Crassus Q. Mucius P.f. Scaevola
94	C. Coelius C.f. Caldus L. Domitius Cn.f. Ahenobarbus
93	C. Valerius C.f. Flaccus M. Herennius M.f.
92	C. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher M. Perperna M.f.
91	L. Marcius Q.f. Philippus Sex. Iulius C.f. Caesar
Social War, 91-87
90	L. Iulius L.f. Caesar P. Rutilius L.f. Lupus
89	Cn. Pompeius Sex.f. Strabo L. Porcius M.f. Cato
88	L. Cornelius L.f. Sulla (Felix) Q. Pompeius Q.f. Rufus
First Mithridatic War, 88-85
87	Cn. Octavius Cn.f. L. Cornelius L.f. Cinna Suff.: L. Cornelius Merula
Siege of Athens by Sulla, First Mithridatic War, 87-86; Marius seizes Rome, 87
86	L. Cornelius L.f. Cinna II C. Marius C.f. VII Suff.: L. Valerius C.?f. Flaccus
Marius dies, 86
85	L. Cornelius L.f. Cinna III Cn. Papirius Cn.f. Carbo
84	Cn. Papirius Cn.f. Carbo II L. Cornelius L.f. Cinna IV
83	L. Cornelius L.f. Scipio Asiaticus C. Norbanus
Second Mithridatic War, 83-82
82	C. Marius C.f. Cn. Papirius Cn.f. Carbo III
Sulla Dictator, 82-79
81	M. Tullius M.f. Decula Cn. Cornelius Cn.f. Dolabella
80	L. Cornelius L.f. Sulla Felix II Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Pius
79	P. Servilius C.f. Vatia (Isauricus) Ap. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher
78	M. Aemilius Q.f Lepidus Q. Lutatius Q.f. Catulus
77	D. Iunius D.f. Brutus Mam. Aemilius Mam.f. Lepidus Livianus
76	Cn. Octavius M.f. C. Scribonius C.f. Curio
75	L. Octavius Cn.f. C. Aurelius M.f. Cotta
74	L. Licinius L.f. Lucullus M. Aurelius M.f. Cotta
Third Mithridatic War, 74-63
73	M. Terentius M.f. Varro Lucullus C. Cassius L.f. Longinus (Varus?)
Slave Revolt of Spartacus, 73-71
72	L. Gellius L.f. Poplicola Cn. Cornelius Cn.f. Lentulus Clodianus
71	P. Cornelius P.f. Lentulus Sura Cn. Aufidius Cn.f. Orestes
Crassus defeats Spartacus, 71
70	Cn. Pompeius Cn.f. Magnus M. Licinius P.f. Crassus
69	Q. Hortensius L.f. Hortalus Q. Caecilius C.f. Metellus (Creticus)
68	L. Caecilius C.f. Metellus Q. Marcius Q.f. Rex Suff.: Servilius Vatia
67	C. Calpurnius Piso M'. Acilius M'.f. Glabrio
Pompey's Settlement of the East, 67-63
66	M'. Aemilius Lepidus L. Volcacius Tullus
65	L. Aurelius M.f. Cotta L. Manlius L.f. Torquatus
64	L. Iulius L.f. Caesar C. Marcius C.f. Figulus
63	M. Tullius M.f. Cicero C. Antonius M.f. Hybrida
62	D. Iunius M.f. Silanus L. Licinius L.f. Murena
61	M. Pupius M.f. Piso Frugi Calpurnianus M. Valerius M.f. Messalla Niger
60	Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Celer L. Afranius A.f.
First Triumvirate, Pompey, Caesar, & Crassus, 60
59	C. Iulius C.f. Caesar M. Calpurnius C.f. Bibulus
58	L. Calpurnius L.f. Piso Caesoninus A. Gabinius A.f.
Caesar's Conquest of Gaul, 58-51
57	P. Cornelius P.f. Lentulus Spinther Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Nepos
56	Cn. Cornelius P.f. Lentulus Marcellinus L. Marcius L.f. Philippus
55	Cn. Pompeius Cn.f. Magnus II M. Licinius P.f. Crassus II
54	L. Domitius Cn.f. Ahenobarbus Ap. Claudius Ap.f. Pulcher
53	Cn. Domitius M.f. Calvinus M. Valerius Messalla Rufus
Parthians kill Crassus at Carrhae, 53
52	Cn. Pompeius Cn.f. Magnus III Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Pius Scipio
Revolt of Vercingetorix in Gaul, captured at Alesia, 52
51	Ser. Sulpicius Q.f. Rufus M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus
50	L. Aemilius M.f. Paullus Lepidus C. Claudius C.f. Marcellus
49	C. Claudius M.f. Marcellus L. Cornelius P.f. Lentulus Crus
Caesar Crosses Rubicon, Dictator, 49
48	C. Iulius C.f. Caesar II P. Servilius P.f. Vatia Isauricus
Pompey defeated by Caesar, murdered in Egypt, 48
47	Q. Fufius Q.f. Calenus P. Vatinius P.f.
Caesar Dictator II, 47-46
46	C. Iulius C.f. Caesar III M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus
Caesar Dictator III, 46-45; Vercingetorix executed, 46
45	C. Iulius C.f. Caesar IV (without collega) Suff.: Q. Fabius Q.f. Maximus C. Trebonius C.f. C. Caninus C.f. Rebilus
Caesar Dictator IV, 45-44
44	C. Iulius C.f. Caesar V M. Antonius M.f. Suff.: P. Cornelius P.f Dolabella
Caesar Dictator for Life, assassinated, 44 BC
43	C. Vibius C.f. Pansa Caetronianus A. Hirtius A.f. Suff.: C. Iulius C.f. Caesar Octavianus Q. Pedius (Q.f.?) P. Ventidius P.f. C. Carrinas C.f.
Second Triumvirate, Antony, Lepidus, & Octavian, Cicero executed, 43
42	M. Aemilius M.f. Lepidus II L. Munatius L.f. Plancus
41	L. Antonius M.f. P. Servilius P.f. Vatia Isauricus II
40	Cn. Domitius M.f. Calvinus II C. Asinius Cn.f. Pollio Suff.:L. Cornelius L.f. Balbus P. Canidius P.f. Crassus
39	L. Marcius L.f. Censorinus C. Calvisius C.f. Sabinus Suff.: C. Cocceius (Balbus) P. Alfenus P.f. Varus
38	Ap. Claudius C.f. Pulcher C. Norbanus C.f. Flaccus Suff.: L. Cornelius L. Marcius L.f. Philippus
37	M. Vipsanius L.f Agrippa L. Caninus L.f. Gallus Suff.: T. Statilius T.f. Taurus
36	L. Gellius L.f Poplicola M. Cocceius Nerva Suff.: L. Nonius (L.f Asprenas) Marcius
35	L. Cornificius L.f. Sex. Pompeius Sex.f. Suff.: P. Cornelius (P.f. Scipio) T. Peducaeus
34	M. Antonius M.f. II L. Scribonius L.f. Libo Suff.: L. Sempronius L.f. Atratinus Paullus Aemilius L.f. Lepidus C. Memmius C.f. M. Herennius
33	Imp. Caesar Divi f. II L. Volcacius L.f. Tullus Suff.: L. Autronius P.f. Paetus L. Flavius C. Fonteius C.f. Capito M. Acilius (M'. f.?) Glabrio L. Vinicius M.f. Q. Laronius
32	Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus C. Sosius C.f. Suff.: L. Cornelius M. Valerius Messalla
31	Imp. Caesar Divi f. III M. Valerius M.f. Messalla Corvinus Suff.: M. Titius L.f. Cn. Pompeius Q.f.
30	Imp. Caesar Divi f. IV M. Licinius M.f. Crassus Suff.: C. Antistius C.f. Vetus M. Tullius M.f. Cicero L. Saenius L.f.
Suicides of Antony & Cleopatra, annexation of Egypt, 30
29	Imp. Caesar Divi f. V Sex. Appuleius Sex.f. Suff.: Potitus Valerius M.f. Messalla
28	Imp. Caesar Divi f. VI M. Vipsanius L.f. Agrippa II
27	Imp. Caesar Divi f. VII M. Vipsanius L.f. Agrippa III
Octavian becomes Augustus, 27

Two Consuls, the principal Executive officers of the Roman Republic -- Respublica Romana -- were elected at Rome to yearly terms (sometimes we get substitutes or replacements, suffecti). Roman dating, as that by Eponymous Archons at Athens, was by these Consuls. The list of Roman Consuls to 337 AD, the year of the death of Constantine, is given by E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World (Cornell University Press, 1968, 1982, pp.140-162). After the foundation of Constantinople in 330, the tradition develops, irregularly, to associate one Consul with the new capital.

Here, Consuls are only given for the Roman Republic, ending with 27 BC, when Octavian was granted the title Augustus, by which he is then known as the first of the Roman Emperors, although the title Imperator ("commander") was already used (for a military commander with both civil and military jurisdiction). Nevertheless, the Consular office continued, until the reign of Justinian, as explained by Bickerman himself:

While Bickerman may have the list to 541, he only gives it to 337. Since his book is the chronology of the "ancient world," perhaps this explains why it wouldn't extend after 476, but that doesn't explain why it should already end at 337. This certainly relfects a disinterest or a distaste for Late Antiquity, such as I have discussed elsewhere. The foundation of Constantinople is one of the conventional dates for the beginning of "Byzantine" history. The list of Consuls of the Roman Empire, or at least the Western Consuls at Rome right down "to Basilius," are now given on a popup page.

Bickerman's list gives the year in the AD (the Christian Annô Domini, "in the Year of the Lord") era and the year in the AUC era. The latter I have discarded, since it was not used, as described by Bickerman himself:

Bickerman says that Cicero, Livy, and Diodorus identified the founding of the city with the 2nd year of the 7th Olympiad, as the chronology of the Olympiads had been constructed by Polybius. The more familiar date now is the one hit upon by Atticus, Titus Pomponius Atticus (d.32 BC), in his Liber annalis. This was 753 BC, the 4th year of the 6th Olympiad, and was then popularized by Varro, Marcus Terentius Varro (d.27 BC). The year is now associated with Varro more than Atticus.

Note that the dispute over the date of the founding of Rome, and the eventual popularity of one date, mirrors the similar problem over the age of the world in Jewish and Christian sacred chronology. The Jewish and Byzantine Eras were actually used for dating, but the popular Christian chronology of Bishop Ussher, to 4004 BC, although figuring in the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of Darwinism, was not.

In the list of Consuls, there is another name that is given, the "filiation," or, as it would be called from Greek, the "patronymic," the name of one's father. This consists of the praenômen of the father (in the genitive case) followed by filius, "son" (abbreviated f.). The filiation is given between the nômen and the cognômen. Caesar's name, without abbreviations, thus could be Gaius Iulius Gaii filius Caesar. Some extended filiations are given, as with C. Livius M. Aemiliani f. Drusus, Consul in 147.

A name may end with various epithets, like Africanus, an agnômen, also called a "surname," which can be legally granted in recognition of some service to Rome, or might accrue informally. For instance, Pompey the Great, Cn. Pompeius Cn.f. Magnus, did not have a cognômen, but then acquired Magnus, "Great," as the equivalent. One might expect this to have happened informally, but it was in fact legally granted by Sulla.

The praenômen is usually abbreviated in the table, as follows:

Thus, Caesar's name is actually listed as C. Iulius C.f. Caesar. Augustus, a nephew of Caesar, and originally C. Octavius, but as a son by adoption, assumed exactly the same name, with the agnômen Octavianus. This is how he is listed as a Consul for the year 43. Subsequently, however, he is listed as Imp. Caesar Divi f., "Emperor Caesar, son of the Divine [Caesar]."

For the year 43 Octavian is actually given as a suffectus (Suff.), a "substitute" Consul.

The first list of Consuls was apparently compiled around 300 BC, and undoubtedly contained a great deal of legendary material and speculative chronology. As Bickerman says:

Nevertheless, histories usually give the sack of Rome as an unproblematic 390 BC, or perhaps 387 BC.

In the 19th Century, we get a pornographic bondage fantasy, below, of barbarian Gauls enjoying captive Roman women. Nietzsche doubtless would approve. Similar fantasies now seem to usually revolve around the Vikings.

Brennus and His Share of the Spoils, Paul Joseph Jamin, 1893; Brennus, leader of the Gauls

This resonated in the 18th century for everyone who believed in Republican government, limited government, by honest private, disinterested citizens. That is how Cincinnati, Ohio, got its name. At the end of the 19th century, we have the very eerie repetition of this scene when Alexander Cassatt was offered the Presidency of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The office of Dictator itself contained the potential for danger. Although the end of the Republic is usually dated to 27 BC, when Octavian became Augustus, a key date certainly would be 44 BC, when Caesar was made Dictator for life. A lifetime office is not a Republican office.

But Caesar did not leap directly to dictatorship. He could only do that because he had been granted imperium in Gaul, which meant he possessed both military and civil plenipotentiary powers. Granting this kind of authority undermined the whole prinicple of the Roman Republic that executive power should be divided and temporary, in the person of the Consuls. So Caesar ended up with his own personal kingdom and his own personal army, independent of the Consuls and the Senate. Then his enemies began telling him that he would be prosecuted when his command was ended and he returned to Rome. This was just asking for him to rebel, even while his army was more formidable than any other Roman army in existence at the time. This involved great folly, compounded atop the original imperium, and it is not surprising that it lead directly to Caesar's dictatorship, and then to the Empire.

Of course, after his dictatorship was established, Caesar was then assassinated, but his friends and his heir, Octavian, defeated the Republicans. Augustus, indeed, did not assume or create a Dictatorship for life (refusing Dictatorship or Consulship for life in 22 BC), maintaining a fiction of Republican government, but he did become Tribune for life, and his informal constructions gradually solidified into the lifetime office. Indeed, Augustus was given imperium similar to Caesar's, and this made him Imperator, "commander," now "Emperor" -- the title of the new monarchical office he created.

Rule by one man had threatened earlier. The first real threat may have been Marius, C. Marius C.f., who reformed and enlarged the army, enrolling landless proletarii, and was then able to help defeat the revolt of Jugurtha (112-105). Marius was elected to five successive Consulships, 104-100, even though it was supposed to be illegal for anyone to succeed himself in the office (or serve again for ten years). Eventually, he seized Rome by force in 87, driving out Sulla. But then he died of natural causes the next year.

Sulla himself, L. Cornelius L.f. Sulla Felix (felix = "happy" or "lucky," an apparently informal agnômen), was the next threat. He was made Dictator in 82 and continued in the office until he resigned in 80 or 79, dying in 78.

One of Sulla's supporters, Pompey would have represented the next threat of one-man rule, but he had to contend with powerful rivals like Crassus, M. Licinius P.f. Crassus, and then Caesar himself. Crassus was killed by the Parthians, and Caesar defeated Pompey in 48 BC. A fleeing Pompey was then obligingly executed by the advisors of the child King Ptolemy XIII of Egypt. Caesar was not pleased with this and found an ally in the rebellious Queen and sister of the King, Cleopatra, with whom, as we know, Caesar ushered in the height of his power.

The last century of the Republic thus looks like little more than a continuing civil war to see which individual would assume the equivalent of a permanent dictatorship. Why this should have happened is a good question for any kind of elective government.

These were symbols of Etruscan Kings, and originally the axe might be double-bladed, the labrys, familiar from the Aegean world and which apparently gave its name to the great palace at Knossos, the Labyrinthos.

Twelve fasces were carried (by twelve lictores) for the Roman Kings, a number inherited by the Consuls. Other officials rated their own number of fasces, as follows, though the display of them in Rome itself was often limited.

Although they continued to be used for the Emperors -- originally 12, after Domitian, 24 -- by the 18th century they were symbols more of Republican than of Imperial government. As such, fasces turn up in American, French, Swiss, and other modern Republican iconography.

However, Mussolini, seeking his own version of modern Roman power, liked the symbolism more of power and unity than of Republicanism, and he adopted the fasces to symbolize his own political party. This made the party the Fascist Party, which then contributed its name to related political ideologies, which in the simplest terms would be totalitarian, collectivist, and nationalistic.

Now, a form of collectivism, of subordinating the individual to the state, is not alien to Roman sensibility, as considered elsewhere. While the power of the Emperors would have been to Mussolini's liking, the purposes of Roman Republican government, however, dividing and limiting authority, were alien to "Fascist" purposes, which were for unlimited and absolute government -- an ideal of government unfortunately all too congenial to many in modern politics, and as characteristic of the Left as of the far Right, sometimes making it hard to distinguish between them.

The saying is that Rome conquered the world in self-defense. If all one does is read Roman sources, this is what it sounds like. The dynamic of this is simple enough. If your neighbors are giving you trouble, defeat them. Right from the beginning, however, the Roman viewed disputes with neighbors as something like betrayal and began to conquer them instead of just setting them back. But they also began to truly absorb neighbors, not always giving them the same rights as Roman citizens, but giving them something, and benefiting from their participating in the Roman army. Since absorbing a neighbor means that one acquires the neighbors of their far borders, the process begins over again.

By 301 BC, Rome, after a very long process, had risen from a city state to dominate Latium and then Campania. In the South of Italy the Romans faced Greek city states. They called the area Magna Graecia, "Great Greece," but got their own word for the Greeks, which modern Western European languages still use, from some tribe in the area.

The maps here duplicate the treatment at the Hellenistic Monarchs page, except for the last map, for 44 BC. For the following maps, click on the map for a full sized popup.

By 270, the Romans have absorbed Etruria (Tuscany) and have defeated and absorbed the Greek cities in Italy, despite the best effort of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. Pyrrhus contributed an enduring phrase to discourse. Although he won his first battles against the Romans, the slaughter was so great, he commented that one more such victory and he would be ruined. Hence, a "Pyrrhic Victory," where one might as well have lost, because of the cost.

Carthage was the Great Power of the Western Mediterranean in these days, and relations with Rome had initially been friendly. But once the two powers found themselves strategically adjacent, Rome's attitude changed. Roman diplomacy towards Carthage became touchy and demanding, with a simmering hostility. The disputes were over Sicily, where Rome had no possessions, but of course any Greek cities appealing to Rome for help could become "allies." Carthage put up with this for a while, but the perhaps inevitable war broke out in 264.

This was the First Punic (i.e. Phoenican) War, which lasted a punishing 20 years (264-241). Syracuse got caught in the middle, and eventually went over to the Romans, thereby preserving some autonomy. The land campaign was a tough one, but the decisive actions came at sea. Carthage was a thalassocracy, and the Romans could only contend by building a navy. The initial tactics, since the Romans were not knowledgeable seafarers, where to grapple and board Carthaginians ships. Until the Carthaginians could counter such tactics, the Romans got an advantage and experience at sea. Their inexperience, however, told several times when Roman fleets were caught by storms at sea. Storms ended up doing more damage than the Carthaginians.

Carthage was at a disadvantage in that the Carthaginian state did not have the manpower of the Roman, relying on allies and mercenaries; and since the state was essentially a commercial one, there was a certain lack of enthusiasm for the investment in military power that would have been necessary. Rome won Sicily, and then rubbed in its victory by annexing Corsica and Sardinia in 237.

By 220 Carthage itself had acquired new resources. Hamilcar Barca, the Carthaginian commander in Sicily during the First Punic War, prepared for the future by moving to Spain and enlarging Carthaginian possessions there. He died, but his son Hannibal planned on what would need to be done to deal with Rome. Once Rome acquired "allies" in Spain and began making demands, Hannibal knew it was time.

What Hannibal did was to take his seasoned army from Spain and to march over the Alps into Italy, initiated the Second Punic War (218-201). This is the most serious threat that Rome ever faced to the growth of its power. It didn't help that Hannibal turned out to be one of the greatest generals in all of history. For centuries thereafter, Roman mothers could frighten their children with, "Hannibal is at the gates!"

In three years, Hannibal won three crushing victories and killed two Roman Consuls. The third victory, at Cannae (in 216), all but annihilated four Legions, enveloping them on each flank and then surrounding them. This has become the ideal battle of military history, though rarely matched. Hannibal, however, labored against three insuprable disadvantages:  (1) Rome had the manpower resources to recover quickly from the defeats; (2) Hannibal did not have a siege train and was unable to take or seriously threaten Roman cities; and (3) his hope that his victories would inspire defections from the cities of Latium, Campania, and Magna Graecia proved generally unfounded. His prospective allies knew what Rome was like, what Roman vengeance could be like, and Hannibal seemed to have little to offer them by way of certainties or sureties.

While Hannibal endured no real defeats in Italy, the strategy of Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, made dictator in 217, was to avoid battle. This made him Cunctator, "Delayer." Repudiation of this, and a determination to come to grips with Hannibal, simply led to Cannae. Fabius was vindicated, and now he has contributed another phrase to modern discourse, "Fabian tactics." This has even ended up in political history, as "Fabian Socialism," the idea that socialism could be instituted, not by an abrupt Marxist revolution, but through piecemeal and incremental victories. As a device to institute socialism, not only was this quite successful, but it continues to be successful even when everyone has forgotten, or at least doesn't admit, what the purpose of the process is -- and even the word "socialism" is avoided -- although, remarkably, with people literally hungry and being shot under socialism in Venezuela, American socialists, forgetting all their admiration for Venezuela and the Cuban dictatorship, are somehow encouraged, since 2016, to make their idiotic proposals and openly proclaim their clueless commitment.

While Hannibal was largely neutralized in Italy, Rome continued to dominate the sea and Roman strategy began to focus on conquering Spain in Hannibal's rear. At first this had its ups and downs, against Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, and then seemed to be going very badly when the brothers P. Cornelius L.f. Scipio and Cn. Cornelius L.f. Scipio Calvus were both killed there in 211. They were immediately succeeded by the former's son, P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio -- who would become Africanus.

Scipio captured New Carthage (Carthago Nova, Cartagena), Hamilcar's capital, in 209. Hasdrubal, defeated in 207, left to join Hannibal in Italy. C. Claudius Ti.f. Nero secretly took his army away from watching Hannibal and joined M. Livius M.f. Salinator at the River Metaurus to defeat and kill Hasdrubal. The head of Hannibal's brother was then thrown into his camp. This must have been the most bitter of moments for Hannibal, who now knew that he could expect no more from the resources of Spain -- all his father's work lost.

Wrapping things up in Spain, Scipio return to Rome and then led an invasion of Africa itself in 204. This had been tried in the First Punic War and had not gone well. Now Scipio tempted over the Carthagian ally, Masinissa of Numidia. The Numidians had supplied much of the best Carthaginian cavalry. Now, as Hannibal at last returned to Africa to deal with the threat, this cavalry was turned against him when he finally met decisive defeat at Zama in 202.

Carthage then repudiated Hannibal and the War was settled expeditiously. Carthage was left with a rump African state, with few rights to pursue her own policies. Rome became the dominant, almost the only, state in the Western Mediterranean.

A sad and ugly episode of the War was when M. Claudius M.f. Marcellus took Syracuse (which had switched sides to Carthage) in 212. Archemides, probably the greatest mathematician of antiquity, had used his powers of invention to create engines that helped withstand the Roman siege for three years. Before the city fell, Marcellus instructed his men to respect Archemides, but the great man was killed, for various legendary reasons, when a Roman soldier found him.

By 192 Rome had defeated Macedonia (Second Macedonian War, 200-196) in revenge for siding, for a while, with Carthage. T. Quinctius T.f. Flamininus defeated Philip V at Cynoscelphalae (197) and proclaimed the "Freedom of Greece" at the Isthmian Games (196). This made Rome a player in the Aegean, and naturally it made enemies of anyone on the hither shore. This turned out to be the Seleucid King Antiochus III, the Great, who had marched to India and apparently restored the power of his Kingdom.

Antiochus, however great, was no match for the Romans. At Magnesia in 190, Antiochus was defeated by Scipio Africanus, who allowed the glory to go to his brother, L. Cornelius P.f. Scipio, as nominal commander. L. Cornelius was then honored with the agnômen Asiaticus or Asiagenus. The Seleucids ceded Anatolia north and west of the Taurus, never to return. The Romans rewarded Pergamum with most of this territory.

By 145 two major changes had occured. The Third Punic War (149-146) had ended with the annihilation of Carthage. This had been urged on by M. Porcius M.f. Cato, better known as Cato the Elder, who always ended his speeches with a ringing, Delenda est Carthago, "Carthage must be destroyed." It was, under the direction of P. Cornelius P.f. Scipio Africanus Aemilianus, adopted as a grandson of Scipio Africanus, accompanied by the Greek historian Polybius. At the same time, Greece was conquered by L. Mummius L.f. (Fourth Macedonian War, 149-146). Corinth was brutally sacked in an example of Roman revenge. Meanwhile, Parthia, independent since 248, tossed the Seleucids out of eastern Iran by 185. And Judaea had thrown off Seleucid control by 164.

By 74 BC, when Cyrene was made a province, Asia, meaning western Anatolia, had also been annexed, when the lands of Pergamum were willed to Rome in 133 by the last King, Attalus III. Cilicia was annexed after a campaign against pirates by M. Antonius M.f. in 102. Cilician pirates had kept Rome well supplied with slaves.

The existence of so many slaves led to notable slave revolts, in Sicily up to 100, and especially the huge revolt of Spartacus coming in 73. Warfare was carried on by Marius against the revolt of Jugurtha and invasions by the Celtic (not German) tribes of the Teutones and Cimbri. The Social War (91-88) led to Italian provincials being given full Roman citizenship.

A different sort of conflict was between the Popular and the Senatorial parties at Rome itself, with Marius for the former and Sulla emerging for the latter. Sulla was given command to deal with Mithridates III of Pontus, who turned the Black Sea into a Pontic lake, overran Anatolia, and invaded Greece (First Mithridatic War, 88-85). It came down to Civil War between Marius and Sulla, with Marius in possession of Rome in 87. But then he died the next year. Sulla and the Senate took control. Sulla then had to deal with Mithridates again (Second Mithridatic War, 83-82). When Sulla died in 78, his political heir was Pompey.

Spartacus defeated several Roman armies, including that of the Consul C. Cassius L.f. Longinus at Mutina in 72. He was defeated by Crassus in 71 and crucified with his entire army along the Appian Way.

The shadow of Spartacus, however, looms larger in modern political history than in Roman. The Communists who attempted a revolution in Berlin in 1919, led by Rosa Luxemburg, were the "Spartacists," seeing workers through Marxist theory as slaves under Capitalism. This Communist connection continued much later with the movie Spartacus (1960), whose screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo, a man who had been an active member of the Communist Party USA, was blacklisted after being found in Contempt of Congress, but then was given screen credit by Kirk Douglas, a star and producer of the movie, breaking the blacklist for the first time (it had been an agreement among Hollywood producers, with no legal force).

While Trumbo wrote under a pseudonym during the blacklist, hardly even suffering professionally, and of course was not shipped off to a Gulag or shot the way similar dissidents in his beloved Soviet Union were, he continues to be celebrated as a martyr by the people who don't want to admit how bad Josef Stalin was or who, more disturbingly, still promote forms of collectivism and political correctness that differ little from Soviet principles.

Note well:  Trumbo was not penalized for his opinions or for free speech -- he never exercised free speech by honestly voicing his opinions in public. His very success and celebrity were a joke on capitalism and clueless liberals. Meanwhile, Leon Trotsky had famously argued that slave labor in the Soviet Union was simply the workers enslaving themselves for the sake for the Revolution. And was therefore "voluntary." Trumbo could well have laughed about this, but Spartacus probably would not have.

By 44, when Caesar was assassinated, the outlines of the future were in place. L. Licinius L.f. Lucullus had been left by Sulla to fight Mithridates, which he did successfully. But his army didn't like him, and in 66 he was replaced by Pompey, who then destroyed Mithridates and imposed a Roman settlement on Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine (67-63). Local autonomous states were allowed to remain, but it is revealing that several of these rulers sported names like Philorhômaios, "Lover of Rome."

Pompey enjoyed a unique opportunity in history, when he took Jerusalem in 63. According to Josephus (Joseph ben Matthias or Flavius Josephus):

Noteworthy in Joseph's description of the contents of the Sanctuary is the absence of the Ark of the Convent, whose fate is discussed elsewhere.

The cause of the Republican assassins of Caesar ended at the battle of Philippi in 42. Most notable among the assassins was Brutus, Marcus Iunius Brutus, "the noblest Roman of them all." Although Brutus's name meant "heavy" or "immovable," and was used to mean dull or stupid, and is now used to mean brutal ("You brute!" -- indeed, "brutal" is just the adj. brutalis from brutus), it was a cognômen of the gens Iunius and recalls the name of the first Consul of the Republic, L. Iunius M.f. Brutus.

Brutus was widely respected for his conscientiousness, integrity, and patriotism -- though Cicero thought him guilty of extortion. He joined Pompey but was pardoned by Caesar after Pharsalus. His adherence to the plot against Caesar gave it most of its moral weight. When Caesar saw that Brutus was among his attackers on the Ides of March, he reportedly lost heart. Suetonius, C. Suetonius Tranquillus ["The Deified Julius," Lives of the Caesars], reports that Caesar said nothing during the attack, "though some have written" that he said to Brutus, ; kaì sù téknon? "And you, child?" in Greek [Loeb Classical Library, Suetonius, Volume I, Harvard, 1913, 1998, p.140-141 -- Shakespeare puts it, loosely, in Latin, Et tu, Brute?].

This phrase, among other things, continues to fuel speculation that Brutus was actually Caesar's own natural son, a twist that puts the whole business in an even more tragic light than it already has. Although driven out of Rome by riots, in 43 the Senate itself rewarded Brutus with a proconsular command in the Balkans. Nevertheless, the matter would be settled by force, and after the defeat by Anthony and Octavian at Philippi, Brutus committed suicide. The Roman Republic thus may be said to have ended with a Iunius Brutus the way it had begun with a Iunius Brutus.

So, we must ask, what went wrong with the Roman Republic? From Polybius to Machiavelli and beyond, it was admired as a system of government, and it did have a good run, but in the end it unquestionably failed. What happened?

Machiavelli, in a tradition from the Greeks to the present, thought that that the Roman Republic worked because of a mixture of institutions, designed to correct each other and limit the abuses that various pure forms of government would have. Thus, he believed that Monarchy alone led to Tyranny, Aristocracy alone let to Oligarchy, and Democracy alone led to Anarchy. The Republic included a (limited) Monarchical power in the Consuls, Aristocratic power in the Senate, and Democratic power in the Tribunes and other institutions of the Plebs. We have other features, such as the custom for most of the Republic that one Consul would be from the Patrician/Senatorial class, while the other would be a Pleb.

Since, for at least the last century, most trendy political opinion has despised the principles of limited government and naively imagined that the more democracy the better, most recent judgment about the Roman Republic would be that it was insufficiently democratic. Indeed, a great deal of the political conflict through the whole history of the Republic was in the direction of greater democracy, of greater power for the Plebs; and for the last century, from Marius to Caesar, there was a virtual, and sometimes very real, civil war between Senatorial and Popular factions.

That was perhaps initiated by the two Gracchi brothers, Ti. Sempronius Gracchus (Tribune 133) and C. Sempronius Gracchus (Tribune 123 & 122). A land reform bill, trying to redistribute agricultural holdings to small farmers, instead of their being worked by slaves for landlords, got Tiberius lynched by Senatorial opponents. Gaius continued with other democratizing proposals but also provoked, for the time being, successful opposition. Their cause, however, continued and would be championed, not always consistently, by Marius and Caesar.

The trouble with viewing this history as a simple Aristocracy vs. Democracy morality play is that in winning, the leader of the Popular faction, Julius Caesar, did not usher in utopian Democracy but simply dictatorship and then a very durable Monarchy. Disturbingly, this is no less than what Plato would have predicted for the outcome of democratization.

The key to all this is the prinicple of rent-seeking, the desire to live off one's capital, off the labor of others, or off pseudo-property created by political fiat (e.g. monopolies, unnecessary offices, etc.). With the cynicism of politicians, this is obvious. Even uncynical politicians, who may be above mere power seeking, inevitably pass from the scene and are rapidly replaced by more mercenary and venal successors.

Roman politicians are rarely either purely idealistic or completely cynical. Whether someone like Caesar thought he was doing good or was simply out for himself is a good question. They were rarely unwilling to employ the support of the opposition if circumstances warranted or allowed it.

None of this is suprising. More importantly, however, is the fact that democracy can also easily become a form of rent-seeking, with politicians promising benefits in general. The triumph of Caesar and the Empire depended, in a sense, on the essential tendency of democracy, even if the forms and functions of democracy were overriden and gradually eliminated. The means of this triumph can be summed up in a familiar phrase:  Panem et Circenses, "Bread and Circuses." Free food and free entertainment.

The population of Rome, and later of Constantinople, was favored with a free ration -- one reason why Augustus kept Egypt, with its agricultural productivity, as his personal possession. This meant that large parts of the populations of the metropolitan cities of the Roman Empire didn't need to work much for a living and were provided with something else to do. The loss of productivity, creativity, and enterprise can hardly be imagined.

The migration of power and intiative out of Rome itself, however, does not surprise. The state was much better off once that happened, and the simple conclusion that Rome "fell" because of the corruption of "bread and circuses" is falsified by the actually survival, not the "fall," of the Empire -- something serious historians, and not just superficial writers, often forget. The subsequent loss of North Africa and then Egypt, the breadbaskets of the Empire, eventually ended the possibility of free rations -- though, at the same time, such reductions in territory greatly limited the resources available for recovery.

The institutions under which this all happened, however admired by Machiavelli or others, obviously allowed for their degeneration. The principles were not wrong, but their weaknesses can be identified. When military commands were political offices, the danger of a successful general, with loyal troops, using his army for his own political purposes became very great. Caesar could cross the Rubicon because his men were willing to obey illegal orders and because there was no army or commander his equal in his way.

In comparison to such a general, who might hold a command for years, the power of the legal Executives of the state, the Consuls, was paltry. With this in mind, one understands why the President of the United States, in office for a substantial four years, is Constitutionally the Commander-in-Chief over armed forces whose own tradition is apolitical. The political appointment of generals, especially in the Civil War, has existed in American history, but successful generals, from the Civil War on, have tended to be career military professionals. Generals dissatisfied with political decisions concerning them, like Robert E. Lee, Joseph Stillwell, or Douglas McArthur, might complain, but would end up doing nothing worse than resigning. Also, a modern army is so dependent on its logistical support, ultimately back to civilian sources, that no general really commands an independent force.

Thomas Jefferson said that when he was young, he and his friends used to say, "Where annual election ends, tyranny begins." He was unhappy with how long the term of the President was, was appalled at the term of a Senator (six years), but was terrified that the President could be elected over and over again. What frightened him so was the example of Poland, where the election of the Kings of Poland had come entirely under the control of foreign powers. As it happened, for more than the first century of American history, all the Presidents who might have successfully run for a third term -- Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, and Grant -- declined to do so. The precedent of Washington, who could easily have been President, or King, for Life, came to be viewed as morally binding.

Thus, the Julius Caesar of American history was no general but a President, the one who broke with Washington's precedent (literally becoming President for Life), and the one who turned government into a promise of ever increasing benefits, rations, and subsidies. This was Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the damage done to American government is still evident, not just in the rent-seeking practices that now overwhelm political life, but in the respect paid to Roosevelt by both Democrats and Republicans. Neither Party intends to reverse the principle, ennunciated in their day by Hamilton and rejected by Jefferson and Madison, but embraced by Roosevelt, that the United States Government can tax and spend money for any purpose, as long as this can be construed as promoting the "general welfare." Free benefits for everyone would certainly produce a kind of "general welfare," except for the effects produced similar to the Panem et Circenses. Again the damage to productivity, creativity, and enterprise can only be vaguely estimated, though the decline in all of these in countries, like France, where taxation and welfare provisions are much greater than in the United States, is obvious to anyone who cares to look. While dictatorship is not an immediate threat, we already see one interesting effect, where aggitation for more democracy and honest elections has led to a law, passed by Congress, approved by the President, and allowed by the Supreme Court, that prohibits criticism of candidates for federal office in advertisements purchased by advocacy groups. This grotesquely abridges the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and is rather obviously motivated, like most campaign "reform" laws, by the desire to protect politicians from criticism. Avenues thus open to real tyranny and perhaps even to real Caesars, leaving us with no confidence that modern Democracies, or even the Great Republic itself, might not go the way of the Respublica Romana.

As Caesar was rising to power, one of his most vocal critics was Cato the Younger, M. Procius Cato. Cato originally opposed all the Triumvirs; but as hope for withstanding Caesar focused on Pompey, he threw his lot with that faction. Cato ended up holding Utica in North Africa (hence the informal agnômen "Uticensis") under Q. Caecilius Q.f. Metellus Pius Scipio (Consul with Pompey in 52), who fled there after Pharsalus. Caesar invaded North Africa in 46 and defeated the Pompeian forces at Thapsus. Metellus and Cato both committed suicide. Cato's defense of the Republic was remembered in the British Whig politics of the 18th century. Joseph Addison (1672-1719, admired more than Locke by Hume) wrote a play, Cato: A Tragedy, in 1713:

This was followed by a series of 138 letters under the pseudonym "Cato," published by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, between 1720 and 1723. These Cato's Letter were reprinted many times, in Britain and in America, and played a large part, after the pattern of John Locke's natural law and natural rights justification of the Glorious Revolution (1688), in the formulation of the ideology of the American Revolution. Trenchard died in 1723; and Gordon, who did not die until 1750, threw his lot, a bit like Cato himself, with a particular political faction. The Whig Party of Sir Robert Walpole (considered the first Prime Minister of England), however, was rather more suitable than the faction of Pompey the Great. Today, both Cato himself and the Cato's Letters are remembered in the work of the Cato Institute, whose efforts on behalf of limited, Jeffersonian, and Constitutional government are occasionally even noticed in Washington.

Consuls of the Roman Empire

Decadence, Rome and Romania, the Emperors Who Weren't, and Other Reflections on Roman History

The Vlach Connection and Further Reflections on Roman History

Rome and Romania

• Animated History of Romania

The Byzantine Republic, by Anthony Kaldellis

Philosophy of History

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