slug: roman-volscian-wars

label: Roman-Volscian wars

year_label: 495 BCE

text: The Volsci launch an invasion against Rome, but are defeated, and in retaliation Rome plunders Suessa Pometia.

title: 495 BC

section: Events › Roman Republic

year_label: 494 BCE

text: The Roman consul Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus defeats the Volsci, and a Roman colony is planted at Velitrae.

title: 494 BC

year_label: 493 BCE

text: The Roman army, led by Postumus Cominius Auruncus defeats the Volsci and the Romans capture the towns of Longula, Pollusca and Corioli. Gaius Marcius distinguishes himself in the battle for Corioli, and earns the cognomen Coriolanus.

title: 493 BC

year_label: 492 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: War with the Volsci is averted because a pestilence affects the Volsci. Rome sends additional colonists to Velitrae and establishes a new colony in Norba.

title: 492 BC

section: Events › By place › Rome

year_label: 488 BCE

text: Gaius Marcius Coriolanus and Attius Tullius, leading an army of the Volsci, besiege Rome. Coriolanus' mother and wife convince him to break off the siege. In recognition of the service of these women, a temple is erected in Rome dedicated to Fortuna. Subsequently, the Volsci and their allies the Aequi have a falling out, and their armies fight as a result, significantly diminishing the strength of each of them.

title: 488 BC

year_label: 487 BCE

text: Wars are fought between Rome and each of the Volsci and the Hernici. Rome prevails in both disputes.

title: 487 BC

year_label: 485 BCE

text: The consul Quintus Fabius Vibulanus defeated the Volsci and Aequi in battle, but incurred the anger of the plebs by lodging the spoils of victory with the publicum.

title: 485 BC

year_label: 483 BCE

text: Ongoing hostilities with the Volsci.

title: 483 BC


slug: romania

label: Romania

description: country in Southeast Europe

text: c. 2750 BC: Estimated ending of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture in the region of modern-day Romania, Moldova, and southwestern Ukraine.

title: 28th century BC

section: Events

year_label: 82 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Burebista unifies the Dacian population forming the first (and biggest) unified Dacian Kingdom, on the territory of modern Romania and surroundings. 82 BC is also the starting year of his reign.

title: 82 BC

section: Events › By place › Dacia

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Apollodorus of Damascus builds a stone bridge over the Danube more than 1,000 m ft long, almost 20 m ft high and 15 m ft wide. The bridge connects what is now Serbia with Romania (at the time known as Dacia).

title: AD 104

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

date: August 11

text: August 11 – The south-eastern part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province: Roman Dacia. The veterans of the legions are given land in the new province for their service in the Roman army.

title: AD 106

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Goths appear on the lower Danube frontier; they invade Ukraine and Romania.

title: 247

text: Aurelian withdraws Rome's administrative and military presence from Dacia (modern Romania), thereby rationalizing the Danube frontier and freeing resources for the forthcoming campaign against Zenobia.

title: 271

text: Emperor Constantine I expels the Goths from the Danube frontier and repairs Trajan's Bridge. He leads an expedition into the old province Dacia (modern Romania) and makes peace with the barbarians.

title: 321

section: Events › By topic › Roman Empire

date: July 5

text: July 5 – Constantine's Bridge, built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus (Gigen, Bulgaria), is officially opened by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.

title: 328

text: Athanaric, Gothic leader of the Tervingi, advances eastwards and takes up a defensive position along the banks of the Dniester (Romania).

title: 370

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Gothic War: Emperor Valens permits the Visigothic chieftain Fritigern and his people to cross the Danube from Thrace (later Romania), and settle on Roman soil in Lower Moesia, on the condition that they provide soldiers to the legions. The Visigoths embark by troops on boats and rafts, and canoes made from hollowed tree trunks. The river is swollen by frequent rains; a large number try to swim and are drowned in their struggle against the force of the stream.

title: 376

text: The Huns, led by Attila, attack Constanţa (modern Romania), one of the few remaining Roman forts on the northern bank of the Danube, and designated as a secure trading post. On a crowded market day, the Huns take the town by surprise and slaughter the garrison.

title: 441

section: Events › By place › Byzantium

text: Emperor Leo I repels the Hun invasion of Dacia (modern Romania). They ravage the Balkans but are unable to take Constantinople thanks to the city walls, which are rebuilt and reinforced.

title: 466

text: Autumn – Balkan Campaign: The Avars, strengthened by the tribute of the Franks, resume their campaign along the Danube River, and besiege the Byzantine fortress city of Tomis (modern Romania) on the Black Sea coast.

title: 597

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: March 30

text: March 30 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege of the fortress city of Tomis (modern Romania). A Byzantine army under Comentiolus crosses the Balkan Mountains, and marches along the Danube River to Zikidiba.

title: 598

text: King Stephen I of Hungary invades Transylvania (modern Romania) and establishes the Diocese of Transylvania (approximate date).

title: 1003

text: The Teutonic Order builds Bran Castle in the Burzenland (modern Romania) as a fortified position at the entrance of a mountain pass through which traders can travel. The Teutonic Knights build another five castles, some of them made of stone. Their rapid expansion in Hungary makes the nobility and clergy, who are previously uninterested in those regions, jealous and suspicious.

title: 1212

date: December 10

text: December 10 – Hungarian Civil War, a dynastic conflict, erupts between King Béla IV and his son, Duke Stephen. Hungarian forces under Ladislaus II Kán invades Stephen's realm and push forward unhindered penetrating the valley of the Mureș River in the southern part of Transylvania. Stephen's army halts Ladislaus' advance at the Fortress of Deva (modern Romania).

title: 1264

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 10

text: July 10 – King Ladislaus IV of Hungary ("the Cuman") is assassinated at the castle of Körösszeg (modern Romania). He is succeeded by Andrew III ("the Venetian"), after an election by Hungarian nobles, who is crowned by Archbishop Lodomer as new ruler of Hungary and Croatia in Székesfehérvár on July 23.

title: 1290

text: The city of Marosvásárhely (in Transylvania, today Târgu Mureș in Romania) is first documented in the papal registry, under the name Novum Forum Siculorum.

title: 1332

text: Petru succeeds as Voivode (ruler) of Moldavia (modern-day Moldova & eastern Romania). He is the first ruler from the dynastic House of Bogdan.

title: 1375

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Radu I succeeds Vladislav I as Prince of Wallachia in what is now southern Romania.

title: 1377

date: September 23

text: September 23 – Dan I of Wallachia (modern-day southern Romania) is killed in battle against the Bulgarians and is succeeded by Mircea the Elder, one of the greatest rulers of Wallachia.

title: 1386

section: Events › July–September

section: Culture & Society

date: December

text: December – At Suceava, Roman I succeeds Petru Mușat, as Prince of Moldavia (now Moldova and northeastern Romania).

title: 1391

section: Events › October–December

text: Ştefan I succeeds Roman I, as Prince of Moldavia (now Moldova and eastern Romania).

title: 1394

date: October 10

text: October 10 – At the Battle of Karanovasa, Wallachia (now southern Romania) resists an invasion by the army Ottoman Empire and its Serb and Bulgarian vassals.

title: 1394

text: Wallachia (modern-day southern Romania) resists an invasion by the Ottomans.

title: 1400

date: April 23

text: April 23 – In what is now Romania, Alexandru cel Bun (Alexander the Good) is installed as the new Prince (Voivode) of Moldavia by Mircea the Elder, the Voivode of Wallachia, after Mircea removes the reigning monarch, Prince Iuga.

title: 1400

section: Events › April–June

date: March 25

text: March 25 – Battle of Hermannstadt: After seven days of fighting that began on March 18, John Hunyadi defeats an army of the Ottoman Empire (80,000 strong), led by Mezid Bey of Vidin, near Sibiu in what is now Romania.

title: 1442

section: Events › January–March

date: December 15

text: December 15 – At the Battle of Baia, troops under Stephen III of Moldavia decisively defeat the forces of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, at Baia (present-day Romania). This is the last Hungarian attempt to subdue the Principality of Moldavia.

title: 1467

date: November 20

text: November 20 – The Battle of Vodna Stream, near Râmnicu Sărat, ends after two days in what is now Romania, Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, routs the army of Wallachia, commanded by Prince Radu the Handsome. Prince Radu then flees to Dâmbovița.

title: 1473

date: July 26

text: July 26 – At the Battle of Valea Albă, fought at what is now Războieni in Romania, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II defeats Stephen III of Moldavia.

title: 1476

date: July 14

text: July 14 – The Hungarian rebel leader György Dózsa is defeated in battle at Temesvár in Transylvania in Hungary

title: 1514

date: September 15

text: September 15 – Teodosie becomes the new Voivode of Wallachia, at the capital, Targoviste, now in Romania.

title: 1521

date: January 20

text: January 20 – The first legislature for the Voivode of Transylvania meets at Vásárhely in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Târgu Mureș in Romania).

title: 1542

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Mircea the Shepherd enters Bucharest as the new ruler of Wallachia, now in Romania.

title: 1545

date: August 24

text: August 24 – Mircea the Shepherd, ruler of the Principality of Wallachia (now Romania) stages a surprise attack in the Battle of Periș and decimates the members of the Wallachian nobility (boyars) who oppose his rule.

title: 1546

date: February 21

text: February 21 – Stephen Bocskai is elected Prince of Transylvania at the capital, Belugrad (modern-day Alba Iulia in Romania.)

title: 1605

section: Crime & Justice

date: January 23

text: January 23 – János Kemény, Prince of Transylvania for slightly more than a year, is killed during Transylvania's defeat by the Ottoman Empire in a battle at Nagyszőllős, now the city of Vynohradiv in Ukraine. An Ottoman appointee, Michael Apafi, replaces Kemény in September and the status of the principality of Transylvania (now part of Romania) is never regained.

title: 1662

text: May 21 – Iliaș Alexandru becomes the ruler of Moldavia, part of modern-day Romania.

title: 1666

text: November 8 – Iliaș Alexandru steps down as the voivode or elected ruler of Moldavia (now part of Romania and the Republic of Moldova) and is replaced by his predecessor, Gheorghe Duca.

title: 1668

text: March 28 – Radu Leon is deposed by the Ottoman Sultan as Prince of Wallachia

title: 1669

text: February 8 – Prince Dumitrașcu Cantacuzino returns to the throne of the principality of Moldavia for a third reign but is overthrown 14 months later on June 25. In 1859, Moldavia will unite with neighboring Wallachia to form the Kingdom of Romania.

title: 1684

text: Bucharest becomes the capital of Wallachia (part of modern-day Romania).

title: 1698

text: The Students' Monument is built in Aiud, Romania.

title: 1704

text: October 12 – During the war between the Habsburg Empire ruling Austria and the Ottoman Empire ruling Turkey, the six week siege of the fortified city of Temeşvar ends with it being surrendered by the Turks to the Austrians. Under a flag of truce, the Turks are permitted to depart but have to leave behind their artillery as they give up their claim to Hungary. Austro-Hungarian rule lasts until World War One, and in 1919, the city of Timișoara becomes part of the Kingdom of Romania.

title: 1716

text: October 3 – General Anton Puchner, commander of the Austrian armies of Transylvania, declares insurrection against Hungary, and, together with Karl von Urban in the north and the Romanian insurgents led by Avram Iancu, attacks and chases away the Hungarian armed forces occupying Transylvania.

title: 1848

text: April 26 – Hungarian Revolution of 1848 – Battle of Komárom: Hungarian forces relieve the city and castle with the same name from a long Austrian siege. The Austrian imperial forces and their Croatian, Romanian and Serbian allies are chased out from Hungary, or near the borders of the country.

title: 1849

text: January 8 – Hungarian Revolution of 1848: Romanian armed groups massacre 600 unarmed Hungarian civilians, at Nagyenyed.

title: 1849

text: January 24 (O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are united under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. It would be a principal step in forming the modern state of Romania.

title: 1859

text: December 15 – Romania opens its first mountain railway (from Anina to Oravița).

title: 1863

text: July 13 (July 1 Old Style) – The first Constitution of Romania is issued.

title: 1866

text: August 8 – The Republic of Ploiești, an uprising against Domnitor Carol of Romania, fails.

title: 1870

text: July 13 – The Treaty of Berlin makes Serbia, Montenegro and Romania completely independent, confirms the autonomy of Bulgaria, makes Cyprus a British possession, and allows Austria-Hungary to garrison the Bosnia Vilayet.

title: 1878

text: August 17 (August 4 O.S.) – WWI: The Treaty of Bucharest is signed secretly between Romania and the Entente Powers, stipulating the conditions under which Romania agrees to join the war on their side, particularly territorial promises in Austria-Hungary.

title: 1916

text: February 11 – The Romanian Association football club Sportul Studențesc is founded in Bucharest.

title: 1916

text: September 30 – Elie Wiesel, Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor, writer, lecturer, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 2016)

title: 1928

text: February 9 – "Litvinov's Pact" is signed in Moscow by the Soviet Union, Poland, Estonia, Romania and Latvia, who agree not to use force to settle disputes between themselves.

title: 1929

text: December 29 – Members of the Iron Guard assassinate Ion Gheorghe Duca, prime minister of Romania.

title: 1933

text: August 23 – The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, a neutrality treaty that also agrees to division of spheres of influence (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, eastern Poland and Bessarabia (modern-day Moldova), north-east province of Romania to the Soviet Union; Lithuania and western Poland to Germany). Its annex reassigns Lithuania to the Soviet Union.

title: 1939

text: November 10 – 1940 Vrancea earthquake: An earthquake in Romania kills 1,000.

title: 1940

text: November 20–24 – WWII: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis powers.

title: 1940

text: November 26–27 – Jilava Massacre: In Romania, coup leader General Ion Antonescu's Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled King Carol II of Romania's aides, starting at a penitentiary near Bucharest. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian Nicolae Iorga.

title: 1940

text: September 7 – Treaty of Craiova: Romania loses Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria.

title: 1940

text: June 22 – WWII: Operation Barbarossa: Nazi Germany (with allies) invades the Soviet Union and declares war on it. Winston Churchill promises all possible British assistance to the Soviet Union in a worldwide broadcast: "Any man or state who fights against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe." Italy and Romania declare war on the Soviet Union.

title: 1941

text: June 5 – WWII: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

title: 1942

text: June 1 – Ion Antonescu, prime minister and "Conducator" (Leader) of Romania during World War II, is executed: he was found guilty of betraying the Romanian people for the benefit of Germany and sentenced to death by the Bucharest People's Tribunal.

title: 1946

text: December 9 – Nicolae Ceaușescu becomes the Chairman of the Romanian State Council, making him the de facto leader of Romania.

title: 1967

text: May 27 – Six armed passengers hijack a Romanian passenger plane and force it to fly to Vienna.

title: 1971

text: March 4 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in the Vrancea Mountains of Romania kills over 1,500 people.

title: 1977

text: November 15 – In Brașov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime led by Nicolae Ceaușescu.

title: 1987

text: December 22 – After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as President of Romania, ending the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu, who flees his palace in a helicopter after the palace is invaded by rioters. Most of the army has joined with the rioters in Bucharest.

title: 1989

text: May 20 – Cold War: The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.

title: 1990

text: March 29 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are admitted to NATO, the largest expansion of the organization.

title: 2004

text: January 1 – Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eurozone.

title: 2007

text: November 24 – The Avdhela Project, an Aromanian digital library and cultural initiative, is founded in Bucharest, Romania.

title: 2009

text: January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the Romanian city of Târgu Mureș, protesters expressing solidarity towards certain figures in the medical field and calling for the resignation of president Traian Băsescu. The protests would soon spread through all of the country, marking the start of a long civil unrest in Romania, lasting up to November 2015.

title: 2012

text: June 23 – A bus carrying 47 Romanian tourists to Tivat, Montenegro, crashes in the Morača canyon in central Montenegro, killing 19 people and injuring 27.

title: 2013

text: October 30 – Colectiv nightclub fire: a fire ignited by a failed fireworks show sets the walls and columns covered in foam of the Colectiv nightclub, located in Romania's capital Bucharest. 27 people die at the scene, including four out the five members of the Romanian metalcore band "Goodbye to Gravity", and 37 would succumb later due to the injuries and intoxication with fumes, but also because of the poor treatment conditions. The event and the poor management of the situation spark a riot in all of Romania, known as the "Colectiv Revolution".

title: 2015

text: August 10 – Protests against the government of Romania, prime-minister Viorica Dăncilă and PSD leader and corrupt businessman Liviu Dragnea take place in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and other major Romanian cities. In Bucharest, the protests take a violent shape and, in the course of a few hours, over 400 people are injured, including civilians not taking part in the protests and police units, and more than a thousand people suffer effects from tear gas and hand grenades thrown by the Romanian Jandarmerie units deployed and backed by the PSD-ruled government.

title: 2018

text: January 1 – Romania takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Austrian presidency.

title: 2019

text: March 24 – 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: NATO announces that four new battlegroups totaling 40,000 troops will be deployed in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, along with enhanced readiness for potential chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

title: 2022

text: March 31 – Bulgaria and Romania become members of the Schengen Area through sea and air routes.

title: 2024


slug: romanos-i-lekapenos

label: Romanos I Lekapenos

description: Byzantine emperor from 919/920 to 944

text: March 25 – Romanos Lekapenos, admiral (droungarios) of the Byzantine navy, seizes the Boukoleon Palace in Constantinople. He is named megas hetaireiarches (head of the imperial guard). Lekapenos consolidates his position and becomes regent of Emperor Constantine VII. He marries his 9-year-old daughter Helena Lekapene to Constantine and assumes the new title of basileopator (one of the highest offices in the Byzantine Empire).

title: 919

section: Events › By Place › Byzantine Empire

date: December 17

text: December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He shares the throne with the 15-year-old Constantine VII (his son-in-law), and constructs an alternative palace at Constantinople with an adjoining monastery near the Great Palace. Though Constantine retains his formal position as first on the protocol list, Romanos becomes sole ruler.

title: 920

text: Summer – Battle of Constantinople: Emperor Romanos I sends Byzantine troops to repel another Bulgarian raid at the outskirts of Constantinople. The Byzantines storm the Bulgarian camp, but are defeated when they are confronted by the main Bulgarian forces. Having won the battle, the Bulgarians lack the maritime power to conduct a successful siege of Constantinople.

title: 922

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos are promoted to the position of co-Emperors of Byzantium, joining Constantine VII, Romanos I and Christopher, creating a pentarchy with five monarchs.

title: 924

section: Events › October—December

date: September 9

text: September 9 – After pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople, Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria meets with the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos on the Golden Horn to arrange a truce, according to which Byzantium will pay the Bulgarians an annual tribute in exchangefor the return of some cities on the Black Sea coast.

title: 924

section: Events › July—September

date: October

text: October — In Byzantium, John Mystikos, chief minister (paradynasteuon), is deposed by the Emperor Romanos I, flogged, and sent into exile in a monastery. He is replaced by the chamberlain (protovestiarios) Theophanes, who becomes the closest adviser of Emperor Romanos I. At this time the Byzantine Empire has been embroiled in a protracted and disastrous war with Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria.

title: 925

section: Events › By date › July – December

section: Deaths

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Simeon I, emperor (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, dies of heart failure in his palace at Preslav after a 34-year reign. He is survived by four sons and succeeded by his second son Peter I, who signs a peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire. The peace is confirmed by Peter's marrying Maria Lekapene (the daughter of Christopher Lekapenos, son and co-emperor of Romanos I). The treaty restores the borders to those established by several treaties (thus recognizing Bulgaria's possession of Macedonia).

title: 927

text: Battle of W.l.n.d.r: The Hungarians and Pechenegs kill Constantinople's inhabitants, inflict severe damage on the countryside, and defeat both the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria, forcing them to pay tribute. Emperor Romanos I signs a peace treaty with the Hungarians.

title: 934

text: Battle of Fraxinet: King Hugh of Provence launches an attack on Fraxinet, the Moorish fortress on the Côté d'Azur that had taken control of the Piedmontese valleys. With the assistance of a Byzantine fleet sent by Emperor Romanos I, Hugh lays siege to the Moorish fortress with the help of Hungarian auxiliary troops (Kabars).

title: 942

text: Spring – Allied with the Rus', a Hungarian army raids Moesia and Thrace. Emperor Romanos I buys peace, and accepts to pay a yearly tribute (protection money) to the Hungarians. His frontiers now 'protected' on the Balkan Peninsula, Romanos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (80,000 men) led by general John Kourkouas (his commander-in-chief) to invade northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).

title: 943

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Emperor Romanos I is arrested and deposed after a 14-year reign by his own sons, the co-emperors Stephen and Constantine. He is carried off to the Prince Islands and forced to become a monk.

title: 944

date: January 27

text: January 27 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown barely a month after deposing their father, Romanos I. With the help of his wife, Constantine VII becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He appoints to the highest army commands four members of the Phokas family, which have been in disgrace under Romanos.

title: 945

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Romanos I, Byzantine emperor (b. c. 870)

title: 948

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after returning from a second campaign against the Abbasids in Syria. He is buried in the Church of Christ Chalkites, and succeeded by his 18-year-old nephew Basil II, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. The administration remains in the hands of Basil Lekapenos (an illegitimate son of the late Emperor Romanos I).

title: 976