Exploration & Expansion in the 2nd century

49 sourced entries, 100 CE to 199 CE, oldest first. Also see Exploration & Expansion across every century or everything else in the 2nd century.

• 100Timgad (Thamugas), a Roman colonial town in North Africa, is founded by Trajan.source
• 101Emperor Trajan starts an expedition against Dacia, exceeding the limits of the Roman Empire set by Augustus.source
• 102The port of Portus is enlarged.source
• 105Emperor Trajan starts the second expedition against Dacia; he leaves with the Imperial Roman fleet from Brundusium.source
• 105Permanent castrum of Legio II Adiutrix at Aquincum (modern Budapest) in Pannonia.source
• 106Romans construct a road between Eilat and Damascus.source
• 109The Via Traiana is constructed at the Emperor Trajan's personal expense; the road connects Benevento with Brundisium (Brindisi).source
• 110The Roman Empire has more than 75,000 km mi of roads.source
• 110Caravans make regular departures from Luoyang with Chinese ginger, cassia (a type of cinnamon), and silk to be bartered in Central Asia for gold, silver, glassware, pottery, cloth, and intaglio gems from Rome.source
• 113Emperor Trajan sails from Rome to begin his expedition against Parthia. He arrives in Athens where Parthian envoys greet him with olive branches, a sign of peace.source
• 114A monument to Philopappos, prince-in-exile of old Commagene (a buffer-state between Rome and Parthia) is erected in Athens.source
• 121Roman settlement in present-day Wiesbaden, Germany, is first mentioned.source
• 121Emperor Hadrian fixes the border between Roman Britain and Caledonia, on a line running from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth.source
• 123The Chinese government establishes Aide of the Western Regions over the Tarim Basin.source
• 124During a voyage to Greece, Hadrian is initiated in the ancient rites known as the Eleusinian Mysteries.source
• 127Emperor Hadrian returns to Rome, after a seven-year voyage to the Roman provinces.source
• 128Emperor Hadrian visits the Roman province of North Africa, in order to inspect Legio III Augusta stationed at Lambaesis. For strategic reasons, the legionnaires are located in the Aurès Mountains.source
• 128The fossils of large prehistoric animals are discovered in Dalmatia.source
• 128Hadrian begins his inspection of the provinces of Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt.source
• 129Emperor Hadrian continues his voyages, now inspecting Caria, Cappadocia and Syria.source
• 130Emperor Hadrian visits the cities Petra and Gerasa (Jerash).source
• 132Merchants in Britain build structures outside the forts of Hadrian's Wall, and offer goods and services (including brothels) to Roman soldiers, who receive salaries in a region that otherwise has virtually no ready money.source
• 136Hadrian dictates his memoirs at his villa near Tivoli (Tibur) outside Rome.source
• 137Tax laws are passed for trade in Palmyra. The caravan city grows rich by importing rare products from the Persian Gulf, and by exporting items manufactured by the Mediterranean world to the East.source
• 140The export of olive oil from Hispania Baetica to Rome peaks.source
• 142Emperor Antoninus Pius orders the construction of the Antonine Wall. The wall stretches 39 miles (63 km), from Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire on the Firth of Clyde, to Carriden near Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth (Scotland). The Romans build 19 forts and smaller fortlets (milecastles), to protect the border against the Caledonians.source
• 144The Roman campaigns in Mauretania begin.source
• 150Paper, made in China, arrives in Transoxiana.source
• 150The Germans of the east move south, into the Carpathians and Black Sea area.source
• 150The Albani appear in the Roman province of Macedonia, specifically in Epirus.source
• 150The earliest atlas (Ptolemy's Geography) is made (approximate date).source
• 160The first Buddhist monks arrive in China.source
• 165The Romans establish a garrison at Doura Europos on the Euphrates, a control point for the commercial route to the Persian Gulf.source
• 165A Roman military expedition under Avidius Cassius is successful against Parthia, capturing Artaxata, Seleucia on the Tigris, and Ctesiphon. The Parthians sue for peace.source
• 165Avidius Cassius takes Nisibis, and conquers the north of Mesopotamia.source
• 166Emperor Marcus Aurelius appoints his sons Commodus and Marcus Annius Verus as co-rulers (Caesar), while he and Lucius Verus travel to Germany.source
• 166A Roman envoy arrives by sea in Rinan commandery, in southern China (central Vietnam). He travels to the Chinese capital Luoyang, and is greeted by Emperor Huan of the Han dynasty.source
• 168Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his adopted brother Lucius Verus leave Rome, and establish their headquarters at Aquileia.source
• 170The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusina, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.source
• 171The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusis, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.source
• 175M. Sattonius Iucundus, decurio in Colonia Ulpia Traiana, restores the Thermae of Coriovallum (modern Heerlen). There are sources that state this happened in the 3rd century.source
• 178Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus arrive at Carnuntum in Pannonia, and travel to the Danube to fight against the Marcomanni.source
• 179Roman legionaries of Legio II Adiutrix engrave on the rock of the Trenčín Castle (Slovakia) the name of the town Laugaritio, marking the northernmost point of Roman presence in that part of Europe.source
• 179Marcus Aurelius drives the Marcomanni over the Danube and reinforces the border. To repopulate and rebuild a devastated Pannonia, Rome allows the first German colonists to enter territory controlled by the Roman Empire.source
• 180The Goths reach the banks of the Black Sea.source
• 180Rome creates a 4-mile wide buffer zone by the Danube.source
• 190A Roman road crosses the Alps, by the Simplon Pass.source
• 192Syriac Christians establish an early Christian community in Kerala, India.source
• 199Mesopotamia is partitioned into two Roman provinces divided by the Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Osroene.source