Geopolitics & Diplomacy in the 1st century BC

109 sourced entries, 99 BCE to 1 BCE, oldest first. Also see Geopolitics & Diplomacy across every century or everything else in the 1st century BC.

99 BCEConsuls: Aulus Postumius Albinus and Marcus Antonius.source
98 BCEThe Senate passes the Lex Caecilia Didia, which bans omnibus bills.source
96 BCECyrene is left to the people of the Roman Republic by its ruler Ptolemy Apion.source
95 BCEAriobarzanes I Philoromaios becomes king of Cappadocia with Roman backing.source
95 BCETigranes the Great becomes king of Armeniasource
94 BCEConsuls: Gaius Coelius Caldus and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.source
93 BCERoman consuls: Gaius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Herennius.source
92 BCEIn the first diplomatic contact between Rome and Parthia, Sulla meets with a Parthian envoy, resulting in the parties recognizing the Euphrates as a common frontier.source
92 BCEGaius Sentius becomes Roman governor of Macedonia. He serves until 88 BC.source
91 BCEConsuls: Sextus Julius Caesar and Lucius Marcius Philippus.source
90 BCEThe Lex Iulia grants citizenship to all Italians who did not oppose Rome during the Social War.source
90 BCEThe Etruscans are granted Roman citizenship.source
90 BCEConsuls: Lucius Julius Caesar and Publius Rutilius Lupus.source
89 BCEPompeii is annexed by the Roman Republic.source
89 BCELex Pompeia grants Latin rights to cities in Cisalpine Gaul.source
89 BCELex Plautia Papiria extends citizenship to all Italians who applied for it within 60 days. The new citizens are enrolled in eight designated tribes, to prevent domination of the assemblies.source
88 BCEEmperor Wu of Han makes preparations for the six-year-old Liu Fuling to be made Crown Prince and establishes Huo Guang as the future regent. The emperor executes Fuling's mother Lady Gouyi so that she cannot dominate the state while Fuling is a child emperor.source
82 BCEBurebista 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.source
81 BCESulla is appointed dictator, executes his political enemies in a series of proscriptions, and implements aristocratic reforms to the Roman government.source
81 BCESang Hongyang and 60 Confucian scholars debate over the state monopoly of Iron and Salt.source
80 BCEAlexandria comes under Roman jurisdiction.source
80 BCEPtolemy XII Auletes succeeds Ptolemy XI Alexander II to the throne of Egypt.source
79 BCESulla renounces his dictatorship.source
76 BCEThe Third Dalmatian war ends with the capture of Salona by proconsul Gaius Cosconius and the victory of Rome.source
74 BCEPublius Servilius Vatia returns to Rome, where he has triumphed against the pirates in Anatolia, and is given the agnomen Isauricus.source
74 BCENicomedes IV, last king of Bithynia bequeaths his kingdom to the Roman Senate upon his death (75/4 BC)source
74 BCECyrene becomes a Roman province.source
70 BCEThe office of censor is reinstated.source
70 BCEPhraates III becomes the king of Parthia.source
69 BCEParthians and Romans re-establish Euphrates as a frontier.source
69 BCERhodes becomes a bulwark against pirates, the Rhodians are unable to suppress piracy in the Aegean Sea. Delos gets the status of a free port.source
68 BCEConsuls: Lucius Caecilius Metellus and Quintus Marcius Rex.source
67 BCEAfter his victory at Zela, Mithridates starts consolidating his power in Pontus; restoring his rule over his old kingdom.source
67 BCELex Acilia Calpurnia: permanent exclusion from office in cases of electoral corruption.source
67 BCEThe lex Gabinia gives Pompey command of the Mediterranean and its coasts for 50 miles inland for three years. He defeats the pirates in three months and pacifies Cilicia.source
66 BCEThe alliance between Mithridates VI of Pontus and Tigranes II of Armenia is broken.source
65 BCEPompey the Great subjugates the kingdom of Iberia and makes Colchis a Roman province.source
65 BCEIn response to the illegal exercise of citizen rights by foreigners, the Roman Senate passes the Lex Papia, which expels all foreigners from Romesource
63 BCEPharnaces II becomes King of Pontus.source
63 BCEPompey conquers the people of Phonecia, Coele-Syria, and Judea for the Roman Republic.source
61 BCEMarcus Pupius Piso Frugi as consul attempts to gain ratification of Pompey's Eastern Settlement.source
60 BCECreation of the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance between Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus (or 59 BC).source
59 BCEConsuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus (known in jest as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar" due to Bibulus' Social withdrawal from public view to "consult the heavens" in an effort to invalidate Caesar's intended legislation).source
59 BCEThe First Triumvirate: Caesar, Pompey and Crassus form an unofficial alliance (or 60 BC).source
58 BCECyprus becomes a Roman province.source
57 BCEKing Vikramaditya establishes the Vikram era.source
57 BCEMithridates IV becomes king of Parthia.source
57 BCEBak Hyeokgeose becomes the first ruler of the kingdom of Silla (traditional date).source
55 BCEConsuls Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus pass the Lex Trebonia.source
53 BCEConsuls: Marcus Valerius Messalla and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus.source
51 BCEConsuls: Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Servius Sulpicius Rufus.source
50 BCEConsuls: Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Claudius Marcellus.source
50 BCEThe Roman Republic takes control of Judea (approximate date).source
48 BCEYuan becomes emperor of the Han Dynasty (until 33 BC).source
48 BCEConsuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus. Caesar is named consul for a period of five years.source
47 BCEJanuary 13 – Queen Cleopatra VII promotes her younger brother Ptolemy XIV of Egypt to co-ruler.source
47 BCEJulius Caesar returns to Rome and is dictator for a year.source
46 BCEApril 20 – Cicero, in Rome, writes to Varro "If our voices are no longer heard in the Senate and in the Forum, let us follow the example of the ancient sages and serve our country through our writings, concentrating on questions of ethics and constitutional law."source
46 BCEConsuls: Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.source
45 BCEFourth consulship of Gaius Julius Caesar (without colleague).source
44 BCEApril – Octavian returns from Apollonia in Dalmatia to Rome to take up Caesar's inheritance, against advice from Atia (his mother and Caesar's niece) and consul Antony.source
44 BCEJune – Antony is granted a five-year governorship of northern and central Transalpine Gaul (France) and Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy).source
44 BCEComosicus succeeds Burebista as king of Dacia.source
44 BCEConsuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.source
43 BCEJanuary 7 – Octavian is given imperium, marking the start of his public career.source
43 BCENovember 26 – Octavian meets Antony and Lepidus in Bononia and the three enter into an official five-year autocratic pact, the Second Triumvirate (see lex Titia). To cement their reconciliation Octavian agrees to marry Claudia, a daughter of Antony's wife Fulvia by her former husband Publius Clodius Pulcher.source
43 BCELugdunum (modern-day Lyon) is founded.source
41 BCEConsuls: Lucius Antonius and Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus.source
40 BCETreaty of Brundisium: The Triumvirs agrees to divide the Roman Republic into spheres of influence. Gaius Octavian styles himself "Imperator Caesar" and takes control of the Western provinces. Mark Antony is given the Eastern provinces; the River Drin, the boundary between the provinces Illyricum and Macedonia, is to serve as their frontier. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus controls Hispania and Africa. The treaty is cemented by the marriage of Antony and Octavia the Younger.source
40 BCEOgiso Igodo dissolves the Ik’edionwere Council (western Africa). establishes the Royal Council with members of the disbanded Ik’edionwere Council and the Odibo-Ogiso group. He names his combined territories, Igodomigodo with its capital at Ugbekun.source
38 BCEJanuary 1 – Beginning of the Hispanic era.source
37 BCEConsuls: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Titus Statilius Taurus.source
37 BCEAntony reorganizes Asia Minor under strongmen loyal to him. He raises troops from his allies: Amyntas and Archelaus, kings of Galatia and Cappadocia. The old kingdom of Pontus is restored, from Armenia to the River Halys under Polemon I.source
37 BCECaesar Augustus (Octavian) engineers the "Second Pact of Tarentum" which renews the Triumvirate for an additional five years. Mark Antony exchanges 120 ships, for service against Sextus Pompeius. Octavian Caesar donates 1,000 troops from the Praetorian Guard and 20,000 legionaries for the Parthian campaign in Syria.source
36 BCEConsuls: Lucius Gellius Poplicola and Marcus Cocceius Nerva.source
34 BCEAutumn – The Donations of Alexandria: Antony distributes the eastern kingdoms as a gift to the children of Cleopatra; he declares Caesarion, Caesar's illegitimate son, as co-ruler of Egypt and Cyprus. Alexander Helios receives Armenia and Media; to Cleopatra Selene II he gives the kingdoms of Cyrenaica and Libya. His youngest son Ptolemy Philadelphus receives the Egyptian possessions in Phoenicia, Syria and Cilicia. Antony establishes Cleopatra as a Hellenistic monarch at Alexandria and gives her the title of "Queen of Kings".source
33 BCEGaius Julius Caesar Octavian becomes consul for the second time. His partner is Lucius Volcatius Tullus. Octavian delivers a speech; de summa Republica in the Roman Senate, in which he subjects the Donations.source
32 BCEGnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Sosius become consuls of Rome.source
31 BCEWinter – Octavian (32 years old) takes court at Samos. After his decisive victory at Actium he builds Nicopolis; the city is populated by Greeks from settlements further inland.source
30 BCEOctavian claims Cleopatra's treasure in the mausoleum at the Taposiris Magna (Temple of Isis); he pays the salaries of his veteran legionaries and gives them land in Italy.source
29 BCEOctavian Caesar becomes Roman Consul for the fifth time. His partner is Sextus Appuleius. He is granted the title of imperator, and for the third time in Roman history the doors of the Temple of Janus are closed, signalling peace.source
28 BCEGaius Julius Caesar Octavian becomes Roman Consul for the sixth time. His partner Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa becomes Consul for the second time.source
28 BCEAugustus initiates a census of the Roman Republic for the first time since 69 BC.source
27 BCEJanuary 16 – Octavian formally returns full power to the Senate; they give him the titles of Princeps and Augustus. He accepts this honor, having declined the alternative title of Romulus, thus becoming first Roman emperor.source
27 BCEGaius Julius Caesar Octavian becomes Roman Consul for the seventh time. His partner Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa becomes Consul for the third time.source
27 BCEAgrippa divides Hispania Ulterior into Baetica and Lusitania, and enlarges Hispania Citerior.source
26 BCEThe Andhra dynasty replaces the Kanva dynasty, and rules over the eastern part of India.source
26 BCEImperator Caesar Augustus becomes Roman Consul for the eighth time. His partner Titus Statilius Taurus becomes Consul for the second time and refounds the old Contestanian Iberian capital of Ilici (Elche), known since then as "Colonia Iulia Ilici Augusta".source
25 BCEThe government gives its tributary states 20,000 rolls of silk cloth and about 20,000 pounds of silk floss.source
25 BCEThe Roman colony of Emerita Augusta is founded (present-day Mérida).source
25 BCEImperator Caesar Augustus becomes Consul for the ninth time. His partner is Marcus Junius Silanus.source
24 BCECaesar Augustus becomes Roman Consul for the tenth time. His partner is Gaius Norbanus Flaccus.source
23 BCEMa'nu III Saphul becomes ruler of Osroene.source
23 BCECaesar Augustus becomes Roman consul for the eleventh time. His co-consul is Aulus Terentius Varro Murena.source
19 BCEKing Yuri becomes ruler of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.source
18 BCEOnjo becomes the first ruler of the Korean kingdom of Baekje (traditional date).source
16 BCENoricum is incorporated into the Roman Empire.source
16 BCECaesar Augustus reorganizes the German provinces, making Trier their capital.source
14 BCECaesar Augustus makes Beeroth (modern Beirut) a colonia, named Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus.source
13 BCEThe Ara Pacis Augustae ("Altar of Augustan Peace") is commissioned by the Roman Senate to honor the triumphal return of Emperor Augustus from Hispania and Gaul.source
12 BCEMarcus Valerius Messalla Appianus and Publius Sulpicius Quirinius are Roman consuls.source
11 BCEMay – Drusus secures the Rhine frontier and builds Roman fortresses near Bonn, Dorsten, Haltern, and Oberaden.source
9 BCEPannonia is incorporated into the Roman Empire as a part of Illyria.source
8 BCEAfter 20 years, Emperor Augustus initiates his second census of the Roman Empire.source
8 BCEKing Maroboduus becomes ruler of the Marcomanni and fights against the Roman Empire's expansion in Bohemia.source
7 BCEMay 7 – Emperor Ai becomes the emperor of Han China.source
2 BCETigranes IV and Erato are restored to the throne after deposing Artavasdes III.source
1 BCEAulus Caecina Severus was appointed consul by Emperor Augustus, succeeding Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus and Lucius Calpurnius Piso.source
1 BCEIn the Satavahana dynasty, Kunatala Satakarni is succeeded by Satakarni II.source