2nd Century BC Temple of Apollo at Alba Fucens built. Cato the Elder describes an ancient version of pizza. He described it as a “flat round of dough dressed with olive oil, herbs, and honey baked on stones.” 200 145th Olympiad (c) Small Roman Temple to the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) is built at Paestum. 199 More of Capua’s former property is sold to private buyers. 196 146th Olympiad 194 Romans establish a colony at Dicaearchia, on the coast of Campania. They rename the place Puteoli (= “little wells”) because of the many hydrothermal vents in the region. Romans establish a sea-colony at Liternum (mod. Giugliano in Campania), on the coast of Campania, to the north of Cumae and south of the mouth of the river Vulturnus. Despite attempts to turn Liternum into a prosperous city, it was severely hindered by the nearby malarial lagoons. Liternum and Volturnum (both erected on land formerly belonging to Capua) and Puteoli are given the status of coloniae. Other Roman colonies established at Salernum (mod. Salerno), Lucania (Buxentum), Apulia (Sipontum), and Bruttium (Croton (mod. Crotone), Tempsa). 193 The Romans establish the Latin colony of Copiae on the site of the destroyed city of Thurii in Lucania. It soon assumes the name of the former settlement, being called Thurii Copia, or simply Thurii. (alt. date 194 BC) 192 147th Olympiad (c) Lilybaeum, in W Sicily is raised to the status of a colonia. Latin colony of Vibo Valentia is established at Hipponion in Bruttium. (alt. date 194 BC). 191 Roman praetor Aulus Cornelius Mammula is sent to Bruttium. 190 The Via Appia (Appian Way) is expended to Venusia. Marcus Tuccius serves as praetor (and later Propraetor) in Bruttium and Apulia (to 188 BC). 188 148th Olympiad 186 A conspiracy in Rome and southern Italy centered within the Bacchanalian cult is discovered and suppressed by the Roman Senate and the consuls. The Bacchanalia is outlawed by Roman law. 185 The Roman praetor Lucius Postumius Tempsanus suppresses a slave revolt near Tarentum. 184 149th Olympiad Lucius Postumius Tempsanus, now Propraetor, continues to crush slave revolts in southern Italy. He continues to discover evidence for anti-Roman conspiracies in the south based on the Bacchanalian cult. Roman colony established at Potentia (mod. Potenza) in Lucania. 183 The Roman government sends praetor Lucius Pupius to conduct a new investigation of the Bacchanalian cult in southern Italy. Eruption off Vulcano island creates the small islet of Vulcanello. Suicide of Hannibal Libyssa, Anatolia. (alt. date: 182 BC). 181 Roman investigations continue in the Italian south under praetor Lucius Duronius of the Bacchanalian cult. Earliest mention of a harbor at Barium (mod. Bari). 180 150th Olympiad Birth of the Roman writer G. Lucillius at Suessa Aurunca in Campania. Proconsuls P. Cornelius and M. Bebius Tanfilus transport thousands of Ligurian Apuani to resettle abandoned lands in northern Campania. One of the new settlements is Bebianum (mod. Pontelandolo [BN]). 176 151st Olympiad 172 152nd Olympiad 169 The Oscan poet Quintus Ennius dies. 168 153rd Olympiad Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat the Macedonians at Pydna. The victory was commemorated by Marcus Pacuvius, the Oscan-Roman poet, with a praetexta entitled Paullus. 167 Abolition of taxation of Roman citizens. Taxation is now limited to non-citizen allies, Latins, and Italics. 164 154th Olympiad 162 The Roman government buys up several parcels of land which were originally part of the ager publicus taken from Capua during the Second Punic War. These lands had been illegally sold to wealthy Romans who now only gave them up after receiving ample compensation. The Roman government now passes laws forbidding Capua’s former territory from being leased or sold to large land owners. 160 155th Olympiad 156 156th Olympiad 152 157th Olympiad 149 Third Punic War begins. 148 158th Olympiad 146 Third Punic War ends as Carthage is captured and destroyed by the Romans. The city is razed and, according to tradition, the site is sown with salt as a curse to prevent the city from ever rising again. In fact, a new Roman city of Carthage is eventually founded and grows into a flourishing commercial center. 144 159th Olympiad 141 (c) Mt. Etna erupts. 140 160th Olympiad 136 161st Olympiad 135 First Servile War breaks out in Sicily. Thousands of slaves rise up against their masters. The rebels, under the leadership of a Syrian slave named Eunus, and his Cilician lieutenant Cleon, seize the cities of Henna, Tauromenium, and Morgantina. Henna becomes the capital of the rebel slaves. At the height of the revolt, about 200,000 slaves join the rebel army. (alt. date: 139; 133). 133 Roman Tribune Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus proposes an agrarian law limiting the amount of land an individual can hold. Under this law, a person can hold no more than 500 iugera (roughly 312 acres), plus an additional 250 iugera per child of public land. The law is strongly opposed and ignored by large landowners in Etruria and Campania. The animosity created by this law ultimately led to the assassination of Tiberius Gracchus later in the same year. He is clubbed to death by his adversary P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica. Romans build the Via Popilia (named for the consul Publius Popilius Laenas) running from Capua to Rhegium. Information regarding this road came to light with the discovery of the Polla Tablet: “I built the road from Rhegium to Capua, and on that road I erected all the bridges, milestones and tabelarii. From here (Forum Popilii) it is 51 miles to Nuceria, 84 to Capua; [it is] 74 to Muranum, 123 to Cosentia, 180 to Valentia, 231 to the Strait at the statue, 237 to Rhegium. Total from Capua to Rhegium 321 miles. And likewise, as Praetor in Sicily, I rounded up the fugitive slaves of the Italians and returned 917 men. Likewise, I was the first to make the shepherds depart from the Ager Publicus in favor of farmers. I built the Forum and the public buildings here.” 132 162nd Olympiad First Servile War ends as Roman forces under Consul Publius Rupilius recapture Henna, the rebel capital in central Sicily. The rebel leader Eunus is captured and dies in prison at Morgantina. Towns which had supported the defeated Sicilian rebels are punished. Adranon (mod. Adrano [CT]) loses its autonomy completely, annexed to nearby Centuripe. 130 The Oscan poet Marcus Pacuvius dies. 129 The Roman government forbids the cultivation of vineyards and olive groves north of the Alps in an attempt to protect the economy of Italy. (c)A sumptuous Roman villa is erected near Abellinum. It remained occupied until an eruption of Vesuvius and an associated earthquake drove the last residents away. The site of the villa was later occupied by a Romanesque cathedral. 128 163rd Olympiad 126 Eruption on Vulcano island. (June) Mt. Etna erupts. 124 164th Olympiad Romans establish the colony of Minervium or Colonia Minervia at Scylacium (mod. Squillace [CZ]) in Bruttium. 123 The praefecti Capuam Cumas, the Roman officials governing northern Campania, become elected for the first time. Since the creation of the office in 318 BC, they had been appointed deputies of the praetor urbanus. The office survives until the time of Augustus. 122 A Roman colony is established at Tarentum by Gaius Sempronius Gracchus. Mt. Etna erupts. 121 Gaius Gracchus murdered by a mob led by his enemy L. Opimius. 120 165th Olympiad 117 Major earthquake strikes Apulia and Lucania. 116 166th Olympiad 113 Earthquake in Lucania causes wide cracks in the earth. 112 167th Olympiad 110 World’s first cultivated oyster farms established in Campania. 108 168th Olympiad 106 (Jan 3) Marcus Tullius Cicero, the great Roman orator, is born. (Sept 20) Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great) is born. 105 (Oct 6) The Cimbri and Teutones defeat the Romans at Arausio. Ancient sources claim that entire Roman force, perhaps 80 to 120,000, was destroyed. 104 169th Olympiad Second Servile War breaks out in Sicily. Rebel slaves in Sicily rise up at Segesta under the leadership of Tryphon and Athenion. There seems to be some discrepancy among the sources as to the years this uprising occurred. Some sources put it beginning in 103 BC, while others say it was 102 BC. Leontini is sacked by rebel slaves in Sicily. Insurrection in Campania led by the knight Vettius. Romans formally adopt the eagle (aquila) as the principal standard of the legion. 103 Death of the writer G. Lucillius at Neapolis (Naples). 102 Battle of Aquae Sextiae. Romans under Gaius Marius defeat the Teutones and Ambrones. 101 Battle of Vercellae. Romans under Gaius Marius defeat the Cimbri.