History of Ancient Rome

History of Ancient Rome

B.C.
1200 Trojan War; in legend. Aeneas arrives in Italy
1000 Settlement on Palatine
800 Huts on Palatine and in Forum
753 Traditional date of the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus
753-509 "Regal Period"
600 Great Sewer (Cloaca Maxima) built; Forum area drained
510-509 Ejection of Tarquinius Superbus; establishment of Roman Republic
509-31 "Republican Period"
509 First treaty with Carthage
500-440 Incursions of Aequi and Volsci
494 First Secession of the Plebs
493 Treaty of Cassius between Rome and the Latins
449 Secession of the Plebs; Laws of the Twelve Tables published
396 Romans capture Etruscan city of Veii
390 Battle of Allia: Rome sacked by Gauls
367 Licinian laws; Plebeians admitted to magistracy
348 Treaty with Carthage renewed
343-4 First Samnite War
340-338 Revolt of Latin League
326-304 Second Samnite War
321 Roman humiliation at the Caudine Forks
306 Third treaty with Carthage
298-290 Third Samnite War
295 Battle of Sentinum
287 Hortensian law (lex Hortensia): plebiscita binding on all citizens
281-275 Invasion of Pyrrhus of Epirus
280 Battle of Herac1ea
279 Battle of Asculum
275 Battle of Beneventum
273 "Friendship" established with Ptolemaic Egypt
264-241 First Punic War
262 Romans storm Agrigentum successfully
260 Roman naval victory at Mylae
255 Roman force in Africa destroyed; fleet destroyed in storm
241 Battle of the Aegates Islands; Sicily made Rome's first province
238 Sardinia and Corsica annexed
241-220 Carthaginian conquest of Spain by Barca family
229 Roman protectorate over IlIyria established
226 Ebro 'Treaty"; "friendship" with Saguntum precedes or follows it?
220 Gallia Cisalpina formed into a province
218-202 Second Punic War; invasion of Italy by Hannibal
218 Battle of Trebia
217 Battle of Lake Trasimene
216 Battle of Cannae
215 Philip V of Macedon allies with Hannibal and Carthage
209 Carthaginian forces in Spain defeated
207 Battle of the Metaurus River
203 Hannibal leaves Italy
202 Battle of Zama
215-204 First Macedonian War
200-196 Second Macedonian War; Macedon barred from Aegean Sea
196 Two provinces formed in Spain (Ulterior and Citerior)
197-133 Roman wars in Spain
192-189 War with Antiochus III of Syria
189 Battle of Magnesia
172-168 Third Macedonian War; Macedon divided into four republics
168 Battle of Pydna; Rhodes ruined by decree
149-146 Third Punic War; revolt in Macedon
147 Macedon formed into province of Macedonia
146 Revolt of Achaean League; Corinth destroyed; Carthage destroyed
135-133 Major slave war in Sicily
133 Tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus; Gracchus and 300 followers murdered in riot; Pergamum willed to Rome
129 Pergamum formed into province of Asia
123-121 Successive tribunates of Gaius Gracchus
121 First passage of senatlls cons G. Gracchus and 3000 followers killed in streetfighting
121 Gallia Transalpina (or Narbonensis) formed into province
111-105 lugurthine War in Numidia
107 First consulship of Marius
105 Battle of Arausio, Italy threatened by Cimbri and Teutones
105-102 Successive consulships of Marius (#s 2-5)
102 Battle of Aquae Sextiae, Teutones defeated
101 Battle of Vercellae, Cimbri defeated
100 Sixth consulship of Marius; senatus consultum ultimum passed
91 Murder of tribune M. Livius Drusus
91-88 Social (Italic) War; universal grant of Roman citizenship to allies
88-84 First Mithridatic War
88 Sulla marches on Rome; "Asiatic Vespers"
87-83 Cinna controls Rome
87 Marius and Cinna seize Rome
86 Seventh consulship of Marius; Marius dies (January)
85 Sulla makes Treaty of Dardanus with Mithridates
83 Sulla returns to Italy; civil war
83-81 Second Mithridatic War
82-79 Sulla dictator "to write laws and organize the state"; strengthens position of Senate, muzzles tribunate
82-81 The Sullan proscriptions
78 Death of Sulla; revolt of M. Aemlius Lepidus; Pompey given command
77-72 Pompey fights Sertorius in Spain
74-63 Third Mithridatic War
73-71 Slave revolt of Spartacus
71 Crassus defeats Spartacus; Pompey returns from Spain
70 Consulship of Pompey and Crassus; Sulla's restoration undone
67 Gabinian Law (lex Gabinia) confers imerium infinitum on Pompey
66 Pirates crushed; Manilian Law (lex Manilia) gives Pompey command against Mithridates
63 Death of Mithridates; Pompey reorganizcs the east; Catilinarian conspiracy in Italy
62 Pompey returns to Italy and "retires"
6O Caesar, Pompey and Crassus form First Triumvirate
51 First consulship of Caesar; legislation favors Triumvirs
58-49 Caesar conquers Gaul
56 Conference of Triumvirs at Luca
55 Pompey and Crass us consuls; legislation favors Triumvirs
54 Death of Julia, Caesar's daughter, Pompey's wife
53 Battle of Carrhae, Crassus killed invading Parthia
49 Caesar crosses Rubicon (10 January); Civil War begins; Caesar dictator for eleven days
49-45 Civil War between Caesar and Pompey
48 Caesar consul; Battle of Pharsalus; Caesar defeats Pompey; Pompey killed in Egypt
47-44 Successive dictatorships of Caesar
47 Caesar suppresses revolt in Asia (Veni, vidi, vici)
46-44 Successive consulships of Caesar
46 Battle of Thapsus in Africa; Cato commits suicide at Utica; Caesar's dictatorship extended for 10 years
45 Battle of Munda in Spain
44 Caesar·s dictatorship made lifelong (February); Caesar assassinated (15 March); Octavius adopted by Caesar and named Octavian; siege of Mutina begins
43 Octavian defeats Antony and. seizing Rome. becomes consul; Octavian. Antony and Lepidus form Second Triumvirate (23 November); proscriptions. death of Cicero (7 December)
42 Double Battles at Philippi (September), Triumvirs defeat Liberators
41 "Perusine War" in Italy
40 "The Peace of Brundisium" between Antony and Octavian
37 Triumvirate renewed
36 Defeat of Sextus Pompeius in Sicily; Lepidus squeezed out of Triumvirate
34 "The Donations of Alexandria"
34-31 Propaganda war between Antony and Octavian
33 Triumvirate lapses; Octavian's second consulship
32 Italy and the west take oath of allegiance to Octavian
31 Battle of Actium; Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra
31 BC-AD 476 "Imperial Period"
30 Egypt annexed as Roman province
27 BC-AD 14 Reign of Augustus as first Roman empcror
27 "First Constitutional Settlement" (13 January)
23 "Second Constitutional Settlement"
4 Birth of Jesus of Nazareth
2 Augustus "Father of his Country" (Pater Patriae)


A.D.
14 Death of Augustus (19 August)
14-68 Julio-Claudian Dynasty
14-37 Emperor Tiberius
24-31 Ascendancy of Sejanus
30 Crucifixion of Jesus
37-41 Emperor Gaius (Caligula)
41-54 Emperor Claudius
41 Gaius (Caligula) first emperor to be assassinated
54-68 Emperor Nero
64 Great Fire in Rome. Christians persecuted for first time
66-70 Jewish revolt in Palestine
68 Nero deposed by army revolt
68-69 Emperor Galba
69 Civil War; "Year of the Four Emperors": Galba (January) Otho (January-April), Vitellius (April-December); Vespasian (December)
69-96 Flavian Dynasty
69-79 Emperor Vespasian
70 Jerusalem sacked, Temple destroyed
73 Siege of Masada
79-81 Emperor Titus
81-96 Emperor Domitian
96-98 Emperor Nerva. first of the "Good Emperors"
98-180 "Adoptive Dynasty" (sometimes called the "Antonines")
98-117 Emperor Trajan
106 Formation of Dacia as province
114-17 Eastern wars of Trajan, three new provinces formed
117-138 Emperor Hadrian; abandons Trajan's eastern provinces
122 Construction on Hadrian's Wall in Britain begins
138-161 Emperor Antoninus Pius
150-200 Gradual formation of Germanic tribal confederations
268-270 Emperor Claudius II Gothicus
180-192 Emperor Commodus; adoptive succession abandoned
192 Commodus assassinated; Emperor Pertinax (January-March); emperorship auctioned in forum by Praetorian Guard
193-197 Civil war between Severus, Clodius Albinus, and Pescennius Niger
193-235 Severan Dynasty
193-211 Emperor Septimius Severus
211-212 Emperor Geta (murdered by Caracalla)
211-217 Emperor Caracalla
217-218 Emperor Macrinus (non-Severan usurper)
218-222 Emperor Elagabulus
222-235 Emperor Severus Alexander
220 Emergence of Sassanid Persia in east
235-285 The Crisis of the Third Century; many emperors and usurpers including:
235-238 Emperor Maximinus
238-244 Emperors Gordian I, II, III
244-249 Philip the Arab
249-251 Emperor Decius
250-260 Persecutions of Christians by Decius and Valerian
161-169 Emperor Lucius Verus
161-180 Emperor Marcus Aurelius (rules alone 169- 180)
253-260 Emperor Valerian
253-268 Emperor Gallienus (rules alone, 260- )
253-258 Franks ravage Gaul and Spain
258 Declaration of 'The Empire of the Gallic Provinces" (Imperium Galliantm); Spain and Britain defect to new state
265-268 Gothic assault on Asia Minor and Greece
269-270 Palmyra controls Syria, Egypt, parts of Asia Minor
268-270 Emperor Claudius II Gothicus
270-275 Emperor Aurelian
273 Defeat of Palmyra
274 Imperium Galliarum defeated; empire reintegrated
275 Aurelian assassinated by officers
275-276 Emperor Tacitus
276-82 Emperor Probus
282 Probus murdered by his soldiers
282-284 Civil war
284-305 Emperor Dioc1etian; major reforms; establishment of Tetrarchy
299-311 "The Great Persecution" of Christians, particularly fierce under Tetrarch Galerius
305 Dioc1etian and Maximian retire
306 Constantine dec1ared Augustus by troops; Maxentius seizes Rome; Tetrarchy fails
306-337 Emperor Constantine the Great (rules alone, 324-337)
311 Galerius issues Edict of Toleration of Christianity
312 Battle of the Milvian bridge; Constantine's vision; Constantine gains control of western part of the empire
313 Edict of Milan tolerates all forms of worship
314 Council of bishops at Arelate
317-21 Persecution of Donatists in Africa
324 Constantinople founded
330 Constantinople becomes new capital of Roman empire
325 Council of Nicaea
337-361 Emperor Constantius II
361-363 Emperor lui ian the Apostate
364-375 Emperor Valentinian
364-378 Emperor Valens (east)
375-83 Emperor Gratian
378 Battle of Adrianople, Valens killed by Goths
379-395 Emperor Theodosius the Great gains control of whole empire
391 Edicts of intolerance against paganism; Christianity instituted as official religion
395 Empire officially divided in Theodosius' will into east (under Arcadius) and west (under Honorius)
395-423 Emperor Honorius (west)
395-408 Ascendancy of Stilicho
400 Cities and trade begin to decline in west; Germanic tribes settled in large numbers in Gaul and along Danube frontier
395-402 Alaric and the Visigoths harry east
402-410 Alaric turns to Italy
409 Vandals and others overrun Spain
410 Sack of Rome by Alaric (23 August); Britain abandoned
429 Vandals seize Africa
451-453 Attila the Hun invades west
451 Battle of Chalons; Huns defeated
453 Death of Attila
455 Vandals sack Rome
455-72 Ascendancy of Ricimer
475-476 Romulus Augustulus, last western emperor
476 Traditional date for the "Fall of the Roman Empire"
476-493 Odoacer becomes King (Emperor) of Italy
476-1453 Eastern Empire survives as Byzantine empire/kingdom


Glossary
Acies triplex (tripartite battle formation): The set formation of the Roman Republican army when attacking.

Aediles: The aedileship originated as an office of the "Plebeian State" and became an optional magistracy in the regular cursus honorum; four were elected annually (six after reforms introduced under Caesar), two plebeian and two patrician (the latter termed "curule aediles"). They were in charge of the fabric of Rome, the marketplace, and public games. They had no imperil/m.

Augury: The practice of divination by several means, such as looking at the sky, birds, or interpreting omens.

Auspices: The reading of the gods' attitude toward a project by five means, including looking at the sky, birds, the sacred chickens feeding, or the behavior of four-legged beasts. All public business had to have favorable auspices in order to proceed. Since auspices lasted 24 hours, failure to secure favorable auspices on one day could be reversed the next.

Barbarization: Term for the growing presence and prominence of Germanic peoples in the western empire during the Late Empire.

Boni ("The Good Men"): A self-styling of the conservative senators, it denoted right-thinking, "decent" men in the senate who respected the traditional ways of doing things.

Capitecnsi ("Head Count"): The lowest social class in the Roman citizen census; having no property to declare to the censors, they were counted by their heads alone. hence the name. They were grouped into a single century in the comitia centuriata and voted last, if they got to do so at all (since voting stopped when a majority was reached).

Censors: Two magistrates elected every five years for an eighteen-month tenure of office. They counted citizens, assigned them to their classes, reviewed the register of senators and public morals, and let contracts for tax collection and public construction. They had no imperil/m.

Clientela ("c1ientship"): The social system of binding high and low families together by ties of granting favors and meeting obligations. Originated in the Regal Period.

Colony: Rome started settling colonies of Latins and citizens early, as a means of securing territory. Eventually "colony" became the highest status a subject

community (whether founded by Rome or not) could attain, whereby all freeborn male inhabitants became Roman citizens.

Comitia ("assembly"): Term applied to the Roman popular assemblies convened for voting on a law: the Curiate Assembly (comitia curiata); Centuriate Assembly (comitia centuriata); Tribal Assembly of the People (comitia populi tributa); and Tribal Assembly of the Plebs (comitia plebis tributa) a.k.a. the Council of the Plebs (collcilium plebis). All voting was done in blocks as appropriate for each assembly.

Consul: Chief annually elected Republican magistrate; two elected each year; top powers in political, judicial, and military spheres. They had the greatest imperil/m in the state.

Cursus honorum ("run of offices"): Enforced order of office holding in Republican Rome, based on criteria of wealth, age, and experience. The order of ascent was quaestor (or tribune of the plebs) => aedile (optional) => praetor => consul. Ex-consuls could also become censors or dictators, and patrician exconsuls could be elected as interreges.

Debt-bondage: The archaic system of ensuring cheap labor for the landowning gentry. In return for subsistence, poorer citizens became indentured servants of the landowners. One of the main issues that generated the Struggle of the Orders.

Dictator: Extraordinary magistracy instituted in crises. A dictator was appointed by a magistrate and suspended the normal government of Rome. He had no colleague but appointed an assistant called the Master of Horse (magister equitum). He held office for six months or until he had completed his specific task. A dictator had the combined imperium of the suspended consuls and was so entitled to twenty-four lictors.

Dominate (domillus, Latin for "master"): The term sometimes applied to the autocratic system of rule founded by Diocletian and also to the period of its operation (AD 284-476). The term is used chiefly to distinguish it from the Principate, as established by Augustus.

Donatism: Heresy popular in Africa in fourth and fifth centuries AD. It disputed the right of "traitors," Christians who complied with pagan demands for the burning of Scripture during the Great Persecution (AD 299-311), to be full members of the Church.

Editor: One who put on gladiatorial and related spectacles at personal expense for the entertainment of the commoners.

Epigraphy: The study of inscriptions (on any surface) that derive directly from the ancient world.

Faction: Term applied to politically allied groupings in Republican senatorial politics. Applied later to the four chariot-racing teams (white, blue, green, red) and their supporters.

Fasces: Bundles of rods carried by lictors as marks of a magistrate's imperil/Ill. Outside Rome an ax was added to the rods to symbolize the magistrate's ability to order either corporal or capital punishment.

Fasti: Lists of annual consuls kept at Rome and other towns, usually in the forum. Later, notable events were added under their appropriate years, making surviving fasti (mostly from Italian towns) valuable witnesses to events.

Freedman (Latin, libertus): A former slave raised to the status of citizenship upon manumission but still bound to the owner as a client.

Gallia (Gaul): The Roman name for the Celtic-controlled sector of mainland western Europe. It was divided into two parts, Callia Transalpina ("Gaul across the Alps") comprising France, Belgium, Gallia Cisalpina ("Gaul this side of the Alps"), in the Po Valley in north Italy. Both regions eventually came under Roman control.

Gens (plural, gentes): Normally translated as "clan," this refers to groupings of aristocratic families that seem to have their origin in the Regal Period.

Hellenism, Hellenization ("Hellas," the Greek word for "Greece"): The process whereby features of Greek culture were adopted by another culture in a variety of spheres. The Hellenization of Rome started early (sixth century BC at the latest) but increased in pace following direct contact with the Greek mainland in the second and third centuries Be.

Hellenistic Period/Kingdoms: Name given to the period after Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC; it ended in 31 Be. the year when Ptolemaic Egypt fell to Rome. The kingdoms into which Alexander's eastern empire divided and which existed in this period are termed "Hellenistic."

Imperial Period: Habitual designation for the period from Augustus to the "fall" in the fifth century, so covering the period 31 BC-AD 476. Usually subdivided into the Early Empire (Augustus-Nerva), the High Empire (Trajan-Severans), and the Late Empire (third-fifth centuries).

Imperiuml: Originally this term meant the "power of command" in a military context and was conferred on kings and, later, on consuls and praetors (and dictators). It was also used to denote the area over which the Romans had the power of command, and hence came to mean "empire" in a territorial sense.

Interpretatio Romana ("the Roman meaning"): The process in paganism of identifying newly encountered deities with established Roman divinities, such as the Punic Melqart with the Roman Hercules.

Interrex (plural, interreges): Extraordinary Republican magistracy elected when no consuls were in office. Interreges had to be patrician and held office for five days in order to conduct consular elections. They could be replaced after five days by another five-day interrex, this process continuing until consuls had been elected. They had no imperium.

Latin Rights (ius Latii): A half-citizenship conferred by Rome on deserving allies and colonists. Latin Rights embraced all the privileges and obligations of full citizenship minus the right to vote or stand office (though "naturalization" was possible by moving to Rome itself).

Lictors: Officials who carried the fasces in public as the badges of a magistrate's imperium. The number of lictors reflected the magistrate's relative level of imperil/m: six each for praetors (two when in Rome); twelve each for consuls; and twenty-four for dictators (but before Sulla, only twelve when in Rome).

Ludus: Any place of training or basic education, especially a gladiatorial training school.

Maiores ("elders, ancestors"): The influential and important ancestors of leading Roman families and of the state as a whole. Roman conservatism frequently looked to the mos maiorum ("the way of the ancestors") for examples and guidance.

Manus ("hand, authority"): An important concept in Roman domestic relations, the term denoted the authority-as represented by the hand and what was in it-wielded by fathers over their dependents, husbands over wives, owners over slaves, and so on.

Manumission ("release from authority"): The ceremony of freeing a slave.

Municipia ("township"): This technical term fluctuated in meaning over the centuries but basically described a township under Roman rule in which the freeborn inhabitants had Latin Rights or, later, full citizenship. Eventually it came to denote any self-ruling Italian community, and many provincial ones as well, that was not a citizen colony.

Mystery cults/religions: Predominantly eastern cults in which a select group of initiates went through secret rites about which they were sworn to secrecy (hence the "mystery") and thereby entered into a special relationship with the deity concerned (e.g., Mithras, Isis). A major rival to Christianity, such cults became very popular in the west in the second and third centuries AD.

Names, Roman: The full citizen's name usually had three elements: the praenomen (identifying the individual; very few were in general use), the nomen (identifying the "clan"), and the cognomen (identifying a family within a clan). Extra names (usually heritable) could be accumulated through adoption or as honorific titles, or as nicknames.

Oligarchy: "Rule by a few" selected usually on the basis of birth (aristocracy) or wealth (plutocracy) or a combination of the two. From the Greek oligos ("few") and arche ("1eadership").

Optimates ('The Excellent Men"): Term applied initially to broadly conservative senators who favored the traditional role of the senate at the state's helm. Eventually, it applied especially to die-hard conservatives, who opposed each and every departure from traditional procedure.

Order (ordo, the Latin word for "rank"): The term applied to the various social classes of citizens organized by status. Over the long course of Roman history five Orders appeared: Patrician, Plebeian, Senatorial, Equestrian, and Decurional.

Pax deorum: Term used to describe the desirable modus vivendi between gods and humans, it was maintained by proper ritual observance.

Paterfamilias ("father of the family"): The legal head of the Roman family, he was the eldest living male and wielded patria potestas ("the fatherly power") over all who lived under his roof.

Pontifex Maximus: chief priest of pagan Rome.

Populares ("Men of the People"): Term applied to (usually young) politicians who followed the lead of Ti. and e. Gracchus and employed the tribunate and plebeian assembly to implement their political agenda. Popu/ares. therefore, drummed up support by backing "popular" measures (land distributions, cheap or free grain, debt relief, etc.) and tended to adopt a strongly anti-senate posture.

Praetor: Second highest annually elected Republican magistracy. Originally assistants to the consuls, six were elected each year by 150 BC, with two more added by Sulla. They carried out judicial, political. and military functions. They had imperium. but lesser than that of the consuls.

Praetorian Guard/Prefect: Originally a special detachment of soldiers who guarded the CO's tent (praetorium) in an army camp, the term was adopted for the imperial guard of the emperor in Rome. Formed by Augustus and discreetly billeted in towns around Rome, they were barracked in a single camp on the outskirts of the city by Tiberius in AD 23. They numbered from 9,000-16.000 men, depending on the emperors' inclination. They played some role in imperial politics (it has often been exaggerated), killing some emperors (e.g., Gaius [Caligula]), elevating others (e.g., Claudius. Otho and Didius Julianus). Their commander. a prefect of Equestrian status. could be a person of great influence. as was the case with Sejanus under Tiberius or Macrinus, who himself became emperor in AD 217-218. They were disbanded by Constantine in AD 312.

Principate: Term used to describe both the imperial system established by Augustus and the period of its operation (27 BC-ca. AD 284).

Prodigia: Unasked-for signs from the gods, usually in the form of extraordinary or supernatural occurrences.

Publican; (literally "public men"): Term used to denote companies of (usually) equestrian members who purchased public contracts let by the censors. The most powerful were the tax collectors, who competed for contracts for particular regions, thus leaving those regions open to widespread abuse and extortion.

Quaestor: Most junior magistracy in the cursus honorum, ten were elected annually. They had financial duties and no imperium.

Regal Period: The period when kings ruled Rome, traditionally dated 753-509 Be.

Republican Period: Traditionally dated 509-31 BC, this long period of oligarchic rule by senate and magistrates is often subdivided into the Early Republic (down to 264 BC and the First Punic War), Middle Republic (264-133 BC). and the Late Republic (corresponding to the Roman Revolution, 133-31 BC).

Romanization: Modern historians' term for the process of making previously uncivilized regions into Roman ones (although it can be applied also to the adaptation of urbanized cultures to the Roman way).

Senate: Council of Roman aristocratic advisors, first to the kings, then to the magistrates of the Roman Republic, and finally to the Emperors. Its origins are obscure.

Senatus consultum (ultimum) ("[final] decree of the senate"): Advice issued by the senate to magistrates; it was not legally binding. The "final" (ultimum) decree was essentially a declaration of martial law first issued in 121 BC amid the disturbances surrounding e. Gracchus' attempt for a third tribunate and the last was issued when Caesar invaded Italy in January 49 Be.

Tribe: A grouping of Roman citizens defined by locality (like a parish or county). There were originally only three tribes (hence the name, derived from the Latin tres, meaning "three"), but the number of tribes increased with Roman expansion and was eventually set at 35 (4 urban, 31 rural).

Tribune of the Plebs: Not technically a magistrate, this was the officer attached to the Tribal Assembly of the Plebs; his title derives from the tribal organization of this assembly. He had to be plebeian, was sacrosanct and could not be harmed while in office, was entrusted with looking after the interests of the plebs and could convene discussion sessions (contiones) or voting sessions (comitiae) of the plebs. His most important power was a veto on meetings of all assemblies and the Senate and on all legislation.

Triumvirate: Latinate term applied to any board of three men empowered to carry out some task (e.g., Ti. Gracchus' land commission). Usually applied (technically incorrectly) to the pact between Crassus, Pompey and Caesar formed in 60 BC (the so-called First Triumvirate). The Second Triumvirate comprised of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus and was legally instituted in 43 Be.

Venatio ("the hunt"): Wild beast hunt and/or animal fights that constituted the first installment of the developed gladiatorial spectacle.