2nd Century Timeline: Events, People and History

Events in the 2nd Century 13

753 BC – 476 The Roman Civilisation The Roman civilisation — kingdom, republic and empire — shaped Western law, language, architecture, religion and governance more profoundly than any other ancient civilisation. From the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus in 753 BC to the deposition of the last western emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476 AD, Rome endured for over twelve centuries, governing at its peak an empire of 70 million people stretching from Scotland to Mesopotamia.
300 BC – 1279 Chola dynasty (South India) A great maritime and temple-building power The Cholas of the Tamil south were one of the longest-ruling dynasties in history, rising from the Sangam age to a medieval maritime empire that projected naval power across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia. They built magnificent temples such as the Brihadeeswarar at Thanjavur and patronised bronze sculpture and Tamil literature.
300 BC – 300 Yayoi period Rice farming, bronze and iron arrive from the mainland The Yayoi period brought wet-rice cultivation, bronze and iron metallurgy, and the potter's wheel to Japan from Korea and China. These innovations drove population growth and the emergence of stratified society and local chieftaincies — the foundations of the Japanese state.
247 BC – 224 Parthian Empire Persian revival; rival of Rome The Parthian (Arsacid) Empire restored native Iranian rule and became Rome's great rival in the east for nearly five centuries, its famed horse-archers and cataphracts repeatedly checking Roman expansion — most notably annihilating Crassus's legions at Carrhae in 53 BC.
202 BC – 220 Han Dynasty The golden age that defined what it means to be Chinese The Han dynasty ruled for over 400 years and is considered China's first golden age. It consolidated Confucianism as state ideology, expanded the empire into Central Asia, and opened the Silk Road. Paper was invented during the Han period. The ethnic majority of China still call themselves "Han people" after this dynasty. It fell to internal rebellion and warlordism — giving rise to the Three Kingdoms period immortalised in Chinese literature.
96 – 180 The Five Good Emperors — Rome at its peak The reigns of Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180) are considered the zenith of Roman imperial governance. Each (except Nerva) was adopted by his predecessor on merit rather than blood — the adoptive succession that Gibbon believed made this "the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous." The empire reaches its greatest territorial extent under Trajan.
98 – 117 Trajan — greatest territorial extent Trajan, born in Spain — the first non-Italian emperor — expands the empire to its greatest territorial extent. He conquers Dacia (modern Romania, 101–102, 105–106 AD) and campaigns in the east, briefly annexing Mesopotamia. Trajan's Column in Rome records the Dacian campaigns in 2,662 figures spiralling around 23 scenes. He is the only emperor the Senate accorded the title "Optimus Princeps" — best of emperors. He also conducts the largest building programme since Augustus: markets, forum, column, harbour at Ostia.
117 – 138 Hadrian — the consolidator Hadrian abandons Trajan's eastern conquests, recognising they are indefensible, and devotes his reign to consolidating and fortifying the empire's frontiers. He builds Hadrian's Wall across northern Britain (122–128 AD) — 73 miles of stone — and travels personally to almost every province. A passionate philhellene, he rebuilds Athens and completes the temple of Olympian Zeus. He reorganises the bureaucracy, codifies Roman law and builds the Pantheon — still the best-preserved building of ancient Rome, its concrete dome unsurpassed for 1,300 years.
150 Ptolemy — Almagest The geocentric model that dominated for 1,400 years Around 150 AD, Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria published the Almagest, a comprehensive mathematical treatment of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and five known planets using a geocentric (Earth-centred) model. Despite being fundamentally wrong, the Almagest's predictive accuracy was extraordinary and it remained the authoritative astronomical text in Europe and the Islamic world until Copernicus in 1543. Understanding what it got wrong was as important as understanding what it got right.
161 – 180 Marcus Aurelius — philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Five Good Emperors, is the closest approximation to Plato's philosopher-king in history. He writes the Meditations — a private Stoic philosophical diary — while campaigning on the Danube. His reign is dominated by the Antonine Plague (165–180 AD), which kills perhaps five million people across the empire, and continuous warfare on the northern frontier. He breaks the adoptive succession by allowing his son Commodus to succeed him — a decision Gibbon calls the beginning of Rome's decline.
165 – 180 Antonine Plague The Antonine Plague — possibly smallpox or measles, brought back by soldiers returning from the Parthian campaign — spreads across the empire from 165 to 180 AD, killing an estimated two to five million people. At its peak it kills 2,000 people per day in Rome. It weakens the empire's military and economic capacity at a critical moment, reducing the tax base and forcing the recruitment of barbarians into the legions. The physician Galen, who witnesses the epidemic, provides the most detailed surviving ancient account.
180 – 192 Commodus — the gladiator emperor Commodus, Marcus Aurelius's son and biological successor, abandons his father's serious governance for games, vanity and cruelty. He renames Rome "Colonia Commodiana," renames the months after himself, and fights in the arena as a gladiator — a mortal insult to senatorial dignity. He kills hundreds of animals in the Colosseum and bills the treasury for each appearance. He is strangled in his bath on 31 December 192 AD by a palace conspiracy. His death triggers the Year of the Five Emperors (193 AD) and opens the age of military chaos.
193 Year of Five Emperors In 193 AD — the Year of the Five Emperors — Pertinax, Didius Julianus (who buys the throne at a Praetorian auction), Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus and Septimius Severus all claim the throne. Pertinax is murdered after 86 days; Julianus is executed after 66 days; Niger and Albinus are defeated by Severus in civil wars. Severus, a North African from what is now Libya, establishes the Severan dynasty and pointedly honours the memory of Commodus — signalling to the Senate that he despises their opinion.