The following is a List of Roman wars and battles[1] fought by the ancient Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire against external enemies, organized by date. For civil wars, revolts and rebellions, see List of Roman civil wars and revolts.
8th century BC
The city of Rome in 753 BC
6th century BC
508 BC Siege by Etruscans (forces in blue) of Rome (forces in red).
3rd century BC
Roman conquest of Italy through the Latin War (red), Samnite Wars (pink/orange), Pyrrhic War (beige), and Punic Wars (green).
Expansion of Rome by 200 BC
1st century BC
Expansion of Rome from 200 BC (green) to 100 BC (orange).
Roman holdings in the East (red), clients (pink), and other nations.
The extent of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after Caesar's conquests.
- Caesar's Civil War (49–45 BC)
- 49 BC, June – Battle of Ilerda – Caesar's army surround Pompeian forces and cause them to surrender.
- 49 BC, 24 August – Battle of the Bagradas River – Caesar's general Gaius Curio is defeated in North Africa by the Pompeians under Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia. Curio is killed in battle.[2]
- 48 BC, 10 July – Battle of Dyrrhachium – Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat by Pompey in Macedonia
- 48 BC, 9 August – Battle of Pharsalus – Caesar decisively defeats Pompey, who flees to Egypt
- 47 BC, February – Battle of the Nile – Caesar defeats the forces of the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII
- 46 BC, 4 January – Battle of Ruspina – Caesar loses perhaps as much as a third of his army to Titus Labienus
- 46 BC, 6 February – Battle of Thapsus – Caesar defeats the Pompeian army of Metellus Scipio in North Africa.
- 45 BC, 17 March – Battle of Munda – In his last victory, Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Gnaeus Pompey the Younger in Hispania. Labienus is killed in the battle and the Younger Pompey captured and executed.
- War with Pontus
- Liberators' civil war (44–42 BC)
- 43 BC, 14 April – Battle of Forum Gallorum – Antony, besieging Caesar's assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, who is killed, but is then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Hirtius
- 43 BC, 21 April – Battle of Mutina – Antony is again defeated in battle by Hirtius, who is killed. Although Antony fails to capture Mutina, Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly thereafter.
- 42 BC, 3 October – First Battle of Philippi – Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's assassins Marcus Brutus and Cassius. Although Brutus defeats Octavian, Antony defeats Cassius, who commits suicide.
- 42 BC, 23 October – Second Battle of Philippi – Brutus's army is decisively defeated by Antony and Octavian. Brutus escapes, but commits suicide soon after.
- Bellum Siculum (42–36 BC)
- Fulvia's civil war (Perusine War) (41–40 BC)
- 41 BC – Battle of Perugia – Mark Antony's brother Lucius Antonius and his wife Fulvia are defeated by Octavian.
- War with the Parthian Empire (40-34 BC)
- Final War of the Roman Republic (32–30 BC)
- Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC)
- Germanic Battles (16–11 BC)
1st century
The Roman Empire under Augustus: The Republic in 31 BC (yellow) and Augustus's conquests (shades of green). Client states are in pink.
3rd century
The Empires of Gaul (green), Rome (red), and Palmyra (yellow) in 271.
See Crisis of the Third Century
- Roman invasion of Caledonia (208-210) - Roman forces led by Septimus Severus invade Caledonia, but are forced to withdraw after suffering heavy casualties.
- Persian wars
- Civil wars
- Gothic and Alemannic wars
- Palmyrene war
4th century
The Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy, with the territory of Constantius (yellow), Maximian (green), Galerius (pink), and Diocletian (purple)
The Roman Empire in 337, showing the Empire under Constantine (shaded purple) and other Roman dependencies (light purple).
The 4th century begins with civil war resulting in the ascendancy of Constantine I, then, after his death, the progressive Christianization of the empire, and wars with Sassanid Persia and Germanic tribes, punctuated frequently with more civil wars.
5th century
Map showing the paths of invasion by various groups into Eastern and Western Roman territory
The 5th century involves the final fall of the Western Roman Empire to Goths, Vandals, Alans, Huns, Franks and other peoples.
- Wars with the Goths (402–419)
- 402 –
- 405 or 406-
- 406
- 409-
- 410, 24 August – Sack of Rome – Visigoths under Alaric sack Rome.
- 413 – Siege of Massilia – Visigoths under Ataulf are defeated by Romans under Bonifacius while trying to siege Roman city. They make peace with Rome soon after.
- Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422 - The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II declared war against the Persians and obtained some victories, but in the end, the two powers agreed to sign a peace on the status quo ante.
- Civil War – 432 – Battle of Ravenna – Bonifacius defeats rival Roman general Flavius Aetius, but is mortally wounded in the process.
- War with the Huns (447–451)
- Fall of the Western Roman Empire (406–476)
- 406, 31 December –
- 419 – Battle of the Nervasos Mountains – Western Romans and Suebi defeat Vandals and Alans.
- 422 – Battle of Tarraco – The Vandal king Gunderic defeat the Western Romans, making the Vandals the undisputed masters of Hispania.
- 425 – Siege of Arles -The Roman general Aëtius defeats the Visigoths under Theodoric I.
- 431 - Siege of Hippo Regius – Vandals under Genseric establish a foothold in Africa, strategically defeating Rome. Saint Augustine dies during the siege.
- 436 – Battle of Narbonne – Flavius Aetius again defeats the Visigoths led by Theodoric.
- 439
- c. 445-450 - Battle of Vicus Helena – Romans under Aetius defeat Franks.
- 455
- 456 –
- 457 –
- 458 –
- 461 –Battle of Cartagena – A Vandal fleet surprises and destroys the Roman fleet.
- 463 – Battle of Orleans – Gallo-Roman and Salian Frank forces under the command of Aegidius defeat a force of Visigoths at Orleans.
- 464 – Battle of Bergamo – Romans under General Ricimer defeat Alan invasion of Italy and kill their king.
- 468 – Battle of Cap Bon - Failure of the invasion of the kingdom of the Vandals by the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
- 469 – Battle of Déols - Visigoths defeat Bretons and Gallo-Romanas under Riothamus.
- 471 – Battle of Arles (471) - Visigothic king Euric defeats the Roman general Anthemiolus, captured Arles and much of southern Gaul
- 472 – Siege of Rome - Ricimer, having fallen out with his choice for Roman Emperor, allies with the Burgundians and Germans under Odoacer, defeats and kills the Roman Emperor Anthemius.
- 476 – Battle of Ravenna – The Germanic foederati led by Odoacer decisively defeat the Western Roman Empire and depose Emperor Romulus Augustulus. Western Roman Empire dissolved. Odoacer declares himself King of Italy.
- 485 – Battle of Mercredesburne – Saxons under Aelle defeat British defenders.
- 486 – Battle of Soissons – Clovis I defeats Syagrius, last Roman commander in Gaul, and annexes the Roman rump state into the Frankish realm.
- c. 500 – Battle of Mons Badonicus – Romano-British defeat Anglo-Saxons decisively, ending their advance into British land. Later connected to King Arthur.
- Battle of Cotyaeum - 492 - The Eastern Rome army under John the Scythian defeats Isaurians under Longinus of Cardala.
6th century and beyond
The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian launched an ambitious reconquest of Italy, North Africa and parts of Spain. However, new invaders like the Avars, Lombards and Slavs, alongside the First plague pandemic and various volcanic winters ended his ambition of recuperate the West and consolidate the reconquest.
By 650 (pictured) the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) empire had lost all its southern provinces, except the
Exarchate of Africa, to the Rashidun Caliphate. At the same time the Slavs invaded and settled in the Balkans. The losses continued in the next century
The Eastern Roman empire adopted the Greek language as official language under emperor Heraclius in 610. The Eastern empire shrunk to Greece and Anatolia, because of Persian, Avar and finally Arab invasions.