c. 508 BC –War between Clusium and Aricia – According toLivy, KingLars Porsena of the Etruscan city ofClusium besieged Rome on behalf ofTarquinius Superbus. The outcome is debated, but tradition states that it was a Roman victory. The Clusians then besieged the Latin town of Aricia, which received support from theLatin League as well as the Greek colony ofCumae and destroyed the Clusian army. Livy doesn't say whether the Romans participated as allies of Aricia, but defeated and surviving Etruscan soldiers were given refuge and medical treatment in Rome. He claimed some who stayed behind were given homes in a neighbourhood later known as the 'Tuscan quarter'.[3]
Battle of Colline Gate (477 BC) – Consul Gaius Horatius Pulvillus has indecisive victory over the Etruscan civilization soon after the Battle of the Temple of Hope.
295 BC –Battle of Sentinum – Romans under Fabius Rullianus and Publius Decimus Mus defeat the Samnites and their Etruscan and Gallic allies, forcing the Etruscans, Gauls, and Umbrians to make peace.
Battle of Cape Ecnomus – A Carthaginian fleet under Hamilcar and Hanno is defeated in an attempt to stop a Roman invasion of Africa by Marcus Atilius Regulus.
Battle of Adys – Romans under Regulus defeat the Carthaginians in North Africa.
255 BC –Battle of Tunis – Carthaginians under Xanthippus, a Greek mercenary, defeat the Romans under Regulus, who is captured.
251 BC –Battle of Panormus – Carthaginian forces underHasdrubal are defeated by the Romans under L. Caecilius Metellus.
Battle of Ager Falernus – Avoiding destruction with deceit, Hannibal escapes Fabius' trap in this small skirmish.
216 BC –
Battle of Cannae – Hannibal destroys the main Roman army of Lucius Aemilius Paulus and Publius Terentius Varro in what is considered one of the great masterpieces of the tactical art.
146 BC –Battle of Corinth – Romans underLucius Mummius defeat the Achaean League forces ofKritolaus, who is killed. Corinth is destroyed and Greece comes under direct Roman rule.
Siege of Uxellodunum –Caesar defeats a holdout city after the Battle of Alesia and cuts both the hands of all the men in the town
Roman–Parthian war of 54–53 BCE. This conflict resulted from theParthian war of succession (57–54 BCE) betweenMithridates IV and his brotherOrodes II after killing their father, kingPhraates III. The Roman invasion of Parthia, commencing in 54 BCE and ending catastrophically at theBattle of Carrhae in 53 BCE, was partially motivated by or justified as supporting Mithridates' claim to the Parthian throne.[6]
25–22 BC –Gaius Petronius' expeditions against Nubia - Roman forces managed to reachQasr Ibrim and northernNubia, capturing several cities, including Pselcis, Primis, Abuncis, Phthuris, Cambusis, Attenia, and Stadissias, then destroyed the city ofNapata (kushite capital) and other cities in retaliation while taking captives. KushitesKandake earns a favorable peace treaty and Romans established a new frontier atHiere Sycaminos (Maharraqa), halting Rome's southward expansion in Africa.
25 BC Siege ofEudaemon - The supporting Roman fleet, after crossing theGulf of Aqaba, occupied and sacked the port ofAden, securing theRoman merchant route to India inRed Sea. However, Roman interests wouldn't be served by a second expedition, becoming clear that certain fringes of the empire (like Nubia or Arabia) could not be won except at greater costs, being careful of further military adventures.
Sub-Saharan Roman expeditions-explorationsRoman expeditions to Lake Chad and the Niger River (19 BC–90 AD): Roman expeditions (two in the western Sahara, two in the central Sahara, and one in the area ofLake Chad) to subdue warring tribes in the area (like the warlike nomadic tribe of theGaramantes who lived in the current region ofFezzan) or to achieve the elimination of taxes on the nomads of the Sahara and plan possible routes of conquest toSub-Saharan Africa, or at least control theTrans-Saharan caravan routes and penetrate into the kingdoms of thepygmies.
83/84 –Battle of Mons Graupius. Romans underGnaeus Julius Agricola defeat theCaledonians and temporally expanded Roman rule north intoCaledonia (modernScotland), establishing the northernmostRoman forts, likeCawdor, Tarradale and Portmahomack. Also, thefleet sailed north and made the first known circumnavigation of Britain, whereupon it was definitely discovered to be an island. It was proclaimed that Agricola had finally subdued all the tribes of Britain,[9] however, the costs of a drawn-out war outweighed any economic or political benefit and it was deemed more profitable to leave the Caledonians to themselves and dismantled Roman fortifications afterSouthern Uplands.[10]
363, 29 May –Battle of Ctesiphon – EmperorJulian defeats Shapur II of Persia outside the walls of the Persian capital, but is unable to take the city.
363, June –Battle of Samarra (363) –Julian fights theSassanids and is subsequently killed in battle. Though indecisive, the battle leads to massive losses for the Roman Empire through a forced peace treaty.
Map showing the paths of invasion by various groups into Eastern and Western Roman territoryReconstruction of the 407–409 sack of Gaul, based on Peter Heather (2005)
406, 31 December – traditional date of theCrossing of the Rhine: a mixed group of barbarians, which purportedly includedVandals,Alans andSuebi, crossed into northern Gaul.[13]
413 –Siege of Massilia – Visigoths underAtaulf were defeated by Romans underBonifacius while trying to besiege the Roman city. They made peace with Rome soon after.
Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422 - The Eastern Roman EmperorTheodosius 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.
Battle of Arelate – The Western Roman EmperorMajorian, with the support ofAegidius andNepotianus, defeated the Visigoths at Arlate. With a treaty, the Visigothic returned all territory in Hispania to the Romans.
461 –Battle of Cartagena – A Vandal fleet surprised and destroyed the Roman fleet.
472 –Siege of Rome -Ricimer, having fallen out with his choice for Roman Emperor, allied with theBurgundians and Germans underOdoacer, defeated and killed the Western Roman EmperorAnthemius.
^Webster, Jane (1996). "Ethnographic barbarity: colonial discourse and 'Celtic warrior societies'.". In Cooper, Nick (ed.).Roman Imperialism: Post-Colonial Perspectives(PDF). School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester. pp. 117–118. Retrieved5 April 2023.
^Tacitus claims that Orkney was "discovered and subdued", but Thomson (2008) pp. 4–5 is as sceptical about Tacitus's claims on behalf of Agricola as he is about Claudius's earlier subjugation of Orkney (see above).