133 BC: Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus elected as a tribune and later, killed in a riot. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was elected tribune, and granted poor Romans more rights, and land won in wars. He was later killed in a riot. 123 BC -- 121 BC: Gaius Sempronius Gracchus elected tribune. He was later killed in a riot The younger brother of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was also elected tribune. He passed many laws which almost completely reformed the system. Like his brother, he tried to grant more rights to the poor in Rome. He was later killed in a riot. The deaths of the two brothers can be paralleled to the deaths of the Kennedy brothers. The two were politicians in the United States of America, strove for equality, and were killed. 104 BC -- 100 BC: Gaius Marius elected consul. Gaius Marius was a novo homo which meant that his family had never held a high office position. He was elected consul for five years to prevent invasions of Germanic tribes. 90 BC -- 88 BC: The Italian allies of Rome sought for more rights. The Italian allies of Rome at the time were dissatisfied with the power they had. They rebelled for more rights. The Romans crushed this rebellion, but due to the number of unhappy Italians, they gave citizenship to almost every Italian. 83 BC: Lucius Cornelius Sulla won a civil war against soldiers and followers of Gaius Marius 82 BC -- 79 BC: Sulla became dictator Sulla became a ruthless dictator. He would write proscriptions, or lists of people to be killed. He eliminated many of his political enemies. After retiring in 79 BC, he died in 78 BC. 73 BC -- 71 BC: Spartacus leads rebellion of slaves Spartacus was a fugitive gladiator (a slave who would fight others as entertainment for citizens). He led a rebellion of farm slaves. This rebellion failed, as Marcus Licinius Crassus crushed it with great difficulty. 70 BC: Consulship of Gnaeus Pompey Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus formed Essentially, a consulship meant that the two rulers would rule as one. The advantage of this was that if one ruler tries to do something outrageous, the other would be there to watch over him and stop him. 67 BC -- 66 BC: Pompey defeated pirates in the Mediterranean Pirates had been a constant worry on the minds of sailors at the time. Pompey gained a lot of popularity by defeating the pirates with large naval and land forces. 66 BC -- 62 BC: Pompey defeated King Mithridates of Pontus King Mithridates had overrun many Roman possessions, and was threatening to invade Greece. Pompey defeated King Mithridates, and added new territory to the rapidly growing republic. 63 BC: Consulship of Marcus Tullius Cicero Today, Cicero is considered the best Roman orator and prose writer ever to live. 58 BC -- 50 BC: Julius Caesar defeated many Gallic tribes Caesar defeated many Gallic tribes and Gaul became a Roman province. He also crossed the Rhine and defeated the Germanic tribes. An expedition was made to Britain. 49 BC -- 45 BC: Julius Caesar and Pompey fight in a large civil war 49 BC -- 45 BC: Julius Caesar and Pompey fight in a large civil war, in which Caesar emerged as the victor. He made himself dictator, and made many reforms, such as creating the Julian Calendar. 44 BC: Julius Caesar murdered and civil war breaks out There were some Romans who did not like the idea of a sole dictator. These included Brutus, one of Caesars most trusted friends. The group of conspirators killed Caesar on the ides (according to the Roman dating system, the "ides" is the 15th) of March. After his death, there was a war between the conspirators and the friends of Caesar. Caesar's friends won and Augustus Caesar, the son of Julius Caesar becomes the dictator. 31 BC: Augustus Caesar defeated Mark Antony Augustus Caesar defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt at Actium. Egypt was added as a territory of Rome. 27 BC: Augustus Caesar agreed to share power with senate This agreement ended the republican government and Rome became an empire.