The 1st century BCE

Africa

1. 🇪🇹ETH

   Ethiopia · Politics & Power · c. 2nd–1st century BCE

   Transition toward Aksum

   D'mt declines and the northern highlands fragment into smaller states, out of which the Kingdom of Aksum would consolidate by the first century CE.

   Cradle of Humankind and the Kingdom of D'mt

   Sources: Kingdom of Aksum (World History Encyclopedia)

Asia

1. 🇦🇿AZE

   Azerbaijan · Formation · c. 1st century BCE

   The kingdom of Caucasian Albania

   The Caucasian Albanians established a kingdom in the eastern Caucasus, much of which overlaps present-day Azerbaijan, before falling under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Persian Empire.

   Gobustan, Caucasian Albania and the land of fire

   Sources: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Country Studies (ed. Glenn E. Curtis) (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

2. 🇯🇴JOR

   Jordan · Culture & Ideas · c. 1st century BCE

   Petra reaches its golden age

   At the height of the incense trade the Nabataeans carved Petra's monumental tomb-temples and engineered an elaborate system of dams, channels and cisterns to sustain a great city in the desert.

   The Nabataeans and the Rose-Red City of Petra

   Sources: Petra (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

3. 🇸🇦SAU

   Saudi Arabia · Culture & Ideas · c. 1st century BCE

   The Nabataeans make Hegra their southern capital

   The Nabataean kingdom extended south and developed Hegra (al-Hijr) as a major caravan city, carving monumental rock-cut tombs that survive as the second-largest Nabataean site after Petra.

   Ancient Arabia and the Caravan Kingdoms

   Sources: Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Madain Salih) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Hegra (Madain Salih) (Saudipedia)

Africa

1. 🇱🇾LBY

   Libya · Politics & Power

   Cyrenaica passes to Rome

   On the death of Ptolemy Apion, Cyrenaica is bequeathed to Rome; Tripolitania likewise comes under Roman authority, opening centuries of prosperity.

   Phoenician Tripolitania, Greek Cyrene and Roman Rule

   Sources: Cyrene, Libya (Wikipedia) · Cyrenaica (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇦🇲ARM

   Armenia · Politics & Power · 95–55 BCE

   Reign of Tigranes the Great

   Tigranes II expanded Armenia until it briefly stretched from the Caspian toward the Mediterranean, taking the title 'king of kings' and making Armenia the strongest state in the Roman East before Roman armies forced his retreat.

   Urartu and the Armenian Kingdom

   Sources: Tigranes II the Great, king of Armenia (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Tigranes the Great (World History Encyclopedia)

Europe

1. 🇷🇴ROU

   Romania · Formation · 1st century BCE

   The Dacian kingdom

   The Dacians built a powerful kingdom in the Carpathian arc, fortified by stone strongholds in the Orastie Mountains with their capital at Sarmizegetusa Regia, the nucleus of Dacian power.

   Dacia and Rome: the Latin foundation

   Sources: Dacia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Asia

1. 🇬🇪GEO

   Georgia · War & Rupture

   Pompey campaigns in the Caucasus

   The Roman general Pompey campaigned in Colchis and Iberia, drawing the Georgian lands into the long contest between Rome and the Iranian empires over the Caucasus.

   Colchis, Iberia and the Land of the Golden Fleece

   Sources: History of Georgia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Colchis (ancient region) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇸🇾SYR

   Syria · War & Rupture

   Pompey annexes Syria to Rome

   The Roman general Pompey ends Seleucid rule and makes Syria a Roman province; its cities prosper and Syria becomes an early heartland of Christianity, with Paul converted on the road to Damascus.

   Aramaeans, Rome and the Glory of Palmyra

   Sources: Syria — history (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Damascus — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇯🇴JOR

   Jordan · Politics & Power

   Pompey creates the Decapolis

   Rome's reorganisation of the East grouped Gerasa (Jerash) and neighbouring Greek-style cities into the Decapolis, a league of self-governing towns that prospered under Roman rule.

   Rome, the Decapolis and Byzantine Christianity

   Sources: Jordan: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jordan: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)

2. 🇵🇸PSE

   Palestine · War & Rupture

   Roman conquest

   The Roman general Pompey took Jerusalem, bringing the region under Roman authority as the province of Judaea.

   Roman, Byzantine, and the Name "Palaestina"

   Sources: Palestine - region, history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇨🇾CYP

   Cyprus · Politics & Power

   Rome annexes Cyprus

   Cyprus was annexed by Rome and organised as a province; under Roman rule the island prospered, with Nea Paphos as its capital and a centre of the celebrated mosaic art later inscribed by UNESCO.

   Roman and Byzantine Cyprus: An Early Christian Island

   Sources: Cyprus: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Paphos (World Heritage List, inscribed 1980) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Asia

1. 🇰🇷KOR

   South Korea · Formation · c. 57 BCE - 1st century CE

   Emergence of the Three Kingdoms

   Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje take shape as the three dominant kingdoms of the peninsula, each later adopting Buddhism and centralized rule.

   Gojoseon and the Three Kingdoms

   Sources: Three Kingdoms period (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Korea (history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇳🇱NLD

   Netherlands · War & Rupture

   Caesar campaigns in the Low Countries

   Julius Caesar's wars in Gaul bring Roman power to the peoples of the Rhine and Meuse delta, opening the region to Roman influence.

   The Low Countries: Romans, Frisians and Medieval Counties

   Sources: Netherlands (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Netherlands in Roman Times (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities))

Europe

1. 🇫🇷FRA

   France · War & Rupture

   Siege of Alesia

   Caesar defeats Vercingetorix, completing the Roman conquest of Gaul.

   Gaul & Rome

   Sources: Battle of Alesia (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Vercingetorix (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇫🇷FRA

   France · Politics & Power

   Gaul becomes Roman

   Gaul is incorporated into the Roman world; Latin, Roman law and cities reshape the land.

   Gaul & Rome

   Sources: France (Encyclopædia Britannica)

2. 🇲🇨MCO

   Monaco · War & Rupture · c. 50 BCE

   Caesar uses the port

   Julius Caesar is recorded as having used the harbour of Monoeci around 50 BCE, a measure of its importance as a Roman anchorage on the Ligurian coast.

   Monoikos: The Harbour of Hercules

   Sources: A port during Greek then Roman antiquity (Government of Monaco (gouv.mc))

Africa

1. 🇪🇬EGY

   Egypt · Colonisation

   Rome annexes Egypt

   After Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony are defeated at Actium, Octavian annexes Egypt as a Roman province, ending the Ptolemaic dynasty.

   Greco-Roman and Byzantine Egypt

   Sources: Ptolemaic Dynasty (World History Encyclopedia)

Africa

1. 🇹🇳TUN

   Tunisia · Politics & Power · c. 29 BCE

   Augustus refounds Carthage

   Carthage is rebuilt as the capital of Africa Proconsularis, a prosperous grain-exporting Roman province.

   Roman Africa, Christianity & the Vandals

   Sources: Africa Proconsularis (Roman province) (UNRV Roman History) · History of Tunisia (Wikipedia)

Europe

1. 🇽🇰KOS

   Kosovo · War & Rupture · 1st c. BCE

   Rome annexes Dardania

   The kingdom of the Dardani in the central Balkans was absorbed by Rome and incorporated into the province of Moesia, with towns such as Ulpiana, Scupi and Naissus as regional centres.

   Ancient Dardania, Rome and Byzantium

   Sources: History of Kosovo (ancient Dardania to the medieval period) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇮🇹ITA

   Italy · Politics & Power

   Augustus and the founding of the Principate

   The Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus, marking the start of the Roman Empire. As first emperor he established the Principate and ushered in the Pax Romana.

   The Roman Republic and Empire

   Sources: The Principate of Augustus (World History Encyclopedia) · Augustus, Roman emperor (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

South America

1. 🇨🇴COL

   Colombia · Culture & Ideas · 1st-8th c. CE

   San Agustin megaliths

   In the upper Magdalena valley, the San Agustin culture carves the largest assemblage of monumental religious statuary in South America, later a UNESCO World Heritage site.

   Goldsmiths and Megalith Carvers

   Sources: San Agustin Archaeological Park (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)