Whether true or not, the battle confirmed Constantine as sole ruler of the Western Roman Empire and a year later Christianity was legally recognised and tolerated by Rome. Chronicles recount Constantine receiving a vision from the Christian god, offering victory if his men decorated their shields with Christian symbols. Two emperors, Constantine and Maxentius, were battling for power. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD is important for its role in the advance of Christianity Roman forces sent to recover what they had taken and kick them out for good were routed.Įmperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus were killed and a humiliating peace settlement was enforced by the Goths, who would be back. A Gothic-led coalition of tribes crossed the Roman frontier, pillaging through what is now Bulgaria. Influxes of people into the Empire from the east were making Rome unstable. The Battle of Carthage in around 149 BC saw Rome finally defeat their Carthaginian rivals Hannibal could not capitalise on his victory with an assault on Rome though, and the massive military reforms the disaster precipitated only made Rome stronger. His brilliant tactics destroyed a Roman army of nearly 90,000 men. Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, surprised everyone by completing an almost impossible land journey to Italy.

The Battle of Cannae in 216 BC was a huge disaster for the Roman army It was the first Roman victory off the Italian mainland.Ĥ. Rome won the day after a long siege, kicking the Carthaginians off Sicily. It was the start of the Punic Wars that would last well into the 2nd century BC. The Battle of Agrigentum in 261 BC was the first major engagement between Rome and Carthage Pyrrhus won, but he lost so many of his best men that he was unable to fight on for long, giving us the term for a fruitless victory. In military historical terms the battle is important as the first meeting of the Roman Legion and the Macedonian Phalanx. Pyrrhus led an alliance of Greeks alarmed by Rome’s expansion into southern Italy.

2nd century ad wars