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{{Short description|Greco-Roman statesman and historian (c. 155–c. 235)}}
{{About|the historian|the later consul who was a descendant|Cassius Dio (consul 291)}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Lucius Cassius Dio
| image            = Dio Cassius.jpg
| caption          = 17th century illustration of Dio
| birth_date       = {{circa|165 AD}}
| birth_place      = [[Nicaea]], [[Bithynia]]
| death_date       = {{circa|235 AD}} (aged approx. 70)
| death_place      = Bithynia
| occupation       = [[Historian]], [[Roman senator|senator]], [[praetor]], [[proconsul]], [[consul]]
| nationality      = [[Roman people|Roman]]
| subject          = [[History]]
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = ''History of Rome''
| native_name      = {{Nobold|{{Lang|el|Δίων Κάσσιος}}}}
| relatives        = [[Cassius Apronianus]] (father), [[Cassius Dio (consul 291)|Cassius Dio]] (grandchild or great-grandchild)
}}

'''Lucius Cassius Dio''' ({{circa|165|235}}),{{efn-lr|He was named [[praetor]] by [[Pertinax]] (r. 194 AD) and assumed the office in 195 AD. Given that the minimum age for such office was 30, his birth date is given as 165, 164 or 163 AD.<ref name="Swan">{{Cite book |last=Swan |first=Peter Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z27nCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |title=The Augustan Succession: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History, Books 55-56 |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516774-0 |page=1 |access-date=2023-06-02 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205658/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z27nCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Millar>{{cite book |last=Millar |first=Fergus |author-link=Fergus Millar |title=Study of Cassius Dio |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1964 |page=250 |isbn=0-19-814336-2}}</ref><ref name="Scott"/><ref name="Potter"/> Some authors argue that he was born earlier, in about 155 AD, but this is usually not accepted.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Riesner |first=Rainer |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mAqa7PYr4kC&pg=PA167 |title=Paul's Early Period: Chronology, Mission Strategy, Theology |date=1998 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-4166-7 |chapter=Cassius Dio |pages=167–174 |access-date=2023-06-02 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205658/https://books.google.com/books?id=7mAqa7PYr4kC&pg=PA167 |url-status=live }}</ref> He probably died a few years before [[Alexander Severus]]'s death in 235, but there is no way to determine this.<ref name="Swan"/>}} also known as '''Dio Cassius''' ({{langx|grc|Δίων Κάσσιος}} {{Transliteration|grc|Dion Kassios}}), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the [[history of ancient Rome]], beginning with the arrival of [[Aeneas]] in Italy. The volumes documented the subsequent [[founding of Rome]] (753 BC), the [[Roman Republic|formation of the Republic]] (509 BC), and the [[history of the Roman Empire|creation of the Empire]] (27 BC) up until 229 AD, during the reign of [[Severus Alexander]]. Written in [[Koine Greek]] over 22 years, Dio's work covers approximately 1,000 years of history.

Many of his books have survived intact, alongside summaries edited by later authors such as [[John Xiphilinus (historian)|Xiphilinus]], a Byzantine monk of the 11th century, and [[Joannes Zonaras|Zonaras]], a Byzantine chronicler of the 12th century.

==Biography==
Lucius Cassius Dio{{efn-lr|The name "Lucius" is attested by {{AE|1985|821}}. Another inscription ({{AE|1971|430}}) attests "Cl(audius) Cassius Dio", but the extra letter is probably a stone cutter's error.<ref>''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', [https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1415 "Cassius Dio".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184411/https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1415 |date=2021-07-09 }}</ref><ref>Dio's name: ''[[L'Année épigraphique]]'' 1971, 430 = Κλ΄ Κάσσιος Δίων. ''Roman Military Diplomas'', Roxan, 133 = ''L. Cassius Dio''.</ref> Dio is also alleged to have had the {{lang|la|[[cognomen]]}} "Cocceianus", but Alain Gowing argues that the evidence for it is insufficient, and the ascription is a Byzantine confusion with [[Dio Chrysostom]], whom Pliny shows to be named Cocceianus.<ref>{{citation|author=Gowing, Alain|jstor=269480|title=Dio's Name|journal=Classical Philology|volume=85|issue=1|date=January 1990|pages=49–54|doi=10.1086/367176|s2cid=161453524|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/269480|url-access=subscription}}</ref>}} was the son of [[Cassius Apronianus]], a [[Roman senator]] and member of the [[Cassia gens]], who was born and raised at [[Nicaea]] in [[Bithynia]]. [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]] tradition maintains that Dio's mother was the daughter or sister of the Greek orator and philosopher, [[Dio Chrysostom]]; however, this relationship has been disputed. Although Dio was a [[Roman citizen]], he wrote in Greek. Dio always maintained a love for his hometown of Nicaea, calling it "my home", as opposed to his description of his villa in [[Capua]], Italy ("the place where I spend my time whenever I am in Italy").<ref name="Potter">{{Cite book |last=Potter |first=David Stone |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Da6U4NaBMZAC&pg=PA72 |title=The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-395 |date=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-10057-1 |page=72 |language= |access-date=2023-06-02 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205657/https://books.google.com/books?id=Da6U4NaBMZAC&pg=PA72 |url-status=live }}</ref>

For the greater part of his life, Dio was a member of the [[Civil service|public service]]. He was a senator under [[Commodus]] and governor of [[İzmir|Smyrna]] following the death of [[Septimius Severus]]; he became a [[suffect consul]] in approximately the year 205. Dio was also [[proconsul]] in [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]] and [[Pannonia]]. [[Severus Alexander]] held Dio in the highest esteem and reappointed him to the position of consul in 229. Following his second consulship, while in his later years, Dio returned to his native Bithynia, where he eventually died.<ref name="Scott">{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Andrew G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKZTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |title=Emperors and Usurpers: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-087959-4 |page=1 |language= |access-date=2023-06-02 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205658/https://books.google.com/books?id=eKZTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/romanhistoryreig00cass |title=The Reign of Augustus |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-14-044448-3 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/romanhistoryreig00cass/page/n8 1] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Dio was either the grandfather or great-grandfather of [[Cassius Dio (consul 291)|Cassius Dio]], consul in 291.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-521-20159-9 |editor1-last=Martindale |editor1-first=John Robert |volume=I |page=253 |chapter=Cassius Dio |editor2-last=Jones |editor2-first=Arnold Hugh Martin |editor3-last=Morris |editor3-first=J. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/prosopography-later-roman-empire/PLRE-I/page/252}}</ref>

==''Roman History'' {{anchor|Ῥωμαϊκὴ_Ἱστορία}}==
[[File:Vatican, Apostolic Library MS Vatican Greek 1288 fol 2v Cassius Dio Roman History 78.8.6-78.11.1.jpg|thumb|Excerpt (78.8.6-78.11.1) of Cassius Dio's Roman History from a 5th-century manuscript.]]
Dio published a ''Roman History'' ({{lang|grc|Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἱστορία}}, ''Rhōmaïkḕ Historía'') in 80 books in [[ancient Greek language|Greek]], later translated into Latin as the {{lang|la|Historia Romana}}. On the matter of its composition, he writes the following: "I spent ten years in collecting all the achievements of the Romans from the beginning down to the death of [[Septimius Severus|Severus]] [211 AD], and twelve years more in composing my work. As for subsequent events, they also shall be recorded, down to whatever point it shall be permitted me".<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html ''Roman History'', Book 73.23.] [[Loeb Classical Library]].</ref><ref>See also {{Cite book |last=Kemezis |first=Adam M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YkilBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |title=Greek Narratives of the Roman Empire under the Severans |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-06272-6 |pages=282–293 |language= |chapter=The date of composition of Dio's history |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YkilBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |access-date=2023-06-02 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205659/https://books.google.com/books?id=YkilBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The books cover a period of approximately 1,400&nbsp;years, beginning with the tales from [[Roman mythology]] of the arrival of the legendary [[Aeneas]] in Italy ({{circa|1200&nbsp;BC}}) and the founding of Rome by his descendant [[Romulus and Remus|Romulus]] (753&nbsp;BC); as well as the historic events of the [[Roman Republic|republican]] and [[Roman Empire|imperial eras]] through 229&nbsp;AD. The work is one of only three written Roman sources that document the [[Boudican revolt|British revolt of 60–61&nbsp;AD]] led by [[Boudica]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frénée-Hutchins |first=Samantha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pAGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |title=Boudica's Odyssey in Early Modern England |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-17296-3 |page=22 |language= |access-date=2023-06-02 |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602205700/https://books.google.com/books?id=3pAGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |url-status=live }}</ref> Until the first century&nbsp;BC, Dio provides only a summary of events; after that period, his accounts become more detailed.

Dio's work has often been deprecated as unreliable and lacking any overall political aim.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Study of Cassius Dio |last=Millar |first=Fergus |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Lintott, A. |date=1997 |title=Cassius Dio and the history of the late Roman republic |journal=Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=2497–2523}}</ref> Recently, however, some scholars have re-evaluated his work and have highlighted his complexity and sophisticated political and historical interpretations.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cassius Dio: Greek intellectual and Roman politician |editor=Lange, Carsten Hjort |editor2=Madsen, Jesper Majbom |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33531-8 |oclc=964448138}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Cassius Dion: nouvelles lectures |editor1=Fromentin, Valérie |editor2=Bertrand, Estelle |editor3=Coltelloni-Trannoy, Michèle |editor4=Molin, Michel |editor5=Urso, Gianpaolo |publisher=Ausonius |year=2016 |location=Bordeaux}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

===Survey of surviving books and fragments===
The first 21&nbsp;books have been partially reconstructed based on fragments from other works, as well as the 12th-century [[epitome]] of [[Joannes Zonaras]] who used Dio's ''Roman History'' as a main source. Scholarship on this part of Dio's work is scarce but the importance of the [[Roman Republic|Early Republic]] and [[Roman Kingdom|Regal period]] to Dio's overall work has recently been underlined.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Cassius Dio's Forgotten History of Early Rome |author1=Burden-Strevens, C. |author2=Lindholmer, M.O. |editor1-first=Christopher |editor1-last=Burden-Strevens |editor2-first=Mads |editor2-last=Lindholmer |year=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-38455-2 |doi=10.1163/9789004384552 |s2cid=166209848 |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/68939/1/Burden-Strevens%20and%20Lindholmer%2C%20%27Cassius%20Dio%27s%20Early%20Rome%27%2C%20DRAFT.pdf |access-date=2022-04-10 |archive-date=2022-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412005503/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/68939/1/Burden-Strevens%20and%20Lindholmer%2C%20%27Cassius%20Dio%27s%20Early%20Rome%27%2C%20DRAFT.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Books&nbsp;22 through 35, which are only sparsely covered by fragments, were already lost by the times of Zonaras.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/Introduction*.html ''Roman History'', Introduction]. [[Loeb Classical Library]].</ref>

The books that follow, Books&nbsp;36 through 54, are all nearly complete; they cover the period from 65&nbsp;BC to 12&nbsp;BC, or from the eastern campaign of [[Pompey]] and the death of [[Mithridates VI of Pontus|Mithridates]] to the death of [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa]]. Book&nbsp;55 contains a considerable gap, while Books&nbsp;56 through 60 (which cover the period from 9–54&nbsp;AD) are complete and contain events from the defeat of [[Publius Quinctilius Varus|Varus]] in Germany to the death of [[Claudius]].

Of the 20&nbsp;subsequent books in the series, there remain only fragments and the meager abridgement of [[John Xiphilinus (historian)|John Xiphilinus]], a Byzantine monk from the 11th&nbsp;century sponsored by emperor [[Michael VII Doukas]]. The abridgment of Xiphilinus, as now extant, commences with Book&nbsp;35 and continues to the end of Book&nbsp;80. The last book covers the period from 222 to 229&nbsp;AD (the first half of the reign of [[Alexander Severus]]).

===Collections of book fragments===
The fragments of the first 36&nbsp;books have been collected in four ways:

;''Fragmenta Valesiana'': Fragments that were dispersed throughout various writers, scholiasts, grammarians, and lexicographers, and were collected by [[Henri Valois]]

;''Fragmenta Peiresciana'': Large extracts, found in the section entitled "Of Virtues and Vices", contained in the collection, or portative library, compiled by order of [[Constantine VII]] Porphyrogenitus. The manuscript of this belonged to [[Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc]].

;''Fragmenta Ursiniana'': The fragments of the first 34&nbsp;books, preserved in the second section of the same work by Constantine, entitled "Of Embassies". These are known under the name of ''Fragmenta Ursiniana'', as the manuscript in which they are contained was found in [[Sicily]] by [[Fulvio Orsini]].

;''Excerpta Vaticana'': ''[[Excerpta Vaticana]]'' by [[Angelo Mai]] contains fragments of Books&nbsp;1 to 35 and 61 to 80. Additionally, fragments of an unknown [[continuator]] of Dio (''Anonymus post Dionem''), generally identified with the 6th&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE historian [[Peter the Patrician]], are included; these date from the time of [[Constantine I|Constantine]]. Other fragments from Dio that are primarily associated with the first 34&nbsp;books were found by Mai in two Vatican manuscripts; these contain a collection that was compiled by [[Maximus Planudes]]. The annals of [[Joannes Zonaras]] also contain numerous extracts from Dio.

==Content==
An outline of ''Roman History''.

=== Books of ''Roman History'' ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Book !! Description
|-
| '''1'''|| The [[Founding of Rome]].
|-
| '''2'''|| The seven legendary [[King of Rome|Roman Kings]]. The rape of [[Lucretia]] and her suicide, the [[Overthrow of the Roman monarchy]] and the shift towards a Republic.
|-
| '''3'''|| The early [[Roman Republic]].
|-
| '''4'''|| Internal strife between plebes and patricians. [[Roman dictator]] is established as a concept and office.
|-
| '''5'''|| The [[Conflict of the Orders]], paused during times of crisis. [[Roman–Volscian wars|Wars with the Volsci]], [[Roman–Etruscan Wars|Etruscans]], [[Roman-Aequian wars|Aequi]], [[Roman–Sabine wars|and Sabines]], and the treason of [[Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus|Coriolanus]]. The [[Twelve Tables|Laws of the Twelve Tables]].
|-
| '''6'''||The creation of the offices of [[consular tribune]] and of [[Roman censor|censor]]. Wars with the [[Etruscans]], [[Faliscans]], & with [[Veii]]. 
|-
| '''7'''|| War with the Gauls & Latins. The Capitol besieged. Failed coup of [[Marcus Manlius Capitolinus]]. Camillus serves several terms as dictator. 
|-
| '''8'''|| War is fought with the [[Samnites]] and with [[Capua]]. The people's debts are annulled by the tribunes.
|-
| '''9'''|| War is fought with [[History of Taranto|Tarentum]] and [[Epirus]]. Epirus is led by King [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]]
|-
| '''10'''|| Tarentum and Epirus are defeated. Rome intervenes in Volsinii by bolstering the nobility.
|-
| '''11'''||[[First Punic War]]. Creation of Roman navy. Recounting of [[Regulus]]
|-
| '''12'''|| Rome wins the First Punic War. War is fought with the Gauls, the Faliscans, Liguria, Corsica, and Sardinia. Rome begins intervention in Greek affairs.
|-
| '''13'''||Start of the [[Second Punic War]].
|-
| '''14'''||Second Punic War, continues. [[Fabius Maximus]], elected dictator, pursues a policy of attrition.
|-
| '''15'''||Second Punic War continues. [[Battle of Cannae]] &the [[Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BC)|Siege of Syracuse]] & Roman capture of Capua. Death of [[Archimedes]]. 
|-
| '''16'''||Second Punic War continues. [[Scipio Africanus|Scipio]]'s success in Spain.
|-
| '''17'''|| End of Second Punic War and Roman victory. 
|-
| '''18'''||War with [[Philip V of Macedonia]], [[Battle of Cynoscephalae]] leads to Philip's defeat. The Carthaginians incite up the Gauls. [[Cato the Elder]] and his writings.
|-
| '''19'''||Rome's dealings with Greece continued. War with Antiochus. Death of [[Hannibal]] in exile in Bithynia.
|-
| '''20'''||War against Perseus & Dalmatia. Rome's dealings with Rhodes, Cappadocia, Egypt.
|-
| '''21'''||[[Third Punic War]]. Carthage and Corinth destroyed.
|-
| '''22–29'''||The [[Bacchanalia#Bacchanalia scandal|Bacchanalia scandal]]. Wars in Spain, and against the Cimbri and Marsians. Discussion on [[Tiberius Gracchus]].
|-
| '''30–35'''||Beginning of the [[Mithridatic Wars]]. [[Sulla's civil war]].
|-
| '''36'''||The Armenian campaigns. [[Pompey's campaign against pirates]]
|-
| '''37'''||The career of [[Pompey]]. Campaigns against the Asiatic Iberians, the annexation of Syria and Phoenicia, and the [[First Triumvirate]] ([[Crassus]], [[Caesar]], and Pompey).
|-
| '''38'''|| [[Cicero#Exile and return|Exile of Cicero]]. Julius Caesar's first consulate.
|-
| '''39'''|| Gallic War, continued. Caesar crosses into Britain. Ptolemy expelled from Egypt and restored.
|-
| '''40'''||Gallic War, continued. Caesar crosses into Britain a second time. Crassus is defeated and killed. Rift between Caesar and Pompey begins.
|-
| '''41'''|| Caesar and his armies [[Crossing the Rubicon|cross the Rubicon]]. [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)|Battle of Dyrrhachium]], [[Battle of Pharsalus]], Pompey's defeat.
|-
| '''42'''|| Death of Pompey. Caesar given honors in Rome.
|-
| '''43'''||Caesar defeats Scipio and the younger Gnaeus Pompey. Caesar's triumphs celebrated in Rome. Ground is broken for the [[Forum of Caesar]]. The Julian calendar reforms issued.
|-
| '''44'''||Caesar's cult of personality and his murder.
|-
| '''45'''||Caesar's heir [[Octavian]], and his character. The [[Second Triumvirate]] (Octavian, Antony, Lepidus). Rift between Antony and Octavian, and Cicero.
|-
| '''46'''||Octavian's victory over Antony.
|-
| '''47'''|| Rule of the Third Triumvirate. Defeat of Brutus and Cassius at the [[Battle of Philippi]].
|-
| '''48'''||Third Triumvirate continued. Octavian and Antony ally with, then defeat Sextus Pompey.
|-
| '''49'''||Octavian defeats Sextus Pompey and deprives Lepidus of his army and powers. Antony's defeat against the Parthians. Octavian conquers Pannonia. Rome acquires Mauretania.
|-
| '''50'''||Octavian and Antony fight each other, the latter is decisively defeated in the [[battle of Actium]].
|-
| '''51'''||Antony and Cleopatra. Suicide of Antony. Octavian conquers Egypt. 
|-
| '''52'''||Octavian prepares to become the sole ruler of Rome.
|-
| '''53'''||Octavian becomes sole ruler of Rome, and in doing so ushers in the imperial period. Organization of provincial administration is discussed.
|-
| '''54'''|| Consolidation of power by Octavian, now called [[Augustus]]. Roman rule extends to Rhaetia, Noricum, the Maritime Alps, and the Chersonesus.
|-
| '''55'''||Dedication of the Precinct of Livia, the Campus Agrippae, the Diribitorium, the Temple of Mars. Tiberius retires to Rhodes. Augustus' heirs both die young. Empress Livia rises in influence. 
|-
| '''56'''||The Disaster of Varus. Dedication of the Temple of Concord and the Portico of Livia. Death of Augustus and his funeral.
|-
| '''57'''||Tiberius assumes emperorship, his reign and character. Cappadocia becomes Roman. Deaths of Drusus and Germanicus Caesar.
|-
| '''58'''||Rise and fall of [[Sejanus]]. Continuation of Tiberius's reign, his consolidation of his hold on power, and his death.
|-
| '''59'''||Accession and reign of [[Caligula]].
|-
| '''60'''–'''61'''||Accession and reign of [[Claudius]]. Britain conquered. Claudius dies, poisoned by his wife Agrippina. Nero assumes the emperorship.
|-
| '''62'''||[[Agrippina the Younger]] is put to death. Nero's reign includes the revolt of [[Boudicca]] and the [[Great Fire of Rome]]. [[Domitius Corbulo]] conquers Armenia. Seneca's plot and suicide.
|-
| '''63'''||Nero's reign continued, and his suicide. Vespasian begins the [[First Jewish–Roman War]]. The brief reigns of Galba and Otho.
|-
| '''64'''||The reign of [[Vitellius]].
|-
| '''65'''||[[Vespasian]]'s reign. His son Titus captures Jerusalem and destroys the [[Second Temple]], winning the [[First Jewish–Roman War|First Jewish War]]. Vespasian subdues Egypt. Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus rebuilt.
|-
| '''66'''||Upon the death of Vespasian, [[Titus]] assumes the emperorship for two years and his reign. The eruption of Vesuvius that buried Pompeii. 
|-
| '''67'''||The reign and character of [[Domitian]].
|-
| '''68'''||The brief reign of [[Nerva]]. Reign of [[Trajan]]. The [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]] end in Roman victory. Successful campaigns in Armenia and Parthia. A major earthquake centered in Antioch. Trajan dies.
|-
| '''69'''||Trajan's adoptive son [[Hadrian]] succeeds to the throne. His character and interests. Antinous. Hadrian brutally suppresses the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]]. Hadrian's protracted illness and death.
|-
| '''70'''||The reign of [[Antoninus Pius]].
|-
| '''71'''||[[Marcus Aurelius]] assumes the emperorship. The war against Vologaesus in Armenia. Roman bridge-building techniques are discussed. 
|-
| '''72'''||Wars against the Marcomanni and the Iazyges. Cassius's revolt in Syria ends in his death. Character of Marcus Aurelius.
|-
| '''73'''||The reign of Marcus Aurelius' son [[Commodus]] and his character. His assassination.
|-
| '''74'''||The reign and assassination of [[Pertinax]]. [[Didius Julianus]] wins power by purchasing it from the [[Praetorian Guard]]. Julianus's reign, and his assassination.
|-
| '''75'''||[[Septimius Severus]] rise to the emperorship and his suppression of a rebellion.
|-
| '''76'''||Severus defeats Albinus. War in Caledonia, and second siege of Hatra in Mesopotamia: neither one particularly successful. Power of Plautianus, prefect of the city.
|-
| '''77'''||Eruption of Vesuvius. The downfall of Plautianus. Severus's campaign and death.
|-
| '''78'''||[[Caracalla|Caracalla's]] reign as emperor. The wars he fought, his character and his mass killings of Alexandrians are discussed.
|-
| '''79'''||Caracalla falls to Macrinus. Macrinus and his reign. Macrinus' reign primarily occupied with civil war. He is overthrown by Elagabalus.
|-
| '''80'''||The reign of [[Elagabalus]], who is overthrown due to his excesses. [[Severus Alexander]] assumes the throne.
|}

== See also ==
* [[Herodian]]
* [[Roman historiography]]
* [[Severan dynasty]]
* [[Tacitus]]

==Notes==
{{notelist-lr}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box |by=yes |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Cassius Dio |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Aalders |first=G. J. D. |date=1986 |title=Cassius Dio and the Greek World |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4431512 |journal=Mnemosyne |volume=39 |issue=3/4 |pages=282–304 |doi=10.1163/156852586X00446 |jstor=4431512 |issn=0026-7074|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Burden-Strevens |first1=Christopher |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/68939/1/Burden-Strevens%20and%20Lindholmer%2C%20%27Cassius%20Dio%27s%20Early%20Rome%27%2C%20DRAFT.pdf |title=Cassius Dio's Forgotten History of Early Rome: The Roman History, Books 1–21 |last2=Lindholmer |first2=Mads |date=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-38455-2}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Fromentin |first1=Valérie |url=http://books.openedition.org/ausonius/15175 |title=Cassius Dion: nouvelles lectures |last2=Bertrand |first2=Estelle |last3=Coltelloni-Trannoy |first3=Michèle |last4=Molin |first4=Michel |last5=Urso |first5=Gianpaolo |date=2023 |publisher=Ausonius Éditions |isbn=978-2-35613-569-8 |series=Scripta Antiqua |location=Pessac |language=fr, en |trans-title= |display-authors= |display-editors=etal}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hose|first=Martin|author-link=Martin Hose|title=Erneuerung der Vergangenheit. Die Historiker im Imperium Romanum von Florus bis Cassius|trans-title=Renewing the past. Historians in the Roman Empire from Florus to Cassius|series=Beiträge zur Altertumskunde|volume=273|publisher=Teubner|location=Stuttgart/Leipzig|year=1994|isbn=3-519-07494-X}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kemezis|first=Adam M.|title=Greek narratives of the Roman Empire under the Severans. Cassius Dio, Philostratus and Herodian|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=2014|isbn=978-1-107-06272-6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kuhn-Chen|first=Barbara|title=Geschichtskonzeptionen griechischer Historiker im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. Untersuchungen zu den Werken von Appian, Cassius Dio und Herodian|trans-title=Concepts of history among Greek historians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Studies on the works of Appian, Cassius Dio and Herodian|publisher=Lang|location=Frankfurt|year=2002|isbn=3-631-39382-2}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9SYDQAAQBAJ |title=Cassius Dio: Greek Intellectual and Roman Politician |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33531-8 |editor-last=Lange |editor-first=Carsten Hjort |doi=10.1163/9789004335318 |editor-last2=Madsen |editor-first2=Jesper Majborm}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Madsen|editor-first1=Jesper Majbom|editor-last2=Scott|editor-first2=Andrew G.|title=Brill's companion to Cassius Dio|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden/Boston|year=2023|isbn=978-90-04-52417-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Millar |first=Fergus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJVpAAAAMAAJ |title=A Study of Cassius Dio |date=1964 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-814336-9 |language= |author-link=Fergus Millar}}
* {{Cite book |last=Murison |first=Charles L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1N5AAAAIAAJ |title=Rebellion and Reconstruction: Galba to Domitian |date=1999 |publisher=Scholars Press |isbn=978-0-7885-0547-8}}
* {{Cite book |last=Reinhold |first=Meyer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VV5oAAAAMAAJ |title=From Republic to Principate: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History Books 49–52 (36–29 B.C.) |date=1988 |publisher=Scholars Press |isbn=978-1-55540-112-2 |author-link=Meyer Reinhold}}
* {{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Andrew G. |url=https://brill.com/display/title/64486?language=en |title=An age of iron and rust: Cassius Dio and the history of his time |date=2023 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden/Boston |isbn=9789004541115}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Dio Cassius}}
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Dio Cassius |volume=8 |pages=278–279|short=x}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Cassius Dio}}
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/searchresults?q=Cassius&redirect=true Greek text of Dio's ''Roman History''] at the [[Perseus Digital Library]] (Earnest Cary & Herbert Baldwin Foster, [[Loeb Classical Library]], 1914–1927)
* [http://www.poesialatina.it/_ns/Greek/testi/Cassius/Historiae_Romanae01.html Greek text of Dio's ''Roman History''] at Poesia Latina (1914–1927 edition)
* {{Gutenberg author|id=3339|coda=(English translation of ''Roman History'' by Herbert Baldwin Foster, 1905)}}
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html English translation of Dio's ''Roman History''] on [[LacusCurtius]] (1914–1927 edition)
* [http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/Dion/table.htm Greek text with French Translation] ([[Étienne Gros]]{{sup|[[:fr:Étienne Gros|(fr)]]}} and V. Boissée, 1845–1870)
* [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/manuscripts/dio_cassius.htm Dio Cassius: the Manuscripts of "The Roman History"]  at the Tertullian Project
* [[Editio princeps]]: [http://d3seu6qyu1a8jw.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/collections/06/06A25F27-F3B4-4706-B98A-29D554307756.pdf ΤΩΝ ΔΙΩΝΟΣ ΡΩΜΑΪΚΩΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΩΝ ΕΙΚΟΣΙΤΡΙΑ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ: Dionis Romanarum historiarum libri XXIII, à XXXVI ad LVIII vsque] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419025231/http://d3seu6qyu1a8jw.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/collections/06/06A25F27-F3B4-4706-B98A-29D554307756.pdf |date=2014-04-19 }}, Greek text edited by [[Robert Estienne]], Paris, 1548. [http://www.cmog.org/library/n-dio-nos-ro-maiko-n-historio-n-eikositria-biblia-dionis-romanarum-historiarum-libri-xxiii Held] by the [[Corning Museum of Glass]].
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6dp_Se9qCAC Editio princeps of Xiphilinus's Epitome (Robert Estienne, Paris, 1551)] at Google Books

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{{s-off}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Quintus Aiacius Modestus Crescentianus|Q. Aiacius Modestus Crescentianus]]
| before2 = [[Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus|M. Pomponius Maecius Probus]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Roman consul]]
| years = 229
| regent1 = [[Severus Alexander]]
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Lucius Virius Agricola]]
| after2 = [[Sextus Catius Clementinus Priscillianus|Sex. Catius Clementinus Priscillianus]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Bar Kokhba revolt}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:150s births]]
[[Category:230s deaths]]
[[Category:2nd-century Greek writers]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:3rd-century Greek writers]]
[[Category:3rd-century historians]]
[[Category:3rd-century Romans]]
[[Category:Cassii|Dio]]
[[Category:Greek-language historians from the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Historians from Roman Anatolia]]
[[Category:Imperial Roman consuls]]
[[Category:People from Nicaea]]
[[Category:Roman governors of Africa]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:2nd-century historians]]