We use the past simple to describe single completed actions in the past.
We use the past simple for repeated actions.
If the context is clear it is not necessary to give a past time reference.
We use the past simple for actions that hapenned at the same time.
It is used for sequences of actions. Sometimes the actions follow immediately after each other, or one action causes a result.
We use the past simple to describe states in the past.
We lived just outside Oxford in the nineties, but we didn't have a car.
When we got to the junction I took the left turn while Micky took the right.
Silverman ran to the car, jumped in and raced off to the night.
Julius Caesar invaded Bitain in 55BC.
Caesar's troops failed to defeat the indigenous tribes in (55BC).
My brother applied for a visa six times before he got one.