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