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The Stage is set for a grand epic of war and conquest as Rome grows from a primitive village into a fledgling democracy whose influence spreads throughout the Mediterranean.

What began as an amateur citizens' army becomes the formidable legions that conquered the Western world and beyond. These are the thrilling stories behind the campaigns that brought them greatness.

From Julius Caesar to Caligula, the story of Rome is populated by towering figures who were brilliant, powerful....and, sometimes, deranged!

Rome conquered with the brute force of her military machine, sweeping entire peoples into her empire. With the wars over, the treaties signed, the bodies buried, whether you were a Gaul or a Carthaginian, whether you were from the East or the West, life as you had known it would never be the same again. At its height, the Roman Empire ruled 50 million people as a single civilization. The Roman Empire was the largest and the most enduring of its kind. In "Grasp of an Empire", the viewer will experience the exporting of the Roman world through the glory years of conquest into the stability of the longest peace the world had ever known; The Pax Romana.

Ancient Rome is one of history's most tolerant societies, but a growing air of decadence and a series of bizarre emperors lead to chaos and confusion.

Rome's gripping saga concludes as eccentric rulers, crippling taxes, rampant poverty and weakening borders diminish the Empire's integrity, opening the door to enemy attack and civil unrest.

Letters from the Roman Front

Hidden History