Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire

In the middle of the fifth century, as the Empire fights a losing battle against its formidable barbarian opponents, one Roman named Orestes finds service in the court of Attila the Hun. Schooled in the strategy of his enemy, Orestes eventually makes his way back to Italy, determined to resurrect Rome. Naming his young son emperor, Orestes attempts to purify Rome of her barbarian influences. Yet he soon learns the sad truth, that without barbarians, there is no Rome. After hundreds of years of using the foreign invaders as mercenary soldiers, they outnumber the Romans, and the Empire can’t afford to dismiss them. Though Orestes fights valiantly, he meets his end at the hands of the leader of the barbarian mercenaries, Odacer, an event that spells the end of Rome in 476 AD. The last emperor, just a boy, is sent into exile, and Odacer proclaims there is no need for a new emperor, as the Roman Empire is no more.

By the end of the fourth century, Romans and barbarians live together uneasily in the empire, a situation that often explodes into violence. When Emperor Theodosius enlists the Goths as mercenaries, he relies on his trusted general, the half Vandal, half Roman Stilicho, to ensure the Goths loyalty. But Theodosius uses the Goth soldiers as canon fodder in a civil war, causing them to rebel under the leadership of Alaric, a man they call king. Theodosius dies soon thereafter and leaves the Empire to his two young sons, naming Stilicho as regent in the west. As Alaric seeks to find a home for his people in the Empire and Stilicho fights to protect that empire from new enemies, the two men cross paths, sometimes as allies, sometimes as enemies. But in the end, both will fall victim to Roman prejudice. And the Goths, realizing that Romans want nothing to do with barbarians, will strike back against Rome itself.

Near the end of the third century, civil war has torn the empire apart and left its borders vulnerable to barbarian invasion. Romans living on the eastern and western frontiers, far from Rome, are left to defend themselves, which they do by building their own armies and naming their own emperors. As the Empire divides against itself, one extraordinary man rises from the rank of soldier to become emperor in Rome. His name is Aurelian, and with an unshakeable trust in the sun god, he fights back the barbarians who by now threaten Rome itself. Once he secures the great city, Aurelian pursues the rulers of the splinter empires: an eastern warrior queen and a proud western general. Defeating both, he reunites the empire in five short years, earning the title Restorer of the World. For a moment there is peace. But in 275 AD Aurelian is assassinated; his death is mourned by Romans across the empire, who know too well the scarcity of greatness in their rulers.

It is 162 AD. Marcus Aurelius inherits the empire at its peak. Peace and prosperity have reigned for a hundred years, and the imperial boundaries stretch from the Irish Sea to the sands of Syria. But the greater Rome grows, the bigger a target she becomes. War breaks out on two fronts - in the east and in the north - just as plague takes a terrible toll on the Empire's population. Marcus Aurelius would rather stay home and write about philosophy, but duty dictates that he save the empire. His German wars are a prolonged, bloody quagmire that seem to stretch on without end. But with his death, his long dream of conquering the German lands is lost, when his son, Commodus, fails to pursue the mission, preferring the luxurious life in Rome to the dangerous life of a soldier.

It is 47 AD. The new emperor Claudius has lost the respect of those he seeks to rule. He can only hang onto his throne by waging a spectacular conquest. He chooses Britannia, a legendary land which fascinates and inspires fear in the Romans. Proud and warlike, the Britons use the island's treacherous terrain and dark forests to lure the legions to ruin. Led by magic wielding Druid priests and a charismatic warrior named Caratacus, the Britons resist in the face of the greatest military machine the world has ever known.

It is 60 BC. Over-powerful generals and money corrupts the Roman Republic. The empire churns with civil war, and violence and murder run rampant in the streets. Julius Caesar, desperate for fame and honor, embarks on a brutal decade long campaign to annex Gaul and build his own reputation. His aristocratic rivals try to stop him, but he is an expert manipulator. His propaganda and extravagant victories against bloodthirsty barbarians thrill the public. In 49 BC, he crosses the Rubicon intending to claim his rightful place as the chief man of Rome. It sparks a new civil war that pits him against Pompey the Great and sounds the final death knell for the Republic.

It is 113 BC Rome is a Republic, a small empire that clings to the rim of the Mediterranean. Though a democracy in name and spirit, a man must be rich and from the noble class to hold the highest offices, both political and military. The system has worked well for three centuries. But now a barbarian horde known as the Cimbri smashes through the northern imperial border. One humiliating defeat follows another, with losses of hundreds of thousands of Roman legionaries. Terror grips Rome and drives her into the arms of General Marius. Though he is a commoner, he has a brilliant military mind. To defeat the Cimbri, Marius will transform the Roman army and shake the Republic's political foundations to the core. It is a turning point for the Republic. Faced with the savage Cimbri, Rome must decide between dictatorship or annihilation.