Faced with the spectre of defeat at the hands of the Cimbri barbarian horde in 113 B.C., the Roman Republic must choose between annihilation or a dictatorship that would shake its political foundations to the core.

As the Roman generals lead their mighty legions into the lands surrounding Italy, none of them could have anticipated the turmoil which would be caused by one bold mercenary: Spartacus.

Julius Caesar attempts to annex Gaul and build his reputation while the empire churns with civil war.

Chieftain Arminius uses his Roman military training to slaughter the Roman General Varus's army at Teutoburg Forest.

In 47AD, new emperor Claudius was considered by many to be a village idiot. The only way for him to hang onto his throne was to invade Britannia.

Marcus Aurelius inherits the empire at its peak, but war soon breaks out on two fronts and a plague devastates the population. Marcus' son and successor Commodus eschews the dangerous life of a soldier for a more luxurious existence in Rome.