Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire - Season 1

It is 113 BC. Rome is a republic, a small empire clinging to the rim of the Mediterranean. Though it is a democracy in name and spirit, a man there still 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 a commoner, Marius has a brilliant military mind. To defeat the Cimbri, he 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 and annihilation.

When Roman generals Pompey and Crassus, lead their mighty legions of soldiers and mercenaries into the lands surrounding Italy, neither could anticipate the turmoil caused by one bold mercenary: a Thracian warrior named Spartacus. Spartacus deserts the Roman army, but is captured and enslaved, forced to fight as a gladiator. Then in 73 BC, the untamable barbarian leads a slave revolt of 70,000 gladiators against the Roman Republic. Though the brutal and conniving Roman General Crassus is finally able to suppress the revolt, his rival, the more popular Pompey, takes all the credit, sparking a division within the Republic itself that will ultimately spell its demise.

In 162 AD, Marcus Aurelius inherited a rapidly growing Roman Empire, embroiled in a war on two fronts. But could he bring peace and prosperity back to the Empire?

In the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome is in crisis. Ravaged by civil war and foreign invasions, it now faces an even greater challenge in the new religion of Christianity.

By the end of the 4th century, Romans and barbarians live together uneasily, a situation that often explodes into violence. When Emperor Theodosius enlists the Goths as mercenaries, he relies on his trusted general to lead.