Rome: Power & Glory Episode Rating Graph

Rome fashioned a cultural template that resonates today in Western art, architecture, medicine and urban planning. As the Roman Empire grew, this pagan model blended with a host of beliefs reflecting the multi-cultural world it encompassed. From this mix emerged Christianity, by its very nature at odds with the deeply rooted values of Roman Culture. Romans thought they had united the world. But after centuries of conquest and glory, resentment festered within. Repression and chaos replaced tolerance and order; and the gap between the wealthy and the poor had become unimaginably wide. Indeed ninety-five percent of the population struggled beneath the poverty line. Cults of dissent emerged that threatened to divide the empire forever. "Cult of Order" aims to track the corruption of the values that made Rome 'great'; as excellence gave way to excess.

In her early years Rome was a Democratic Republic, its military an army of Roman citizens. For centuries, it was the proud duty of every landowning Roman to serve in the name of the Eternal City, indeed this was the first army that was literally built as part of the fabric of the state. Even though these citizen soldiers were not professional fighting men, they were the best trained forces the world had ever seen. These Roman soldiers had begun as defenders of their city, they became the most successful warriors in history. They conquered city after city, nation after nation, Rome was the greatest empire the world had ever known. In their brutal grasp, they held a huge expanse together for more than 1,000 years. "Legions Of Conquest" is a saga of proud men and almost unending triumph. It's the story of the conquest of the Roman Empire.

Two thousand years ago, one civilization held the entire Western world in its grasp. From Northern Europe to Africa and the Middle East. It imposed laws, ideas and a single language. Rome was the super power of the ancient world. Indeed later super powers never stopped learning the lessons of her spectacular rise and fall. Rome truly was a colossal empire. During the rise of the Roman Empire, it was not always easy to separate virtue from vice, or hero from villain. Indeed, all too often, they were one and the same. Rome was still an adolescent discovering who it wanted to be, and its dream of greatness was a prelude to a nightmare. It was not for another 100 years that the state would mature and commit to one enduring view of itself. It would be the army, more than any other force that was destined to shape Rome's lasting identity.

Rome seemed to own the world. Her empire stretched from Scotland to the Sahara. Her army controlled three continents. Fifty million people lived under her laws. Rome's Empire was the greatest political prize the world had ever seen. "Seduction of Power" is the story of those who would do anything to win it. The same political system that had created the magnificent monuments of the Roman Empire, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Forum and provided "bread and circuses" for all, would prove a breeding ground for self-interest, assassination and civil wars. The same highly-disciplined Legions that had conquered an area of more than two million square miles would dissolve into warring factions, be turned against Rome's own citizenry and in the end, prove unable to maintain the expanse of its conquests.