Seduction Of Power (1 of 22)

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.
This is the story of those who would do anything to win it.
It 's a warm spring night in 82 BC, and Rome is struggling to control one of its generals.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla has camped 50,000 soldiers just outside the city to intimidate his opponents in Rome.
Sulla is a cunning politician and a brilliant general.

He's returning from a successful four year campaign in the East, and is used to getting his way.
He meets with the Roman Senate and demands they give his soldiers land as a reward for their conquests.
For the first time in Roman history, a general is bullying the government.
The Senators refuse.
At issue is the very future of the Roman state.
Can Rome's civilian government control the ambition of her generals, or will brute force triumph over the rule of law? That night Sulla posted his answer, lists of his political enemies with cash rewards next to their names.
Sulla had tried to persuade his opponents, now he promised to kill them.
It was a blood bath.
Thousands died.