With astounding narrative power,Colleen Mccullough - author of the internationallyacclaimed #1 bestseller THE THORN BIRDS - sweeps the reader into the whirlpool of pageantry, passion, splendor, chaos and earth-shattering upheaval that was ancient Rome. Here is the story of Marius, wealthy but lowborn, and Sulla, an stocratic but, perinfless and debauched - extraordinary men of visionwhose ruthless ambition will lay the foundations of the most awesome and enduring enmpire known to humankind. A towering saga of great events and mortal frailties, it is peopled with a vast, and vivid cast of unforgettable men and women - soldiers and senators, mistresses and wives, kings and commoners - combined in a richly embroidered human tapestrV to bring a remarkable era to bold and breathtaking life.