Around 1600 BC, Rome began as a collection of wooden huts on a group of seven hills near the River Tiber in Italy. By AD 114, it had become the centre of the greatest empire ever known. Yet, less than 400 years later, Rome had been plundered by barbarians, the last emperor in Rome had been deposed and Western Europe entered the Dark Ages. What were the reasons for Rome's spectacular rise and fall? Based on contemporary evidence, this volume explores the great strengths of the Roman Army; the succession of brilliant, shrewd, mad and bad emperors; and the methods used to govern and subdue the provinces. Photographic re-enactments, combined with the text, aim to bring the Roman Empire to life for a 20th-century readership. John D. Clare is the author of the I Was There series, which includes - Pyramids of Ancient Egypt, Knights in Armour, Vikings, Medieval Towns, Christopher Columbus, Industrial Revolution, Ancient Greece, First World War and Italian Renaissance.