peace for a
             few decades, then another Punic War erupted. Rome prevailed again, obliterating
             During the next two centuries the Roman Empire expanded rapidly, gobbling up
             many of the territories once ruled by Alexander the Great, including Greece, Asia Minor,
             Syria, and Egypt. While venturing out to rule the Mediterranean world, Rome also
             defined its own civilization and polity. Reluctantly, the city extended its prized
             citizenship widely to other Italian towns and downward to social classes previously
             In 60 BC a triumvirate (three-man executive board) consisting of Gaius Julius
             Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus led Rome. In 67 BC the
             statesman and general Pompey the Great, who had fought the Marian party in Africa,
             Sicily, and Spain, cleared the Mediterranean of pirates and was then put in charge of the
             war against Mithridates. Meanwhile his rival Gaius Julius Caesar rose to prominence
             ...