Civil wars and despotism: plagued by murderous ambition, Rome's politician-generals turned their armies against each other--and even against Rome herself.(History--Rome) From: The New American | Date: November 29, 2004| Author: Bonta, Steve | COPYRIGHT 2004 American Opinion Publishing, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

This is the fifth installment in a series of articles on the rise and fall of the Roman Republic.

Travelers passing along Rome's Appian Way between Capua and Rome in the spring of 71 B.C. were greeted with a gruesome sight. For mile after mile along the road, festering bodies hung from crucifixes as kites, jackdaws, and other carrion birds picked at the remains. More than 6,000 men had been brutally put to death along Rome's main thoroughfare. They were not common crimin...