"In the closing years of the third century B.C., the ancient world watched as the Roman armies maintained clear superiority over all they surveyed. But Rome also faced an internal situation that endangered the supremacy across the expanse of the Empire.

Social turmoil prevailed at the heart of her territories,led by an increasing number of dispossessed farmers, too little manpower for the army, and an inevitable conflict with the allies who had fought side by side with the Romans to establish Roman dominion. Storming the Heavens looks at this dramatic history from a variety of angles."--BOOK JACKET.