The Battle of Rome is the second in Colleen McCullough's Lords of Rome series, first published in 1991 (under the title The Grass Crown).The final decades of the Roman Republic. Far beyond its borders, the measured step of the legions of Rome shakes the foundations of great states and plunges their recently powerful rulers into the dust. But even within the borders of the Republic itself there is turmoil: internal strife and uprisings threaten to undermine political stability. The aging and sick Gaius Marius, the famous conqueror of Germany and Numidia, is eagerly awaiting the seventh consular term predicted many years ago, unprecedented in the history of Rome. Mari is ready to step on heads, because it is possible to get the coveted prize only by bypassing unprincipled ambitious people and intriguers of the new formation. But the long-awaited triumph threatens a confrontation with a new and perhaps the most dangerous rival - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was once the right hand of Gaius Marius, burning with a thirst for power.