IF ASKED TO DEFINE THE GLORY OF ANCIENT ROME, MANY STUDENTS OF HISTORY WILL INVARIABLY CITE ITS FORMIDABLE MILITARY TROOPS AND ALLEGIANCES, BUT THE SHARPER OBSERVER WILL REALIZE THAT THE EMPIRE''S PROWESS LAY IN ITS CITY DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING, FROM ITS AQUEDUCTS TO ITS MAJESTIC COLOSSEUM - ELEMENTS THAT PLACED THE CIVILIZATION CENTURIES AHEAD OF ITS TIME. TAKING THIS AS ITS CENTRAL AXIOM, THE HISTORY CHANNEL SPECIAL ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: ROME UNDERTAKES A DOCUMENTARY-STYLE FORAY INTO ANCIENT ROMAN BUILDINGS AND CITY PLANNING, VIA A COMBINATION OF ON-LOCATION FOOTAGE AND CGI ILLUSTRATIONS; ACTOR PETER WELLER (FIRSTBORN) HOSTS, TELLING THE STORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE FROM A STRUCTURAL STANDPOINT, FROM JULIUS CAESAR''S ASCENSION IN 55 B.C. TO THE EMPIRE''S FALL IN 537 A.D. NATHAN SOUTHERN, ALL MOVIE GUIDE