The Ides of March have passed and as the omens had foreseen, Caesar was murdered. He fell dead on the Senate’s marble after receiving 23 stab wounds, each from the hand of a different conspirator.

The citizens of Rome rise. The Empire is hanging on a thread. Markus Antonius takes the role of the peacemaker. Along with Gaius Octavius and Aemilius Lepidus, he forms a new triumvirate and names the plotters Prefects, giving them amnesty for their crime. The feud simmers down for now.

Unity, though, is fragile. All members of the triumvirate want to prevail—to build their own Empire, increase trade and develop farming for their own profit, win a majority in the Senate and confront Caesar’s murderers. Feuds will force some to scheme against their rivals while faith will lead them to build monuments for the gods.