Empire Rising: A Satirical History, Part VII

Related: See previous installments of "Empire Rising."

Today, my fanciful chronicle of the Roman Republic reaches its climax.

The tale began as Dubbia the Incoherent rose to power, not on his own talents, but through the familiarity of his father's name and the guile of his cohort of handlers -- most particularly, Rove the Spinner and Dickchenius Maximus.

Succeeding Bilious Clintonius, Dubbia won election as consul. He sent his legions to war in Mesopotamia. He won a second election and stood at the pinnacle of power in Rome.

And then it began to unravel.

The war went badly. A natural disaster struck. The people turned on Dubbia and, one by one, his closest allies fell from grace.

Now, with his influence withering and his friends all gone, Dubbia must put his fate in the hands of those who control the fate of all mortals: the gods ...

Panel I (167K GIF)

Panel II (147K GIF)

Panel III (150K GIF)

Note: You can also download a one-page, poster-size version of this strip as a PDF.