Stephen Roman lived through the heart of the twentieth century like an emperor transplanted from feudal Europe. He ruled his family, his farm, his companies, and his Slovak community with absolute, imperial authority....

Roman's deification as an immigrant Horatio Alger who con- verted eight-cent mining stocks into a global empire worth billions, conceals as much as it reveals....

"He was a gambler and a big risk-taker psychologically. He chased things," says one source who requested anonymity. "Otherwise, he would have been just out for the return on investment. The atmosphere at Denison was Let's Go! Bigger and bigger!

Let's contract for twenty years. Let's expand the mine. Let's get bigger equipment. Let's take over Russia like Napoleon. And they did."

- From The Roman Empire