Mysteries of rulers of Ancient World, Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia in Near East and Middle East involving great empire - Persia (modern Iran) - when the huge region was the centre of world geopolitics. Text is deeply researched in primary and secondary sources. History and legend are set out and distinguished. The period goes up to the Christian Roman Empire of Constantine the Great, and includes key figures - Cyrus the Great, Darius, Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Claudius, Mark Antony, Augustus, Caligula many known to readers. And the story has fascinating intimate and even murderous accounts of competition among the elite, both admirable and incompetent, and even sordid. AUTHOR: Dr Timothy Venning obtained his PhD from King's College, London, published as Cromwellian Foreign Policy (1995). He is a specialist in the history and biography of the 17th century and Cromwell and the English (British) Civil Wars. He has special interest in the history of Parliament and has worked on the Robert Boyle Papers and the History of Parliament Projects for the University of London, the History of Parliament Trust and on biographies of leading figures in Parliamentary history. He has contributed to the New Dictionary of National Biography on leading Civil Wars figures including Secretary John Thurloe and Cromwell's Ambassadors and Council members. Timothy Venning is an established author of academic and general interest histories with many publications for leading publishers including Pen and Sword and Amberley. The present book follows his Cromwell's Failed State and the Monarchy (Pen and Sword). 16 b/w illustrations