'Do you see your son, standing over there, in the antechamber? Well, I am going to shoot him.' The story of the great and mad Cambyses, King of Persia, told by

Around 550 B.C.E. the Persian people--who were previously practically unknown in the annals of history--emerged from their base in southern Iran (Fars) and enga

A significant trend in the study of Greek and Roman historiographers is to accept that their works are to a degree both science and fiction. As scholarly intere

How to destroy a mighty empire: the story of Croesus of Lydia -- Cannibals and conquests: the story of Cyrus the Great -- Horny goats and medicinal urine: the E