Fresh from victories in North Africa and Gaul, Julius Caesar reigns amid brutal spectacle until he falls amid bloody riot. Although peaceful under Caesar Augustus, the Imperial capital runs red too soon with the heart-blood of ambition.

From Homer's epics to Alexander the Great's conquests, ancient Greece spreads its cultural and military clout through the Mediterranean and beyond.

For millennia, Egyptian pharaohs such as Akhenaten spur ambitious innovations in science, art and religion that endure as landmark achievements today.

Ruthless and obsessed with immortality, China's First Emperor unites warring states, builds the Great Wall and construct's a breathtaking royal tomb.

Fierce warriors, the Aztecs forge a mighty empire throughout Mesoamerica that flourishes until the reign of Montezuma II and the arrival of Europeans.