People

41–55

Britannicus was the son of the emperor Claudius and Messalina and was originally expected to inherit the principate. After Claudius married Agrippina the Younger, Nero was […]

4 series · 4 books

Cassandra was a Trojan princess and prophetess who is condemned to speak true prophecies that are not believed. She foresees the destruction of Troy and, in […]

1 series · 4 books

1519–1589

Catherine de’ Medici was born into the Florentine Medici family and became queen of France through her marriage to Henry II. After his death she exercised […]

3 series · 4 books

1475–1507

Cesare Borgia was a son of Pope Alexander VI who abandoned a church career to become a military commander and territorial prince. Backed by papal and […]

2 series · 4 books

1720–1788

Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, was the grandson of the deposed James II and the Stuart claimant who led the Jacobite rising of […]

3 series · 4 books

1499–1524

Claude was born in 1499 as the eldest surviving daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany. Her proposed marriage to the future Charles V formed […]

2 series · 4 books

c. 9th century–952

Constantine II was king of Alba in the late ninth and early tenth centuries, ruling during a period of Viking pressure and shifting power across Britain. […]

3 series · 4 books

c. 550–486 BCE

Darius I was the Achaemenid king who consolidated and greatly organised the Persian Empire. He suppressed rebellions, developed imperial administration and communications, campaigned in Scythia and […]

1 series · 4 books

c. 240s–316

Diocletian was Roman emperor from AD 284 to 305 and one of the most important reformers of the later empire. He reorganised administration, taxation and military […]

4 series · 4 books

born 1960

Eleanor Roosevelt was first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 and transformed the role through travel, journalism, public advocacy and direct political engagement. […]

2 series · 4 books