People

Marcus Aurelius Cleander was a freedman who rose to exceptional power in the household of the emperor Commodus. As chamberlain and political broker, he was accused […]

1 series · 3 books

1456–1486

Margaret of Denmark became queen of Scots through her marriage to James III in 1469. Her father’s inability to pay the full dowry led to the […]

1 series · 3 books

1515–1560

Mary of Guise was a French noblewoman who became queen of Scots through marriage to James V and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. Widowed in […]

2 series · 3 books

1496–1533

Mary Tudor, Queen of France, was the younger sister of Henry VIII and briefly queen consort of Louis XII of France. Her later marriage to Charles […]

3 series · 3 books

173–238

Maximinus Thrax was a career soldier of likely Balkan origin who became Roman emperor in AD 235 after troops murdered Severus Alexander. He spent most of […]

1 series · 3 books

c. 1370–c. 1330 BCE

Nefertiti was the principal wife of Akhenaten and a major figure of the Amarna Period. Art shows her participating unusually closely in royal ritual and government, […]

1 series · 3 books

Nestor was the aged king of Pylos and counsellor among the Greek commanders at Troy. In Homeric epic he is valued for experience, memory and persuasive […]

1 series · 3 books

67 BCE–12 BCE

Octavia the Younger was the sister of Octavian and wife of Mark Antony. Her marriage was intended to stabilise the alliance between Antony and Octavian, and […]

2 series · 3 books

Orestes was the son of Agamemnon who avenges his father by killing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. His pursuit by the Furies and eventual trial transform a cycle […]

1 series · 3 books

1815–1898

Otto von Bismarck was the Prussian statesman who engineered German unification through diplomacy and wars against Denmark, Austria and France. As the first chancellor of the […]

2 series · 3 books