Cambyses of Persia (ruled 530 - 522 BC), sometimes known as Cambyses II, was the first Achaemenid Persian ruler. He was the eldest son of Cyrus the Great, the powerful Persian emperor who subdued his own grandfather and overlord Astyages the Mede in 550 BC, comandeering his huge Median Empire. The Babylonian Empire came in 539 BC, which gave Cambyses his first taste of real power. Cyrus deposed Nabonidus, the last Babylonian king, as he did not attend the hugely important public festival of Akitu, and installed Cambyses as a propaganda tool.
His rule of Babylonia was not particularly successful, and barely lasted a year before he resigned. Speculation suggests he then became Satrap (Governor) of Bactria, a region in modern-day northern Afghanistan - though this is not a unanimous assumption. Tragedy - and opportunity - knocked in 530, when Cambyses great father was killed in battle. He was suddenly emperor of one of the world's largest-ever empires. He immediately married an influential courtier's daughter, and two of his sisters, to consolidate the throne.
Titus Flavius Vespasianus was born on 17 November 9 AD. He became emperor of the Roman empire at 69 AD until his death in 79 AD. Born in the Sabine countryside around Rome in Falacrina near Reate, Vespasian went into the army and served in Thrace in 36 AD. He quickly rose through the ranks and became praetor in 40 AD. His marriage to Domiciliary the Elder produced the sons Titus and Domitian. After Domitilla's death Vespasian lived with his mistress Caenis.
He was part of the army under Claudius who invaded Britannia in 43 AD and he distinguished himself by capturing and invading several British forts and towns, including those at the Isle of Wight and Exeter. This earned him a triumphal regalia when he returned to Rome.
Vespasian also served as consul twice and was stationed in Africa for some time. In 66 AD Nero appointed him to command the war in Judaea in order to quell the Jewish revolt. This campaign was in mid-flow when Nero committed suicide and Rome was thrown into a political crisis, with the year of the four emperors in 69 AD. Galba, Otho and Vitellius quickly followed Nero, but none of them lasted longer than a few months. Vespasian was declared emperor and had the army's backing in 69 AD. He then resumed his campaign in Judaea, which culminated in the sack of Jerusalem.
Claudius I was also known by the full name Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus . He was born on the 1 August 10 BC and died on 13 October 54 AD, ostensibly from eating poisoned mushrooms (which may or may not have been purposefully poisoned). He became the fourth emperor of Rome on 24 January 41 AD and ruled until his death. He was born in Lugdunum in Gaul (modern-day Lyon in France) into the Julio-Claudian family. His mother was Antonia Minor and father Drusus.
Claudius was married four times. The first two marriages were to Plautia Urgulanilla and Aelia Paetina. When he married for the third time it was to Valeria Messallina, who became infamous as a nymphomaniac and adulterer. Claudius had her executed for bigamy in 48 AD and the following year married his niece, Agrippina the Younger. Agrippina already had a son, whom she persuaded Claudius to adopt – this was to be Claudius's future heir, Nero.
Mark Antony, or Marcus Antonius as he was known at the time, was a hugely influential Roman general and politician, who became embroiled in one of the empire's greatest scandals when he founded an illicit affair with the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. He was a staunch ally of Julius Caesar, who along with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus formed the three powerful throngs of what modern historians now call the Second Triumvirate. And he would suffer a tragic fate, when he was defeated by Octavian Augustus at the Battle of Actium and committed suicide alongside his famous lover.
Cyrus the Great ruled ca. 600 BC or 576 – August 530 BC. He was also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, and was the first Zoroastrian Persian Shahanshah (Emperor). He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, which was an empire without precedent— a world-empire of major historical importance.
Under his rule the empire embraced all previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly, and he eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest empire the world had yet seen.
Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. By pursuing a policy of generosity instead of repression, and by favouring local religions, he was able to make his newly conquered subjects into enthusiastic supporters.
This is clearly demonstrated with the discovery of the Cyrus Cylinder, which has a detailed account by Cyrus of his conquest of Babylon and his subsequent humane treatment of his conquered subjects. This cylinder has been hailed as the world's first declaration of human rights. There are also a range of Jewish texts, plus extensive writings by Xenophon, which lead Cyrus generally to be more admired as a liberator than a conqueror.
Born Ying Zheng in 259 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang was the son of the king of the Qin state. A formidable and ambitious young man, he succeeded his father's regality at the age of 13 and assumed full power at 22 by ridding himself of the premier Lu Buwei, who acted as regent while he was a minor. His vision to unify and subjugate states like Han, Wai, Chu Zhao, Yan and Qi by the political, economic and military strength of the Qin state was realised 221 BC when he established the first ever centralised empire in Chinese history. This was the birth of the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC), and as its first emperor, Ying Zheng proclaimed himself "Qin Shi Huang" - 'Huang' meaning emperor and 'Shi' meaning first.
In a bid to consolidate and stabilise the nascent empire, Qin Shu Huang brought in a raft of reforms, including autocratic control of the regions, bypassing the lower echelons of government. In economy he prioritised agriculture and commerce and introduced tax reforms. In his cultural overhaul he unified the Chinese characters in writing in order to promote the development of the Chinese culture.
