Pericles returns home more than a hero: he's the leader of Athens, the empire's beacon of light. But even during times of peace, the threat of Sparta --- Athens's legendary rival --- looms large on the horizon. When a sudden catastrophe brings Sparta to its knees, Pericles sees a golden opportunity to forever shift the balance of power in his city's favor. For sometimes, the only way to win lasting peace is to wage war. Sparta may be weak, but their power is far from extinguished. Soon a ruthless young boy steps forward to lead the Spartans back to greatness. As the drums of battle draw closer, can Pericles rise to victory once more --- or will the world's greatest empire fall under his watch?

After the gods, after the myths and legends, came the world of men --- and in the front rank stood Pericles. Enter Pericles, the Lion of Athens. Behind him lies the greatest city of the ancient world. Before him stands the ferocious Persian army. Both sides are spoiling for war. But Pericles knows one thing: to fight a war you must first win the peace. It’s time for a hero to rise. For his enemies to tremble. And for a city to shine like a beacon.

Under Darius the Great, King of Kings, the mighty Persian army --- swollen by 10,000 warriors known as The Immortals --- have come to subjugate the Greeks. In their path, vastly outnumbered, stands an army of freeborn Athenians. Among them is a clever, fearsome and cunning soldier-statesman, Xanthippus. Against all odds, the Athenians emerge victorious. Ten years later, Xanthippus watches helplessly as Athens succumbs to the bitter politics of factionalism. Trust is at a low ebb when the Persians cross the Hellespont in ever greater numbers in their second attempt to raze Athens to the ground. Facing overwhelming forces by land and sea, the Athenians call on their Spartan allies for assistance --- to delay the Persians at the treacherous pass of Thermopylae.

In the year 937, the new king of England, a grandson of Alfred the Great, readies himself to go to war in the north. His dream of a united kingdom of all England will stand or fall on one field --- on the passage of a single day. At his side is the priest Dunstan of Glastonbury, full of ambition and wit (perhaps enough to damn his soul). His talents will take him from the villages of Wessex to the royal court, to the hills of Rome --- from exile to exaltation. Through Dunstan's vision, by his guiding hand, England will either come together as one great country or fall back into anarchy and misrule.

401 BC. In the ancient world, one army was feared above all others. The Persian king Artaxerxes rules an empire stretching from the Aegean to northern India. As many as 50 million people are his subjects. His rule is absolute. Though the sons of Sparta are eager to play the game of thrones. Yet battles can be won --- or lost --- with a single blow. Princes fall. And when the dust of civil war settles, the Spartans are left stranded in the heart of an enemy’s empire, without support, without food and without water. Far from home, surrounded by foes, it falls to the young soldier Xenophon to lead the survivors against Artaxerxes’ legendary Persian warriors.

King Edward of York has been driven out of England. Queen Elizabeth and her children tremble in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. The House of Lancaster has won the crown, but York will not go quietly. Desperate to reclaim his throne, Edward lands at Ravenspur with a half-drowned army and his brother Richard at his side. Every hand is against them, every city gate is shut, yet the brothers York go on the attack. But neither sees that their true enemy is Henry Tudor, now grown into a man. As the Red Dragon --- “the man of destiny” --- his claim to the throne leads to Bosworth Field and a battle that will bring an end to the Wars of the Roses.

Winter, 1461: Richard, duke of York, is dead. King Henry VI is still held prisoner. His Lancastrian queen, Margaret of Anjou, rides south with an army of victorious northerners, accompanied by painted warriors from the Scottish Highlands. With the death of York, Margaret and her army seem unstoppable. Yet in killing the father, Margaret has unleashed the sons. Edward of March, now duke of York, proclaims himself England’s rightful king. Factions form and tear apart as snow falls. Through blood and treason, through broken men and vengeful women, brother shall confront brother, king shall face king. Two men can always claim a crown --- but only one can keep it.

In 1437, the Lancaster king Henry VI ascends the throne. Nicknamed “The Lamb,” Henry is famed more for his gentleness than the battlefield exploits of his father. A secret truce with France sparks revolts across England, and the rival House of York sees the chaos as an opportunity to oust an ineffectual king. King Henry and his supporters find themselves besieged abroad and at home. Who or what can save the kingdom before it’s too late?

Intrigue and treachery roil the vast Mongol nation as the heirs of Genghis Khan fight for control of his unprecedented empire --- and of his mighty armies. But only one man, dismissed by all the others, will boldly rise to the challenge with the courage and vision to forge the future, and with the strength to be called...CONQUEROR.