Ancient Egypt

On 2 September 44 BC, Cleopatra VII declared her three-year-old son Caesarion co-ruler of Egypt. It was a masterclass in dynastic survival after centuries of Ptolemaic fratricide - and the very move that sealed the boy's death.

On 24 April 1479 BC, Thutmose III became Pharaoh of Egypt. For the next 22 years, his stepmother Hatshepsut ran the kingdom. When he finally ruled alone, he built the largest empire in Egyptian history — then spent years trying to erase her from it.

On 16 April 1457 BC, Pharaoh Thutmose III won a battle at Megiddo that his scribe recorded in enough detail to reconstruct. Every military history before it is archaeology. This is where the written record begins.