Plot Synopsis

This eight-part series uses modern technology to investigate the lives and deaths of the classical world's most iconic -- and tyrannical -- leaders, including: Cleopatra; Caligula; Nero. Experts from The University of Western Ontario, Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto) and other institutions perform science experiments and medical simulations to shed light on some burning historical questions: Did Cleopatra attempt to woo Mark Antony by dissolving her most prized pearls in the wine she served him? How did Cleopatra poison her brother Ptolemy? If Nero murdered his stepbrother Britannicus (with the help of Locustas), what poisons could they have used and how could they have extracted them? Did Germanicus die from arsenic poisoning?