Dominic Sandbrook

Right.

And just to remind people, this is modern day Turkey, basically, that we're talking about.

So to give people just a sense, just if you think about looking at the map, we are talking about an empire that started in modern day Iran and that has swallowed up

iraq which is where babylon effectively was that's right isn't it tom and anatolia which is sort of inland turkey and has also taken the turkish coast which is inhabited by greek speakers so it is a vast empire

So the account that we have comes from Darius himself.

And how much of it is true is impossible to say.

But it basically begins with Cambyses going mad, doesn't it?

He goes mad and he becomes incredibly jealous of...

of bardia and has him put to death so far so standard kind of game of thrones style was the roses fraternal jealousy but now there's a tremendous twist which i'm looking forward to hearing you explain

Yeah, you don't have to be a tremendous sceptic to think that actually what was happening was that he had planned a coup himself and he organises the murder of these two brothers, right?

Yeah, because I think the sword in the thigh accident.

Come on, that's, yeah.

He accidentally, what is it?

He accidentally stabbed yourself in the thigh with it.

And he does it partly because he's a brutal and ruthless man, right?

He does what needs to be done.

You know, he's a serious person to use our favorite terminology.

With his caviar from Maxim's or whatever it was.

Yeah, and Princess Anne.

Princess Anne, yeah.