Civilisations: Rise and Fall

A look at the demise of the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt

Sophie Okonedo narrates a look at the demise of the Ptolemaic kingdom of ancient Egypt, one of history's most bloodstained dynasties. The 3,000-year-old Egyptian civilisation faced disaster due to civil war between Queen Cleopatra and her brother, while a famine caused by the failure of the Nile's flood cycle and the increasing dominance of Rome threatened its survival