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Rome was once one of the largest empires in the ancient world. As a huge political entity in human history, it once encompassed most of Europe and turned the Mediterranean into the inner lake of the empire. As the cornerstone of Western civilization, its political system, laws, and military ideas have influenced today. The civilization genes of most modern Western countries can be traced back to ancient Rome. The founding fathers of the United States used the Roman Republic as the founding concept of the country. The residents of the ancient Mediterranean were both afraid of Rome's invincible force and admired Rome's exquisite and elegant civilization system. From a small city on the Tiber River to a territory spanning three continents, the spirit of the Roman nation has engraved the country's rise: they considered themselves the rebirth of Troy and the descendants of Achilles, and their belief in revenge rooted in the myth of the nation's origin urged them to devote all they had to conquering Greece. Old enemies; the Romans admired the virtues of bravery and just laws, and sought glory and spread it to every colony and ally; but they were also flexible, pragmatic and self-interested, turning enemies into friends, and would not refuse to add embellishments to oracles as an excuse to launch just wars. Taking legends-stories-history as the axis, borrowing the pen and ink of the Romans to write about the origin of the expansion of the Roman Empire, and looking for the eternal source of the Roman spirit.

The city-state of Athens gave birth to the origin of democratic politics, achieved trade and naval supremacy on the Aegean Sea, and settled down as an academy of classical culture. It is located in a corner of the Mediterranean world, with a population of only about 200,000, but it has left amazing innovations in every field of human civilization. The genius of the Athenians was cunning, ambitious, and unruly, and their enthusiasm drove the establishment and glory of Athens: the outstanding naval admiral Themistocles, who led the Greeks to defeat the Persian invaders; the eloquent Athenian consul, who was unparalleled among politicians; the wise Alcibiades, who betrayed several times during the Peloponnesian War, and finally died under the arrows of an assassin. Looking beyond the city-state of Athens, Sparta was highly disciplined and warlike, which was completely opposite to the Athenians who advocated pleasure. The Persian Empire was vast and competed with the Athenians for the Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor. The three powers entangled and intertwined, war turned into peace, and then war broke out again. Until Athens' national power declined and it was taken over by Alexander, it became a symbol of civilization in the Western world and the spiritual home of Westerners with its principles of freedom and philosophical ideas. This is the story of a small country changing the world. The Athenians seized the opportunity in the collision of classical civilization and crowned themselves with genius and free ideas.