Cross-cultural: In 1010 CE, Persian poet Firdawsi wrote Shahnamah, the “Book of Kings,” which portrayed Alexander as Sikander, a Persian, and half-brother to Dara, or Darius.

Within days I had signed on as the crew for a documentary about Victor's latest expeditionary adventure: an attempt to chart the course of the Persian Royal Road, the fifth-century B.C. imperial ...