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The Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE)

The Sasanians ruled Iran from 224 to 651 CE. They fought Rome and Byzantium for four centuries, made Zoroastrianism a state religion and left a model of kingship, law and court culture that later Islamic states copied.

Period224–651 CE
CoversThe last pre-Islamic Persian empire

Pages in this era

  1. The Origins of the Sasanian Family
  2. Ardashir I, Founder of the Sasanian Empire
  3. Firuzabad: Ardashir’s Round City
  4. Shapur I, King of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran
  5. Bishapur: Shapur’s City
  6. The Battle of Edessa and the Capture of Valerian
  7. The Ka’ba-ye Zartosht Inscription of Shapur I
  8. Mani and Manichaeism
  9. Hormizd I and Bahram I
  10. Kartir and the Zoroastrian Church
  11. Bahram II
  12. Narseh and the Peace of Nisibis
  13. Shapur II the Great
  14. Julian’s Invasion of Persia (363)
  15. Christians in the Sasanian Empire
  16. Shapur III and the Partition of Armenia
  17. Yazdegerd I
  18. Bahram V Gur
  19. Yazdegerd II
  20. The Battle of Avarayr (451)
  21. The Hephthalites and Iran’s Eastern Frontier
  22. Peroz I and the Hephthalite Disaster
  23. Kavad I
  24. Zamasp and Kavad’s Return
  25. Mazdak and the Mazdakite Movement
  26. Khosrow I Anushirvan the Just
  27. The Sasanian–Byzantine Wars of the 6th Century
  28. The Battle of Dara (530)
  29. Khosrow I Sacks Antioch (540)
  30. The Lazic War (541–562)
  31. The Reforms of Khosrow I
  32. The Academy of Gondishapur: History and Legend
  33. Borzuya, Chess and Kalila wa Dimna
  34. Taq Kasra: The Arch of Ctesiphon
  35. The Sasanian Conquest of Yemen
  36. The Sasanians and the Western Turks
  37. Hormizd IV
  38. Bahram Chobin’s Rebellion
  39. Khosrow II Parviz
  40. The Last Great War: Byzantium and Persia, 602–628
  41. The Siege of Constantinople (626)
  42. Heraclius Strikes Back
  43. Shirin: Queen and Legend
  44. Shahrbaraz, the General Who Became King
  45. Civil War and the Queens Boran and Azarmidokht
  46. Yazdegerd III, the Last Sasanian King
  47. The Sasanian Army
  48. Sasanian Society and the Class System
  49. Zoroastrianism under the Sasanians
  50. Sasanian Art: Silver, Reliefs and Silk
  51. The Sasanian Reliefs of Naqsh-e Rostam
  52. Taq-e Bostan
  53. Sasanian Cities, Palaces and Bridges
  54. Middle Persian (Pahlavi) Language and Literature
  55. Sasanian Coins and Silverwork
  56. Women in the Sasanian Empire
  57. Polo, Hunting and Games at the Sasanian Court
  58. The Sasanian Legacy

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