SocietyThe Middle East
The Sasanian empire
Persia restored, and Rome's equal for four centuries
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The rock relief at Naqsh-e Rostam shows the emperor Valerian kneeling before Shapur I, the only known case of a Roman emperor taken captive. The academy at Gundishapur gathered Greek, Indian and Persian learning and was a direct forerunner of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. The two empires exhausted each other in a final war — and both lay open when the Arab armies came.
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The Sasanians restored the Persian empire and were Rome's principal adversary for four centuries. They even took a Roman emperor prisoner. Their court culture — music, chess, garden design — later influenced both Islamic and European culture.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org