Sasanian Persia: Between Rome and the Steppes of Eurasia

ISBN-13: 9781474401012 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 288 str.

Eberhard Sauer

Opis

The Sasanian Empire (3rd-7th centuries) was one of the largest empires of antiquity, stretching from Mesopotamia to modern Pakistan and from Central Asia to the Arabian Peninsula. This mega-empire withstood powerful opponents in the steppe and expanded further in Late Antiquity, whilst the Roman world shrunk in size. Recent research has revealed the reasons for this success: notably population growth in some key territories, economic prosperity, and urban development, made possible through investment in agriculture and military infrastructure on a scale unparalleled in the late antique world.

Our book explores the empire's relations with its neighbours and key phenomena which contributed to its wealth and power, from the empire's armed forces to agriculture, trade and treatment of minorities. The latest discoveries, notably major urban foundations, fortifications and irrigations systems, feature prominently. An empire whose military might and culture rivalled Rome and foreshadowed the caliphate will be of interest to scholars of the Roman and Islamic world.

Spis treści

List of Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Notes on Contributors; Series Editor’s Foreword; Introduction, Eberhard W. Sauer; Sasanian cities: archaeological perspectives on the urban economy and built environment of an empire, St John Simpson; Palaeoecological insights into agri-horti-cultural and pastoral practices before, during and after the Sasanian Empire, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Morteza Djamali, Valérie Andrieu-Ponel, Philippe Ponel, Jacques-Louis de Beaulieu, Abdolmajid Naderi-Beni and Eberhard W. Sauer; Animal exploitation and subsistence on the borders of the Sasanian Empire: from the Gorgan Wall (Iran) to the Gates of the Alans (Georgia); Marjan Mashkour, Roya Khazaeli, Homa Fathi, Sarieh Amiri, Delphine Decruyenaere, Azadeh Mohaseb, Hossein Davoudi, Shiva Sheikhi and Eberhard W. Sauer; The Northern and Western Borderlands of the Sasanian Empire: Contextualizing the Roman/Byzantine and Sasanian Frontier, Dan Lawrence and Tony J. Wilkinson; Connectivity on a Sasanian frontier: Route systems in the Gorgan Plain of north-east Iran, Kristen Hopper; The Sasanian Empire and the East: A summary of the evidence and its implications for Rome, Warwick Ball; Minority Religions in the Sasanian Empire: Suppression, Integration, and Relations with Rome, Lee E. Patterson; A Contested Jurisdiction: Armenia in Late Antiquity, Tim Greenwood; Cultural contacts between Rome and Persia at the time of Ardashir I (AD 224-240), Pierfrancesco Callieri; Innovation and Stagnation: Military Infrastructure and the Shifting Balance of Power between Rome and Persia, Eberhard W. Sauer, Jebrael Nokandeh, Konstantin Pitskhelauri and Hamid Omrani Rekavandi; The Arabian Frontier: A Keystone of the Sasanian Empire, Craig Morley; The India Trade in Late Antiquity, James Howard-Johnston. ?