Rome And Persia At War

This book focuses on conflict, diplomacy and religion as factors in the relationship between Rome and Sasanian Persia in the third and fourth centuries AD. During this period, military conflict between Rome and Sasanian Persia was at a level and depth not seen mostly during the Parthian period. At the same time, contact between the two empires increased markedly and contributed in part to an increased level of conflict. Edwell examines both war and peace – diplomacy, trade and religious contact – as the means through which these two powers competed, and by which they sought to gain, maintain and develop control of territories and peoples who were the source of dispute between the two empires. The volume also analyses internal factors in both empires that influenced conflict and competition between them, while the roles of regional powers such as the Armenians, Palmyrenes and Arabs in conflict and contact between the two "super powers" receive special attention. Using a broad array of sources, this book gives special attention to the numismatic evidence as it has tended to be overshadowed in modern studies by the literary and epigraphic sources. This is the first monograph in English to undertake an in-depth and critical analysis of competition and contact between Rome and the early Sasanians in the Near East in the third and fourth centuries AD using literary, archaeological, numismatic and epigraphic evidence, and one which includes the complete range of mechanisms by which the two powers competed. It is an invaluable study for anyone working on Rome, Persia and the wider Near East in Late Antiquity.

The first modern account of the conflict between the eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian kingdom. Greatrex traces the background to the war, investigating relations between Rome and Persia, the state of Roman defences in the East, and the chaotic situation in Persia at the end of the 5th century. He then examines the sources and the war itself, including the development of Roman defences, and the attempts by both powers to secure control of the Transcaucasian kingdoms.

The War of the Three Gods is a military history of the Near and Middle East in the seventh century—with its chief focus on the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius (AD 610–641)—a pivotal and dramatic time in world history. The Eastern Roman Empire was brought to the very brink of extinction by the Sassanid Persians before Heraclius managed to inflict a crushing defeat on the Sassanids with a desperate, final gambit. His conquests were short-lived, however, for the newly converted adherents of Islam burst upon the region, administering the coup de grace to Sassanid power and laying siege to Constantinople itself, ushering in a new era. Peter Crawford skillfully narrates the three-way struggle between the Christian Roman, Zoroastrian Persian, and Islamic Arab empires, a period of conflict peopled with fascinating characters, including Heraclius, Khusro II, and the Prophet Muhammad himself. Many of the epic battles of the period—Nineveh, Yarmuk, Qadisiyyah and Nahavand—and sieges such as those of Jerusalem and Constantinople are described in as rich detail. The strategies and tactics of these very different armies are discussed and analyzed, while plentiful maps allow the reader to follow the events and varying fortunes of the contending empires. This is an exciting and important study of a conflict that reshaped the map of the world. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Late Antiquity was an eventful period on the eastern frontier of the Roman empire. From the failure of the Emperor Julian's invasion of Persia in 363 AD to the overwhelming victory of the Emperor Heraclius in 628, the Romans and Persians were engaged in almost constant conflict. This book, sequel to the volume covering the years 226-363 AD, provides translations of key texts on relations between the opposing sides, taken from a wide range of sources. Many have never before been available in a modern language, and all are fully set in context with expert commentary and extensive annotation. For more information please visit the author's supplementary website at http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~greatrex/ref.html

The last great war of antiquity was fought on an unprecedented scale along the full length of the Persian-Roman frontier. James Howard-Johnston pieces together the fragmentary evidence of this period to form, for the first time, a coherent story of the dramatic events, key players, and vast lands over which the conflict spread.

This detailed history of Rome’s relationship with its Persian neighbour from Peter Edwell takes an innovative regional approach and covers the period from the first century BC to the third century AD.

For 700 years, Rome and Persia clashed as the superpowers of the Ancient World. The final phase of their great war is one of the most dramatic, surprising, and critical events in world history. The victor would endure for another eight centuries, the vanquished would fall into oblivion - its religion close to extinguished, its people all but forgotten. By 626, Persia had seized most of the Roman Empire and was on the brink of destroying Constantinople, the city that sheltered the knowledge of Greece and Rome, and the vulnerable western world that would one day inherit it. Then came the most astonishing comeback in military history. Led by the Emperor Heraclius in person, the Romans entrusted their exposed capital to God and marched deep into Persia with almost insane audacity. Hunted by three separate armies, they would somehow have to survive, defeat the great King of Kings, and save Constantinople. The knife-edge contest determined which civilization would survive into the Middle Ages, and thus carved the contours of the modern world. Yet for all its drama and significance, the war and its heroes are little known. Rome, Persia and the War that Shaped the World is an engaging and accessible history that narrates the climactic stages of the war.

Collects and translates such diverse sources as Zosimus, John Malalas, Al-Tabari and Moses of Chorene, to give us a picture of this complex, fraught period of Roman history.