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Location
Capital
Rise to Power
Economy
Religion
Military
Decline and Fall
Information from Encarta
The PersianThe Persian Empire had existed for many centuries when the Middle Ages began. It had been reassembled following conquest of Alexander in the 4th century BC and the subsequent break-up of his empire in following centuries. The Persians had been fighting the Romans since the 3rd century AD.
The Persian Empire stretched from Mesopotamia to India and from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, encompassing the modern nations of Irag, Iran, and Afghanistan. They fought the Romans, and later the Byzantines, for control of modern Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Arabia.
The capital of the Persian Empire was Ctesiphon, called Baghdad today.
During the 3rd and 4th centuries the Romans made several attempts to subdue the Persians. In 364 a peace treaty was signed between the two that allowed the Persians to consolidate their power to the east and north. Beginning with the 6th century, the Persians began attacking the Byzantine Empire in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and modern Turkey. The war between the two powers went back and forth. In 626 the Persians besieged Byzantium itself without success and the Byzantines were able to invade Persia the following year. Peace was made between the two exhausted empires in 628.
The Persians occupied the ancient lands of Mesopotamia and benefited from the agriculture wealth of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Trade between Asia and the Middle East passed through Persia, as it had for thousands of years, providing important revenues. Parts of the Silk Road passed through Persia, as well.
The Persian kings and much of the nobility were Zoroastrians, an ancient religion named after its founder, Zarathustra, called Zoroaster in Greek. This was a monotheistic religion with important concepts that included good versus evil, free will, and posthumous reward or punishment. The good god Ormuzd was constantly struggling with Ahriman, the evil god. At the same time, other religions and heresies were popular within some noble circles and among the masses. Around 500, the northeastern part of the empire completed conversion to Buddhism.
The Persian army relied mainly on heavily armored cavalry who fought with both bows and lances (but without stirrups). They wore chain mail and iron helmets. In their war with the Byzantines, they made extensive use of Arabian mercenaries.
The Persians weakened themselves in their struggle over Asia Minor with the Byzantines. The fighting there had dragged on for over a century when a new threat appeared from an unexpected quarter. The Persians were unprepared for the fury of the Islamic Arabs in the 7th century. The Sassanid dynasty of Persia ended in battle in 636. The Persians did not have a capital with defenses comparable to Constantinople. Muslim conquest of Persia was completed by 651.
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