The
Persian Empire had existed for many centuries when the Middle Ages
began. It had been reassembled following the conquest by Alexander
in the 4th century BC and the subsequent break-up of his empire in
later 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.
Dark Age
Feudal Age
Castle Age
Imperial Age
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 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.
The
Persian Empire had existed for many centuries when the Middle Ages
began. It had been reassembled following the conquest by Alexander
in the 4th century BC and the subsequent break-up of his empire in
later centuries. The Persians had been fighting the Romans since the
3rd century AD.
