The Sasanian Empire
A revived Persian empire makes Zoroastrianism a state church.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 276 years
- Known to
- ± 10 years
- Era
- Classical, Holocene
Ardashir overthrows the Parthians in 224 CE and founds a centralised empire that consciously revives Achaemenid memory, with Zoroastrianism as an organised state religion complete with hierarchy and orthodoxy. The Sasanians fight Rome and then Byzantium for four centuries, produce major works of art and engineering, and preserve and translate Greek and Indian learning at Gundeshapur. They are exhausted by the last Byzantine war just before the Arab conquest.