Rome and Persia

June 26, 2023
In this innovative study, historian and novelist Goldsworthy (Philip and Alexander) examines how the ancient world was shaped by Cold War-like tensions between two superpowers: the Roman Empire and the Parthian and Sasanian Persian empires (which Goldsworthy treats as one continuous political entity—it included at its core modern-day Iran, Iraq, and most of Syria, and encompassed neighboring regions at various points throughout its history). In the first century CE, conflicts between the two empires were often resolved by military actions within frontier kingdoms, which would typically shift allegiances depending on the current strength of their imperial neighbors. During times of direct confrontation, victories and defeats accrued to both sides equally, resulting in an equilibrium of power. By the eighth century, both empires were coping with internal strife and beset by invasions of Goths, Huns, and Turks, who would often ally themselves with one of the superpowers to the detriment of the other. Rome’s relationship with the Parthian and Sasanian Persian empires was the longest and most influential of its existence, Goldsworthy convincingly demonstrates, far outweighing Carthage (a mere 100-year rivalry) in importance. Meticulous yet sweeping in scope, this is a major contribution to the understanding of a significant period in world history.

July 1, 2023
An expert account of a historical rivalry long neglected by popular historians. In his latest lucid work of ancient history, veteran British historian Goldsworthy, author of Pax Romana, How Rome Fell, and other notable books, tells "the story of ancient Rome and its rivalry with the Parthian and Sasanian Persian dynasties that presided over an empire with its heartland in modern Iran. Nowhere else did the Romans share a border with a state anywhere near as large and sophisticated for such a long period of time." Although larger and stronger, Rome never conquered its eastern rival as it had Carthage, and alongside many victories were humiliating defeats. Mostly, however, there was peaceful coexistence. Of course, peaceful coexistence interested ancient scholars far less than war and politics. Goldsworthy works hard to describe the culture, religion, and economic life of ancient Persia, but readers will encounter a steady stream of military campaigns and bloody battles, and many will struggle to remember the names of innumerable kings, would-be kings, and details of dynastic quarrels. A war in the early seventh century ended with Persia's king ruling over more territory than any of his predecessors, but around the year 630, armies of the Prophet Muhammad emerged from Arabia and conquered it in little more than a decade. Readers will appreciate Goldsworthy's accessible prose and critical eye but quickly realize that almost everything is told from Rome's point of view. The author rightly explains that this is unavoidable because Romans (Plutarch, Suetonius, Livy, and others) produced almost all the surviving histories. They were not impartial, but "the peoples who fought against the Romans left no accounts at all." Scattered cuneiform tablets, pottery, rock inscriptions, and coins provide most of the contemporary evidence, with most histories from the Persian perspective written much later during the Muslim dynasties. Nonetheless, Goldsworthy produces yet another illuminating study. A fine historian fills in a major historical blank space.

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