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Rome's equal in the East: Zoroastrian Persia from Ardashir to the Arab conquest.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

Sasanian Empire · 224-651 AD
Ērānshahr

The Sasanian Empire

From Ardashir's revival of the Persian empire and Shapur's capture of a Roman emperor through the Zoroastrian state church, the golden age of Khosrow the Just, and the last great war with Byzantium, to the Arab conquest and the death of the last king of kings. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of the last pre-Islamic Persian empire.

224 AD
Ardashir I
1 / 10

The founding of the Sasanian Empire

Ardashir I overthrows the Parthians and proclaims a revived Persian empire ruled from Ctesiphon.

224 AD

Ardashir I
  • Political

    The founding of the Sasanian Empire

    Gold dinar of Ardashir I, founder of the Sasanian Empire
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    Ardashir I overthrows the Parthians and proclaims a revived Persian empire ruled from Ctesiphon.

10 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 224 AD

Full Chronicle

The Sasanian Empire

From Ardashir's revival of the Persian empire and Shapur's capture of a Roman emperor through the Zoroastrian state church, the golden age of Khosrow the Just, and the last great war with Byzantium, to the Arab conquest and the death of the last king of kings. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of the last pre-Islamic Persian empire.

  1. Ardashir I

    • The founding of the Sasanian Empire

      Ardashir I overthrows the Parthians and proclaims a revived Persian empire ruled from Ctesiphon.

  2. Shapur I

    • Shapur I captures the emperor Valerian

      Shapur I defeats and captures the Roman emperor Valerian at Edessa, an unprecedented humiliation for Rome.

    • Mani and the Manichaean religion

      The prophet Mani preaches a new universal faith at the Sasanian court, blending Zoroastrian, Christian, and Buddhist ideas.

  3. Shapur II

    • The long reign of Shapur II

      Crowned in the womb, Shapur II reigns seventy years, recovering territory from Rome and firmly establishing Zoroastrian orthodoxy.

  4. Crisis and Reform

    • The revolt of Mazdak

      The reformer Mazdak preaches a radical creed of shared property, winning royal favour before a violent backlash.

  5. Khosrow I

    • The golden age of Khosrow the Just

      Khosrow I reforms taxation and the army, patronizes learning, and raises the Sasanian Empire to its cultural peak.

  6. Khosrow I

    • Persia conquers Yemen

      Sasanian forces intervene in southern Arabia and drive out the Ethiopians, extending Persian power to the Indian Ocean.

  7. Khosrow II

    • Khosrow II takes Jerusalem

      In the last great Persian offensive, Sasanian armies seize Syria, Palestine, and Egypt and carry off the True Cross.

  8. Heraclius and Collapse

    • Heraclius turns the tide

      The Byzantine emperor Heraclius strikes deep into Persia, and Khosrow II is overthrown and killed amid civil war.

  9. The Arab Conquest

    • The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah

      Arab Muslim armies destroy the main Sasanian force at al-Qadisiyyah, opening the road to Ctesiphon.

  10. The Arab Conquest

    • The death of Yazdegerd III

      The last Sasanian king is killed at Merv while fleeing, ending four centuries of Persian empire.