Sasanian Empire: A History from Beginning to End

Persia, as Iran was originally known, was an imperial superpower of the ancient world not once but twice, and during its height, it was famed for its culture and learning. First rising to power under the might of Cyrus the Great, the Persian Achaemenid Empire ruled over a vast territory that encompassed the lands of three major early civilizations: Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Nile Valley of Egypt. They dominated the region from 550 to 330 BCE until the armies of Darius III fell t...