THE ARMIES OF ANCIENT PERSIA: THE SASSANIANS

Author: Kaveh Farrokh

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Year published: 2017

Pagination: 466pp, 41 colour & b/w photos, 11 maps, 10 b/w illustrations

Condition: New in d/w

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Throughout most of the classical period, Persia was one of the great superpowers, placing a limit on the expansion of Western powers. It was the most formidable rival to the Roman empire for centuries, until Persia, by then under the Sassanians, was overwhelmed by the Islamic conquests in the seventh century AD. The Sassanians, the native Iranian dynasty that ousted their Parthian overlords in AD 226, developed a highly sophisticated army that was able for centuries to hold off all comers. They continued the Parthian's famous winning combination of swift horse archers with heavily-armoured cataphract cavalry, also making much use of war elephants