Towards One World: Ancient Persia And The West

by Ball Warwick

• ISBN13: 9781566568227
• ISBN10: 1566568226
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-01
• Publisher: Interlink Pub Group Inc

Summary

The Persian Empire was the first major Eastern power to actually extend its borders into Europe. The Persians arrived in the 6th century BC as a great power seeking to incorporate parts of southeastern Europe as provinces into a centrally ruled and administered empire. While Persia's foothold in Europe was brief, and the contact is usually viewed in terms of conflict (the Greco-Persian wars, the conquests of Alexander, the numerous wars between Rome and Iran), Europe's interaction with ancient Persia was neither short-lived nor conflicting: it was the beginning of a complex relationship between East and West that continues to this day. This book explores that relationship in detail.

Author Biography

Warwick Ball is a Near Eastern archaeologist and author who has carried out excavations, architectural studies and monumental restoration in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and elsewhere. He is currently director of Eastern Approaches, a special-interest cultural tours company specializing in the East. Author of many books and articles on the history and archaeology of the region, his book Rome in the East: the Transformation of an Empire, was winner of the James Henry Breasted History Prize in 2000. Born in Australia, Warwick Ball now lives in Scotland.

Table of Contents

Series Introduction	p. vii
Preface and Acknowledgements	p. ix
Maps and Plans	p. xii
List of Plates	p. xiii
Introduction. Which Way West?	p. 1
The Legacy of Cyrus. The Iranian Background	p. 13
Persians and Greeks. The Beginnings of a Complex Relationship	p. 29
The Ionians Beyond The Sea. The Graeco-Persian Wars	p. 47
The Demon King. Alexander of Macedon's Invasion	p. 67
An 'Iranistic' Age. Neo-Persian Kingdoms and a would-be Empire	p. 91
Two Super-Powers. Recovery, Expansion and the War that Changed the World	p. 117
Light and Darkness. Iranian Religious Ideas	p. 136
The Shadow of Zoroaster. Iranian Religion in Anatolia and Armenia	p. 155
The Dualist Challenge. Manichaeans, Paulicians, Bogomils, Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade	p. 170
An Iranian World. Conclusion	p. 191
Notes	p. 202
Bibliography	p. 210
Index	p. 217
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