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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. Yet, the armies of ancient Persia have received relatively little detailed attention, certainly in comparison to those of Rome. This work is the first of three volumes that will form the most comprehensive study of ancient Persian armies available. 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 Parthians' famous winning combination of swift horse archers with heavily-armoured cataphract cavalry, also making much use of war elephants, but Kaveh Farrokh interestingly demonstrates that their oft-maligned infantry has been much underestimated. The author, born in Athens, Greece, and expert in ancient Persian languages and military history, has been researching the military history and technology of Persia for a quarter of a century. He draws on the latest research and new archaeological evidence, focussing on the organization, equipment and tactics of the armies that dominated the ancient Middle East for so long"--Publisher's description

COVER -- TITLE PAGE -- ORIGINS OF THE SAVARAN -- SASSANIAN ARMY ORGANIZATION AND REFORMS -- COSTUMES, INSIGNIA, AND COATS OF ARMS -- SUPPORT AND AUXILIARY TROOPS -- SAVARAN DEVELOPMENT, DEPLOYMENT, AND TACTICS -- THE SAVARAN IN BATTLE -- SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FURTHER READING -- THE PLATES -- INDEX -- IMPRINT.

This article examin es recent arch aeolo gical excavations with resp ect to two Parthian reliefs and an examin ation of Parthian blade weap ons (swords, daggers). The first archaeolo gical site examined is the late Parthian or early Sassanian cavalry motif in the town of Koohdasht in western Iran's Lorestan province. The Koohdasht motif is comp arable to late Parthian and ear ly Sassanian cavalry reliefs such as the Parthian relief of Gōdarz II in Bīstūn and Sassanian reliefs such as those of Ardašīr I in Fīrūzābād and the Sassanian cavalry relief panels in Naqš-e Rostam. The second site p ertains to the recent discovery of the Parthian relief at Andika in Khuzestan depicting a Parthian nobleman lying sideways, leaning on his left elbow, as he holds a bran ch with his left hand. The theme of the Andika relief has p arallels with Tang-e Sarvak (B lock II) and the Tina mountain relief in Khuzestan. The third domain, which p ertains to Parthian militaria is an examination of late Parthian swords and daggers housed in the Iran Bastan M useum in Tehran.

The article describes a series of finds of Parthian military items in the graves and crypts of Vestemin in northern Iran. These findings are especially significant as they provide an array of discoveries of military equipment: swords, daggers, spearheads,arrowheads, armor and a possible helmet. This study obliges a revision of Winkelman's observation that "few finds of weapons have been made inside Iran" with respect to Parthian military equipment. In an overall sense, these findings may prove to be as significant to the domain of Parthian military studies as the well-known site of Dura Europos. The excavations have also discovered a coin of Philip the Arab or his son from the earlySasanian era which has assisted the authors' dating of the Vestemin site. The site of Vestemin is not exclusively a burial venue as the site also has defense works as well as a fortress dated the later Parthian era c. 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE).