Sasanian army

The armed forces of the Sasanian Empire, organized around aristocratic cavalry and supported by infantry, fortifications, and troops raised across its territories.

Aswaran: The Sasanian Empire’s elite cavalry, recruited chiefly from the landed nobility. These mounted nobles formed the army’s most prestigious and influential fighting force.
Sasanian military organization: The administrative and command arrangements through which the Sasanian state organized military forces. It explains how provincial troops and elite forces could be assembled under imperial command.
Battle of Edessa (260): A battle in 260 in which Shapur I’s forces captured the Roman emperor Valerian. The victory displayed the reach of Sasanian campaigning against the Roman Empire.
Shapur I: The Sasanian king who ruled from 240 to 270 CE and expanded the empire through wars with Rome. His campaigns demonstrated the army’s ability to defeat and capture a Roman emperor.
Roman army: The armed forces of ancient Rome and its successor empire, organized around legions and later diverse regional troops. Roman forces were the Sasanian army’s most persistent and institutionally distinct rival.
Sasanian infantry: Foot soldiers serving in the armies of the Sasanian Empire. Infantry supplemented cavalry in sieges, garrison duty, and field campaigns.
Sasanian military equipment: Weapons, armor, and other gear used by Sasanian soldiers. Equipment shaped the protection and fighting methods of Sasanian cavalry and infantry.
Battle of Dara: A battle in 530 in which Byzantine forces under Belisarius defeated a larger Sasanian army. The engagement reveals the tactical challenges Sasanian forces faced against Roman field armies.
Khosrow I: A Sasanian king who ruled from 531 to 579 CE and pursued military and administrative reforms. His reforms reshaped the state’s capacity to recruit and support armed forces.
Byzantine army: The military forces of the Eastern Roman Empire, which continued after the western empire’s fall. Byzantine armies adapted to Sasanian cavalry and fought them across a shared frontier.

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