The Persian Empire was the first major eastern power to physically extend its borders into Europe. But of all the peoples from the East who entered Europe, the Persian presence appears the most short-lived, covering little more than sixty years. Europe s contact with ancient Persia, therefore, appears little more than an incident with no long-lasting effect and of little overall importance. This contact, however, was fundamental - the beginnings of a complex relationship between Persia and the peoples to its west that continues to this day. The main peoples with whom the Persians came into contact were the Greeks. The Graeco-Persian wars are often viewed as the beginnings of a perceived east-west struggle that has continued under various guises to the present day. This book seeks to reveal this struggle as a carefully nurtured myth, and both the Graeco-Persian wars and the subsequent conquests of Alexander of Macedon emerge in a very different light. The contact with Persia was as significant for the Romans too. A Neo-Persian kingdom centred on the Black Sea came close to stemming the emerging power of Rome in the first century BC. Persia s relationship with the Roman Empire resulted in a war at the end of antiquity that wrought more change than any other war in history, with a ripple effect from North Africa to China. Before that, Iranian religious ideas profoundly influenced the beginning and spread of Christianity, and later contributed to the greatest religious upheaval in Western Europe before the Reformation. More than anything else, Iran contributed to posterity an idea: in articulating the concept of a single universal creator, ancient Persian civilisation was the first to grope towards the concept of a single universal world that transcends boundaries. The idea of one world remains ancient Persia s single greatest legacy. This is the second of four volumes examining the spread of cultures from the east into Europe.

About the Author

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 specialising 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.