Cover; Contents; Illustrations; Acknowlegments; Sources and Abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. The Art and Ritual of Kingship within and between Rome and Sasanian Iran; 3. The Lure of the Other and the Limits of the Past; 4. Sapur I, King of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran; 5. Rome's Troubled Third Century and the Emergence of a New Equilibrium; 6. Contested Images of Sacral Kingship and New Expressions of Triumph; 7. Unceasing Embassies; 8. City as Stage and Art as Statecraft; 9. The Late Antique Kosmos of Power; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index; Plates
Summary
This pioneering study examines a pivotal period in the history of Europe and the Near East. Spanning the ancient and medieval worlds, it investigates the shared ideal of sacred kingship that emerged in the late Roman and Persian empires. This shared ideal, while often generating conflict during the four centuries of the empires' coexistence (224-642), also drove exchange, especially the means and methods Roman and Persian sovereigns used to project their notions of universal rule: elaborate systems of ritual and their cultures' visual, architectural, and urban environments. Matthew Canepa expl
