** Imperial Hubris - Antiquity Edition **
The Eagle and The Lion is a slightly underwhelming exploration of the dynamic between the Roman and Persian empires. While Edward Gibbon’s works offer a more comprehensive description of this period, this book falls a bit short in delivering fresh insights from new research, which can be a disappointment.
However, it does shed light on the limits of our knowledge, especially regarding the Persian empire, acknowledging the gaps in historical understanding. The book interestingly points out how external empires were often leveraged to boost internal prestige and how internal strife was a reliable predictor of external conflicts. Essentially war was never sustainable, but peace was never prestigious.
Two quotes stand out for encapsulating the essence of the book: "The overall pattern is from long periods of peaceful coexistence which, which sometimes broke down. Whether from coincidence, their own agenda, or the side effects of Rome’s lack of internal stability, the era of the Sassanians witnessed far more conflict than that of the Assasids."
Another notable quote is, *“The emperor … looked out on the world certain of the superiority of their empire. Outside was barbarism. … The Persian empire was less barbarous than anyone else, but being more advanced and civilized still left them markedly inferior to Rome. The Sassanians felt much the same about themselves. They were the center of the world, leaders in the struggle between the truth and the lie. The Romans were much less chaotic than other peoples while remaining markedly inferior.” * This passage vividly illustrates the mutual perceptions of superiority, something akin to the US + China today, or US + Japan in the lead up to WWII.