Sasanian Empire · 531-579 AD

Khosrow I: the Sasanian golden age

Khosrow I reformed Persia's taxes and army, fought and made peace with Justinian, crushed the Hephthalites with Turkish allies and welcomed books, scholars and a new game from India: chess. Students explore an empire at the crossroads of Rome, India and the steppe.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 540 to AD 536
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Khosrow I reformed Persia's taxes and army, fought and made peace with Justinian, crushed the Hephthalites with Turkish allies and welcomed books, scholars and a new game from India: chess. Students explore an empire at the crossroads of Rome, India and the steppe.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Sasanian Empire and its frontiers with Rome and the steppe around AD 550.
  • Describe Khosrow I's reforms and his wars and treaties with Justinian.
  • Explain how ideas, books and games traveled through Sasanian Persia.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 540

Two rival empires

Open the map in AD 540 and find the Sasanian Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Which rivers and cities lie on the border between them?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 560

A wall against the steppe

Fly to Derbent on the Caspian Sea. The Sasanians built long stone walls here, from the mountains down to the sea. Who were they trying to keep out?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 536

A dark sky

Set the year to 536, early in Khosrow's reign, and turn on Weather of History. What happened to the climate? How might failed harvests and the plague that followed affect Persia and Rome?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Khosrow fixed taxes based on a survey of the land. Why might both farmers and the treasury prefer that?
  2. He signed an "Eternal Peace" with Justinian in 532 and broke it in 540. Why are peace treaties so hard to keep?
  3. Greek philosophers, Indian books and the game of chess all reached his court. Why would a king welcome foreign learning?
  4. He joined the Turks to destroy the Hephthalites, and the Turks became his new neighbors. Is "the enemy of my enemy" a good friend?
  5. Later Persian and Arab writers remembered Khosrow as the model of a just king. Why do people idealize rulers after their death?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Justinian I in Rule History, Khosrow's great rival. They made an "Eternal Peace" in 532, fought again from 540 and agreed a fifty-year peace in 562. After the round, discuss: would you have trusted Khosrow?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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