[SolidWood]

This battle was part of the well known war between the Emperors Shapur I. and Valerian, who was defeated and captured by the Persians. (His humiliation was immortalized in stone).

Speaking of religion... of course the Persians were largely Zoroastrians back then (Islam didn't appear until the 7th century, when the Persians were defeated by the Arabs), however Shapur I. himself was close to the Manicheans, a gnostic religion, and a supporter of the Jews.

Roman Emperor Valerian on the other side, in A.D. 258 savagely murdered the clergy of the early Church, including Pope Sixtus, and put many more Christians into slavery, confiscating their property.

These Romans weren't squeaky clean either.

Regarding civilization... the Sassanian Empire was the inventor of countless superior military and civilian technologies that were copied by the Romans and found their way into the European Middle Ages. The medieval Knighthood was a follower of the Sassanians, as were heavy armored cavalry (the Clibanarii), the military rank system (from Persian "rang" (color)) and as a striking example on the field of agriculture, the invention of the wind mill.

[Eternal_Bear]

The Sassanids also killed Gordian and Numerianus (flaying him as well). While it is true that Norman cavalry at Hastings resemble Sassanid heavy cavalry, it might be a stretch to say that Medieval Knighthood was a “follower” of the Sassanids or did you mean “successor”? It is better to say that the Romans copied the Sassanid cavalry model.