Title: From the Seed of the Gods
Description: Examining a circumscribed period of intense contact, conflict and competition between the late Roman Empire in the west, and the Sasanian Persian Empire in the east, this project reconsiders in a cross-disciplinary light those canonical objects of inquiry that shape modern characterizations of the later Roman Empire. Identifying for the first time significant similarities between late Roman and Sasanian court commissions, the project demonstrates how Roman emperors of the late third and early fourth centuries selectively imported, adapted and repackaged aspects of Sasanian ideology and court culture--including elements of palatial design, performative ceremonial and specific iconographies. It is argued that this cultural appropriation was part of an effort to redress the negative image of Roman power propagated by the Sasanian court.