The Sasanian ‘Mare Nostrum’: The Persian Gulf

The Romans used the Latin phrase mare nostrum (“our sea”) to describe the Mediterranean as part of the Roman Empire. Using written and archaeological sources, this essay will attempt to show that the Persian Gulf was a mare nostrum for the Sasanian Persians in the same way that the Mediterranean was a mare nostrum for the Romans. The Sasanians considered the Persian Gulf to be part of their empire and made a systematic and continuous attempt to maintain control over it from the beginning of their dynasty in the third century c.e.