سورنا: هژده سال پس از اسپارتاکوس فارسی 1403

Sūrnā Pārthī, in my view, was the greatest military commander in Iranian history in terms of battlefield success and strategic brilliance. Yet he remains relatively unknown not only in the wider world, but even within his own country, where he has not been properly recognized or sufficiently studied. With the loss of nearly all our archived records and historical writings from ancient times, what we know of him today survives largely thanks to the meticulous historiography of our enemies and rivals. Although he was one of the greatest saviors of the nation against the assault of the western superpower, Rome, he has received far less recognition than he deserves.

Some scholars, moreover, consider him the inspiration behind the great legendary hero of Persian literature in the Shahnameh, Rustam Dastan.

The rebellious slave Spartacus, whose far-reaching uprising shook the foundations of the Roman Empire a few years before Sūrnā, is far more widely known across the world, and even in Iran. This is due largely to the attention given to him by Hollywood and the powerful magic of film and television. For me, the motivation to connect these two historical figures was their shared enemy.

For a long time, I had wished to pay a small tribute to this great man of Iranian history. I hope that with this historical novella, I have achieved at least some measure of success in that endeavor.