ABSTRACT
MUCH has been made in recent scholarly literature of the theory that the Sasanian kings were the initiators of a new idea of Iran, and that this was coupled with a conception of the connection between their patronage of the religion and the cohesion of the empire. The main proponent of this view is Gherardo Gnoli, who has developed it in a number of publications over the past years.1 There is a great deal of truth in this, but one should try to keep a balance. We shall try to point out in the following a number of points which show this theory to be unsatisfactory, or at least incomplete.
