I ponti di epoca sasanide in Iran nel contesto dei contatti culturali tra la Persia e Roma

Bridges are usually considered as one of the most peculiar and distinctive elements of the cultural landscape of Sasanian Iran. Extensive programs of investments in the management of agricultural and hydraulic issues during the Sasanian period resulted in the construction of a significant number of this kind of infrastructures. In the opinion of many scholars, several Sasanian bridges clearly testify for a heavy and direct technology transfer from the Roman Empire to Sasanian Iran. In some cases, moreover, some of the aforementioned infrastructures are definitely considered as actual “Roman” monuments, built in Persian territory by Roman captives under the supervision of Roman military engineers. This paper tries to question a similar assumption on the basis of the available archaeological evidence and of the peculiar hydrological setting and specific function of some of those monuments