[Amaxen]

One could argue that Eastern Rome not had Persia as a buffer, it would not have survived the Islamic conquests. Not to mention that it had a more favorable geography for defense than Persia did. I wouldn't know about the comparison between modern vs. ancient Greece and Iran. I do know that everyday Persians still read and honor some of their pre-islamic poets who wrote even earlier than Homer, and that they even retain quite a few of their pre-conquest religious festivals. There was a news story the other day about the mullahs cracking down on people celebrating a fire festival, which is itself a holdover from the pagan and Manicheanist traditions and thus a symbol of challenge to the theocratic regime.

[A.J.Armitage]

One could argue that Eastern Rome not had Persia as a buffer, it would not have survived the Islamic conquests.

Maybe. If they hadn't had all those wars, they both probably could have made it.