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Tom quotes Herodotus at the beginning of the episode about Persian education, discussing what young Persian boys were taught

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Introduced as one of Ali Ansari's works when he is presented as a guest - described as 'author of a very short introduction to Iran'

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Ali references Hegel's philosophical work where he states that 'history begins with the Persians' - referring to Hegel's philosophical writings on world history

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Described as 'the great epic poem of Iran' - referenced when discussing how Iranian nationalist historiographers calculated the length of the kingdom of Iran going back through mythical history

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Ali mentions this biblical text as carrying 'fairly strong sort of Zoroastrian tropes and ideas' when discussing Persian religious influence

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Ali mentions this biblical text alongside Daniel as containing Zoroastrian influences, particularly the concept of a dragon king and the beast

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Ali references John Evelyn's diaries from the 17th century as a source for tracing the adoption of the Persian coat in European fashion

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Ali references Gibbon's notion about the Persians being 'over-civilized' and becoming decadent, discussing how Europeans categorized Persians as civilized rather than barbarians