Part 8: The Golden Age
The Abbasid rulers that followed Al Saffah all contributed to the growing strength of the Caliphate. Caliph al Mansur built the city of Madinat as-Salam "City of Peace", commonly known as Baghdad, as the new capital of the Abbasids. Under his successors, al Mahdi and al Hadi, Baghdad grew to be the largest and most advanced city in the world. While Western Europe was immersed in the barbarism of the Dark Ages the Islamic world flourished.
Caliph Al Hadi's successor, Harun ar Rushid ascended to the throne in 786. Ar Rushid ruled the Abbasid state at its height of power and influence. The Caliph established a massive trading empire, goods flowed, and strong merchant class developed. This trade also brought the influx of many new ideas from the West.
Ar Rushid sponsored efforts to have ancient Greek texts translated into Arabic in order to facilitated the advancement knowledge. In Baghdad, ar Rashid established the House of Wisdom for the study of the humanities. In Athens, the Caliph took the most dramatic step by allowing for the reopening of the Platonic Academy.
Under Ar Rushid Athens, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Baghdad became the greatest centers of learning in the East. This period was truly the "Golden Age" of Islam and paved the way for a greater expansion of Hellenistic ideas in the 9th century.