<P> The Iranian Army under the last Shahanshah included an all volunteer Javidan Guard, also known as the "Immortals" after the ancient Persian royal guard . The "Immortals" were based in the Lavizan Barracks in Tehran . By 1978 this elite force comprised a brigade of 4,000--5,000 men, including a battalion of Chieftain tanks . Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 the "Immortals" were disbanded . </P> <P> The signature shield of the Achaemenid Immortals has been adopted in the insignia of the 65th Airborne Special Forces Brigade and 55th Airborne Brigade of the modern Iranian Army . </P> <P> Herodotus' account of two warrior elites - the Spartan hoplites and the Immortals - facing each other in battle has inspired a set of rather colorful depictions of the battle, especially in regard of the Immortals: </P> <Ul> <Li> In the 1962 film The 300 Spartans the Immortals carry a spear and wicker shields like the actual Immortals . However, they are mostly dressed in black and other dark colors, as opposed to historical depictions . </Li> <Li> Frank Miller's 1998 comic book 300, and the 2006 feature film adapted from it, present a heavily fictionalized version of the Immortals at the Battle of Thermopylae . These Immortals wear Mengu - style metal masks, appear to be inhuman or disfigured, and carry a pair of swords closely resembling Japanese wakizashis . </Li> <Li> The History Channel documentary Last Stand of the 300 also features the Immortals as part of the reconstruction of the Thermopylae battle . In this version, the tiara the Immortals habitually wear is depicted here as a full - face black cloth mask transparent enough to see through . </Li> </Ul>

Who were the soldiers who fought for the persian empire