The Plague of Justinian That Nearly Broke Byzantium

The Great Plague of Justinian That Gutted the Sasanian Empire

In 542 AD, while the Sasanian Empire was locked in a grinding war with Byzantium, a biological time bomb exploded. The Plague of Justinian — caused by the same Yersinia pestis bacterium that would later trigger the Black Death — swept from Egypt into Syria, Mesopotamia, and the Iranian plateau. Cities like Ctesiphon, Seleucia, and Nisibis lost tens of thousands. The Sasanian spahbeds, including the legendary general Bahram Chobin and later Rostam Farrokhzad, struggled to field armies as manpower evaporated. Agriculture collapsed as qanats fell into disrepair without labour. The plague fatally weakened the empire's fiscal and military sinews just as the Arab conquests loomed decades later. This episode explores the path of the plague, its demographic toll, and how it sapped the Sasanian state so effectively that it never fully recovered. #PlagueOfJustinian #SasanianEmpire #YersiniaPestis #Ctesiphon #BahramChobin #RostamFarrokhzad #Spahbed #Qanat #Nisibis #ByzantineEmpire #KhosrowI #Justinian #ArabianConquests #PandemicHistory #LateAntiquity #RomanPersianWars #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Sassanid Spahbed: Persia's War Lords Who Lost an Empire

The Sasanian Empire's legendary military commanders—the spahbeds—were meant to be the realm's shield. Instead, during the catastrophic wars with Byzantium and the Arab conquest, these powerful generals became a source of fatal division. This episode zooms in on the spahbeds of the late Sasanian period: their role, their rivalries, and how their internal conflicts directly enabled the empire's collapse. We follow the career of Shahrbaraz, the ambitious general who nearly took Constantinople but later turned on his own king. We examine the disastrous appointment of Rostam Farrokhzad at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, and the factional infighting among the Parthian noble houses—the Mihran, Karen, and Suren clans—that left Persia vulnerable. Drawing on the Shahnameh, Tabari, and the Armenian historian Sebeos, we reveal how the spahbeds' personal ambitions trumped imperial loyalty, turning Persia's best warriors into its gravediggers. Includes the story of the Derafsh Kaviani, the legendary battle standard, and the bitter irony that the Sassanid military elite—trained to defend the Shahanshah—ultimately delivered the empire to its enemies. #SassanidEmpire #Spahbed #Shahrbaraz #RostamFarrokhzad #Mihran #Karen #Suren #DerafshKaviani #alQadisiyyah #Shahnameh #Tabari #Sebeos #PersianHistory #LateAntiquity #MilitaryHistory #ByzantineSassanidWars #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Sasanian Empire's Fatal Siege of Dara Revisited

We revisit the Sasanian Empire's siege of Dara in 530 AD, a pivotal battle that shaped the fate of Persia and Rome. Lucas and Luna explore how the Roman general Belisarius outmaneuvered the Sasanian forces under Kavadh I, leading to a costly defeat that exposed the empire's vulnerabilities. They discuss the strategic importance of the fortress city of Dara, the role of the Anastasian Wall, and how this battle set the stage for the Perpetual Peace of 532. This episode delves into the military tactics, the political fallout, and the long-term consequences for the Sasanian Empire, including the erosion of its reputation and the eventual rise of Khosrow I. Perfect for history enthusiasts interested in late antiquity, Roman-Persian wars, and the art of siege warfare. #SasanianEmpire #Dara #Belisarius #KavadhI #RomanPersianWars #Siege #AnastasianWall #Justinian #Procopius #PerpetualPeace #ByzantineEmpire #MilitaryHistory #LateAntiquity #Persia #Rome #History #FexingoHistory #SiegeWarfare Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Sassanid Empire's Last Army at Nihavand

In 642 CE, the Sassanid Empire assembled a massive army at Nihavand in western Iran, hoping to reverse the losses of al-Qadisiyyah and push back the Arab Muslim forces. This episode digs into the battle itself: the commanders on both sides, the tactical decisions, and the devastating aftermath that sealed the empire's fate. We explore the figures of al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin for the Arabs and Mardanshah for the Persians, the use of terrain, and the crushing defeat that led to the fall of the Sassanid heartland. We also consider the controversy around the size of the armies and the debate over whether Nihavand was truly the 'Conquest of Conquests' or a more messy affair. You'll hear about the Persian war elephants, the role of the wuzurgan nobility, and how the loss at Nihavand triggered the final collapse of Zoroastrian state power before Yazdegerd III's flight east. #Nihavand #SassanidEmpire #ArabConquest #BattleOfNihavand #Mardanshah #alNumanIbnMuqarrin #YazdegerdIII #wuzurgan #Zoroastrianism #WarElephants #alQadisiyyah #IslamicExpansion #MilitaryHistory #PersianHistory #FexingoHistory #History #7thCentury #Iran Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Sassanid Coinage Crisis That Bankrupted Persia

Long before the Arab conquest, the Sasanian Empire's economy was crippled by a devastating monetary crisis. In Episode 83 of The Biggest Mistakes That Destroyed Great Empires, Lucas and Luna explore how Khosrow II's massive military campaigns flooded Persia with debased silver coins, triggering runaway inflation and destroying trust in the state's currency. They trace the roots of the crisis back to the reign of Kavad I, who doubled the silver content of the dirham to fund his wars, only for later kings to slash it again. The episode examines the role of the wuzurgan (nobility) in hoarding good coinage, the collapse of the qanat system that reduced silver mining output, and the desperate attempts by Yazdegerd III to mint emergency currency as the Arab armies approached Ctesiphon. Lucas explains how the crisis eroded the loyalty of the dehqans (landed gentry) and left the empire unable to pay its soldiers, a key factor in the rapid collapse of Sasanian resistance. Listeners will learn about the Arabic-Sasanian dirham, the mints of Merv and Istakhr, and the economic legacy that outlasted the empire itself. #SassanidEmpire #Numismatics #CoinageCrisis #KhosrowII #YazdegerdIII #Wuzurgan #Dehqan #Dirham #Inflation #AncientEconomy #Ctesiphon #Merv #Istakhr #Qanat #KavadI #MonetaryHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]