Episode Details

Parvaneh Pourshariati’s Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire challenges the traditional view of late antique Iran as a highly centralised state. Through a comprehensive re-examination of numismatic, sigillographic, and literary evidence, the author argues that the Sasanian realm functioned as a decentralised confederacy shared with powerful Parthian dynastic families. This scholarly work suggests that the empire’s eventual collapse during the Arab conquests was triggered by the breakdown of this internal power-sharing agreement. The text further explores the cultural and religious distinctions between the Sasanian and Parthian factions, highlighting the survival of Mithraic traditions in the northern and eastern regions. By re-evaluating the chronology of the Islamic conquest, the research provides a transformative perspective on the transition from the ancient to the medieval Near East.