Premodern Iran 2: The Cult of Fire

folks, we continue the series on Premodern Iran by picking up with the Sasanid Empire, which swept the Arsacid dynasty away in the 3rd century. we discuss the waxing and waning fortunes of the Sasanids, their wars with Rome, the great heights of Khosrow I, and the long legacy they would leave in their wake after being destroyed by the Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran. we then talk about exactly how and why the Arabs were able to take one of the world's great empires down so quickly, why no formal response was ever mustered, and how the national consciousness of Iran developed under the Sasanids was preserved under the early rule of the Caliphates.

cover image is of an extant Zoroastrian Fire Temple in Yazd (taken from Wikimedia commons)