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Something I've seen thrown around a couple of times on this site is that the best way to arrest the decline of the Byzantine Empire would be to avert the Plague of Justinian, but from what I understand this same plague had a crippling effect on the Sassanids as well, at a time when they had a strong army and capable leadership.

Is it at all likely that in a scenario where the plague was averted, the East Romans would find themselves even more hard pressed to defend against Persia? Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to envision a scenario where the absence of the Plague of Justinian results in Persia taking and holding large parts of Roman Empire's Middle Eastern territories, long enough that they are seen by Persian monarchs as integral parts of their empire that must be defended from the Romans.

What sort of effects might this have? Religiously I could see the Persians supporting Miaphysite churches to a much greater degree. Could this result in an understanding with Axum that butterflies away their conflict over Yemen?

I'd be interested to hear what those more knowledgeable than myself have to say on the matter.
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