What would a maximum plausible Persian victory over the Byzantines in 500s-600s look like?

raharris1973

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What it says on the tin.

Could the Persians conquer and hold the Levant up to the Taurus mountains?

Could the Persians crush Byzantium utterly and inherit all its Asian and African lands?

Or is the best they could do to swiftly and inexpensively counter and parry any Byzantine incursions?
 

raharris1973

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I'm gonna say that holding Armenia, the Levant and Egypt is reasonable, given their distance from Byzantium and cultural divides like the prevalence of monophysitism there. But mainly Greek speaking Anatolia is a bit too far.

Now whether the Sassanids can hold onto all this territory for more than a century is an open question. Even a Sassanid victory does not necessarily guarantee against a later Arab conquest.
 
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