The Fires of God

The year is 632 AD. In Arabia, Islam is spreading swiftly amongst the various tribes of the desert peninsula. In Constantinople, the New Rome of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Emperor Heraclius sits secure on his throne. And in the glittering cities of Persia, Shahanshah Khosrau II breathes his last. Beside his sickbed, watching as the old man struggles to cling on to life, is his favourite son and heir, Mardanshah. Four years have has passed since the brief but bloody civil war that had seen the armies of Khosrau and Mardanshah pitted against the forces of Mardanshah's jealous brother, Kavadh. Although Kavadh had been defeated and Mardanshah's inheritance secured, the war had broken Khosrau mentally as well as physcially. Now, as he lies with death swiftly coming to claim him, he reaches out his hand and touches his son.

"Make peace with your enemies," he croaks out in the hoarse tone of a man whose final hour had come. "With the Romans, with the Turks, with the Arabs, with your own people. Ahura Mazda wills it."

They were the Shahanshah's final words, and as his grip slackens and his eyes roll back into his head his son takes those words to heart. Over the next few months he reaches an agreement with the Eastern Roman Empire that ensures peace between the two great empires of the east. The Arabs, led by the Caliph Abu Bakr, are less willing to make peace and in 634 launch a massive invasion of Mardanshah's empire. But a concerted, united, effort by both the Persian and Roman armies pushes back the invaders, and their Caliphate and their religion is confined to the sand dunes of Arabia. Zoroastrianism remains the dominant religion of much of the Middle East.

The peace forged between the Christian and Zoroastrianism empires will not last, however. Four centuries after their alliance against the Arabs, the Persians have conquered vast swathes of Roman territory. Desperate for assistance, the Roman Emperor Alexios appeals to the Catholic Church for assistance. This request sparks the fires of religious zeal in Europe, and soon a series of Catholic armies pour into the Middle East. These warriors of God call themselves Crusaders.

Point of divergence
In 628 AD, Kavadh, jealous of his brother Mardanshah, rallied support for his claim to the throne of the Sassanid Empire. The resulting civil war was short but bloody, and the conflict drained the Persian Shahanshah of his physical and mental stability. Even so, the war had secured Mardanshah's inheritance, and his father's final plea for peace moved him deeply. The Roman Emperor Heraclius was amenable to an offering of peace and alliance, and so it was with a unified front that the two great empires faced the Arab invasions that began in the year 634. Together, Rome and Persia were able to drive the Arab armies back into their deserts, confining Islam to the Arabian peninsula.

Major differences
The consigning of Islam, in OTL the second-largest religion in the world with over 1.5 billion followers, to a few tribes in Arabia allowed the established religions of Christianity and Zoroastrianism to truly entrench themselves in the Middle East.


 * The Sassanid Empire restabilises under the rule of Mardanshah and later his son Khosrau III.
 * The Rashidun Caliphate expands into Africa rather than Asia. Arabic culture and Islam spread throughout Africa
 * The peace between the Romans and the Persians does not last long, and by 675 war has broken out once more.
 * The Sassanids succeed in taking control of huge areas of Roman territory, making them the most powerful empire in the world.
 * Over the centuries the Sassanids reach as far afield as Spain and wage unsuccessful wars against the Visigothic Kingdom.
 * In 1095 the Roman Emperor Alexios requests help against the Persians from the Catholic west.
 * The First Crusade is a military and political disaster, but this only sparks more efforts by the Church to drive the Zoroastrians from the Holy Land.