Kavadh I: On how to lose a Kingdom through mandatory wife-sharing

A lot of things can be said about the life of Sassanian King Kavadh I. He was a skilled warrior who gave the Eastern Romans a much deserved whooping in the Anastasian Wars, he had more lives than a cat and managed to escape with his life despite being imprisoned and condemned to death by his nobles on multiple occasions, and he was a religious reformer. But perhaps the most interesting way to remember this King of Kings by retelling the incident of "compulsory wife-sharing" that cost him his crown and almost cost him his life yet again. He left future rulers with a sound lesson that if you want to stay in power, forcing your nobles to share their wives with cult members for a night of "free love" is not a sound policy to adopt.


Kavadh I, AD 499-531
AR Drachm, 28mm, 4.1g, 10h
Obv.: "Kava (may he) prosper" in Pahlavi (crude), with letter base inward; crowned and cuirassed bust right, crescents on shoulders, stars flanking crown.
Rev.: Fire altar with attendants; star and crescent flanking flames, date in outer left field; mint in outer right field.
Reference: cf. MACW 1012-16.

For some reason this king, who never had an easy reign, decided to embrace a communistic sect founded by Mazdak the Younger, a Zoroastrian prophet and religious reformer. In an ancient version of Communism, Mazdak's sect required it's followers to embrace pacifism, vegetarianism, communal wealth sharing, free love, and social reform. Normally the nobles might have been all too happy to ignore a small sect of ancient hippie oddballs, but when the king himself embraced pacifism, wealth sharing, and free love, you better believe the nobles were going to get nervous and start plotting.

Things came to a boiling point when Kavadh I ordered his nobles to hand over their wives to the sex crazed cultists so that they could share "free love" with them. Apparently the nobles were not impressed with the idea of handing their wives to strangers for adult recreational activities. Kavadh I found himself immediately imprisoned in a place called "The Castle of Oblivion." Although the exact location is lost to history, I think it is safe to assume any place called "The Castle of Oblivion" is not a vacation resort.

So there was Kavadh I, his brother put on the throne in his place, and awaiting execution yet again. And somehow the man manages to escape , create an army, and fight his way back to the throne. And he learned his lesson too, no more "free love" demands, or any other hippie ideology. He outlawed the communistic sect of Mazdak the Younger, and executed Mazdak.

And the moral of the story is, unless you want to see your throne evaporate from under you in the blink of an eye, don't force your nobles to hand over their wives to a mob of sex obsessed cult members.

 

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Now that's the kind of tabloid tidbit that makes a coin interesting! Thanks for sharing!

 

Sounds like my kind of guy. Him and Elagabalus could have been bros!

That coin is a beauty, I need one of him still.

 

Great history story..
I know a few people I would like to send to "The Castle of Oblivion"

 

Learn something new every time I log in....thanks for excellent history lesson.
John

 

Oh, uhhh...ok. Steve, Bing, you gotta give me those wives back.

 

Is this coin from the second reign?

 

That is a great coin. I believe it is from the first reign LD mint before they started putting year dates on them. Both of mine are second reign after the three years in the middle of Zamasp. Whenever I suggest a dating or mint on a Sasanian coin I have about 25% confidence that I read them right.

 

Not sure. I have to research the attribution. I only have the seller's, so I have to look into it myself. @dougsmit says he thinks it's from the 1st reign...so before the wife swap incident.

 

It's from the 1st reign. Coins of the 2nd reign have wings on the crown as such...

 

LOL !!! Holy Cow !!!

Great write up and coin!

 

Interesting emperor, strange but interesting. And good looking coin, really like the design and detail.

 

What a nice story. I have this first-reign drachm of Kavad with a very dark patina. Mint Karzi, 28 mm, 4,02 gr.

 

Sasanian kings had to change their crown when their reign had been interrupted. Xusro II has two crowns, to name a well-known example. Kavad put two fancy wings high into the fabric of his headgear. It must have been quite a sight, a man with a huge gold crown, studded with gems, his jet black hair plaided in large balls and coiffed with pearls. The wings might have been made of filigrain and gold silk, shimmering in the light, to resemble the fire that symbolized the power of the Sasanians.
This is a drachm from the last years of his second reign, it is dated 40 = AD 528, minted in Isfahan.

 

I also have this, a tiny bronze coin of Kavad I. Late Sasanian bronzes were always crudely made and used as local change, just humble mites for Persian widows. It's only 12 mm, 0,40 gr.
Göbl 186, crown II, reverse I > date AD 501-507.

 

Very attractive Sassanian, and thanks for the fun Sunday read .

 

Interesting coin - and the story makes the whole "package" even more attractive.

Christian

 

what a great story, and a great lookin' coin!

i have this coin of kvads son and successor khosrau (various spellings?) I.



Sasanian Empire. Khosrau I. AD 531-579. AR Drachm

O: Crowned bust right, Pahlavi script./R: Fire altar with ribbons and attendants; star and crescent flanking flames; RY date on left (regnal year 28, 558AD, mint signature on right, GU (Gurgon mint). 30 mm, 4.1 g


looking at wikipedia, i guess this guy didn't support the sasanian hippies, and fought a battle with their supporters and defeated them to claim the crown. he'res a pic (wikipedia)...




he was the cartman of his day i guess...

 

Wonderful coin @Sallent !!

Interesting write-up----whether pre or post wife swapping, the historical context always adds some meat to the bones...and makes all coins far more relatable.

 

I have only this to add.