The power of the dehqan, a class of small land-owning magnates, increased substantially (and possibly even led to their establishment in the first place). A group of these dehqans was enlisted into a group of cavalry men, who were managed directly by the shah and earned steady wages. This was done to decrease the reliance on the Parthian cavalry. Soldiers were also enlisted from Sasanian allies, such as the Hephthalites, Arabs, and Daylamites. As a result, the newly rejuvenated Sasanian army proved successful in its efforts in subsequent decades. It sacked the Byzantine city of Antioch in 540, conquered Yemen in the 570s, and under the Parthian military commander Bahram Chobin defeated both the Hephthalites and Western Turkic Khaganate in the late 580s.