Shapur II

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Shapur II" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Shapur II (

Shapur II pursued a harsh religious policy. Under his reign, the collection of the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, was completed, heresy and apostasy were punished, and Christians were persecuted. The latter was a reaction against the Christianization of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. Shapur II, like Shapur I, was amicable towards Jews, who lived in relative freedom and gained many advantages in his period (see also Rava). At the time of Shapur's death, the Sasanian Empire was stronger than ever, with its enemies to the east pacified and Armenia under Sasanian control.

Etymology

Shapur was a popular name in

When Hormizd II died in 309, he was succeeded by his son Adur Narseh, who, after a brief reign which lasted few months, was killed by some of the nobles of the empire.^[2] They then blinded the second,^[3] and imprisoned the third (Hormizd, who afterwards escaped to the Roman Empire).^[4] The throne was reserved for the unborn child of Hormizd II's wife Ifra Hormizd, which was Shapur II. It is said that Shapur II may have been the only king in history to be crowned in utero, as the story claims that the crown was placed upon his mother's womb while she was pregnant.^[5]

This story has been challenged: according to Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, it is unlikely that Shapur was crowned as king while still in his mother's womb, since the nobles could not have known of his sex at that time; however, Edward Gibbon relates that the Magi had prophesied that the child would be a boy.^[6] Shahbazi further states that Shapur was born forty days after his father's death, and that the nobles killed Adur Narseh and crowned Shapur II in order to gain greater control of the empire, which they were able to do until Shapur II reached his maturity at the age of 16.^[3][5]

War with the Arabs (325)

During the childhood of Shapur II, Arab nomads raided the Sasanian homeland of Pars, particularly the district of Ardashir-Khwarrah and the shore of the Persian Gulf.^[7] At the age of 16, Shapur II led an expedition against the Arabs; primarily campaigning against the Iyad tribe in Asoristan and thereafter he crossed the Persian Gulf, reaching al-Khatt, modern Qatif, or present eastern Saudi Arabia. He then attacked the Banu Tamim in the Hajar Mountains. Shapur II reportedly killed a large number of the Arab population and destroyed their water supplies by stopping their wells with sand.^[8]

After having dealt with the Arabs of eastern Arabia, he continued his expedition into western Arabia and

During the rulership of Shapur (II), the son of Hormizd, the Arabs came; they took Khorig Rudbar; for many years with contempt (they) rushed until Shapur came to rulership; he destroyed the Arabs and took the land and destroyed many Arab rulers and pulled out many number of shoulders.[7]

With Eastern Arabia more firmly under Sasanian control, and with the establishment of Sasanian garrison troops, the way for Zoroastrianism was opened. Pre-Islamic Arabian poets often makes mention of Zoroastrianism practices, which they must have either made contact with in Asoristan or Eastern Arabia.

In 337, just before the death of Constantine the Great (324–337), Shapur II, provoked by the Roman rulers' backing of Roman Armenia,^[10] broke the peace concluded in 297 between emperors Narseh (293–302) and Diocletian (284–305), which had been observed for forty years. This was the beginning of two long, drawn-out wars (337–350 and 358–363) which were inadequately recorded.

After crushing a rebellion in the south, Shapur II invaded Roman Mesopotamia and captured Armenia. Apparently, nine major battles were fought. The most renowned was the inconclusive Battle of Singara (modern Sinjar, Iraq) in which Constantius II was at first successful, capturing the Persian camp, only to be driven out by a surprise night attack after Shapur had rallied his troops (344 or 348?). The most notable feature of this war was the consistently successful defence of the Roman fortress city of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. Shapur besieged the city thrice^[10] (in 338, 346, 350 CE), and was repulsed each time.

Although victorious in battle, Shapur II could make no further progress with Nisibis untaken. At the same time he was attacked in the east by Scythian Massagetae and other Central Asia nomads. He had to break off the war with the Romans and arrange a hasty truce in order to pay attention to the east (350).^[7] Roughly around this time the Hunnic tribes, most likely the Kidarites, whose king was Grumbates, make an appearance as an encroaching threat upon Sasanian territory as well as a menace to the Gupta Empire (320–500 CE).^[10] After a prolonged struggle (353–358) they were forced to conclude a peace, and Grumbates agreed to enlist his light cavalrymen into the Persian army and accompany Shapur II in renewed war against the Romans, particularly participating in the Siege of Amida in 359.

Second war against the Romans and invasion of Armenia

In 358 Shapur II was ready for his second series of wars against Rome, which met with much more success. In 359, Shapur II invaded southern Armenia, but was held up by the valiant Roman defence of the fortress of

In 363 the Emperor Julian (361–363), at the head of a strong army, advanced to Shapur's capital city of Ctesiphon and defeated a presumably larger Sassanian force at the Battle of Ctesiphon; however, he was unable to take the fortified city, or engage with the main Persian army under Shapur II that was approaching. Julian was killed by the enemy in a skirmish during his retreat back to Roman territory. His successor Jovian (363–364) made an ignominious peace in which the districts beyond the Tigris which had been acquired in 298 were given to the Persians along with Nisibis and Singara, and the Romans promised to interfere no more in Armenia.^[7] The great success is represented in the rock sculptures near the town Bishapur in Pars (Stolze, Persepolis, p. 141); under the hooves of the king's horse lies the body of an enemy, probably Julian, and a supplicant Roman, the Emperor Jovian, asks for peace.

According to the peace treaty between Shapur and Jovian, Georgia and Armenia were to be ceded to Sasanian control, and the Romans forbidden from further involvement in the affairs of Armenia.^[15] Under this agreement Shapur assumed control over Armenia and took its King Arsaces II (Arshak II), the faithful ally of the Romans, as prisoner, and held him in the Castle of Oblivion (Fortress of Andməš in Armenian or Castle of Anyuš in Ḵuzestān).^[15] Supposedly, Arsaces then committed suicide during a visit by his eunuch Drastamat.^[15] Shapur attempted to introduce Zoroastrian orthodoxy into Armenia. However, the Armenian nobles resisted him successfully, secretly supported by the Romans, who sent King Papas (Pap), the son of Arsaces II, into Armenia. The war with Rome threatened to break out again, but the Roman emperor Valens sacrificed Pap, arranging for his assassination in Tarsus, where he had taken refuge (374).

In Georgia, then known as Iberia, where the Sasanians were also given control, Shapur II installed Aspacures II of Iberia in the east; however, in western Georgia, Valens also succeeded in setting up his own king, Sauromaces II of Iberia.^[15]

Shapur II had conducted great hosts of captives from the Roman territory into his dominions, most of whom were settled in Elam. Here he rebuilt Susa—after having killed the city's rebellious inhabitants.

War in the East

Expansion into India (c. 350–358 CE)

Gandhara and Punjab

In the east around 350 CE, Shapur II gained the upper hand against the

Sri (meaning "Lord") in front of the portrait of the King.^[21] The coins suggest some sort of Sasanian control of Sind from the time of Shapur II, and a recognition of Sasanian overlordship,^[21] but the precise extent of the Sasanian presence or influence is unknown.^[22]

Shapur died in 379 and was succeeded by his slightly younger brother Ardashir II, who agreed to rule till Shapur's son Shapur III reached adulthood.^[27] By Shapur's death the Sasanian Empire was stronger than ever before, considerably larger than when he came to the throne, the eastern and western enemies were pacified and Persia had gained control over Armenia. He is regarded as one of the most important Sassanian kings along with Shapur I and Khosrow I, and could after a long period of instability regain the old strength of the Empire. His three successors, however, were less successful than he. Furthermore, his death marked the start of a 125-year-long conflict between the wuzurgan, a powerful group of nobility, and the kings, who both struggled for power over Iran.^[28]

Relations with the Christians

The number of men and women whose names have been ascertained, and who were martyred at this period, has been computed to be upwards of sixteen thousand, while the multitude of martyrs whose names are unknown was so great that the Persians, the Syrians, and the inhabitants of Edessa, have failed in all their efforts to compute the number.

— Sozomen, in his Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Chapter XIV ^[30]

Imperial beliefs and numismatics

According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Shapur II fought the Romans in order to "re-conquer what had belonged to his ancestor". It is not known who Shapur II thought his ancestor was, probably the Achaemenids or the legendary Kayanian dynasty.^[7] During the reign of Shapur II, the title of "the divine Mazda-worshipping, king of kings of the Iranians, whose image/seed is from the gods" disappears from the coins that were minted. He was also the last Sasanian king to claim lineage from the gods.^[7]

Under Shapur II, coins were minted in copper, silver and gold, however, a great amount of the copper coins were made on Roman planchet, which is most likely from the riches that the Sasanians took from the Romans. The weight of the coins also changed from 7.20 g to 4.20 g.^[7]

Constructions

Besides the construction of the war-i tāzigān near al-Hira, Shapur II is also known to have created several other cities. He created a royal city called Eranshahr-Shapur, where he settled Roman prisoners of war. He also rebuilt and repopulated Nisibis in 363 with people from Istakhr and Spahan. In Asoristan, he founded Wuzurg-Shapur ("Great Shapur"), a city on the west side of the Tigris. He also rebuilt Susa after having destroyed it when suppressing a revolt, renaming it Eran-Khwarrah-Shapur ("Iran's glory [built by] Shapur").^[7][8]

Contributions

Under Shapur II's reign the collection of the Avesta was completed, heresy and apostasy punished, and the Christians persecuted (see Abdecalas, Acepsimas of Hnaita and Abda of Kashkar). This was a reaction against the Christianization of the Roman Empire by Constantine.^[7]

Religious beliefs

According to Armenian and primary sources, the Sasanian shahs revered the sun and the moon, with Roman sources stating that Shapur II asserted to be the "brother of the Sun and the Moon" (Latin: frater Solis et Lunae).^[31] This is however not mentioned in Sasanian sources, which implies that there are two possibilities; one that it is regarding about the angelic divinity Mithra, whilst the other one being that it may be an Indo-Iranian characteristic where the shahs considered their ancestors descendants of Manuchehr (Indic Manu) and his father Wiwahvant (Indic Vivasvant), who were in India associated with the Moon and the Sun.^[32]

Shapur's own religious beliefs does not seem to have been very strict; he restored the family cult of Anahita in Istakhr and was possibly an adherent of Zurvanism as well as promoting the official orthodox variant of Zoroastrianism.^[33]

Offspring

His daughters include:

• Zruanduxt
• Zurvandukht: She was named after Zurvan, a deity in Zoroastrianism.^[34]

Notes

References

Bibliography

Ancient works

• Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae

Modern works

• ISBN 9780415239028
  .
• Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008), Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, London and New York: I.B. Tauris,
  ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3
• ISBN 978-0857716668
  .
• Daryaee, Touraj (2009). "Šāpur II". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Frye, R. N. (1983). "The political history of Iran under the Sasanians". In
  ISBN 0-521-20092-X
  .
• Ghosh, Amalananda (1965). Taxila. CUP Archive. pp. 790–791.
• Potts, Daniel T. (2012). "ARABIA ii. The Sasanians and Arabia". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• ISBN 0-7914-0493-5
  .
• ISBN 978-1-935228-15-8
  .
• Kia, Mehrdad (2016). The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia. [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO.
  ISBN 978-1610693912
  .
• Langer, William L., ed. (1952). An Encyclopedia Of World History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1983). "Iran and the Arabs before Islam". In
  ISBN 0-521-20092-X
  .
• Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). "East Iran in Late Antiquity". ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–256.
  JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt1g04zr8. (registration required
  )
• Sauer, Eberhard (2017). Sasanian Persia: Between Rome and the Steppes of Eurasia. London and New York: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–336.
  ISBN 9781474401029
  .
• Schindel, Nikolaus (2016). The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: adaptation and expansion. Oxbow Books. pp. 127–128.
  ISBN 9781785702105
  .
• Senior, R.C. (1991). "The Coinage of Sind from 250 AD up to the Arab Conquest" (PDF). Oriental Numismatic Society. 129 (June–July 1991): 3–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
• Shayegan, M. Rahim (2004). "On the Rationale behind the Roman Wars of Šābuhr II the Great". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 18: 111–133.
  JSTOR 24049144
  .
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (1986). "Ardašīr II". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4. pp. 380–381.
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (1990). "Byzantine-Iranian relations". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 6. pp. 588–599.
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2002). "Šāpur I". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2004). "Hormizd (2)". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XII, Fasc. 5. pp. 461–462.
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2005). "Sasanian dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
• Tafazzoli, Ahmad (1983). "Ādur Narseh". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 5. p. 477.
• Tafazzoli, Ahmad (1989). "Bozorgān". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 4. Ahmad Tafazzoli. p. 427.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shapur II.

Shapur II Sasanian dynasty Born: 309 Died: 379
Preceded by Adur Narseh	King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran 309–379	Succeeded by Ardashir II