Ancient civilizations-2

Wars of Shāpūr I

The Sāsānian empire at the time of Shāpūr I.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The surrender of the emperor Valerian to the Persian king Shāpūr, rock relief, ad 260, in the province of Fārs, Iran.© lukakikina/FotoliaShortly before his death, probably because of failing health, Ardashīr abdicated the throne in favour of his chosen heir, his son Shāpūr I. The latter assumed the responsibilities of government but delayed his coronation until after his father’s death. Coins thus exist showing Ardashīr together with his son as heir apparent and Shāpūr alone wearing the eagle cap, indicating the exercise of royal rule before his coronation—besides the normal series showing Shāpūr crowned as king.

Shortly after his accession, Shāpūr was faced with an invasion of Persia by the emperor Gordian III (reigned 238–244):

The emperor Gordian levied in all of the Roman empire an army of Goths and Germans and marched against Asūristān [Iraq], the empire of Iran and us. On the border of Asūristān, at Massice [Misikhe on the Euphrates], a great battle took place. The emperor Gordian was killed and we destroyed the Roman army. The Romans proclaimed Philip [the Arabian; reigned 244–249] emperor. The emperor Philip came to terms, and as ransom for their lives he gave us 500,000 dinars and became our tributary. For that reason, we renamed Massice Fīrūz-Shāpūr [“Victorious (Is) Shāpūr”].

Several years later, in 256 (or 252), another confrontation between the Persians and Romans occurred:

We attacked the Roman empire and we destroyed an army of 60,000 men at Barbalissus [in Syria]. Syria and its surrounding areas we burned, devastated and plundered. In this one campaign we captured of the Roman empire 37 cities,

including Antioch, the capital of Syria, itself. A third encounter took place when the emperor Valerian came to the rescue of the city of Edessa, Syria (modern Urfa, Turkey), which was besieged by the Persian army:

He [Valerian] had with him [troops from] Germania, Rhaetia…[follow the names of some 29 Roman provinces], a force of 70,000 men. Beyond Carrhae and Edessa there was a great battle between the emperor Valerian and us. We made the emperor Valerian prisoner with our own hands; and the commanders of that army, the praefectus praetorii, senators and officers, we made them all prisoner, and we transported them to Persia. We burned, devastated and plundered Cilicia and Cappadocia…[follow the names of 36 cities].

The source for these quotations is Shāpūr’s own account of the events. It was unknown until 1938, when expeditions sponsored by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago discovered a long inscription on the walls of an Achaemenian building known as the Kaʿbe-ye Zardusht (“Kaaba of Zoroaster”). The text is in three languages, Sāsānian Pahlavi (Middle Persian), Parthian, and Greek. Besides the narrative of the military operations, the inscription provides a description of the Persian empire of the time and an inventory of the Zoroastrian religious foundations established by Shāpūr to commemorate his victorious wars. These foundations were fire temples dedicated to the “soul” (memory) of the founder himself, members of the royal family, and prominent officials who had served under Shāpūr and his predecessor. The list of the officials, who are specified by the positions they held, throws light on the administrative organization of the empire.