Featured dossier
Hormizd II: a king we know little about, and a death that is not clear
Hormizd II was a son of Narseh. In his inscription at Taq-e Bostan, Shapur II calls himself the son of “Ohrmazd, king of kings of Ērān and Anērān” and the grandson of Narseh. Iranica says “very little” is known of his reign. His equestrian relief at Naqsh-e Rostam may point to a civil war. His death is also unclear: one story blames Arabs, and Iranica thinks the nobles more probably killed him.
- reign
- ~6 years
- sons
- 8
Map: the reign of Hormizd II
Administration & economy303 CE (or 302)1 of 8
Accession
Hormizd succeeded his father Narseh. Iranica (Shahbazi) says the figure standing behind the king in Narseh’s investiture relief is probably Hormizd as crown prince, and that he is unlikely to have taken part in his father’s war with Rome, which ended in Narseh’s heavy defeat.
Certainty: DisputedThe start of Hormizd II’s reign is not certain. Iranica (Shahbazi) gives 303 CE, but the “Ādur Narseh” article in the same encyclopaedia gives 302 CE. Narseh’s page also puts Narseh’s death in 302 CE.
Sources: A. Sh. Shahbazi, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2004 · A. Tafażżolī, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1983
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Three separate layers
Each section has three layers: “Historical evidence” is only what the sources say; “Philosophical interpretation” is our reading by the standard of property and liberty; “Modern cultural meaning”. Quotations come only from published translations, with references.
Historical evidencePhilosophical interpretationModern cultural meaning
Dossier · 1
A relief that hints at civil war
Hormizd II’s only surviving monument in stone is an equestrian relief at Naqsh-e Rostam. The king, with a long lance, unhorses an armoured rider. The device on the enemy’s helmet is the family badge of Pāpak, viceroy of Albania (Arran) under Bahram II and Narseh.
Iranica (following Hinz) concludes from this device that Hormizd fought a great family inside the empire. The reading rests on the badge on a helmet, not on a text; no inscription beside the relief names the enemy.
Six years of rule, a possible civil war and a suspicious death. The Sasanian nobility could set kings aside, and in this period did so again and again. The king’s power was not unlimited, but its limit was drawn by the force of the great families, not by law.
Dossier · 2
Harsh or just?
Tabari says Hormizd began his reign harshly but then became mild, wise and kind to the weak. Iranica calls this an “allegation”.
This pattern of “harsh beginning, good end” recurs in the stories of Sasanian kings. So it is more a literary mould than a report of this king’s conduct.
In these sources justice is something the king grants; it is not the people’s right. If the king grew mild, that was his goodness, not a law that bound his hands.
Synthesis
Hormizd II stands between the defeated Narseh and the famous Shapur II. What survives of him is one relief, some coins and a few conflicting stories. His death in 309 began a crisis: the nobles pushed his sons aside and made king a child not yet born.
Bibliography
- A. Sh. Shahbazi, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Hormozd II (2004). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hormozd-ii/
- A. Tafażżolī, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Ādur Narseh (1983). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/adur-narseh/
- A. Sh. Shahbazi, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Ardašīr II (1986). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-ii-sasanian-king/
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; licence and author were checked on each file page.
Narseh, his fatherAdur-Narseh, his sonShapur II, his sonThe Sasanian dynasty