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Shapur III: the son who got his crown back
Shapur III was a son of Shapur II. His father had left the crown to Ardashir II on condition that it pass to him, and in 383 the nobles deposed Ardashir and Shapur became king. Agathias says he reigned five years. In the small grotto at Taq-e Bostan an inscription names him beside his father.
- years of reign
- 5
Map: the reign of Shapur III
Administration & economy383 CE1 of 4
Accession
The nobles deposed Ardashir II and Shapur, son of Shapur II, became king.
Certainty: Secure (contemporary source)
Sources: A. Sh. Shahbazi, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986 · Agathias, tr. J. D. Frendo, 1975
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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
An inscription that may have been added later
The second inscription of the small grotto, as translated by Sasanika, names the king as Shapur, son of Shapur and grandson of Hormizd. The first calls Shapur II son of Hormizd and grandson of Narseh.
This is the image of the Mazda-worshipping lord, Šāpūr, king of kings of the Iranians and non-Iranians, whose lineage is from the gods, son of the Mazda-worshipping lord, Šāpūr, king of kings of the Iranians and non-Iranians, whose lineage is from the gods, grandson of the lord, Hormizd, king of kings
Overlaet (2011) argues that the crown and design of the relief do not fit these names and that the second figure is probably Ardashir II; the inscriptions may have been added when Shapur III came to power. If so, Shapur III claimed his uncle’s relief as his own.
Shapur III took a crown his father had kept for him by a pact. But the same nobles who deposed Ardashir were the real judges of succession. The pact was between two kings; the power to enforce it lay with the nobles.
Sources: Sasanika (UC Irvine) · B. Overlaet
Synthesis
We know little of Shapur III: a crown that came to him by a pact, five years of rule, the partition of Armenia (whose date is disputed), and an inscription at Taq-e Bostan that may have claimed someone else’s relief for him.
Bibliography
- A. Sh. Shahbazi, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Ardašīr II (1986). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-ii-sasanian-king/
- Agathias, tr. J. D. Frendo, The Histories (CFHB 2A), book 4.25–27 (1975). https://archive.org/details/cfhb-11.1-nicetae-choniatae-historiaAgathias (6th century) took his list of Sasanian kings, by his own account, from the Persian royal annals.
- Sasanika (UC Irvine), Šāpūr II & Šāpūr III’s Inscription, Ṭāq-e Bustān (ŠTBn-I & II): transcription and translation (n.d.). https://sites.uci.edu/sasanika/sapur-ii-sapur-iiis-inscription-%e1%b9%adaq-e-bustan-stbn-i-ii/
- B. Overlaet, Ardashir II or Shapur III? Reflections on the identity of a king in the smaller grotto at Taq-i Bustan, Iranica Antiqua 46, pp. 235–50 (2011). https://doi.org/10.2143/IA.46.0.2084421
- O. Klíma, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Bahrām IV (1988). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahram-the-name-of-six-sasanian-kings/bahram-iv/
- O. Klíma, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Bahrām V Gōr (1988). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahram-the-name-of-six-sasanian-kings/bahram-v/
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; licence and author were checked on each file page.
Shapur II, his fatherArdashir II, his uncleBahram IV, his sonThe Sasanian dynasty