Shapur III was the eleventh Sassanid King of Persia from 383 to 388. Shapur III succeeded his brother
Ardashir IIArdashir II was the tenth Sassanid King of Persia from 379 to 383.He is believed by some to be the son and by others to be the brother of Shapur II...
in the year 383.
Treaty with Rome
Negotiations between the
RomansThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
and the Persians which had begun in the reign of
Ardashir IIArdashir II was the tenth Sassanid King of Persia from 379 to 383.He is believed by some to be the son and by others to be the brother of Shapur II...
culminated in a
treatyA treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as: agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, etc...
of mutual friendship in the year 384.
According to this treaty,
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
was partitioned between the Romans and the Persians. Therefore two kingdoms were formed, one a
vassalA vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief. By...
of Rome and the other, of Persia. The smaller of these, which comprised the more western districts, which was assigned to Rome was committed to the charge of the
Arshak IIIArshak III was the last king of the part of Armenia that was put under Roman domination by the Peace of Acilisene.Arshak III originally came to power as co-king with his brother Valarshak in 380 during Manuel Mamikonian's domination of Armenia...
who had been made king by
Manuel MamikonianManuel Mamikonian was the real leader of Armenia after the death of Varazdat.The Mamikonian family had long been the leading generals of Armenia, holding the title of Sparapet, basically a chief general....
, the son of the unfortunate
Pap of ArmeniaPap was king of Armenia of the Arshakuni dynasty from 370 to 374. He was the son of King Arshak II and is notorious for poisoning the Catholicos of Armenia Nerses the Great.-Ascendancy:...
, and the grandson of the
Arshak IIArshak II was the son of King Tiran and was himself king of Armenia from 350-367.- Reign :In the early years of Arshak's reign, he found himself courted by the empires of Rome and Persia, both of which hope to win Armenia to their side in the ongoing conflicts between them...
contemporary with
JulianJulian, also spelled Julien, is a common male given name in Britain, United States, Ireland, Germany, Poland, France and elsewhere....
. The larger portion, which consisted of the regions lying towards the east, passed under the suzerainty of Persia, and was handed over to an Arshakuni, named
Khosrov IIIKhosrov III was a king of Armenia during the 380s. He was made king by Shapur III of Persia.-Sources:Lnag, David Marshall, Armenia: Cradle of Civilization, p. 163...
, a
ChristianChristianity in Iran has had a long history, dating back to the very early years of the faith. It has always been a minority religion, overshadowed by the majority state religions — Zoroastrianism in the past, and Shia Islam today — though it had a much larger representation in the past than it...
. Thus friendly relations were established between
RomeThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
and
PersiaThe Sassanid Empire or Sasanian Empire, known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr, was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty who reigned from 224 to 651 CE...
which survived for thirty-six years.
Memorials of Shapur's Reign
Shapur III left behind him a sculptured memorial, which is still to be seen in the vicinity of
KermanshahKermanshah , is the capital city of Kermanshah Province, located 525 km from Tehran in the western part of Iran and about 120 km from the border of Iraq. Kermanshah has a continental climate. The estimated population of the city is 822,921 and the majority of the inhabitants speak...
. It consists of two very similar figures, looking towards each other, and standing in an arched frame. On either side of the figures are inscriptions in the Old
PahlaviPahlavi or Pahlevi denotes a particular and exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages. The essential characteristics of Pahlavi are*the use of an Aramaic-derived script Pahlavi or Pahlevi denotes a particular and exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages. The...
character, whereby we are enabled to identify the individuals represented with the second and the third Shapur. They are identical in form, with the exception that the names in the right-hand inscription are "Shapur,
HormizdHormizd may mean any of the several kings of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia:*Hormizd I of Persia *Hormizd II of Persia *Hormizd III of Persia *Hormizd IV of Persia *Hormizd V of Persia...
,
NarsesNarses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I during the so-called "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign....
," while those in the left-hand one are "Shapur, Shapur,
HormizdHormizd may mean any of the several kings of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia:*Hormizd I of Persia *Hormizd II of Persia *Hormizd III of Persia *Hormizd IV of Persia *Hormizd V of Persia...
." It has been supposed that the right-hand figure was erected by
Shapur IIShapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Persian Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I .- Early childhood :...
and the other afterwards added by Shapur III; but the unity of the whole sculpture, and its inclusion under a single arch, seem to indicate that it was set up by a single sovereign, and was the fruit of a single conception. If this be so, we must necessarily ascribe it to the later of the two monarchs commemorated, i.e. to Shapur III, who must be supposed to have possessed more than usual filial piety, since the commemoration of their predecessors upon the throne is very rare among the Sassanians.
Death
Shapur III died in 388, after reigning a little more than five years. He was a man of simple tastes, and was fond of spending his time outdoors in his tent. One version says that, on one such occasion, when he was thus enjoying himself, there was a violent hurricane which blew the tent under which he was sitting. The falling tent-pole struck him fatally on his head resulting in his death a few days later. However, though most of his subjects believed in the authencity of this story there were whispers that he could have been the victim of a conspiracy hatched by his courtiers.