Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/728

Rh i6 SASSANIDAE. cessors, became conspicuous among the Parthians and those kindred nations which they had subdued, and at the court as well as among the nobles, the Greek hmguage seems to have been cultivated with success, and became, in some degree, the official language of the country. The fact of so many Parthian princes and nobles having been educated, or having lived for a long time among the Greeks and at Rome, where Greek was cultivated by all educated men, likewise contributed to the intro- duction of Greek civilisation in Parthia during the reign of the Arsacidae. The Parthian coins of the Arsacidae have all Greek inscriptions with nailed letters, and the design is evidently after Greek models. With the accession of the first Sassanid the Greek influence was stopped ; the new dynasty was in every respect a national dynasty. The Sassanian coins are a proof of this great change : the Greek inscriptions disappear and give place to Persian inscriptions in Arianian characters, as Wilson calls them ; the design also becomes gradually more barbarous, and the costume of the kings is different from that on the coins of the Arsacidae. The change of the alphabet, however, which was used for the inscription, was not sudden. Some coins which have portraits of a Sassanian character have names and titles in Nagari letters ; some have biUngual inscriptions. Great numbers of Sassanian coins of different periods, though very few only of the earliest period, have been, and are still found, at Kabul and at other places in Afgha- nistan." 2. Shapur or Sapor I. (SaTrwprjy or SagcJprjs), the son and successor of Ardishir I., reigned from A. D. 240 — 273. Soon after his succession a war broke out with the Romans, which was occasioned by the hostile conduct of Shapur against Ar- menia. The Romans, commanded by the emperor Gordian, were at first successful, but afterwards suffered some defeats, and the murder of Gordian, in 244, put a check to their further progress. On the other hand the Persians were unable to subdue Armenia, which was nobly defended by king Chos- roes, who, however, was assassinated after a re- sistance of nearly thirty years. Shapur had con- trived this murder. His son, Tiridates, being an infant, the Armenians implored the assistance of the emperor Valerian ; but before the Romans appeared ill the field, Armenia was subdued, and Shapur conquered Mesopotamia (258). Upon this Valerian put himself at the head of his army. He met Sapor near Edessa, on the Euphrates, and a pitched battle was fought, in which, owing to the perfidy or incapacity of the Roman minister Macrianus, the Persians carried the day. Valerian sought refuge within his fortified camp, but was finally obliged to surrender with his anny, Shapur having refused to accept the enormous ransom offered to him (260). The conduct of Shapur against Vale- rian, who died in captivity, is not to be discussed here ; but his political conduct offers a bold stroke of policy. He caused one Cyriades, a miserable fugitive of Antioch, to be proclaimed Roman em- peror, and acknowledged him as such, for the pur- pose, as it seems, of having a proper person to sign a treaty of peace, through which he hoped to gain legal possession of the provinces beyond the Taurus. He consequently pushed on to obtain possession of them, destroyed Antioch, conquered Syria, and having made himself master of the passes in the Taurus, laid Tarsus in urhes, and took Cuesai'eia SASSANIDAE. in Cappadocia through the treachery of a physician, and after a long and gallant resistance from its commander, the brave Demosthenes, who succeeded in cutting his way through the enemy. But Shapur did not keep his conquests long. A hero and a heroine, Odenathus and Zenobia, arose in the very desert, drove the king back beyond the Euphrates, and founded a new empire, over which they ruled at Palmyra. Rome was thus saved ; and the last years of the reign of Shapur offer nothing of im- portance for Roman history. An event, however, took place in Persia at this period which must not be passed over in silence here. We allude to the new doctrine of the celebrated Mani, who, endea- vouring to amalgamate the Christian and Zoroas- trian religions, gave rise to the famous sect of the Manichaeans, who spread over the whole East, ex- posing themselves to most sanguinary persecutions from both Christians and fire- worshippers. Shapur I. died in 273. 3. HoRMUZ or HoRMiSDAS I. ('OpjUitrSos or 'Op/xiVSrjs), the son of the preceding, an excellent man, reigned only one year, and died in A. D. 274. 4. Bahram or Baharam, Varanes or Va- RARANES I. (Ouapaj/Tjs or Ovpapdvr]s the son of Hornuiz I., reigned from A. D. 274 — 277. He carried on unprofitable wars against Zenobia, and, after her captivity, was involved in a contest with the victorious emperor Aurelian, which, however, was not attended with any serious results on ac- count of the sudden death of Aurelian in 275. Under him the celebrated Mani (who, be it said here, was also a distinguished painter) was put to death, and both Manichaeans and Christians were cruelly persecuted. He was succeeded by his son 5. Bahram or Varanes II., who reigned A. D. 277 — 294. Bahram was engaged in a war with his turbulent neighbours in the north-east, towards the sources of the Indus, when he was called to the west by a formidable invasion of the emperor Cams. It was near the river Euphrates that the old hero received a Persian embass}', to whom he gave audience whilst sitting on the turf and dressed in the garb of a common soldier. His language, however, soon convinced the luxurious Orientals that this mean-looking person, who was making his dinner upon some pease and a piece of bacon, was a monarch of no less power than their own Shahinshah. He told them that if the king did not recognise the superiority of the Roman empire, he would make Persia as naked of trees as his own head was destitute of hair ; and the Per- 1 sians being little inclined to make peace on such conditions, he began in earnest to show the good- ness of his word. Seleucia and Ctesiphon both yielded to him, and Bahram being compelled to keep most of his troops on the Indian frontier was w only saved by the sudden death of Carus (283). fl The sons and successors of Carus, Carinus and m Numerianus, retreated in consternation, and Dio- cletian, who soon wrested the power from them, was too busily engaged in the north to follow up the success of Carus. Bahram II. di(.^d in 294. 6. Bahram or Varanes III., the elder son and successor of the preceding, died after a reign of eight months only, a. d. 294, and was succeeded by his younger brother. 7. JNarsi or N arses (Nopo-ijs), who reigned from A. D. 294 — 303. He carried on a formidable war against the emperor Diocletian, which arose out of the state of Armenian affairs. As early as