Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/652

* SASSAFRAS. 584 SASSANID^. Aiiui ira, found from taimda to Florida and west of Kan.-as and Texas, sonietiines attains a height of 100 feet, lias deciduous, entire, or threelobed leaves, yellow (lowers, and small dark-blue fruit. The wood is soft, light, coarse- tibred, dirty white and reddish brown, with a strong but agreeable smell, and an aromatic, rather pungent, sweetish taste. The thick spong)' bark of the root contains n volatile oil, oil of sassafras, widely used as a flavoring for eoiifeetionery. The leaves are said to be used for llavoring sou])s, as well as for the abunihiiit mucilage they contiiin. SASSAN'ID.ffi, or SASSANIDS. The last native (lyuasty of Persia, which ruled from about A.I). 22(i until about (Ul. The .Sassanids succeed- ed the Arsaeid;^ (q.v.), and derived their name from Sassan, the grandfather of Ardashir. the first ruler of this line. Ardashir I. came to the throne in 226 and reigned until 241. His father, Papak, was a ])rinceling of Chir, not far from Lstakhr (Persepolis), and obtained for his son from his suzerain, the Bazrangi King Gaocliitlira, the positi(m of commander-in-chief of Darabgerd. This position was utilized by Ardashir to secure kingly power. He extended his sway with the help of his father, who murdered Gaochithra and declared his eldest son .Shahpuhr (Sapor) King in defiance of the Parthian sovereign, Artabanus V. On Papak"s death Shahpuhr was King for a short time, but being killed by an accident while en- gaged in an expedition against his brother Arda- shir, the latter seized the throne. He put to death all his rivals, including his elder brothers, and crowned a series of minor conquests by the defeat and death of Artabanus at Hormizdagan in 224. Two years later the capital, Ctesiphon, yielded to him. In Armenia, however, which he invaded in 228, he met with no lasting success, and in Georgia the Arsacid dynasty was able to bid him defiance. An attack on the Romans was practically futile, despite his victories at Nisibis and Carrli.-e in 237. Ardashir was succeeded by his son Shahpuhr (Sapor) I. (241-272), who continued his father's policy. Undeterred by a defeat in 242 by the Roman Gordianus at Ras el Ain (Resaina), he secured by a treaty with Philippus, the successor of Gordianus, both Armenia and Mesopotamia (244). The great event of his reign was his vic- torj' over the Roman Emperor Valerian (q.v.) at Edessa (Antioch Callirhoe), in Northern Mesopo- tamia, in 260. In 261 Shahpuhr met with a re- verse at the hands of Odenathus (q.v.), who took Carrhie and Nisibis and threatened Ctesi- phon itself. The invader was forced to retreat, however, and the remainder of Shahpuhr's rule was quiet and uneventful. The four following kings— Ormazd I. (272-273), Bahram I. (273- 276), Bahram II. (276-293), and Bahram III. (293) — were not especially noteworthy; but Narses I. (293-303), a son of Shahpuhr I., after a temporary victory over Terdat (Tiridates) of Armenia, was finally defeated by Galerius in 296, losing not only Armenia and Atropat^ne, but Iberia also, which came under Roman control. Ormazd II. (303-309) was followed by his posthu- mous son, Shahpuhr II. (309-379) . "whose reign is one of the most noteworthy in the Sassanid 7)eriod. It is marked in ecclesiastical history by bitter persecutions of the Christians begun in 342, arising from close affiliations of the Per- sian Christians with the Ea.stern Empire of By- zantium, an hereditary foe of Persia. War with Byzantium soon broke nut. at first with varying success. In 345 Shahiiuhr was utterly defeated at Singara. In 359 the war began anew, but, despite several victories in Armenia, the Persians made little real headway until Constantius was succeeded by Julian the Apostate (q.v.), who lost his life at Ctesiphon in 363.' This victory restored to Persia all that she had lost, and indirectly added Iberia and other Caucasian provinces to her sway. The success of Shahpuhr reestablished the glory of the Sassanids. He was followed by his step-brother, Ardashir II. (379-383), and h'is son, Shahpuhr 111. (383- 388), who lost much of Armenia Minor and was killed in a mutiny, being succeeded by his brother, Bahram IV. (388-399). Yezdegird I. (399-420), whose reign, like the preceding one, was marked by petty events in Armenia, but who personally was upright and peaceful, as followed by Bah- ram v., surnamed Gur (420-438). In tlie Ijcgin- ning of his reign he conquered the Haital (Heph- thalites. or Miite Huns I . but a persecution of the Christians involved him in a war with the Byzan- tine Empire, which resulted in his defeat (421). His son Yezdegird II. (438-457) remained at peace with the west, but attempted to conijiel the Christian Armenians to give up their faith and crushed the Armenian forces at Avarayr in 451. He was followed bv his two sons, Ormazd III. (457-459) and Fir'uz (459-484). The reign of the latter was marked by wars with the White Huns, against Avhom he made two expeditions, the first of which was unsuccessful, and the .second disastrous. Firuz himself being slain near Balkh. His brother Balash (Vologeses) (484- 488) succeeded him, but was deposed and fol- lowed by Kavadh (Ivobad) I. (488-531), whose rule was interrupted for a short time by the usurpation of his brother .lamasp (496-498). In this reign JIazdak (q.v.) promulgated his doctrines, and as a result of his favor to them Kavadh was for a while deprived of his throne. He waged war with the Greeks and at one time Belisarius (q.v.). the general of .Justinian, was his opponent. He was followed by his son Khosru (Chosroes) I. (531- 579), surnamed Anushirvan, 'the Immortal Souled.' His reign was chiefly occupied with wars against the Byzantines. After a brief period of peace, Khosru invaded S.vria in 540, vexed by the successes of his rival Justinian (q.v.) in Italy and Armenia and b.v his inter- ference in Oriental politics. Belisarius, however, prevented him from doing serious injury, al- though a large B.yzantine army under Narses was routed by the Persians in 543. The second Byzan- tine war dragged on from 530 until 557, when it practically ended with the defeat of the Persians at Phasis, near the Black Sea. Khosru then turned his arms against the White Hiuis. whom he conquered ( 557 ) . In 572 a third Greek war was begun by Justin II.. who refused to abide longer b.v the treaty which his uncle .Justinian had made with Khosru. The Sassanid King overran Armenia, but suffered defeat in the plain of Melitene (Malitia). The Greeks then invaded Persia, and Khosru sued for peace, but died be- fore the negotiations were completed. This reign marks the climax of the Sassanid dynasty, and the golden age of Pahlavi literature. Khosru was succeeded by his son Ormazd IV. 578-590), whose reign was an unfortunate one. Not only were his wars in Armenia unsuccessful.