Editing Shapur I (section)

==Government==
===Governors during his reign===
[[File:Naqsh-e Rajab 01.jpg|thumb|Relief showing Shapur I on horseback, followed by his sons and nobles]]
Under Shapur, the Sasanian court, including its territories, were much larger than that of his father. Several governors and vassal-kings are mentioned in his inscriptions; Ardashir, governor of [[Qom]]; Varzin, governor of [[Spahan]]; Tiyanik, governor of [[Hamadan]]; Ardashir, governor of Neriz; Narseh, governor of Rind; Friyek, governor of [[Gundishapur]]; Rastak, governor of [[Veh-Ardashir]]; [[Amazasp III of Iberia|Amazasp III]], king of [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]]. Under Shapur several of his relatives and sons served as governor of Sasanian provinces; [[Bahram I|Bahram]], governor of [[Gilan]]; [[Narseh]], governor of [[Sindh]], [[Sakastan (Sasanian province)|Sakastan]] and [[Turan (Sasanian province)|Turan]]; Ardashir, governor of [[Kirman (Sasanian province)|Kirman]]; [[Hormizd I|Hormizd-Ardashir]], governor of [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]]; [[Shapur Meshanshah]], governor of [[Meshan]]; Ardashir, governor of [[Adiabene]].{{sfn|Frye|1984|p=299}}

===Officials during his reign===
Several names of Shapur's officials are carved on his inscription at [[Naqsh-e Rustam]]. Many of these were the offspring of the officials who served Shapur's father. During the reign of Shapur, a certain Papak served as the commander of the royal guard (''[[hazarbed]]''), while Peroz served as the chief of the cavalry (''[[aspbed]]''); Vahunam and Shapur served as the director of the clergy; Kirdisro served as viceroy of the empire (''[[bidaxsh]]''); Vardbad served as the "chief of services"; Hormizd served as the chief scribe; Naduk served as "the chief of the prison"; Papak served as the "gate keeper"; Mihrkhwast served as the treasurer; Shapur served as the commander of the army; Arshtat Mihran served as the secretary; Zik served as the "master of ceremonies".{{sfn|Frye|1984|p=373}}

=== Army ===
[[File:Shapur I (The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp).png|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Shapur I in the [[Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp]]]]
Under Shapur, the Iranian military experienced a resurgence after a rather long decline in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, which gave the Romans the opportunity to undertake expeditions into the Near East and Mesopotamia during the end of the Parthian Empire.{{sfn|Daryaee|Rezakhani|2017|p=157}} Yet, the military was essentially the same as that of the Parthians; the same Parthians nobles who served the Arsacid royal family, now served the Sasanians, forming the majority of the Sasanian army.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=603}} However, the Sasanians seem to have employed more [[cataphracts]] who were equipped with lighter chain-mail armor resembling that of the Romans.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=603}}

Although Iranian society was greatly militarized and its elite designated themselves as a "warrior nobility" (''arteshtaran''), it still had a significantly smaller population, was more impoverished, and was a less centralized state compared to the Roman Empire.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=603}} As a result, the Sasanian shahs had access to fewer full-time fighters, and depended on recruits from the nobility instead.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=603}} Some exceptions were the royal cavalry bodyguard, garrison soldiers, and units recruited from places outside Iran.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=603}} The bulk of the nobility included the powerful Parthian noble families (known as the ''[[wuzurgan]]'') that were centered on the [[Iranian plateau]].{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=604}} They served as the backbone of the Sasanian [[Feudalism|feudal]] army and were largely autonomous.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=604}} The Parthian nobility worked for the Sasanian shah for personal benefit, personal oath, and, conceivably, a common awareness of the "Aryan" (Iranian) kinship they shared with their Persian overlords.{{sfn|McDonough|2013|p=604}}

Use of [[Persian war elephants|war elephants]] is also attested under Shapur, who made use of them to demolish the city of [[Hatra]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=46}} He may also have used them against Valerian, as attested in the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' (''The Book of Kings'').{{sfn|Daryaee|2016|p=37}}

===Monuments===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2017}}
[[Image:Bishapour palais Shapur.jpg|thumb|Picture of the ruined palace of Shapur I at [[Bishapur]]]]

Shapur I left other reliefs and rock inscriptions. A relief at [[Naqsh-e Rajab]] near [[Estakhr]] is accompanied by a Greek translation. Here Shapur I calls himself "the [[Zoroastrianism|Mazdayasnan]] (worshipper of [[Ahuramazda]]), the divine Shapur, King of Kings of the [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]], and non-Iranians, of divine descent, son of the Mazdayasnan, the divine [[Ardashir I|Ardashir]], King of Kings of the Aryans, grandson of the divine king [[Papak]]". Another long inscription at Estakhr mentions the King's exploits in archery in the presence of his nobles.

From his titles we learn that Shapur I claimed sovereignty over the whole earth, although in reality his domain extended little farther than that of Ardashir I.
Shapur I built the great town [[Academy of Gundishapur|Gundishapur]] near the old Achaemenid capital [[Susa]], and increased the fertility of the district with a dam and irrigation system—built by Roman prisoners—that redirected part of the [[Karun River]]. The barrier is still called ''[[Band-e Kaisar]]'', "the mole of the Caesar". He is also responsible for building the city of [[Bishapur]], with the labors of Roman soldiers captured after the defeat of Valerian in 260. Shapur also built a town named [[Pushang]] in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]].

===Religious policy===
In all records Shapur calls himself ''mzdysn'' ("Mazda-worshipping"). His inscription at the [[Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]] recounts his wars and religious establishments to the same extent. He believed that he had a responsibility; "For the reason, therefore, that the gods have so made us their instrument (''dstkrt''), and that by the help of the gods we have sought out for ourselves, and hold, all these nations (''štry'') for that reason we have also founded, province by province, many Varahrān fires (''ʾtwry wlhlʾn''), and we have dealt piously with many Magi (''mowmard''), and we have made great worship of the gods."{{sfn|Shahbazi|2002}} According to the Zoroastrian priest [[Kartir]], Shapur treated the Zoroastrians generously, and permitted members of their clergy to follow him on his expeditions against the Romans.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2002}} According to the historian [[Prods Oktor Skjærvø]], Shapur was a "lukewarm Zoroastrian".{{sfn|Skjærvø|2011|pp=608–628}}

During the reign of Shapur, [[Manichaeism]], a new religion founded by the Iranian prophet [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]], flourished. Mani was treated well by Shapur, and in 242, the prophet joined the Sasanian court, where he tried to convert Shapur by dedicating his only work written in [[Middle Persian]], known as the ''[[Shabuhragan]]''. Shapur, however, did not convert to Manichaeism and remained a Zoroastrian.<ref>{{BBKL |m/mani|band=5|author=Marco Frenschkowski|artikel=Mani (iran. Mānī<; gr. Μανιχαῑος < ostaram. Mānī ḥayyā "der lebendige Mani")|spalten=669–680}}</ref>