Editing Ardashir II (section)

==Background==
Ardashir was the son of shah [[Hormizd II]] ({{reign|302|309}}), who was killed by the Iranian nobility whilst hunting. He was succeeded by [[Adur Narseh]], who, after a brief reign which only lasted a few months, was also killed by the nobles,{{sfn|Tafazzoli|1983|p=477}} who then proceeded to blind the second,{{sfn|Bosworth|1999|p=50}} and imprison the third ([[Hormizd (Constantinople)|Hormizd]], who later managed to escape to the [[Roman Empire]]).{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=461–462}} Ardashir's infant half-brother [[Shapur II]], who was only slightly older than him, was crowned as king by the nobles so that they could gain greater control of the empire, which they were able to do until Shapur II reached his majority at the age of 16.{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1999|p=50}}

Ardashir, before becoming king of the Sasanian Empire, was vassal king of [[Adiabene]] from 344 to 376. It is believed that during his tenure he took part in the defense of the Sasanian Empire with Shapur when it was [[Julian's Persian War|invaded]] by the Roman Emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] ({{reign|361|363}}).{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|pp=380–381}} Ardashir is the last figure to be recorded as king of Adiabene, which implies that the kingdom was after his tenure transformed into a province (''shahr''), governed by a non-royal delegate (''[[marzban]]'' or ''[[Satrap|shahrab]]'') of the Sasanian shah.{{sfn|Marciak|2017|p=412}} In 379, Shapur II designated Ardashir as his successor, and made him vow to abdicate when Shapur's son, [[Shapur III]] reached adulthood.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|pp=380–381}} This led to some Armenian writers to wrongly state that Ardashir was Shapur's son.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|pp=380–381}}