Editing Bahram II (section)

== Background ==
[[Image:Gold coin of Shapur I, minted at Ctesiphon between 260–272.jpg|thumb|[[Gold dinar]] of [[Shapur I]]]]
Bahram II was the eldest son of [[Bahram I]] ({{reign|271|274}}), the fourth king ([[shah]]) of the Sasanian dynasty, and the grandson of the prominent shah [[Shapur I]] ({{reign|240|270}}).{{sfn|Daryaee|Rezakhani|2017|p=157}} The Sasanians had supplanted the [[Parthia]]n [[Parthian Empire|Arsacid Empire]] as the sovereigns of Iran in 224, when [[Ardashir I]] (Bahram II's great-grandfather) defeated and killed its last monarch [[Artabanus IV of Parthia|Artabanus IV]] ({{reign|213|224}}) at the [[Battle of Hormozdgan]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}} A [[terminus post quem]] for Bahram II's birth is {{circa|262}}, since that is the date of [[Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]],{{sfn|Rapp|2014|page=28}} which mentions the rest of the royal family but not him.{{sfn|Frye|1984|p=303}} His father, Bahram I, although the eldest son of Shapur I, was not considered a candidate for succession, probably due to his mother's lowly origin. She was either a minor queen or perhaps even a [[concubine]].{{sfn|Weber|2016}}{{sfn|Frye|1983|p=127}} Shapur I died in 270, and was succeeded by his son [[Hormizd I]], who only reigned for a year before he died. Bahram I, with the aid of the powerful [[Zoroastrian]] priest [[Kartir]], ascended the throne.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1988|pp=514–522}} He then made a settlement with his brother [[Narseh]] to give up his entitlement to the throne in return for the governorship of the important frontier province of [[Sasanian Armenia|Armenia]], which was constantly the source of [[Roman–Persian Wars|conflict]] between the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and Sasanian Empires.{{sfn|Weber|2016}} Nevertheless, Narseh still most likely viewed Bahram I as a usurper.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1988|pp=514–522}}