Editing Shapur I (section)

== Background and state of Iran==
Shapur I was a son of Ardashir I and his wife [[Murrod]]<ref>Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2002). "Šāpur I". Encyclopaedia Iranica.</ref><ref>Brosius, Maria (2000). "Women i. In Pre-Islamic Persia". [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/women-i Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol]. London et al.</ref><ref>Bonner, Michael (2020). ''The Last Empire of Iran''. New York: Gorgias Press. pp. 1–406. {{ISBN|978-1463206161}}</ref> or [[Denag (sister of Ardashir I)|Denag]].{{sfn|Gignoux|1994|p=282}} The background of the Sasanian family is obscure; although based in [[Fars province|Pars]] (also known as [[Persis]]), they were not native to the area, and were seemingly originally from the east.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2016|pp=23–32}}{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=242}} The historian Marek Jan Olbrycht has suggested that the family was descended from the [[Indo-Parthians]] of [[Sakastan]].{{sfn|Olbrycht|2016|pp=23–32}} [[Iranologist]] Khodadad Rezakhani also noted similarities between the early Sasanians and the Indo-Parthians, such as their coinage.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017b|pp=44–45}} Yet, he stated that "evidence might still be too inconclusive."{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017b|pp=44–45}}

Pars, a region in the southwestern [[Iranian plateau]], was the homeland of the southwestern branch of the [[Iranian peoples]], the Persians.{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2000a|p=195}} It was also the birthplace of the first Iranian Empire, the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]].{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2000a|p=195}} The region served as the center of the empire until its conquest by the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] king [[Alexander the Great]] ({{reign|336|323|era=BCE}}).{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2000a|p=195}} Since the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, Pars was ruled by local dynasts subject to the [[Hellenistic]] [[Seleucid Empire]].{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2009}} These dynasts held the ancient Persian title of ''[[frataraka]]'' ("leader, governor, forerunner"), which is also attested in the Achaemenid-era.{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2000b|p=195}} Later under the ''frataraka'' [[Wadfradad II]] (fl. 138 BCE) was made a vassal of the Iranian [[Parthian Empire|Parthian (Arsacid) Empire]].{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2009}} The ''frataraka'' were shortly afterwards replaced by the [[Kings of Persis]], most likely at the accession of the Arsacid monarch [[Phraates II]] ({{reign|132|127|era=BCE}}).{{sfn|Shayegan|2011|p=178}} Unlike the ''fratarakas'', the Kings of Persis used the title of [[shah]] ("king"), and laid foundations to a new dynasty, which may be labelled the Darayanids.{{sfn|Shayegan|2011|p=178}}

Under [[Vologases V]] ({{reign|191|208}}), the Parthian Empire was in decline, due to wars with the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], civil wars and regional revolts.{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=249}} The Roman emperor [[Septimius Severus]] ({{reign|193|211}}) had invaded the Parthian domains in 196, and two years later did the same, this time sacking the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon.{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=249}} At the same time, revolts occurred in [[Media (region)|Media]] and Persis.{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=249}} The Iranologist Touraj Daryaee argues that the reign of Vologases V was "the turning point in Parthian history, in that the dynasty lost much of its prestige."{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=249}} The kings of Persis were now unable to depend on their weakened Parthian overlords.{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=249}} Indeed, in 205/6, Pabag rebelled and overthrew the [[Bazrangi]]d ruler of Persis, [[Gochihr]], taking Istakhr for himself.{{sfn|Daryaee|2012|p=187}}{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=249}} Around 208 [[Vologases VI]] succeeded his father Vologases V as king of the Arsacid Empire. He ruled as the uncontested king from 208 to 213, but afterwards fell into a dynastic struggle with his brother [[Artabanus IV]],{{efn|Artabanus IV is erroneously known in older scholarship as Artabanus V. For further information, see {{harvtxt|Schippmann|1986a|pp=647–650}}}} who by 216 was in control of most of the empire, even being acknowledged as the supreme ruler by the Roman Empire.{{sfn|Schippmann|1986a|pp=647–650}} Artabanus IV soon clashed with the Roman emperor [[Caracalla]], whose forces he managed to contain at [[Battle of Nisibis (217)|Nisibis]] in 217.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=3}}

Peace was made between the two empires the following year, with the Arsacids keeping most of [[Mesopotamia]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=3}} However, Artabanus IV still had to deal with his brother Vologases VI, who continued to mint coins and challenge him.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=3}} The Sasanian family had meanwhile quickly risen to prominence in Pars, and had now under Ardashir begun to conquer the neighboring regions and more far territories, such as [[Kirman (Sasanian province)|Kirman]].{{sfn|Schippmann|1986a|pp=647–650}}{{sfn|Schippmann|1986b|pp=525–536}} At first, Ardashir I's activities did not alarm Artabanus IV, until later, when the Arsacid king finally chose to confront him.{{sfn|Schippmann|1986a|pp=647–650}}