Editing Shapur II (section)

== War with the Romans ==

=== Objectives ===
Ever since the "humiliating" [[Peace of Nisibis (299)|Peace of Nisibis]] concluded between Shapur's grandfather [[Narseh]] and the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] in 298, the borders between the two empires had changed largely in favor of the Romans, who in the treaty received a handful of provinces in [[Mesopotamia]], changing the border from the [[Euphrates]] to the [[Tigris]], close to the Sasanian capital of [[Ctesiphon]].{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=275}}{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=464-465}} The Romans also received control over the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]] and [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]], and gained control over parts of upper [[Media (region)|Media]] in Iran proper.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=275}} Shapur's primary objective was thus to nullify the treaty, which he spent much of his reign trying to accomplish.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=275}}

Another cause for Shapur's wars against the Romans was their attempts to meddle in the domestic affairs of the Sasanian Empire and hurt Shapur's kingship by supporting his brother [[Hormizd (son of Hormizd II)|Hormizd]], who had been well received at the Roman court by [[Constantine the Great]] and made a cavalry commander.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=461-462}}{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=275}} Shapur had made fruitless attempts to satisfy his brother, even having his wife sent to him, who had originally helped him escape imprisonment.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=461-462}} However, Hormizd had already become an avid [[philhellene]] during his stay with the Romans, with whom he felt at home.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=461-462}} Another reason was Constantine's declaration of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 337. He had also declared himself the defender of all the Christians in the world, including those living in the Sasanian realm.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=275}}

=== Early campaigns and first war against the Romans ===
{{main|Perso-Roman wars of 337–361}}

[[File:British Museum Shapur II Plate.jpg|thumb|right|Gilded silver plate showing a king (identified as Shapur II) hunting a deer whilst riding a stag, in the [[British Museum]]]]
In 337, after the accession of [[Constantius II]] to the Roman throne, Shapur II, provoked by the Roman rulers' backing of Armenia{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=17}} and the Armenian kingdom's earlier [[Christianization of Armenia|conversion to Christianity]],{{Sfn|Daryaee|2009}}{{Efn|Lee E. Patterson writes, "That Armenia should officially become Christian 
was troubling mainly because such a transformation aligned it with 
the Romans even more than before."{{Sfn|Patterson|2017|p=191}}}} broke the peace concluded in 298 between [[Narseh]] (293–302) and [[Diocletian]] (284–305), which had been observed for forty years. Most of the fighting during this campaign occurred in Roman Mesopotamia, where Roman fortifications impeded the Persian advance.{{Sfn|Frye|1983|pp=130–131, 137}} Nevertheless, Shapur was able to take some forts, such as Vitra.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=17}} Persian forces also devastated Armenia and captured and blinded the Armenian king [[Tiran of Armenia|Tiran]], perhaps in 350. Shapur besieged the Roman fortress city of [[Nusaybin|Nisibis]] in Mesopotamia thrice (in 338, 346, and 350) and was repulsed each time.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|pp=85–86}} During this campaign, the sole engagement between the sides' main armies was the [[Battle of Singara (344)|Battle of Singara]] (modern-day [[Sinjar]], Iraq) in 344, where Persian forces feinted a retreat and inflicted significant losses on the Roman army.{{Sfn|Potter|2004|pp=468, 690, note 140}}{{Efn|The date of the battle is disputed, and some scholars have suggested that there were actually two battles of Singara. See the references in {{harvnb|Potter|2004|p=690, note 140}} and {{harvnb|Dodgeon|Lieu|2005|pp=329–330}}. According to Potter, K. Mosig-Walburg conclusively demonstrated that there was one battle in 344 in the article "Zur Schlacht bei Singara," ''Historia'' 48 (1999): 330–84.{{Sfn|Potter|2004|p=690, note 140}}}} Neither side managed to achieve a decisive advantage, and an invasion of Central Asian nomads in the east forced Shapur to abandon his campaign against Rome by 350.{{Sfn|Daryaee|2009}} These nomads were likely the [[Kidarites]], who were threatening the [[Gupta Empire]] (320–500 CE) in India at the same time.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=17}} After an extended campaign against the nomads, Shapur forced their king, [[Grumbates]], into an alliance,{{Sfn|Meyer|1911}} thus gaining a new ally against the Romans.{{Sfn|Daryaee|2009}} In particular, Grumbates's forces joined the Persians in the [[Siege of Amida (359)|Siege of Amida]] in 359.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=18}}

=== Second war against the Romans and invasion of Armenia ===
[[File:Julian's campaign-en.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Map showing Julian's journey from [[Constantinople]] to [[Antioch]] (in 362) and his Persian expedition (in 363), ending with his death near [[Samarra]]]]

In 356, Shapur rejected a peace overture by Constantius, replying that Rome should return Armenia and other territories lost by Persia in the Treaty of Nisibis.{{Sfn|Patterson|2017|p=191}} In 359, Shapur II invaded southern Armenia and besieged the fortress of [[Amida (Mesopotamia)|Amida]] (now [[Diyarbakır]], Turkey). He was joined by King Grumbates's forces{{Sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=18}} and other allies.{{Sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=90–91}}{{Efn|These were the Caucasian Albanians, Gelani, Mardians and Segestani.{{Sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=90-91}}}} Amida surrendered after a seventy-three-day siege.{{Sfn|Meyer|1911}} The city was plundered and its inhabitants were deported to Khuzistan.{{Sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=18}} The delay forced Shapur to halt operations for the winter. Early the following spring he continued his operations against the Roman fortresses, capturing [[Singara]] and [[Shapur II's siege of Bezabde|Bezabde]] ([[Cizre]]?), again at a heavy cost. In the next year [[Constantius II]] launched a counterattack, having spent the winter making massive preparations in [[Constantinople]]; Shapur, who had meanwhile lost the aid of his Asianic allies, avoided battle, but left strong garrisons in all the fortresses which he had captured. Constantius laid siege to Bezabde, but proved incapable of taking it, and retired on the approach of winter to [[Antioch]], where he died soon after.
Constantius was succeeded by his cousin [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] (361–363), who came to the throne determined to avenge the recent Roman reverses in the east. Though Shapur attempted an honorable reconciliation, warned of the capabilities which Julian had displayed in wars against the [[Alemanni]] in [[Gaul]], the emperor dismissed negotiation.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

[[File:Taq-e Bostan - High-relief of Ardeshir II investiture.jpg|thumb|Sasanian relief of the investiture of [[Ardashir II]] showing [[Mithra]], Shapur II, and [[Ahura Mazda]] above a defeated Julian, lying prostrate]]

In 363 Julian, at the head of a strong army, advanced to Shapur's capital city of [[Ctesiphon]] and defeated a presumably larger Sasanian force at the [[Battle of Ctesiphon (363)|Battle of Ctesiphon]]; however, he was unable to take the fortified city, or engage with the main Persian army under Shapur II that was approaching. Julian was killed by the enemy in a skirmish during his retreat back to Roman territory. His successor [[Jovian (emperor)|Jovian]] (363–364) made an ignominious peace in which the districts beyond the [[Tigris]] which had been acquired in 298 were given to the Persians along with Nisibis and Singara, and the Romans promised to interfere no more in Armenia.{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}} The great success is represented in the rock sculptures near the town [[Bishapur]] in Pars (Stolze, ''Persepolis'', p. 141); under the hooves of the king's horse lies the body of an enemy, probably Julian, and a supplicant Roman, the Emperor Jovian, asks for peace.

According to the peace treaty between Shapur and Jovian, [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and Armenia were to be ceded to the Sasanians, and the Romans forbidden from further involvement in the affairs of Armenia.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=19}} The Armenian King [[Arshak II]], who had joined Julian's campaign, was lured to Persia and imprisoned in the [[Castle of Oblivion]]{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|p=90}} (Armenian: {{lang|xcl-Latn|berd An(y)ush}}) in [[Khuzistan (Sasanian province)|Khuzistan]].{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|p=443}}{{Efn|Supposedly, Arshak then committed suicide during a visit by his eunuch Drastamat,{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=19}} although the Roman historian [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] (4th century) reports that Arshak was blinded and executed.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|p=443}}}} Shapur destroyed many towns in Armenia and deported their inhabitants to Persia.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|p=90}} He persecuted the local Christians, erected [[fire temple]]s and forced conversion to [[Zoroastrianism]].{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=172}} The Persians were assisted in Armenia by the magnates [[Meruzhan Artsruni]] and Vahan Mamikonian, who were made governors of the country and one of whom was given Shapur's own sister in marriage.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|p=90}}{{Efn|Shapur's sister, who is called Ormizdukht in the old Armenian histories, was given to Vahan according to the ''[[Buzandaran Patmutʻiwnkʻ]]'' and to Meruzhan according to [[Movses Khorenatsi]].{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|p=397}}}} However, the Armenian nobles resisted him successfully, secretly supported by the Romans, who sent King [[Pap of Armenia|Pap]], the son of Arshak II, into Armenia. Shapur personally invaded Armenia in response to Pap's return, although Pap was restored to the Armenian throne again with the help of a Roman army in approximately spring 370.{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=173}}{{Sfn|Drijvers|2016|p=580}} Persian forces were defeated by a joint Roman-Armenian army in 371,{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=175}} and an army led by Shapur himself was defeated in another battle on the eastern border of Armenia.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|pp=90–91}} Eventually, Pap was suspected of colluding with the Persians and was assassinated in 375 by the order of the Roman emperor [[Valens]].{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=|pp=175–181}} Shapur and Valens negotiated inconclusively over the status of Armenia until 377, and Valens's defeat and death at the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378 ended Roman presence in Armenia. Armenia was left in peace for the time being. The country was later partitioned between Rome and Persia in 387, under Shapur's son [[Shapur III]].{{Sfn|Drijvers|2016|pp=582–583}}

In Georgia, then known as [[Kingdom of Iberia|Iberia]], where the Sasanians were also given control, Shapur II installed [[Aspacures II of Iberia]] in the east; however, in western Georgia, Valens also succeeded in setting up his own king, [[Sauromaces II of Iberia]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=19}}

Shapur II had conducted great hosts of captives from the Roman territory into his dominions, most of whom were settled in [[Elam]]. Here he rebuilt [[Susa]]—after having killed the city's rebellious inhabitants.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}