Editing Yazdegerd II (section)

== Death and succession ==
Yazdegerd II died in 457; he had reportedly not designed a successor and instead—according to the medieval historian [[al-Tha'alibi]]—entrusted the task to the elite.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=70}} Civil war soon followed; his eldest son [[Hormizd III]] ascended to the throne at the city of [[Ray, Iran|Ray]] in northern Iran, while Peroz fled to the northeastern part of the empire and began raising an army in order to claim the throne for himself.{{sfnm|Kia|2016|1p=248|Pourshariati|2008|2p=71}} The empire thus fell into a dynastic struggle and became divided. The mother of the two brothers, [[Denag]], temporarily ruled as regent of the empire from its capital, [[Ctesiphon]].{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=248}}