Editing Hormizd II

{{Short description|Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire from 303 to 309}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = Hormizd II<br />{{lang|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣}}
| title       = [[King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians]]
| image       = Coin of Hormizd II (cropped).jpg
| image_size  =
| caption     = [[Gold dinar]] of Hormizd II
| succession  = [[List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire|Shahanshah]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]]
| reign       = 303–309
| predecessor = [[Narseh]]
| successor   = [[Adur Narseh]]
| issue       = [[#Offspring|See below]]
| royal house = [[House of Sasan]]
| father      = [[Narseh]]
| mother      = [[Shapurdukhtak of Sakastan|Shapurdukhtak]]
| spouse      = [[Ifra Hormizd]]
| birth_date  =
| birth_place =
| death_date  = 309
| death_place =
| religion    = [[Zoroastrianism]]
}}
'''Hormizd II''' (also spelled '''Hormozd''' or '''Ohrmazd'''; {{langx|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣}}) was king ([[shah]]) of the [[Sasanian Empire]]. He ruled for six years and five months, from 303 to 309. He was a son and successor of [[Narseh]] ({{reign|293|303}}).

During his reign, the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] had recently declared [[Christianity]] as its official religion, thus leaving its ancient [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] heritage that it shared with Sasanian Iran. Hormizd II's reign was also marked by internal turmoil, which he successfully managed to deal with. Hormizd II was also successful in his efforts in the west, defeating and killing the [[Ghassanids|Ghassanid]] king in [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. His reign was, however, cut short by the intrigues of the Iranian nobility, who killed him in a secluded place.

He was succeeded by his son [[Adur Narseh]], who after a few months of reigning was also killed by the nobility. They instead installed Hormizd II's infant son [[Shapur II]] on the throne.

== Etymology ==
The name of Hormizd (also spelled ''Ōhrmazd'', ''Hormozd'') is the [[Middle Persian]] version of the name of the supreme deity in [[Zoroastrianism]], known in [[Avestan]] as [[Ahura Mazda]].{{sfn|Shayegan|2004|pp=462–464}} The [[Old Persian]] equivalent is ''Auramazdā'', while the [[Greek language|Greek]] transliteration is ''Hormisdas''.{{sfn|Shayegan|2004|pp=462–464}}{{sfn|Vevaina|Canepa|2018|page=1110}} The name is attested in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] as ''Ormizd'' and in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] as ''Urmizd''.{{sfn|Schmitt|Bailey|1986|pages=445–465}}{{sfn|Rapp|2014|pages=341–343}}

==Life==
=== Background ===
[[Image:Relief of Hormizd II in Naqsh-e Rostam.jpg|thumb|right|Relief of Hormizd II as a prince.]]
When Hormizd's father [[Narseh]] ascended the throne in 293, he had an investiture relief made in [[Naqsh-e Rostam]], where he is depicted as receiving the ring of kingship from a female figure that is frequently assumed to be the goddess [[Anahita]]. However, some scholars have suggested that this may be his wife and Hormizd's mother, [[Shapurdukhtak of Sakastan|Shapurdukhtak]].{{sfn|Weber|2016}} The figure standing behind Narseh is most likely Hormizd, due to his cap being the form of that of an animal [[protome]], which was typically worn by Sasanian heirs.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}} Hormizd most likely did not take part in his father's war against the [[Roman Empire]], which [[Battle of Satala (298)|ended disastrously]] for the Sasanians, with Narseh's wife and some of his offspring being captured, [[Peace of Nisibis (299)|forcing him to surrender]] a handful provinces in [[Sasanian Armenia|Armenia]] and [[Mesopotamia]] in order to have his family members handed back to him.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}} Hormizd may have been same person as [[Hormizd II Kushanshah]], a Sasanian prince who briefly ruled the [[Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom]] from 300 to 303.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=83}} They both minted coins where they were depicted with a winged crown, whilst on the reverse, which usually shows the traditional [[fire altar]] flanked by two attendants, also shows a head emerging from the fire, a typical Kushano-Sasanian design which first appears on Sasanian coins during the reign of Hormizd II.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=83}}

===Reign===
In 303, Hormizd II ascended the throne, assuming a crown whose features resembled that of the same used by the early Sasanian rulers, such as [[Bahram II]] ({{reign|274|293}}). Not much is known about the reign of Hormizd; he supposedly started out as a cruel ruler but then became benevolent.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}}

This change of behaviour is described by [[al-Tabari]];

{{quote box|width=750px|align=center|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|quote="The people had been in awe of him, and had experienced harshness and severity [from him]. But he told them that he had been fully aware of their fears over his severity and strong rule, and informed them that he had exchanged the roughness and harshness in his nature for mildness and clemency. He then ruled them in the most considerate fashion and behaved in the most equitable manner possible. He was eager to succor and revive the weak, to render the land prosperous and flourishing, and to spread justice among the subjects."|source=''History of the Prophets and Kings'', volume 5{{sfn|Al-Tabari|1985–2007|loc=v. 5: p. 49}}}} 
[[Image:Naqsherostam37.jpg|thumb|300px|Relief of Hormizd II impaling his enemy at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]].]]
However, he persecuted the [[Manichaeism|Manicheans]], who had lived peacefully in the reign of his father;{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}} Narseh followed a policy of religious tolerance in emulation of the first two shahs, [[Ardashir I]] ({{reign|224|242}}) and [[Shapur I]] ({{reign|240|270}}).{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}} Hormizd reportedly founded the rural district of Kurang (or Wahisht-Hormozd) near [[Izeh]] in the [[Khuzistan (Sasanian province)|Khuzistan]] province.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}} He gave his daughter Hormizddukht in marriage to a [[Mamikonian]] prince named Vahan as part of an effort to improve Sasanian relations with [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]], which had recently under [[Tiridates III of Armenia]] declared [[Christianity]] as its state religion.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=15}}

Hormizd's rock relief at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]] in the [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Pars]] province (present-day [[Fars province|Fars]]) indicates that there was internal turmoil during his reign. He is depicted on horseback, impaling an enemy whose helmet bears the family signature of Papak, a high-ranking nobleman who served as the {{Transliteration|fa|[[Bidaxsh|bitakhsh]]}} (viceroy) of [[Albania (satrapy)|Albania]] during the reign of Bahram II and Narseh.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}} During his last years Hormizd pursued hostilities against the [[Ghassanid]] king, demanding tribute and raiding Ghassanid domains in [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. The Ghassanid king requested reinforcements from the Roman emperor, but was killed before they arrived.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}} Hormizd died in 309, reportedly ambushed by Ghassanid troops whilst he was hunting in the desert. He was more likely killed in a secluded place by the Iranian nobility, who afterwards sought to get rid of his sons as well.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}}

According to the 11th-century ''[[Chronicle of Seert]]'', Hormizd declared war against the Romans in order to avenge the defeat of his father, whilst the [[Chronicle of Arbela]] states that when the Roman emperor started persecuting his Christian subjects, Hormizd raised a great army, invaded the Roman domains and raided many cities. The credibility of the two sources are doubtful, with the events not being reported in other sources. According to the [[Iranian studies|Iranologist]] [[Alireza Shapour Shahbazi]], "one may only surmise that it is probably a reflection of Hormozd's alleged raid into Syria."{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}}

==Succession==
After Hormizd's death, he was succeeded by his eldest son [[Adur Narseh]], who, after a brief reign which lasted few months, was killed by some of the nobles of the empire.{{sfn|Tafazzoli|1983|p=477}} They then blinded the second,{{sfn|Al-Tabari|1985–2007|loc=v. 5: p. 50}} and imprisoned the third ([[Hormizd (Constantinople)|Hormizd]], who afterwards escaped to the Roman Empire).{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004b|pp=461–462}} The throne was reserved for the unborn child of Hormizd II's wife Ifra Hormizd, which was Shapur II. Shapur II was reportedly the only king in history to be crowned ''[[Uterus|in utero]]'', as the legend claims that the crown was placed upon his mother's womb while she was pregnant.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=16}} However, according to Shahbazi, it is unlikely that Shapur was crowned as king while still in his mother's womb, since the nobles could not have known of his sex at that time. He further states that Shapur was born forty days after his father's death, and that the nobles killed Adur Narseh and crowned Shapur II in order to gain greater control of the empire, which they were able to do until Shapur II reached his majority at the age of 16.{{sfn|Al-Tabari|1985–2007|loc=v. 5: p. 50}}

==Offspring==
Hormizd II was one of the Sasanian kings with the most children, which he had from his wife Ifra-Hormizd, and several other wives and [[concubines]]:
*Prince [[Adur Narseh]] (3rd century – 309), the ninth king of the Sasanian Empire.{{sfn|Tafazzoli|1983|p=477}}
*Prince [[Shapur II]] (309 – 379), the tenth king of the Sasanian Empire.{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}}
*Prince [[Adurfrazgird]] (??? – 4th century), governor of southern [[Arbayistan]].{{sfn|Brunner|1983|p=478}}
*Prince Zamasp (??? – 4th century), governor of northern [[Arbayistan]].{{sfn|Brunner|1983|p=478}}
*Prince [[Shapur Sakanshah]] (??? – 4th century), governor of [[Sakastan (Sasanian province)|Sakastan]].{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|2001|p=223}}
*Prince [[Hormizd (son of Hormizd II)|Hormizd]] (??? – 4th century), imprisoned by the Iranian nobility and later defected to the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004b|pp=461–462}}
*Prince [[Ardashir II]] (309 – 383), the eleventh king of the Sasanian Empire.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}}
*Prince Narseh (??? – 4th century), briefly occupied the Armenian throne in the mid-330s.{{sfn|Lenski|2007|p=391}}
*Princess Hormizddukht (??? – 4th century), married the [[Mamikonian]] prince Vahan.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004a|pp=464–465}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last = Al-Tabari | first = Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir | author-link=Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari | editor1 = Ehsan Yar-Shater | title = The History of Al-Ṭabarī. | volume = 40 vols. | publisher = State University of New York Press | location = Albany, NY | date = 1985–2007 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = Ādurfrāzgird | last = Brunner | first = C. J. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/adurfrazgird-a-brother-of-the-sasanian-king-sapur-ii-a | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 5 | page = 478 | year = 1983 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = Šāpur II | last = Daryaee | first = Touraj | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shapur-ii | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 2009 }}
* {{cite book | title = Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | year = 2014 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | last = Daryaee| first = Touraj | author-link = Touraj Daryaee | pages = 1–240 | isbn = 978-0-85771-666-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LU0BAwAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite book|last1=Kia|first1=Mehrdad|title=The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-391-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5BHDAAAQBAJ&q=false}}
* {{cite book|last1=Lenski|first1=Noel|title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-00084-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Pourshariati|first=Parvaneh|title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran|location=London and New York|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2008|isbn=978-1-84511-645-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rapp |first1=Stephen H. Jr |title=The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-4724-2552-2 }}
* {{cite book | title = ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity | year = 2017 | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | last = Rezakhani | first = Khodadad | author-link = Khodadad Rezakhani | pages = 1–256 | isbn = 978-1-4744-0030-5 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bjRWDwAAQBAJ&q=false}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = ARMENIA AND IRAN iv. Iranian influences in Armenian Language | last1 = Schmitt | first1 = R. | last2 = Bailey | first2= H. W. | author-link1 = Rüdiger Schmitt | author-link2 = Harold Walter Bailey | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/armenia-iv | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4-5 | pages = 445–465 | year = 1986 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last = Shahbazi |first = A. Shapur |title = SASANIAN DYNASTY |url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty |year = 2005 |encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Hormozd II | last = Shahbazi | first = A. Shapur | author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hormozd-ii | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XII, Fasc. 5 | pages = 464–465 | year = 2004a }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Hormozd (2) | last = Shahbazi | first = A. Shapur | author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hormozd-ormisdas | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XII, Fasc. 5 | pages = 461–462 | year = 2004b }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Hormozd I | last = Shayegan | first = M. Rahim | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hormozd-i | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XII, Fasc. 5 | pages = 462–464 | year = 2004 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Ādur Narseh | last = Tafazzoli | first = Ahmad | author-link = Shapur Shahbazi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/adur-narseh-son-of-the-sasanian-king-hormizd-ii-a | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 5 | page = 477 | year = 1983 }}
* {{ODLA|last1=Vevaina|first1=Yuhan|last2=Canepa|first2=Matthew|title=Ohrmazd|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-3439?rskey=yx9iQR&result=10}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Narseh | last = Weber | first = Ursula | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/narseh-sasanian-king | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 2016 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wiesehöfer |first=Josef |translator-last=Azodi |translator-first=Azizeh |year=2001 |title=Ancient Persia |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-86064-675-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFocMaM49SgC&q=false |author-link=Josef Wiesehöfer }}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian dynasty]]||||309}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Narseh]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran]]|years=303–309}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Adur Narseh]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sasanian Rulers}}
{{good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hormizd 02}}
[[Category:309 deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century Sasanian monarchs]]
[[Category:3rd-century births]]
[[Category:Murdered Persian monarchs]]
[[Category:Shahnameh characters]]
[[Category:4th-century murdered monarchs]]