Ardashir I 180-240 (a.k.a. Artaxerxes) is recognised as being the first ruler of the
Sassanid Empire. His father
Papak was a
vassal of a minor king of
Parthia,
Gochihr before he staged a
coup, killing him and taking
the throne for himself. Ardashir suceeded him in 208; but it wasn't
until he defeated the Parthian army in 226, capturing the capital
Ctesiphon and killing the king
Artabanus IV, that he was named "king of kings".
His victory is celebrated in some of the earliest
bas-relief rock
carvings at
Naqsh-i-Rajab, which shows the god
Hormizd (
Ahura-mazda)
passing a crown to Ardashir. It also has an inscription by a priest
Kartir, founder of the
Zoroastrian state
religon, which proclaims
his beliefs.
He united the people behind him, using stories of the might of Persia's past and
the religion of
Zoroastrianism to weld together an army that rapidly began a
campaign to conquest the old Persian lands. His attacks on
Mesopotamia,
Armenia and
Cappadocia drew the might of the
Roman Empire (under the
leadership of
Alexander Severus) upon him. The
decisive battle
occured in 232, although both sides suffered heavy losses, it was the
Romans who were forced to withdraw. This
victory consolidated the
Sassanid
power base and set the stage for the next 400 years .....
He was suceeded by his son
Shapur I.
NB I've seen BOTH Artabanus IV and V quoted as being killed
by Ardashir. (Gritchka agrees with me though!) Also (and thanks to Gritchka for this!)Artaxerxes was the Greek name for Ardashir; this name being a later Pahlavi rendering. If anyone thinks any of my w/u is wrong or lacking, please /msg
me!