Ardashir-I of Persis (r.224-241) revolted in 220. Vologases was defeated in 222, but managed to escape final defeat until 229. Artabanus was defeated in three battles ending with his death in 224. The term ‘Sassanid’ or ‘Sassanian’ comes from the name of a Zoroastrian priest, Sassan, who was supposedly a distant ancestor of Ardashir. In 230 Ardashir invaded Mesopotamia, attacking all the camps and garrisons of the Romans. Severus Alexander (26; r.222-235) mustered troops and launched from Antioch an attack on Persia. Ardashir met the Romans and defeated them, but heavy Persian losses made it a stalemate. In 239 Ardashir attacked Mesopotamia with his son Shapur-I (r.241-272), capturing the fortress of Hatra and the cities of Nisibis and Carrhae.
Timesitheus (c.190-243), father-in-law of Gordian III (19; r.238-244), drove Shapur back and defeated him at the Battle of Resaena in 243, regaining Nisibis and Carrhae. Philip the Arab (45; r.244-249) then concluded a peace with the Persians in 244. With the Roman Empire debilitated by Germanic invasions and the continuous elevation of new emperors, Shapur resumed his attacks. Armenia was attacked in 250 and Syria attacked two years later. Valerian (c.60; r.253-260) marched to oppose him. In 259 at the Battle of Edessa, Valerian was captured and put to death. Shapur then attempted a direct assault on Asia Minor, but in 262 Odaenathus of Palmyra (d.c.267) inflicted a severe defeat on Shapur and put an end to the king’s ambitions for expansion.
Shapur was followed by his two sons: Hormizd-I (r.272-273), who scarcely had time to achieve anything; and Bahram-I (r.273-276), who is noted only for having the prophet Mani (c.216-276), the founder of Manichaeism, sentenced to death. In 283 Bahram’s son Bahram II (r.276-293) had to face an invasion by Carus (c.53; r.282-283), who captured Ctesiphon and then died. The Roman forces withdrew, but in 286 Diocletian (64; r.284-305) marched into Persian territory to aid the Armenian prince Tiridates III (r/287-298) who was in revolt against the Sassanians. By 288 Armenia was separated and Tiridates declared himself independent.
Bahram’s son Bahram III (r.293) after a reign of only four months was deposed by Shapur’s son Narseh (r.293-302). In 296 Narseh regained Mesopotamia from the Romans and established control over Armenia. Diocletian sent his son-in-law Galerius (c.51; r.305-311) but he was defeated by Narseh’s troops at the Battle of Callinicum. Galerius made a stunning recovery and in 298 inflicted a crushing defeat on Narseh at the Battle of Satala, capturing a huge treasury as well as the family of the king. In the concluding peace the Romans regained Armenia and northern Syria. Narseh was succeeded by his son Hormizd II (r.302-309), who seems to have accepted the situation with the Romans.
Hormizd’s son Shapur II (70; r.309-379) came to the throne as an infant, with his mother acting as regent. During the early years of his reign Shapur led a campaign against Arab tribes that had settled in southwest Persia, and conducted further campaigns on the Arabian Peninsula across the Persian Gulf. In 334 he invaded Armenia, but was expelled by Constantine’s nephew Hannibalianus (d.337) in 336. Starting in 337, Shapur besieged the fortress city of Nisibis three times without success. Constantius II (44; r.337-361) conducted the war weakly, but Shapur was distracted by the arrival of the nomadic Chionites on his eastern frontier.
After a long campaign against them (353-358), he returned to Mesopotamia and captured the city of Amida. Following the death of Constantius, Julian (c.31; r.361-363) reopened hostilities, but died having reached the vicinity of Ctesiphon. To secure safe passage of his army Jovian (33; r.363-364) had to hand over all the provinces that the Persians had ceded to Rome in 298 and abandon their interests in Armenia. In 367 Shapur invaded Armenia and captured Arsaces II (r.350-367). Arsaces’ son Pap (c.21; r.367-374) escaped to Valens (50; r.364-378), and the Romans placed him on the Armenian throne in 370. When Shapur counterattacked in 371, his forces were bested by Valens’ generals Traianus (d.378) and Vadomarius at Bagavan. A truce was concluded and Shapur retired to Ctesiphon.
The policies of Ardashir II (r.379-383) were unpopular with the nobility and he was deposed in favour of his nephew Shapur III (r.383-388) whose reign is notable for the peace he made with Theodosius-I (48; r.347-395). Shapur’s son Bahram IV (r.388-399) was murdered by his own troops. He was succeeded by Yazdegerd-I (r.399-420) who in the early years of his reign promoted Christianity and later opposed it. During his last days, there was a civil war between his sons from which Bahram V (r.420-438) emerged victorious.
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