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24-736: The Maspii were an Iranian tribe from Persis ( Parsa in Old Persian ) or Persia , in modern southwestern Iran . This tribe was one of the three main and leading Persian tribes, (the Persians were and are one of the Iranian peoples ) alongside the Maraphii and the Pasargadae (from this later tribe came the Achaemenid royal family). This Ancient Near East –related article

48-511: A spring at the place. Ardashir I's forces numbered 10,000 cavalry, with some of them wearing flexible chain armor akin to that of the Romans. Artabanus led a greater number of soldiers, who, however, were less disposed, due to wearing the inconvenient lamellar armor. Ardashir I's son and heir, Shapur I , as portrayed in the Sasanian rock reliefs , also took part in the battle. The battle

72-643: A second time against Ardashir I in 224. Their armies clashed at Hormizdegan , where Artabanus IV was killed. Ardashir was crowned in 226 at Ctesiphon as the sole ruler of Persia, bringing the 400-year-old Parthian Empire to an end, and starting the virtually equally long rule of the Sassanian Empire , over an even larger territory, once again making Persia a leading power in the known world, only this time along with its arch-rival and successor to Persia's earlier opponents (the Roman Republic and

96-417: A world heritage, reflecting the history of the province, Iran , and West Asia . The ruins of Bishapur , Persepolis , and Firouzabad are all reminders of this. Arab invaders brought about a decline of Zoroastrian rule and made Islam ascendant from the 7th century. Artabanus IV Artabanus IV , also known as Ardavan IV ( Parthian :𐭓𐭕𐭐𐭍), incorrectly known in older scholarship as Artabanus V ,

120-501: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Iran -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Persis The ancient Persians were present in the region of Persis from about the 10th century BC. They became the rulers of the largest empire the world had yet seen under the Achaemenid dynasty which was established in the late 6th century BC, at its peak stretching from Thrace - Macedonia , Bulgaria - Paeonia and Eastern Europe proper in

144-411: Is disputed whether Caracalla's proposal was sincere or not. Caracalla's choice to contact Artabanus shows that the latter was now considered the dominant king over Vologases, who would rule a small principality centered around Seleucia until 221/2. Artabanus soon clashed with Caracalla, whose forces he managed to contain at Nisibis in 217. Peace was made between the two empires the following year, with

168-662: The Roman Empire ); the Byzantine Empire . The Sassanids ruled for 425 years, until the Muslim armies conquered the empire. Afterward, the Persians started to convert to Islam , this making it much easier for the new Muslim empire to continue the expansion of Islam. Persis then passed hand to hand through numerous dynasties, leaving behind numerous historical and ancient monuments; each of which has its own values as

192-646: The Seleucid Empire was established, it possibly never extended its power beyond the main trade routes in Fars, and by the reign of Antiochus I or possibly later, Persis emerged as a state with a level of independence that minted its own coins. Several later Persian rulers, forming the Frataraka dynasty, are known to have acted as representatives of the Seleucids in the region of Fārs . They ruled from

216-519: The Arsacid king finally chose to confront him. According to al-Tabari , whose work was probably based on Sasanian sources, Ardashir I and Artabanus agreed to meet in Hormozdgan at the end of the month of Mihr (April). Nonetheless, Ardashir I went to the place before due time to occupy an advantageous spot on the plain. There he dug out a ditch to defend himself and his forces. He also took over

240-501: The Arsacids keeping most of Mesopotamia . However, Artabanus still had to deal with his brother Vologases, who continued to mint coins and challenge him. The Sasanian family had meanwhile quickly risen to prominence in their native Pars , and had now under prince Ardashir I begun to conquer the neighboring regions and more far territories, such as Kirman . At first, Ardashir I's activities did not alarm Artabanus, until later, when

264-473: The Parthian Empire. His rule was unquestioned for a few years, till his brother Artabanus IV rebelled. The dynastic struggle between the two brothers most likely started about 213. Artabanus successfully conquered much of the empire, including Media and Susa . Vologases VI seems to have only managed to keep Seleucia , where he minted coins. The Roman emperor Caracalla sought to take advantage of

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288-465: The Romans still saw him as the dominant king. Caracalla then chose to preoccupy himself with an invasion of Armenia . He appointed a freedman named Theocritus as the leader of the invasion, which eventually ended in a disaster. Caracalla then once again sought to start a war with the Parthians. In another attempt to gain a pretext, he requested Artabanus to marry his daughter, which he declined. It

312-457: The Sasanian royal city of Ardashir-Khwarrah (present-day Firuzabad ) in his homeland, Pars. The first relief portrays three scenes of personal fighting; starting from the left, a Persian aristocrat seizing a Parthian soldier; Shapur impaling the Parthian minister Dad-windad with his lance; and Ardashir I ousting Artabanus IV. The second relief, conceivably intended to portray the aftermath of

336-598: The battle, displays the triumphant Ardashir I being given the badge of kingship over a fire shrine from the Zoroastrian supreme god Ahura Mazda , while Shapur and two other princes are watching from behind. Vologases VI was driven out of Mesopotamia by Ardashir I's forces soon after 228. The leading Parthian noble-families (known as the Seven Great Houses of Iran ) continued to hold power in Iran, now with

360-510: The conflict between the two brothers. He tried to find a pretext to invade the Parthian Empire by requesting Vologases to send two refugees—a philosopher named Antiochus and a certain Tiridates, who was possibly either an Armenian prince or an uncle of Vologases. To the surprise of the Romans, Vologases had the two men sent to Caracalla in 215, thus denying him his pretext. Caracalla's choice of contacting Vologases instead of Artabanus shows that

384-559: The end of the 3rd century BC to the beginning of the 2nd century BC, and Vahbarz or Vādfradād I obtained independence circa 150 BC, when Seleucid power waned in the areas of southwestern Persia and the Persian Gulf region. During an apparent transitional period, corresponding to the reigns of Vādfradād II and another uncertain king, no titles of authority appeared on the reverse of their coins. The earlier title prtrk' zy alhaya ( Frataraka ) had disappeared. Under Dārēv I however,

408-467: The new Sasanian Empire . At this point, Ardashir moved his capital further to the south of Persis and founded a capital at Ardashir-Khwarrah (formerly Gur, modern day Firouzabad ). After establishing his rule over Persis, Ardashir I rapidly extended the territory of his Sassanid Persian Empire, demanding fealty from the local princes of Fars, and gaining control over the neighboring provinces of Kerman, Isfahan, Susiana, and Mesene. Artabanus marched

432-586: The new title of mlk , or king, appeared, sometimes with the mention of prs (Persis), suggesting that the kings of Persis had become independent rulers. When the Parthian Arsacid king Mithridates I (ca. 171-138 BC) took control of Persis, he left the Persian dynasts in office, known as the Kings of Persis , and they were allowed to continue minting coins with the title of mlk ("King"). Babak

456-464: The time was the governor of Darabgird, got involved in a power struggle of his own with his elder brother Shapur . The sources tell us that in 222, Shapur was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. Ardaxšir (Artaxerxes) V, defeated the last legitimate Parthian king, Artabanos V in AD 224, and was crowned at Ctesiphon as Ardaxšir I (Ardashir I), šāhanšāh ī Ērān , becoming the first king of

480-729: The west, to the Indus Valley in its far east. The ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae , two of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire , are located in Fars. The Achaemenid Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, incorporating most of their vast empire. Several Hellenistic satraps of Persis are known (following the conquests of Alexander the Great) from circa 330 BC, especially Phrasaortes , who ruled from 330 to 324 BC; Orxines , who usurped his position and

504-473: Was fought on 28 April 224, with Artabanus being defeated and killed, marking the end of the Arsacid era and the start of 427 years of Sasanian rule. The chief secretary of Artabanus, Dad-windad , was afterwards executed by Ardashir I. Thenceforth, Ardashir I assumed the title of shahanshah (" King of Kings ") and started the conquest of an area which would be called Iranshahr ( Ērānshahr ). He celebrated his victory by having two rock reliefs sculptured at

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528-613: Was the last ruler of the Parthian Empire from c. 213 to 224. He was the younger son of Vologases V , who died in 208. Artabanus is the Latin form of the Greek Artábanos ( Ἁρτάβανος ), itself from the Old Persian *Arta-bānu ("the glory of Arta ."). The Parthian and Middle Persian variant was Ardawān ( 𐭓𐭕𐭐𐭍 ). In c.  208 , Vologases VI succeeded his father Vologases V as king of

552-481: Was the ruler of a small town called Kheir. Babak's efforts in gaining local power at the time escaped the attention of Artabanus IV , the Arsacid Emperor of the time. Babak and his eldest son Shapur managed to expand their power over all of Persis. The subsequent events are unclear, due to the sketchy nature of the sources. It is however certain that following the death of Babak around 220, Ardashir who at

576-534: Was then executed by Alexander; and the Macedonian general Peucestas , who learned the Persian language and followed local customs, implementing a persophile policy. Peucestas retained the satrapy of Persis until the Battle of Gabiene (316 BC), after which he was removed from his position by Antigonus . A short period of Antigonid rule followed, until Seleucus took possession of the region in 312 BC. When

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