Ardeshir I

Ardeshir I (اردشیر بابکان) (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. After defeating the last Parthian shahanshah Ardavan IV on the Hormozdgan plain in 224, he overthrew the Parthian dynasty and established the Sasanian dynasty. Afterwards, Ardeshir called himself shahanshah and began conquering the land that he called Eranshahr, the realm of the Iranians. In the narrative Iranian history, Ardeshir is described as a heroic, bold, forethoughtful man with a high amount of fortitude and mood. According to those texts, he was a persistent man and had a chivalric behavior though he applied much violence and cruelty, and fought alongside his warriors in battles.

Ardeshir was born in the outskirts of Istakhr, Pars. There are various historical reports about Ardeshir's lineage and ancestry. According to al-Tabari's History of the Prophets and Kings, Ardeshir was son of Babak, son of Sasan. Another narrative states that Ardeshir was born from the marriage of Sasan, a descendant of Darius III, with the daughter of Babak, a local governor in Pars. It should not be ignored that most of the founders of dynasties claimed to be descendants of ancient kings in order to become legitimate.

Al-Tabari adds that Ardeshir was sent to Tiri, the lord of Fort Darabgard, when he was seven years old. After Tiri's death, Ardeshir took over for him and became the commander of Fort Darabgard. Ardeshir then asked Babak to stand against the local Persian shah named Gochihr and start a rebellion. Babak did it and rebelled against Gochihr and killed him. Babak appointed his son, Shapur, instead of  as ruler. Shapur and his father, Babak, suddenly died and Ardeshir became the ruler of Pars. Ardeshir rose up in his war in current day Firouzabad, far from the fortress of local Persian shahs in Istakhr and farther from the Parthian Empire.

In the procedure of extending his domain and power, Ardeshir made many Parthian-dependent local shahs and landlords follow him. In the first phase of rebellion, Ardeshir challenged the Parthians' central power by actions like minting coins and constructing new cities. In order to consolidate his power, Ardeshir killed some of the important figures in Darabgard; then he invaded Kerman and took it too and took control of whole Pars, including the Persian Gulf shores. At that time, Ardeshir constructed a palace and fire temple in Gor (current Firuzabad) that its ruins still remain and is called the Palace of Ardeshir. He appointed one of his sons named Ardeshir as the governor of Kerman.

Ardavan, the Parthian emperor, ordered the governor of Susa to attack Ardeshir, suppress his rebellion and send him to Ctesiphon. After Ardeshir killed and terminated Shadh-Shapur, the governor of Spahan, after fighting him, headed towards Khuzestan and killed the governor of Susa too and added his domain to the lands under his rule. Then he invaded Characene State in the mouth of Tigris and took it and added it to his kingdom. Eventually, in Ardeshir's contest with Ardavan in the Battle of Hormozdgan on April 28, 224, Ardavan was killed by Ardeshir and the Parthian dynasty was overthrown with his death. Ardeshir carved a memorial inscription for victory in the Battle of Hormozdgan near the city Gur. Based on various narrations, Ardeshir was crowned sometime between 224 and 226.

After Ardavan's death, Ardeshir's quest for extending his kingdom did not end. In a procedure, the large landlord Parthian houses, either submitted to Ardeshir (willingly or unwillingly) or were conquered by him. He commissioned a number of building projects, including the restoration of the city of Ctesiphon, formerly the capital of the Parthian Empire (which had been destroyed by Septimus Severus in 197 CE) and made it the Sassanian capital. He started taking eastern lands and dominating large Parthian landlords, local noblemen and large Iranian houses and was successful. Ardeshir's domain in the west was probably extended to the traditional borders between the Romans and Parthians in the northwest; in the east, the Kushan and Turan and probably Merv Desert rulers surrendered to Ardeshir's empire; and in the southwest, the northern part of Arabic shores of the Persian Gulf were taken by war.

Ardeshir had realized that it would be impossible to pursue and finish the policy of attacking and attaching without permanentizing and consolidating power in his domain. Thus, one of the prominent features of the Sasanian era was an increasing inclination toward the concentration of power in Iran since the first days of the Sasanians' uprising.

Ardeshir founded eight cities, three of which were in Pars, one was in Khuzestan, two cities in Asoristan, one in Bahrain and one close to modern day Mosul. Renovating or rebuilding of new cities were done in regions that had been conquered by Sasanian troops and were considered part of the royal property. Those royal cities of the Sasanian era were the centers of military garrisons in newly taken lands and later became the centers of newfound official divisions and abodes of government agents. Therefore instead of the autonomous cities of the Parthian era that were governed more of less independently from the central government, came the royal cities in the early Sasanian era that were considered the garrison centers of the central government.

In his coins and inscription in Naghsh’e Rostam, Ardeshir has called himself the worshiper of Ahura Mazda and from the line of gods. In Ardeshir's subsequent coins, the dentate crown has replaced the traditional hat on his head. That dentate crown looks like the same crown that is drawn on the head of Ahura Mazda in the carvings of the coronation in Naghsh’e Rostam and it is not known whether Ahura Mazda's crown is adapted from Ardeshir's or vice versa. His beliefs are revealed behind his coins by visualizing the fire temple. His projecting pictures in Firouzabad, Naghsh’e Rostam and Naghsh’e Rajab have shown him close to Ahura Mazda.

The coins minted during Ardeshir's time can be divided into three main groups. The first group shows Ardeshir's full face on one side and a profile of his father, Babak, on the other. 

The second group shows Ardeshir's profile, wearing a hat or crown, facing right. On the back, there's a symbol of a fire temple's firebox. 

The third group shows Ardeshir's picture in front of his son, Shapur I and the firebox on the back. 

The firebox symbol on the coins represents a royal fire lit at the beginning of each king's reign. Its base looks similar to the Achaemenid throne. This shows Ardeshir wanted to present himself as the rightful heir of the Achaemenids and a devout Zoroastrian.

The Letter of Tansar says Ardeshir wanted to get revenge on the Romans for Alexander the Great's defeat of Darius III. This text was meant to stir up Iranian national feelings. The first clash between the newborn Sasanian power in its west borders with Rome occurred by the Persians' attack on the regions held by Rome in Northern Mesopotamia. After the Romans' unfruitful attempt to make peace with Ardeshir, the Roman forces led by Alexander attacked Armenia by one military column and the south by two columns. The first war test between the Sasanians and Romans" ended without any positive result for the Romans. In subsequent Arabic-Persian sources, there has been no mention of the war; the cause of not mentioning might have been Ardeshir considering the incident shameful. The murder of Severus Alexander by his soldiers and its aftermath which resulted in disturbances in Rome, motivated Ardeshir to attack Rome again. In about the years 237–238, Ardeshir took Nusaybin and Harran and attacked the city Dura; then he marched toward Hatra, which was a commercial city and the center of the traffic of commercial caravans. Hatra stood hard against the Persian siege and did not fall until April or September 240.

In the mythical-national Persian history, the Battle of Hatra and the incident of its fall is accompanied with a romantic story. According to the story, at the time of the Persian attack on Hatra, the daughter of the city's king had fallen in love with Shapur I, Ardeshir's son and had him promise her marriage and then opened the gate of the city; then the Persians captured the city and destroyed it. After Shapur found out about the kindness and attention of the father towards his daughter on the wedding night, the former had her killed due to the daughter's inappreciation to that kind of father.

Shapur probably ascended as a royal partner on April 12, 240. Coins from this time depict both Ardeshir and Shapur. Ardeshir probably made Shapur his co-ruler to avoid problems with succession, as he had other sons who might have wanted the throne. Ardeshir and Shapur ruled together until early 242 AD. Shapur was probably crowned twice; once as a royal partner in 240 and later in 243 as lonely reign following Ardeshir’s death.