Shapur I: Rome's Greatest Enemy?
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Who was Shapur I and why is he considered Rome’s greatest enemy?
Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Teuterberg Forest? What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? Or what made Alexander truly great? With a subscription to History Hit, you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week, covering everything from the ancient world to World War two. Just visit historyhit dot com slash subscribe. He's one of the most formidable enemies that Rome ever faced. A king of kings who rebuilt a fading empire, fanned the flames of Rome's third century crisis, and achieved what was previously thought unthinkable. The capture of an actual Roman Emperor.
His name is Sharpur I, Epithet the Great, ruler of the Sasanian Persian Empire, and today we're going to tell his story. Shapur and his father Ardashir before him helped restore the Persian heartlands to their former glory. When the Roman Emperor Valerian left the battlefield of Edessa in 260 AD, he did so in Persian chains. Why did Chapur find so much success against this ancient Roman behemoth? How did he help forge a new Persian superpower on the Roman Empire's eastern frontier? And is he worthy to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Hannibal, Boudicca, Arminius, and Spartacus in the Roman villains Hall of Fame? I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, This is the Ancients, and joining me today to answer all of this and much more is the ancient historian and most importantly friend of the show, Dr.
Eve McDonald.
Eve, welcome back to the show. It's wonderful to have you here.
Tristan, such a pleasure to be back.
And in our brand new studio as well. Yeah, very good.
No, I love it. Fantastic space.
Uh and to talk about this remarkable figure. When people say enemies of Rome, they will think Hannibal or Arminius, maybe even Boudica. People often overlook Chaper when actually he's prob he could well be the biggest of them all.
Possibly, possibly. Shapur the first, the Sasanian king of kings who ruled from two forty to two seventy AD, and he ruled the Sasanian Persian Empire or Iran Shar, as he would have called it, the lands of Iran and the lands of non Iran, and uh came to power while his father was still ruling, we think, um, sort of between two hundred and two forty two, we think, he assumes the uh sole rule of the Sasanian Empire. Now, we don't know if we should really call it an Empire because The Sasanians probably didn't call their lands an empire. That's such a Roman word. So it's so interesting because so many things we know about Shapur, like all enemies of Rome, come from the Romans in many ways. So it's interesting to try and think about how he viewed this battle with the Romans along their shared frontier.
And it's funny because we also went to about the Sasanians, they're often referred to as like the Second Persian Empire after the Achaemenid Persian Empire, right? So I innately think it's an empire also because of how powerful um it becomes. But he is very much he is a driving force in that third century AD CE in bringing Sasanian power to its height against the Romans.
Oh, absolutely. And you know, his father Ardashir created the empire of the Sasanians from Pars, from the province of the ancient uh Persian worlds, the same place as the Achaemenids ruled from and came from. But Shapur was a young man, we think, when this happened. So from two two four to two forty, we think that he was there beside his father for a lot of that. So he's almost co-ruling. He's a prince of the realm is a nice way to think of him. So when he comes to power, he's already well established as a powerful figure, as somebody who has the you know shaped the beginning of this incredible dynasty that goes on to rule these lands for over four hundred years.
So well well for this background, let's start at yes, Shapo and his rise to power and this really fascinating background. So let's focus before his dad comes to power. So the world in which he is born into is this quite a turbulent time for Persia.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Who was Shapur I and why is he considered Rome’s greatest enemy?
0:00–13:13
2
How did Shapur’s family background and the fall of the Parthians set the stage for his rise?
13:13–24:47
3
What were the key steps in Shapur’s ascent to the throne and his early reign?
24:47–34:11
4
How did the Roman eastern frontier evolve before Shapur’s wars with Rome?
34:11–59:50