Hormizd II

Relief of Hormizd II as a prince.

When Hormizd's father Narseh ascended the throne in 293, he had an investiture relief made in Naqsh-e Rostam, where he is depicted as receiving the ring of kingship from a female figure that is frequently assumed to be the goddess Anahita. However, some scholars have suggested that this may be his wife and Hormizd's mother, Shapurdukhtak.[3] The figure standing behind Narseh is most likely Hormizd, due to his cap being the form of that of an animal protome, which was typically worn by Sasanian heirs.[4] Hormizd most likely did not take part in his father's war against the Roman Empire, which ended diastrously for the Sasanians, with Narseh's wife and some of his offspring being captured, forcing him to surrender a handful provinces in Armenia and Mesopotamia in order to have his family members handed back to him.[4] Hormizd may have been same person as Hormizd II Kushanshah, a Sasanian prince who briefly ruled the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom from 300 to 303.[5] They both minted coins where they were depicted with a winged crown, whilst on the reverse, which usually shows the traditional fire altar flanked by two attendants, also shows a head emerging from the fire, a typical Kushano-Sasanian design which first appears on Sasanian coins during the reign of Hormizd II.[5]

In 303, Hormizd II ascended the throne, assuming a crown whose features resembled that of the same used by the early Sasanian rulers, such as Bahram II (r. 274–293). Not much is known about the reign of Hormizd; he supposedly started out as a cruel ruler but then became benevolent.[4]

This change of behaviour is described by al-Tabari;

Relief of Hormizd II impaling his enemy at Naqsh-e Rostam.

However, unlike his father, who had returned to the policy of religious tolerance which had been practiced during the reign of first two shahs, Ardashir I (r. 224–242) and Shapur I (r. 240–270),[7] Hormizd persecuted the Manicheans who had lived peacefully during the reign of his father.[4] Hormizd reportedly founded the rural district of Kurang (or Wahisht-Hormozd) near Izeh in the Khuzestan province.[4] Hormizd tried to improve Sasanian relations with Armenia, which had recently under Tiridates III of Armenia declared Christianity as its state religion; he gave his daughter Hormizddukht in marriage to a Mamikonian prince named Vahan.[8]

Hormizd's rock relief at Naqsh-e Rostam in the Pars province (present-day Fars) indicates that there was internal turmoil in the empire during his reign. In the relief he is portrayed riding a horse whilst impaling an enemy whose helmet bears the family signature of Papak, a high-ranking nobleman who served as the bitakhsh (viceroy) of Albania during the reign of Bahram II and Narseh.[4] Hormizd, during the last years of his reign, raided the domains of the Ghassanid king in Syria, whom he tried to extract tribute from. The Ghassanid king as a result tried to get assistance from the Roman emperor, but was killed before Roman reinforcements appeared.[4] Hormizd was reportedly in 309 ambushed and killed by Ghassanid troops whilst he was hunting in the desert. The more probable reason for his death was most likely the Iranian nobility that killed him in a secluded place, and now sought to get rid of his sons as well.[4]

According to the 11th-century Chronicle of Seert, Hormizd declared war against the Romans in order to avenge the defeat of his father, whilst the Chronicle of Arbela states that when the Roman emperor started persecuting his Christian subjects, Hormizd raised a great army, invaded the Roman domains and raided many cities. The credibility of the two sources are doubtful, with the events not being reported in other sources. According to Shahbazi, "one may only surmise that it is probably a reflection of Hormozd's alleged raid into Syria."[4]