90, Lot: 134. Estimate $100. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SASANIAN KINGS of PERSIA. Shahpur II. 309-379 AD. AR Drachm (22mm, 4.22 gm). Western (Aspahan?) mint. Crowned and cuirassed bust right / Fire altar with attendants and ribbon; bust right in flames; Pahlavi legend on altar. Göbl, Kushan 1256; Göbl Ia/6a; Alram 787. VF.

From the Bellaria Collection.

Shahpur II was a minor upon his succession, so his mother served as regent, but real power devolved upon the nobility. Suprisingly, Shahpur was able to assert his control when he came of age. Internally, he saw a reinvigoration of the state religion, resulting in a new round of persecutions for other religions, Christianity in particular.

Like his previous namesake, Shahpur took aggressive action against Rome. In 346 AD, he renewed pressure on the eastern Roman borders, which had remained relatively quiet since the Galerius’ defeat by Narse in 297 AD. While Shahpur was victorious in minor battles, he failed to secure the town of Nisibis, which provided the Romans a base of operations deep in Mesopotamia. After a respite of two years, Constantius II renewed the war in the hopes of finally ending the troubles with Persia, but Shahpur captured the Roman-held town of Singara. Because of trouble in the west, Constantius was forced to leave command of the war to his subordinates. Seizing this opportunity, Shahpur once again tried to take Nisibis, but was again thwarted. Due to pressure from the Huns, he soon withdrew, but renewed the conflict in 358 AD. At the same time, the new Roman emperor Julian, wishing to emulate and surpass Trajan, embarked on a massive Persian campaign. He reached Ktesiphon, but was mortally wounded in a skirmish. His successor, Jovian, sued for peace and surrenderd four of the five provinces that Galerius had gained over sixty years earlier. These, added to Armenia, which Shahpur’s forces had captured, formed a new zone of buffer states for the Sasanians. This peace endured for the remainder of Shahpur’s reign.