AR Drachm

Struck: A.D. 309 - 379
Mint: Uncertain
Size: 24mm
Weight: 4.06g
Die Axis: 45°
Grade: VF
Ref: Göbl Ia/6a.

Obv: Crowned bust right.
Rev: Attendant standing either side of fire altar with bust of Ahura-Mazda right within.
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Shapur II was the 10th king of the Sasanian Empire of Persia, who withstood Roman strength by astute military strategy and diplomacy and brought the empire to the zenith of its power. According to tradition, his father died before Shapur was born, and the child was proclaimed king by the Persian nobility at his birth in 309, in preference to his brothers. After a regency, he apparently took the realm into his own hands in 325 at the age of 16.

In 337 Shapur sent his forces across the Tigris River to recover Armenia and Mesopotamia, which his predecessors had lost to the Romans. The conflict lasted until 350 with neither side a clear-cut victor. In 358 Shapur sent an ambassador to the emperor Constantius II, bearing presents and a letter requesting control of Mesopotamia and Armenia. When Constantius refused to hand over these lands, Shapur marched into northern Mesopotamia, this time with marked success. In 363, however, the emperor Julian led a huge army into Persia, creating havoc and advancing to the very gates of Ctesiphon on the Tigris, a major Sasanian city. Julian was mortally wounded in a skirmish, and his successor, Jovian, was compelled to accept a truce and the surrender of five Roman provinces.

By the time of Shapur's death in 379 the Sasanian Empire was stronger than ever before, considerably larger than when he came to the throne. He is regarded as one of the most important Sassanian kings who regained stability and strength in the Empire after a long period of strife.