Sasanian Empire. AR drachm (3.96 g, 27 mm). Ardashir II (379-383 AD). Obverse: Bust of king right, Pahlavi inscription around "Mazdasin bagi Ardashir shahan shah Eran minuchetri min yazdan" (The Mazda-worshipper Ardashir, King of Kings of Iran, who is descended from the gods). Reverse: Zoroastrian fire-altar with two attendants, no reverse inscriptions. Gobl 121, Mitchiner ACW 905-907, Sunrise 870. This coin: Stephen Album Auction 40, lot 2024 (May 13-15, 2021). Ardashir II (379-383 AD) was reportedly the half-brother of the remarkably long-reigning Shapur II (309-379 AD), who took the throne as an infant. (One charming story even claims that a tiny crown was placed on his mother's belly, thus beginning his reign even before birth.) Ardashir served his brother loyally, and was King of the Sasanian vassal state of Adiabene from 344 to 376. A rock carving from Behistun shows Shapur II and Ardashir standing together over the corpse of the slain Roman emperor Julian II, which indicates how important Shapur considered his brother to the war effort. Upon the death of Shapur II in 379, Ardashir was given the throne after promising to leave it in his turn to his nephew (the future Shapur III). Ardashir II was reportedly of a generous nature, and cancelled taxes during his reign; however, he was also said to be firm in his dealings with the nobility, which made him unpopular with that important group. A series of failed military interventions in Armenia probably further harmed his standing among the nobles, whose support was ultimately required to hold on to power. In 383 Ardashir was removed from the throne by his nephew, who took the title of Shapur III. Coins of Ardashir II are somewhat scarce compared to other Sasanian coins, which makes sense given his short reign. In addition to "filling the hole" for Ardashir II in my collection, I also like the design of the reverse. The two attendants on the reverse of Sasanian coins are often wearing headgear similar to the king's crown. In this case, the short, round-topped crown with wide rim and sun-disk on the front, when shrunk down for the attendants, looks like they are wearing miner's helmets complete with headlamps. At any rate, it's a welcome addition to my Sasanian collection. Please post your coins of Ardashir II, or whatever else is related.
Nice background info, @Parthicus. I currently do not have Sasanian coins, but looking forward to pickup a few in the future.
Fantastic, on all counts, @Parthicus. ...For the historical context, at this (truly admirable) level of detail, can you cite anything in English ...or are you translating from something else as you go along?
The best recent book on Sasanian history that I know of is "Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire" by Touraj Daryaee. An older but still useful book (and a pleasure to read, if you like Victorian prose) is George Rawlinson's "The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy" (he also wrote a book on the Parthians titled, predictably, "The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy"). An original 19th-century printing may be hard to find, but there is an inexpensive modern reprint; both the reprint and the Daryaee book are available on Amazon and other major book sellers. Also worthwhile is the essay on Sasanian history and coins by Khodadad Rezakhani in the Sunrise Collection book. It nicely summarizes both the history of each reign and major features of the coinage, illustrated with the coins of the Sunrise collection which features many gorgeous rarities. There are usually copies of the Sunrise collection available from VCoins sellers or other numismatic book sellers.
Many thanks, @Parthicus. I'm bookmarking this thread to go looking for those two older ones. ...Heartily second your recommendation of Daryaee. A really impressive 'perfect storm' of content and concision. I still wonder how he did it.
Two magnificent examples, @Darius590. The style on the Hormizd II strikes me as being more Hellenistic in inspiration than Parthian. The strike and condition don't hurt any.
