Shapur I
King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Sasanian Persia
"I am Shapur, who seized the Caesar of the Romans with my own hand."
Biography
The second Sasanian king of kings and the great adversary of Rome in the east, Shapur I brought the young Persian empire to a peak of power and dealt the Romans the most humiliating defeat of the Crisis. He raided deep into the Roman East, sacked the great city of Antioch, and in 260 defeated and captured the emperor Valerian alive — the only time in history a Roman emperor fell into enemy hands. He proclaimed his triumphs in a monumental inscription and in the famous rock-reliefs at Naqsh-e Rustam, which depict the mounted king towering over the humbled Roman emperor. A builder as well as a conqueror, he founded cities, patronised the prophet Mani, and settled captured Roman soldiers and engineers in Persia. His reign established the Sasanian Empire as Rome's equal — a rivalry that would endure for four more centuries.
Did you know?
His great trilingual inscription, the 'Res Gestae Divi Saporis,' boasts of capturing Valerian and is one of the most important documents of the entire Sasanian era.
Key Battles
The Capture of Valerian at Edessa
Usurpers, Breakaway Empires & Invaders victory260 · 15,000 total casualties
The capture of a living Roman emperor was an unprecedented catastrophe and the lowest point of the Crisis, immortalised in the great rock reliefs Shapur carved to celebrate it. It left the eastern provinces exposed and the empire's prestige in ruins.
Life Journey
Timeline
c. 215
🌅 Birth
Born a Sasanian prince
260
⚔️ Battle
Captures the emperor Valerian
270
✝️ Death
Dies at Bishapur