The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Shapur II
AD 309 – 379 (reigned from birth) · King of kings of Sasanian Persia · Persecutor · Sasanian Persia
External witness
Who Shapur II was
King of Persia for the whole of his seventy-year life, and the author of the longest and heaviest persecution any church suffered in the fourth century. It began around 339 with a double poll-tax laid on the Christians as suspected partisans of Rome, and it took the primate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, his sister, his archdeacon, his successors and the king’s own household servants. Sozomen reckoned sixteen thousand named dead besides the obscure, and records that after the killing of his favourite eunuch Azad the king narrowed the edict to clergy alone. He is the external figure the entire Persian martyr corpus is written against, and the archive held no record of him.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Shapur II live?
Shapur II is dated AD 309 – 379 (reigned from birth) in the archive, which places Shapur II in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Shapur II?
Shapur II is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Sozomen. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Shapur II from?
The archive associates Shapur II with Sasanian Persia.
Who were Shapur II’s contemporaries?
The archive links Shapur II to 4 other figures, including Simeon bar Sabbae, Usthazades, Constantine the Great and Sozomen. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History II.9 (the persecution under Shapur II)
c. AD 445Sapor, king of Persia, was excited against the Christians… he commanded that a double tax should be levied upon the Christians.Sozomen · Ecclesiastical History II.9 · source text
Ecclesiastical History II.14 (the persecution under Shapur II)
c. AD 445Sixteen thousand distinguished men in Persia suffered martyrdom under Sapor, besides obscure individuals.Sozomen · Ecclesiastical History II.14 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Shapur II in the sources
These figures are placed with Shapur II by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Shapur II naming them in return.
- Candida the Roman
- James of Nisibis
- Abedehalaas
- Martha, daughter of Pusai
- Miles of Susa
- Pusai
- Azad
- Tarbo
- Shahdost
- Aphrahat the Persian Sage
- Barbaʿshmin
- Dausas
- Mareabes
- Ephrem the Syrian
- Abdas
- Abdelas
- Abdiesous
- Abramios
- Acepsimas
- Agas
- Aithalas
- Bademus
- Bicor
- Bochres
- Boulidas
- Gaddiabes
- Hormisdas
- Iakobos
- Ioannes (first of the name in Persia)
- Ioannes (second of the name in Persia)
- Isaak
- James the Presbyter
- Joseph the Priest
- Maares
- Mareas
- Mokimos
- Papas
- Paulos
- Romas
- Sabinos
- Sabores
- Marutha of Maypherqat
- Yazdegerd I
Events in this lifetime
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Shapur II.
- 1Sasanian Persiaprovince only