An unknown emperor in the relief of Shapour I: Tang-e Chogan; Bishapour III

Sassanid reliefs are somehow reflecting events that include part of the beliefs, wars and victory over enemies, family relationships and courtesy, hunting and getting diadem. In the meantime, the reliefs of victory, which created a very positive psychological aspect among the society and the people, have received more attention from the kings. There has been a lot of research on Sassanid reliefs so far and many researchers have studied various dimensions of these reliefs. In the meantime, the reliefs of Shapur I, whose victories over the three Roman empires, namely Gordian III, Philip and Valerian, have been depicted, will be analyzed and examined. Sassanid Shapur I defeated Gordianus at the Battle of Mesica in 244 B.C. The narrations have informed that this emperor was killed on the battlefield. After this event, Philip paid a heavy annual tribute to the court of the Sassanid king and asked to support him to sit on the throne until the end of the war. About 15 years later, another Roman emperor named Valerian campaigned Iran that he was also captured by Iranians in Mesica with 70,000 Roman soldiers. Shapur ordered to sculpt these victories in Darabgird, Bishabour and the Naqsh-e Rustam, symbolically on the heart of the rocks. Scholars, however, have almost no doubt about the attribution of the present people in Shapur's reliefs to the three Roman empires, but it seems that the third Shapur’s relief in Tang-e-Chogan reminds another kind of narrative. The body of Gordianus in two reliefs in Bishabour and the relief of Darabgard, is slightly different from the relief number 3 in Bishabour, which is severely eroded and damaged. Regarding the location of this relief in an unsuitable place and its lower quality with other Shapur reliefs, it seems that it was carved in a hurry. The reason may be the events that took place between 260 and 267. After the capture of Valerian, the Roman court made many efforts to free him but never succeeded. In the same years, Odaenathus, the Arab Amir of Palmyr, had been involved with the Iranian army several times and had succeeded in defeating, supported by the Romans. Odaenathus was titled August by the Roman court for his great victories and was publicly called emperor. The growing power of this Palmyrian’s Amir caused concerns within the Sassanid court. The vastness of his territory itself indicates the power of the Palmyrians during these years. But the sudden and mysterious death of Odaenathus by the hands of his son and wife Zenobia reinforces the conspiracy theory of the Iranian court with Odaenathus's wife and son to eliminate this Arab Amir. According to the body covering and makeup of the person’s face depicted under the foot of Shapur’s horse in the relief of number 1 of Bishabour and its difference with the reliefs in which Gordianus is depicted, it can be hypothesized that this role is a reflection of the events between 260 and 267. Shapur portrays this relief as a general victory over the Roman emperor and court for their conspiracy and evils and the overthrow and elimination of Odaenathus, who was supported by the Romans. In the present article, we have attempted to analyze and study the reliefs of the victory of Shapur III over the Roman emperors with a descriptive and an analytical method and comparing the reliefs along with the use of numismatics. This analysis along with historical narratives can give the viewer a better view to look at these reliefs.