Bahram IV

Shapur III, the eleventh Sassanid King of Persia, is a man of simple tastes, and is fond of spending his time outdoors in his tent.

One version of his life says that, on one such occasion, when he was thus enjoying himself, there was a violent hurricane which blew the tent under which he was sitting.

The falling tent-pole struck him fatally on his head, resulting in his death a few days later.

Although most of his subjects believe in the authenticity of this story, there are whispers that he could have been the victim of a conspiracy hatched by his courtiers.

In 388, he is succeeded in his reign of just over five years by his son, Bahram IV, who had been governor of Kerman; he is therefore called Kermanshah.

Armenia during the reign of Shapur III had been divided between the Roman and Persian empires according to the terms of a peace treaty, but this arrangement has barely survived his reign.

Khosrov III, the Arsacid King of Armenia under Persian suzerainty, has by about 390 grown wary of his subordination to Persia and entered into a treaty with the Roman Emperor Theodosius who in return for this allegiance had deposed Arshak III in Roman Armenia and made Khosrov the king of a united Armenia.

Enraged, Bahram IV takes Khosrov prisoner in 392 and confines him to the Castle of Oblivion, placing his brother Varahran-Shapur upon the Armenian throne.

Khosrov appeals to Theodosius for help but the latter refuses to intervene, as it would constitute a breach of the peace of 384.

Persian records describe Bahram IV as a harsh man who entirely neglects his duties, and whose conduct had grown so unbearable that he is ultimately assassinated by his own troops, who in 399 surround him and shoot him with arrows.

His successor is his younger brother, Yazdegerd.