Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

oyal legitimation 645
developments thereafter, the basic principles apply throughout the regime’s
history. Shapur I was the first to claim the title King of Kings of Iran and
non-Iran, whereas his father, Ardashir, had contented himself with the title
King of Kings of Iran only. The legitimation of the new royal dynasty in
its own realm was the immediate task that the early Sasanids had to face,
and it is to this subject that we ought to turn first. The great official state
inscriptions from the early Sasanid period do not conceal the newness of
the dynasty. The Res Gestae Divi Saporis – a list of the exploits of king Shapur
I (240–70), on the so-called Ka�ba of Zardusht (Cube of Zoroaster), an
Achaemenid tower at Naqsh-i Rustam, a royal Achaemenid burial area near
the ancient capital of Persepolis – traces the royal geneaology back three
generations, through his father Ardashir to his grandfather Papak. On the
Paikuli inscription, set up by king Narseh (293–302) in commemoration of
his successful bid for supreme power and his victory over his nephew
Bahram III, there is only one significant addition. The dynasty is described
‘the seed of the Sasanids’, elucidating to some extent the role of ‘the lord
Sasan’, mentioned in the Res Gestae Divi Saporis as a recipient of an honorary
cult, but not explicitly as a forebear of the dynasty. None of the other
remaining six inscriptions that allude to the genealogy of the Sasanid kings
adds anything of significance. 17
The great pictures that accompany many of these inscriptions present
the key elements of legitimate royal authority: the king and his entourage
unseat their rivals in a dramatic joust; foreign enemies demonstrate their
submission, including in some scenes the Roman emperor, who arrives at
speed to acknowledge Sasanid mastery, kneels before his conqueror or lies
prostrate at his feet; and the proper transfer of power at each accession is
symbolized by grand ceremonies involving king and court; in some pictures,
divine investiture is symbolized by the figure of Ahura Mazda or
Anahita handing over a diadem to the king. 18 The monuments present a
self-fulfilling legitimation. Supernatural sanction for the Sasanid house is
demonstrated by the sequence of royal victories through which the
Sasanids have achieved power; royal gratitude for this divine support is displayed
by the establishment of a series of ritual fires. It is noticeable that
no attempt is made to conceal the totally aggressive character of the king’s
bellicose activity. This self-glorification in divinely sponsored aggression is
repeated three times in the Res Gestae Divi Saporis. According to the ideology
enunciated in this document, wars of conquest are the duty of a good
king and military success proves legitimacy. 19
Externally, or at least with regard to the Roman empire, which is the only
area for which we have evidence, Sasanid strategies for legitimation were
slightly more complex. Victory was still crucial, but warfare ought to have
17 Back (1978) 284–371 (Res Gestae); Huyse (1999); Humbach and Skjaervø (1983) (Paikuli).
18 Pictures in Ghirshman (1962) 135–201. 19 Whitby (1994).
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