Shapur II ruled for 70 years — the longest reign in Sasanian history, and the only ruler crowned before birth according to court tradition, the diadem placed on his mother's womb after the nobles agreed the heir in utero would be king. His reign consumed three Roman emperors in direct military confrontation, culminating in the death of Julian the Apostate in 363 and the humiliating Treaty of Nisibis, which ceded five Roman provinces to the Sasanian crown. The gold coinage of this period financed continuous western campaigning as well as brutal suppression of Christian communities within the empire.
Type Ia spans the first decades of the reign and is distinguished within Göbl's classification by the fire altar attendant variants catalogued across the five subgroups.
Shapur II ruled for 70 years — the longest reign in Sasanian history, and the only ruler crowned before birth according to court tradition, the diadem placed on his mother's womb after the nobles agreed the heir in utero would be king. His reign consumed three Roman emperors in direct military confrontation, culminating in the death of Julian the Apostate in 363 and the humiliating Treaty of Nisibis, which ceded five Roman provinces to the Sasanian crown. The gold coinage of this period financed continuous western campaigning as well as brutal suppression of Christian communities within the empire.
Type Ia spans the first decades of the reign and is distinguished within Göbl's classification by the fire altar attendant variants catalogued across the five subgroups.