The reign of Shápúr, son of Urmuzd, was preceded, as we have seen, by those of six Sháhs, none of whom left any mark on Íránian legend, and it was followed by those of three others no less insignificant. Some of the six preceding Sháhs had been men of importance historically, but even this cannot be said of Ardshír (Artaxerxes II., A.D. 379-383) and his two successors.

Ardshír must have been either an elder brother of Shápúr or else, like him, a posthumous child. At any rate he must have been seventy years old or more at the time of his accession. Shápúr is represented elsewhere in the Sháhnáma as brotherless,*

but historically this was not the case.*

Ardshír is credited by most authorities with a reign of four years only. Tabarí says that he was deposed by his subjects.*