None the less he was either murdered or his tent fell on him killing him. During the reign of Shapur III Armenia again became a bone of contention between the Roman and Sasanian empires. Since the time of the successes of Shapur II Armenia, Georgia and Albania had remained " vassal states" of the Sasanian empire. The defence of the passes over the Caucasus against nomad invaders was imperative for the Sasanians, which is one reason why they were so sensitive about their northern frontiers. From time to time they shared expenses of the defence of Darband and the north with the Romans, who also did not desire invasions of their Anatolian provinces. We have mentioned that a small part of Armenia remained outside Sasanian influence, and the emperor Theodosius evidently sought to increase the domain of the Roman protege in Armenia by sending an army to his eastern frontier in the year 383 or 384.
Hostilities, however, did not occur. Rather embassies passed between the two great empires, and an agreement was reached to readjust the boundaries of the two Armenias. Artashes, the ruler of the Roman part, was killed in a conflict, and the Romans appointed a new ruler with a new title comes Armeniae, which confirmed the virtual annexation of this part of Armenia to the Roman empire. The largest part of Armenia remained under an Armenian king of the Arsacid dynasty, but as a vassal of the Sasanians until 428 when Bahram V, at the request of some Armenian nobles, dethroned Artaxias son of Vramshapuh, and installed a Persian marzban.
There is an interesting notice in the Armenian history of Faustos of Byzantium relating to this time regarding Persian wars with the Kushans to the east. He says that the king of Persia (Shapur III or Bahram IV) fought against the great king of the Kushans, an Arsacid who resided in Balkh, but the latter won. This would indicate that the successors of Shapur II had to fight in eastern Iran against a ruler who called himself the great king of the Kushans, and was moreover related to the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. That the word Kushan is being used in a general sense is revealed by other Armenian authors who later identify the Kushans as Huns or Hephthalites. The relationship between the Arsacid kings of Armenia and the Kushan rulers is mentioned by other Armenian authors but not in non-Armenian sources. Intermarriage between the royal houses, however, is not to be excluded.
The Sasanian empire not only had hostile relations with the Romans to the west and the Kushans and others in the east, but the Caucasus in the north and the province of Gurgan to the east of the Caspian Sea were also sources of disturbance. The Romans and Persians could agree on the need to contain the nomadic tribes north of the Caucasus but sometimes the defences of Darband were unable to hold the onslaught. About the year 395 bands of Huns came into Armenia and spread as far as Syria and Cappadocia plundering and killing. Both Syriac and Greek sources tell of this invasion which was not opposed since the Roman military forces were concentrated in the western part of the empire at the death of Theodosius that same year. For several years the Huns were active in the Middle East but we hear nothing of attacks on the Sasanian empire. The Huns invaded the Roman empire because of its weakness, and possibly with the connivance of the Sasanians, but more likely they defeated the Persians and devastated the north-western part of the Sasanian empire during their invasion. Information on external relations is lacking for the reign of Bahram IV, probably the son of Shapur III. Bahram held the title "King of Kirman" before he ascended the throne, and although Hamza al-Isfahani reports that he was vulgar and neglectful, he is generally praised in Arabic sources. He was murdered, however, with an arrow and his son Yazdgard became the ruler in 399.
Prosecution of Religious Minorities in Sassanian Empire
