Hormizd III.

Hormizd III. (died 459) was a late ancient Persian great king . He is said to have ruled the Sassanid Empire from 457 to 459 , but was perhaps just a usurper.

Hormizd was the eldest son of Yazdegerd II . According to traditional tradition ( Tabari ), he initially succeeded his father on the throne, but then his younger brother Peroz rose against him. Most oriental sources describe Peroz as the more worthy candidate for the throne, but perhaps this only reflects the view of the eventual victor. Due to the difficult source situation, little can be said for sure. In any case, Peroz was finally able to defeat Hormizd and probably had him executed with a few other people.

Based on the numismatic findings, however, Nikolaus Schindel assumes that it was Peroz who immediately succeeded his father and thus Hormizd was the challenger: Since not a single coin is known to date that depicts Hormizd as king, it can be assumed that he never did Took control of the capital.

literature

• Nikolaus Schindel: Ohrmazd III. In: Nikolaus Schindel (ed.): Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum . Vol. 3/1 (text volume). Vienna 2004, p. 388f.
• A. Shapur Shahbazi: Hormizd III. In: Encyclopædia Iranica Online

predecessor	Office	successor
Yazdegerd II.	King of the New Persian Empire 457–459	Peroz I.