A Reflections on the evolution of the Designation and titles of the commander-in-chief of the army in the Sassanid era

Among the first- class position in the Sassanid imperial court was the commander-in-chief of the corps. The commander-in-chief of the corps was elected by the king, and was often a member of an aristocratic family. According to some scholars, before the reign of Khosrow Anoshirvan, the commander-in-chief of the corps was in charge of IranSepahbaz, and after Khosrow I’s military reforms, this title was abolished and replaced by four generals.This belief, however, contradicts some surviving reports from historical texts and archaeological evidence. Therefore, in the present article, an attempt has been made to examine the titles and titles of the commander-in-chief of the corps in different periods of the Sassanid era with a descriptive and analytical approach, and using historical and archaeological sources.The findings of this study indicate that the title of IranSepahbaz was not common in the first and middle periods of the Sassanid Empire, and it seems that in the first years, Hezarbod and in the middle period of the ArteshtaranSalar was the commander-in-chief of the corps. Also, in the last years of the Sassanid empire, with the implementation of military reforms by Khosrow Anoshirvan, the title of ArteshtaranSalar was abolished and replaced by four generals with the title of IranSepahbaz. In addition, we will see that the power of the IranSpahbaz’s not onlydid not decrease after Khosrow I’s reforms, but also increased due to their state and military powers.