During his reign, many historical annals were compiled, of which the sole survivor is the Karnamak-i Artaxshir-i Papakan (Deeds of Ardashir), a mixture of history and romance that served as the basis of the Iranian national epic, the Shahnameh.
Ohraniti to socialno ravnovesje je bilo bistvo kraljeve pravice in njeno učinkovito delovanje odvisna od poveličevanja monarhije nad vsemi drugimi skupinami.