Martin Schottky (Germany)

Vorarbeiten zu einer Königsliste Kaukasisch-Iberiens. 6. Herrscher im Umkreis Petrus des Iberers, pp. 203-225

Keywords: Caucasian history, Georgia (Caucasus), Iberia (Caucasus), Peter the Iberian, Roman Eastern Frontier, Sasanians

Abstract

Prolegomena to a King List of Caucasian Iberia. 6. Rulers around Peter the Iberian

After Aspacures and his son Piran, who is called Ultra („beyond“) by our Latin source Ammianus Marcellinus, Bakur ruled over Iberia. He is not identical with one Bacurius, who served in the Roman army between 368 and 394. This Bacurius, the son of Aspacures’ cousin and rival Sauromaces, never became king. His great-cousin Bakur, who is styled „the great Bakurios“ by John Rufus, biographer of Peter the Iberian, had several children. One daughter he married to Bosmarios / Busmir, who became by her father of Marowan / Murwanos, later called Peter the Iberian, „miaphysitic“ (= monophysitic) bishop of Mayuma near Gaza. Meanwhile, Bakur’s male descendants succeeded on the Iberian throne. One of them was Arsilios, painted as an ascetic ruler by John Rufus, whereas the Georgian Chronicle lets Arch’il be the grandfather of Vaxtang Gorgasali. Another of Peter’s relatives was Pharasmanios (= Pharasmanes, P’arsman), who is wrongly set in the time of the emperor Arcadius by John Rufus. He was perhaps a younger son of Bakur and could have ruled after Arsilios. But his reign may have been a pure regency for Arsilios’ heir.