Kingdom of Iberia

Kingdom of Iberia
ქართლის სამეფო
*kartlis samepo*
Kingdom of Iberia ქართლის სამეფო; kartlis samepo
c. 302 BC – 580 AD
	Flag of the kingdom after the Christianization of Iberia
	Colchis and Iberia
Status	Vassal state of the Seleucid Empire; (302–159 BC) Client state of the Roman Republic; (65–63 BC, 40–36 BC, 30–1 AD) Client state of the Roman Empire; (1–129 AD, 131–260 AD) Vassal state of Sassanid Persia; (260–265 AD) Client state of the Eastern Roman Empire; (298–363 AD) Vassal state of Sassanid Persia; (363–482 AD, 502–523 AD) Direct Sassanid Persian rule; (523–580 AD)
Capital	Armazi; Mtskheta; Tbilisi;
Common languages	Old Georgian
Government	Monarchy
Historical era	Antiquity
• Reign of Pharnavaz I	c. 302 BC
• Christianization of Iberia during reign of Mirian III	317 AD
• Direct Sasanian control and abolition of the monarchy	580 AD
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Achaemenid Empire
	Colchis
Sasanian Iberia

In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: Ἰβηρία Iberia; Latin: Hiberia) was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli (Georgian: ქართლი), known after its core province, which during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages was a significant monarchy in the Caucasus, either as an independent state or as a dependent of larger empires, notably the Sassanid and Roman empires.^[8] Iberia, centered on present-day Eastern Georgia, was bordered by Colchis in the west, Caucasian Albania in the east and Armenia in the south.

Its population, the Iberians, formed the nucleus of the Kartvelians (i.e. Georgians). Iberia, ruled by the Pharnavazid, Artaxiad, Arsacid and Chosroid royal dynasties, together with Colchis to its west, would form the nucleus of the unified medieval Kingdom of Georgia under the Bagrationi dynasty.^[9]^[10]

In the 4th century, after the Christianization of Iberia by Saint Nino during the reign of King Mirian III, Christianity was made the state religion of the kingdom. Starting in the early 6th century AD, the kingdom's position as a Sassanian vassal state was changed into direct Persian rule. In 580, king Hormizd IV (578-590) abolished the monarchy after the death of King Bakur III, and Iberia became a Persian province ruled by a marzpan (governor).

The term "Caucasian Iberia" is also used to distinguish it from the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe.^[11]

^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 26, 29, 417.
^ Ronald Grigor Suny. The Making of the Georgian Nation. p. 15.
^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 29–35.
^ Braund pp.233–237
^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 35–36.
^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. p. 38.
^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. p. 39. The year 317 is the only one that century when a total eclipse of the sun was visible at Mtskheta. To convert before the Council of Nicaea in 325.
^ Ehsan Yarshater (1983). The Cambridge History of Iran: The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods. Cambridge University Press. pp. 520–. ISBN 978-0-521-20092-9. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
^ Ronald Grigor Suny. The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press, p. 13 ISBN 0-253-20915-3.
^ William Coffman McDermott, Wallace Everett Caldwell. Readings in the History of the Ancient World. p. 404.
^ Mikaberidze, p. 360