Abgar VIII

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Abgar VIII of Edessa, also known as Abgar the Great or Abgar bar Ma'nu, was an Arab king of Osroene from 177-212 CE.

Abgar the Great was most remembered for his alleged conversion to Christianity in about 200 CE and the declaration of Christianity as the official religion of the city at that time.
It has been suggested that a cross shown on the tiara of Abgar VIII in coins he minted have Christian meaning.

Osrhoene was a client state of the Roman Empire in this era, Prior to Abgar VIII, in , the Roman military had reinstated Abgar VII, and they continued to have a significant presence in the region. However, Abgar VIII's behavior indicates that he was not wholly loyal to Rome nor was closely monitored by Rome. While Abgar VIII's coins bear the image of the Roman Emperor Commodus, Abgar's goals were to maintain a degree of independence and to extend his influence geographically as much as possible without disturbing the greater powers of Rome and Parthia.
Abgar VIII supported Pescennius Niger as Roman Emperor in , who was swiftly challenged and deposed by the Emperor Septimius Severus. Abgar VIII's submission to Septimus Severus is portrayed on the Arch of Severus in Rome. He was not deposed, but Osrhoene was made a Roman province and Abgar's kingdom was reduced to a rump state containing just the city of Edessa. Abgar was fully reconciled with Septimus Severus and was later received with honor as a guest of Septimus Severus in Rome. In an additional display of loyalty, Abgar VIII took on the Latin name Lucius Aelius Aurelius Septimus.

Christianity spread in Edessa significantly during Abgar VIII's reign. The ''Chronicle of Edessa'' () reports that a Christian church building in Edessa was damaged in a flood in November . The Christian philosopher Bardaisan lived in Abgar VIII's court. In 1904 Adolf von Harnack proposed that Lucius of Britain, a ruler mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis as contemporaraneous with Pope Eleutherius, actually was Abgar of Edessa. Harnack argued that ' Britanio' was written as an erroneous expansion for ' Britio', a citadel of Edessa. Harnack's proposal has been challenged by British archaeologist David J. Knight, who argued that Abgar of Edessa was never called Lucius of Britio/Birtha in contemporary sources.'King Lucius of Britain' by David J. Knight ()

Upon his death in 212 CE, Abgar the Great was succeeded by his son Abgar IX. Though Abgar IX was summoned with his son to Rome in 213 CE and murdered at the orders of Caracalla. A year later Caracalla ended the independence of Osroene and incorporated it as a province into Roman Empire.

See also

*Abgar V

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Year of birth unknown
2nd-century Arabs
3rd-century Arabs
3rd-century Christians
212 deaths
Rulers of Osroene
Syriac Christians

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