Azo, Azoy or Azon ( ka, აზო; აზოჲ; აზონი) was a ruler of

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

of ancient Kartli (

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

of the Classical authors) claimed by medieval

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

annals to have been installed by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

( r. 336–323 BC).

Medieval tradition

His name and origin are differently given by the medieval Georgian chronicles. While ''

The Conversion of Kartli The ''Conversion of Kartli'' ( ka, მოქცევაჲ ქართლისაჲ ''moktsevay kartlisay'', Asomtavruli: ႫႭႵႺႤႥႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႪႨႱႠჂ, ) is the earliest surviving medieval Georgian historical compendium ...

'' calls him Azo(y) and makes him the scion of a preexisting dynasty in Arian Kartli, '' The Life of Kartli'' knows him as Azon and brands him a Macedonian outsider. Azo and Azon unquestionably represent the same figure and both sources credit his position to Alexander’s mythic expedition into inner Georgia.Rapp, p. 270. According to ''The Conversion of Kartli'', Azo was the son of an unnamed king of Arian Kartli, who was brought, together with followers, to Kartli proper by Alexander and installed as the first king ('' mep'e'', მეფე) at

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of T ...

after the conquest of this city. He also transplanted the cults of Gatsi and Gaim to Kartli. ''The Life of Kartli'' enshrines no such tradition. Rather, it maintains that Azon, son of Iaredos (unattested in The Conversion of Kartli), was neither a king nor even a Georgian. He is reported to have conquered Mtskheta with 100,000 Macedonians ("Romans"). In addition, Alexander commanded Azon to worship seven

celestial bodies An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...

(the Sun, the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, and five "stars", i.e.,

planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

) and to serve the "invisible God, the creator of the universe". This version has Azon, depicted as a tyrant, subsequently deposed and killed by Pharnavaz, the member of the local ruling clan ( P’arnavaziani), whose father and uncle were killed by Azon.

Modern interpretation

The identification of Azo/Azon is one of the most complex and contentious enigmas of early Georgian history. His rule is conventionally dated by the Georgian scholar Sergi Gorgadze to 330–272 BC, though this chronology lacks precision.Rapp, p. 273. Despite their differences, the two medieval traditions concur that kingship was established in Mtskheta in the early

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

and this is verified in non-Georgian sources. The legend of Alexander's Iberian campaign has also been preserved in Armenian historical tradition, particularly in '' The History of the Armenians'' by

Moses of Chorene Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...

(probably the 5th century). Moses speaks of "Mithridates,

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

Darius Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ma ...

" (identifiable with Mithridates II of Cius) installed by Alexander to rule over the Georgians. Professor Giorgi Melikishvili has drawn several parallels between the stories of the Azon of the Georgian chronicles and the Mithridates of the Armenian tradition.Kavtaradze, Giorgi L
Georgian Chronicles and the raison d'étre of the Iberian Kingdom (Caucasica II).
pp. 177-237. ''Orbis Terrarum, Journal of Historical Geography of the Ancient World'' 6, 2000. Several modern scholars believe Azo’s story indirectly suggests the migration of the early Georgian tribes to the northwest and blending of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n elements with the tribes living in Kartli proper. On the other hand, the version of ''The Life of Kartli'', which anachronistically refers to Azon's entourage as "Romans", might well have reflected the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

activities in Iberia, presumably those of the

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

period (AD 69–96), which have surprisingly been ignored by the Georgian annals. Some modern historians have also attempted to equate Azon (note that the name terminates in the Greek

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

–ου) with the Jason of the Argonautic cycle. According to the

historian

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

, the Iberians "claimed Thessalian origin, dating from the time when Jason, after leaving with

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

and their children, returned to the empty palace of Aeëtes and the kingless

Colchians In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...

".Grant, Michael (1973), ''The Annals of Imperial Rome'', p. 217. Penguin Classics,

Notes

References

Rapp, Stephen H. Stephen H. Rapp Jr is an American professor and scholar of history, with a focus and primary research investigating the Roman Empire, ancient Iran, Armenia and Georgia. He is a professor of history at Sam Houston State University. Education and c ...

(2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts''. Peeters Bvba {{ISBN, 90-429-1318-5. Alexander the Great in legend Kings of Iberia 4th-century BC rulers 3rd-century BC rulers