Mithridates I (Mihrdat I) ( ka, მითრიდატე I) was the 1st-century king (''
mepe'') of
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...
(
Kartli,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
) whose reign is evidenced by epigraphic material.
Cyril Toumanoff suggests 58–106 as the years of his reign.
Armazi inscriptions
Two inscriptions unearthed at
Armazi, Georgia. One bilingual in
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
. The Greek inscription identifies Mithridates I as the son of the "great king" Pharasmanes (P'arsman), apparently the
Pharasmanes I of Iberia
Pharasmanes I the Great ( ka, ფარსმან I დიდი; died 58) was a king (''Mepe (title), mepe'') of Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity), Iberia. He plays a prominent role in the historian Tacitus' account of policy and campaigns in the e ...
of
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
’s ''
Annals
Annals (, from , "year") are a concise history, historical record in which events are arranged chronology, chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction betw ...
'' (In the same work Tacitus also mentions Mithridates I himself). The stone inscription in Greek speaks of Mithridates I as "the friend of the Caesars" and the king "of the Roman-loving Iberians". It also reports that the
Roman emperor Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
fortified Armazi for the Iberian king in 75.
[ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 15. ]Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...
, His mother was an unnamed
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
princess of the
Artaxiad dynasty
The Artaxiad dynasty (also Artashesian) ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until their overthrow by the Romans in 12 AD. It was founded by Artaxias I, who claimed kinship with the previous ruling dynasty of Armenia, the Orontids. Their ...
being the daughter of the Artaxiad Armenian monarchs
Tigranes IV and his sister-wife
Erato
In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...
.
Medieval Georgian chronicles
Mithridates I is ignored by the medieval Georgian chronicles which instead, report a joint rule of Kartam (Kardzam) and Bartom (Bratman), in the time when Vespasian's
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 spurred a wave of the refugee
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
to Iberia; Kartam and Bartom were supposedly succeeded by their sons, Parsman and Kaos, and grandsons, Azork and Armazel. Several modern scholars, such as Cyril Toumanoff, consider the Iberian diarchy a pure legend and a "deformed memory of the historical reign of Mithridates I". Of these royal pairs, Professor
Giorgi Melikishvili identifies "Azork" as Mithridates I's possible local name and "Armazel" as a territorial epithet, meaning in Georgian "of Armazi".
[Giorgi L. Kavtaradze]
''The Interrelationship between the Transcaucasian and Anatolian Populations by the Data of the Greek and Latin Literary Sources''
pp. 212-213. The Thracian World at the Crossroads of Civilisations. Reports and Summaries. The 7th International Congress of Thracology. P. Roman (ed.). Bucharest: the Romanian Institute of Thracology, 1996.
Other sources
There is another Greek inscription found in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. This
Epigram of Amazaspos names Amazaspus as brother of King Mithridates I of Iberia. The inscription records Amazapus's death at
Nisibis
Nusaybin () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,079 km2, and its population is 115,586 (2022). The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation.
Nusaybin is separated ...
, while accompanying the emperor
Trajan
Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
on
his Parthian campaign of 114–117.
[Braund, David (1993)]
King Flavius Dades.
''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 96; 46–50.
Some modern scholars identify Mithridates I with the King Flavius Dades, known from a single Greek inscription around the edge of the base of a large silver dish found at Armazi. The dish was part of the inventory of a rich Roman-era burial conventionally known as "the Bersoumas burial" after the high dignitary Bersoumas to whom, the inscriptions says, this piece was presented by the King Flavius Dades. There is no mention of him in the medieval Georgian written tradition and appears to be the only Roman name attested in the Iberian ruling house, evidently indicating that he held
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...
. The identification of this monarch and his place in the Iberian royal dynasty remains problematic, however.
Mithridates I was succeeded by his son,
Amazaspus I.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mithridates 01 Of Iberia
Pharnavazid kings of Iberia
2nd-century monarchs in Asia
1st-century monarchs in Asia