Peranius ( ka, პერანი, tr) was a Georgian prince from

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 ...

and a military commander in Roman (Byzantine) service. According to

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

, he was the eldest son of the Iberian king Gurgenes.Procopius. ''History of the Wars'', I.12. Gurgenes can be identified with

Vakhtang I of Iberia Vakhtang I Gorgasali ( ka, ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, tr; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king (''Mepe (title), mepe'') of Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity), Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Ge ...

of the Georgian sources; and Peranius might have been his brother rather than a son as suggested by Procopius. He was the father of Pacurius and uncle of Phazas, two other Iberian generals of the Roman army. According to

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff ( ka, კირილ თუმანოვი; ; 10 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Georgian-American historian, and academic genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armen ...

, he may have been a scion of King Sauromaces II of Iberia. Peranius and his family fled the

Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

oppression of Iberia into

Lazica The Kingdom of Lazica (; ; ), sometimes called Lazian Empire, was a state in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman era, Georgia in the Roman period, from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colc ...

in the 520s. They placed themselves under Roman protection and left for

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

where Peranius joined the Byzantine imperial army. Later in the 530s, he served under

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and was 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, ...

during the

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

by the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

(537–538). During the siege, he defended the Porta Praenestina and led a sally from the Porta Salaria. In mid-538, he laid a siege to Urbs Vetus (

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

) which fell in early 539. Early in the 540s, Peranius was transferred to the eastern frontier where he fought the Sassanid Persian armies. He raided Taraunitis in 543 while the main Roman army invaded Persian Armenia. and was one of the Roman commanders defending Edessa in 544. The Persian king

Khosrow I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a rei ...

(r. 531–579), demanded the surrender of Peranius and Peter on the grounds that they were his hereditary slave. When a Sassanid contingent under Azarethes threatened to break into the city through one of the gates, Peranius led reinforcements of soldiers and citizens to the spot and averted the danger. Soon after the end of the siege of Edessa, Peranius died of severe injuries sustained in a fall from his

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

while

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

References

Sources

* 540s deaths Byzantine generals Magistri militum Georgian princes Generals of Justinian I 6th-century Byzantine people Deaths by horse-riding accident People of the Gothic War (535–554) People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Year of birth unknown Chosroid dynasty Byzantine people of Georgian descent {{Georgia-bio-stub