P'arsman IV ( ka, ფარსმან IV, sometimes Latinized as ''Pharasmanes''), of the

Chosroid Dynasty The Chosroid dynasty (a Latinization of ''Khosro anni'', ka, ხოსრო ��ანები), also known as the Iberian Mihranids, were a dynasty of kings and later presiding princes of the early Georgian state of Iberia from the 4th to t ...

, was the king (''

mepe ''Mepe'' (Old Georgian: ႫႴ; ka, მეფე ; ) is a royal title used to designate the Georgian monarch, whether it is referring to a king or a queen regnant. The title was originally a male ruling title. Etymology The word is derived from ...

'') 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 Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

, eastern

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 ...

) from 406 to 409. According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, he was the son of King Varaz-Bakur II and the daughter of

Trdat of Iberia Trdat ( ka, თრდატი, sometimes Latinized as ''Tiridates''), of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king (''mepe'') of Iberia (Kartli, eastern Georgia) from c. 394 to 406. According to the Georgian chronicles, he was a son of Rev II, son ...

. Characterized as a pious monarch and an exceptional warrior, he is reported to have rebelled against the

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

hegemony and have withheld paying tribute to the

shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

. He is also credited with the construction of

Bolnisi Bolnisi ( ka, ბოლნისი) is a city in the country of Georgia (country), Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. It currently has an estimated 8,348 (January 1, 2024) inhabitants. History Boln ...

. Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 316. Peeters Bvba . P’arsman is identified by some scholars with the Pharasmanes of the Syriac ''Vita Petri Iberi'' who was a brother of Osdukhtia, the paternal grandmother of

Peter the Iberian Peter the Iberian ( ka, პეტრე იბერი, tr) (c. 417-491) was a Georgians, Georgian royal prince, theologian and philosopher who was a prominent figure in early Christianity and one of the founders of Neoplatonism and Christianity, ...

, a well-known Georgian theologian and one of the leaders of anti-

Chalcedonian Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definitio ...

movement in the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

. Pharasmanes enjoyed a leading position at the Roman court and held the rank of a ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...

'' under

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Arcadius Arcadius ( ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of ...

until being accused of committing adultery with the empress Eudoxia. He escaped back to Iberia where he became king and encouraged the

White Huns The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, ...

to attack the Roman frontiers. He was succeeded by his brother, Mihrdat.Martindale, John Robert (1992), ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', p. 872.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, .

References

Chosroid kings of Iberia 5th-century monarchs in Asia Magistri militum Georgians from the Sasanian Empire {{Georgia-royal-stub