| Arsacid არშაკიანი | |
|---|---|
| Dynasty | |
| Parent house | Arsacid dynasty of Parthia |
| Country | Kingdom of Iberia |
| Founded | 189 (189) |
| Founder | Rev I |
| Final ruler | Aspacures I |
| Dissolution | 284 (284) |
TheArsacid dynasty orArshakiani (Georgian:არშაკიანი,romanized:arshak'iani), a branch of theArsacid dynasty of Parthia, ruled the ancientKingdom of Iberia (Kartli, easternGeorgia) from c. 189 until 284 AD. The Arsacid dynasty of Iberia was succeeded by theChosroid dynasty.
Once the Arsacids, in the person ofVologases II (r. 180-191), had consolidatedtheir hold on theArmenian throne by 180, they gained momentum to interfere in Iberia. According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, the king of Armenia, whom ProfessorCyril Toumanoff identifies with Vologases II, helped the rebellious nobles of Iberia overthrow his wife’s brotherAmazaspus II of Iberia, last of thePharnabazids, and replace Amazaspus with his sonRev I, whose reign (189-216) inaugurated the Arsacid dynasty in Iberia.[1]
Even as the Arsacids set on the thrones of threeCaucasian kingdoms – those of Armenia, Iberia, andAlbania – the dynasty was dislodged, in 226, from power in its original homeland and the more powerful and dynamicSassanid dynasty emerged as new masters of theIranian Empire. Although the later Georgian chronicles documents this change of power, its account of that period is full of anachronisms and semi-legendary allusions, providing little or no details about the effect of Iranian resurgence on Arsacid Iberia. What we know of that period comes fromClassical sources as well as Sassanid inscriptions.[1]
By replacing the weak Parthian realm with a strong, centralized state, the Sassanids changed the political orientation of pro-Roman Iberia and reduced it to a tributary state.Shapur I (r. 242-272) placed a vassal,Amazaspus III (r. 260-265), on the throne of Iberia, possibly a rival oranti-king ofMihrdat II. In 284, with the death ofAspagur I, the Iberian Arsacid line ended, and the Sassanids capitalized on a civil strife in the Roman Empire to establish their candidate,Mirian III, of the Chosroid dynasty, on the throne of Iberia.[1][2]
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