Traditional Georgian royal lists date the start of the Kingdom of Iberia (Kartli) to the reign of Pharnavaz I, credited with founding the monarchy and early state structures centered on Mtskheta/Armazi.
Pharnavaz’s successor Sauromaces (Saurmag) I is placed in the mid-3rd to mid-2nd century BCE in reconstructed chronologies, reflecting continuity of the early Iberian monarchy and its noble politics.
After internal upheaval and dynastic change, an Armenian prince Artaxias is recorded as taking the Iberian throne (traditional date 93 BCE), marking the start of an Artaxiad phase in Iberia’s kingship.
In 65 BCE, during Pompey’s Caucasian operations linked to the Third Mithridatic War, Roman forces defeated King Artoces of Iberia near the Pelorus River, forcing Iberia into a diplomatic accommodation with Rome.
A Greek inscription known as the Stele of Vespasian (dated 75 CE) commemorates reinforcement of the Armazi fortifications and references Roman emperors and Iberian royalty, evidencing close Rome–Iberia interaction at Mtskheta/Armazi.
The Stele of Serapeitis (dated 150 CE), inscribed in Greek and Armazic (Aramaic), provides a rare contemporary window into Iberian aristocracy, titulature, and multilingual administration centered around Armazi.
Mirian III (commonly dated 284–361 CE) is identified as the founding ruler of the Chosroid line in Iberia, a dynasty that would dominate late-antique Kartli amid Roman–Iranian rivalry.
During Mirian III’s reign, Iberia’s royal conversion (traditionally linked with Saint Nino) led to Christianity’s establishment as state religion; modern scholarship proposes dates including 319 or 326 CE (older tradition often cited 337).
The Roman–Sasanian settlement resolved in 384 and reaffirmed in 387 (often called the Partition of Armenia) formalized spheres of influence and is associated with Rome acknowledging loss of Iberia to stronger Sasanian leverage.
Vakhtang I Gorgasali (commonly placed in the late 5th century) ruled Iberia as a Sasanian vassal while pursuing policies that sought greater autonomy and reshaped Iberian political and ecclesiastical life in tradition.
In 482 CE, Vakhtang I led a broad anti-Sasanian revolt (linked to wider Caucasian unrest), initiating a prolonged struggle that ultimately failed but became a defining episode in Iberia’s late-antique resistance narratives.
Vakhtang I is commonly dated to have died around 502 CE (alternative proposals exist), after which Sasanian control deepened and Iberian royal authority increasingly narrowed in practice.
Upon the death of Bakur (Bacurius) III in 580 CE, Sasanian shah Hormizd IV abolished the Iberian kingship, and Kartli/Iberia was more directly governed as a Persian province under a marzpan (governor).
Kingdom of Iberia (Kartli) (4th century BCE–5th century CE)
