Artoces was a king of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a la ...

(modern-day

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

) from 78 to 63 BC. He features in the Classical accounts of the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies dragging the entire east of th ...

(

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Ancient Greeks, Greek historian with Ancient Rome, Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of ...

, ''Bell. Mithr.'' 103, 117;

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

37.1-2; Eutropius 6.14 rtaces Festus 16;

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Western Roman Empire, Roman priest, historian and theology, theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Au ...

6.4.8) and is identified with the Artag ( ka, არტაგ), Arik (არიკ), Rok (როკ), or Aderk (ადერკ), of the medieval Georgian annals.

Rapp, Stephen H. Stephen H. Rapp Jr is an American professor and scholar of history, with a focus and primary research investigating the Roman Empire, ancient Iran, Armenia and Georgia. He is a professor of history at Sam Houston State University. Education and c ...

(2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', pp. 282-283. Peeters Bvba . According to the Georgian historic tradition, he was the son and successor of

Artaxias I Artaxias I (from gr, Άρταξίας; in hy, Արտաշէս, translit=Artašēs) was the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty of Armenia, ruling from 189 BC to 160 BC. Artaxias was a member of a branch of the Orontid dynasty, the earlier ruling d ...

of the Artaxiads. The medieval Georgian account of his reign is brief and focuses on the devastation of his kingdom at the hands of Iranians while the Classical sources much closer to the period in question contain a detailed description of Artoces's war with

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on the side of Mithridates VI of Pontus and Tigranes of Armenia. Alarmed by the Roman occupation of the neighboring

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

, Artoces promised peace and friendship; but the Roman commander

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

, informed that he was secretly arming so as to fall upon the Romans on their march in the passes of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

, advanced in March 65 BC, before resuming the pursuit of Mithridates, to the Iberian strongholds of Harmozica and Seusamora. Artoces, caught by surprise, hastily burnt the bridge over the Cyrus and retreated further in his forested country. Pompey occupied the fortresses and crossed the river, but met a fierce resistance by the Iberian army. In the end, the Romans prevailed, and, when Artoces saw the Pelorus, apparently the modern Aragvi, also crossed by Pompey, he surrendered, and sent his children as hostages.''Roman History by Cassius Dio''
Book XXXVII, pp. 99-101. Published in Vol. V of the

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann_(publisher), Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works ...

edition, 1917.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Artag 63 BC deaths Kings of Iberia 1st-century BC rulers in Asia Year of birth unknown