Gubazes I ( ka, გუბაზი; el, Γουβάζης) was a king of

Lazica Lazica ( ka, ეგრისი, ; lzz, ლაზიკა, ; grc-gre, Λαζική, ; fa, لازستان, ; hy, Եգեր, ) was the Latin name given to the territory of Colchis during the Roman/Byzantine period, from about the 1st centur ...

who flourished in the 450s and 460s. His relations with the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

are recorded by

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generall ...

.Toumanoff (1963), p. 363. Around 456 Gubazes tried to negotiate an alliance with the

Sassanid Persia The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

ns in order to break free from Roman hegemony. In response, in 456, the emperor

Marcian Marcian (; la, Marcianus, link=no; grc-gre, Μαρκιανός, link=no ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the East from 450 to 457. Very little of his life before becoming emperor is known, other than that he was a (personal as ...

dispatched a military expedition against the Lazi, calling upon Gubazes to abdicate or to depose his son, who was his co-ruler, "as it was against tradition to have two joint rulers". Eventually Gubazes abdicated in favor of his son and, in 466, paid a visit to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, where he had to endure the reprimands of the emperor

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

, but he was eventually treated with favour and sent back to his homeland, where he seems to have been able to resume his reign. Gubazes' visit to Constantinople is also mentioned in the ''Life of St. Daniel the Stylite'', which reports that Gubazes accompanied Leo to see the renowned monk

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

, who greatly impressed the Lazic king and even mediated a treaty between the two monarchs.Dawes & Baynes (1948), p. 79. This period coincided with a campaign launched against Lazica by its eastern neighbour, King

Vakhtang I of Iberia Vakhtang I Gorgasali ( ka, ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, tr; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king of Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Georgia) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter o ...

, which is narrated in the ''

Georgian Chronicles ''The Georgian Chronicles'' is a conventional English name for the principal compendium of medieval Georgian historical texts, natively known as ''Kartlis Tskhovreba'' ( ka, ქართლის ცხოვრება), literally "Life of Ka ...

''. Vakhtang was then a Sassanid vassal and his activities in Lazica may have been indirect assistance from the Sassanid ''

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

'', as previously offered to Gubazes during his break with Rome. Around 468 Gubazes, aided by the Romans, attacked the pro-Persian mountainous region of Suania, which had seceded from Lazic overlordship, but, aside from a couple of fortresses, he failed to retake the territory. His failure may have been due to the interference of the Iberians, since the ''Georgian Chronicles'' allude to another, in this case victorious, campaign, undertaken by Vakhtang of Iberia in Lazica around this time.Toumanoff (1963), p. 364.Surguladze (2010), გუბაზ I (''Gubaz I'').

Notes

References

*Dawes, Elizabeth & Baynes, Norman H. (1948), ''Three Byzantine Saints: Contemporary Biographies of St. Daniel the Stylite, St. Theodore of Sykeon and St. John the Almsgiver''. London: B. Blackwell
Online version
from

Internet Medieval Sourcebook The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the Fordham University History Department and Center for Medieval Studies. It is a web site with modern, medieval and ancient primary source documents, maps, secondary sources, bibliographies, ...

. Accessed June 15, 2011. *

Toumanoff, Cyril Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

(1963). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History''.

Georgetown University Press Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political sc ...

. * Surguladze, Mzia (2010)
გუბაზ I
(''Gubaz I''). ქართველი ისტორიული მოღვაწენი (''Georgian Historical Figures'') by

Georgian National Center of Manuscripts The Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts ( ka, საქართველოს ხელნაწერთა ეროვნული ცენტრი; formerly the ''Institute of Manuscripts''), located in Tbilisi, Georgia, is a repository ...

. Accessed June 15, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gubazes 01 Of Lazica 5th-century births 5th-century rulers in Asia 5th-century rulers in Europe Kings of Lazica Year of death unknown