Peranius ( ka, პერანი, tr) was a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

prince from Iberia and a military commander in Roman (Byzantine) service. According to Procopius, he was the eldest son of the Iberian king Gurgenes.Procopius. ''History of the Wars'', I.12. Gurgenes can be identified with Vakhtang I of Iberia of the Georgian sources; and Peranius might have been his brother rather than a son as suggested by Procopius. He was the father of

Pacurius Pacurius ( ka, ბაკური, tr) was a Chosroid prince of the Kingdom of Iberia (Kartli, eastern Georgia), and a military commander in the Roman service in Italy. His name is presumably a Latinized rendition of the Georgian ''Bakur'', being ...

and uncle of

Phazas Phazas ( ka, ფაზა, tr) was a Chosroid prince of the Kingdom of Iberia and a cavalry officer in the Roman (Byzantine) service during the Gothic War (535–554). He was a nephew of Peranius and cousin of Pacurius. In 542, he commanded an A ...

, two other Iberian generals of the Roman army. According to Cyril Toumanoff, he may have been a scion of King

Sauromaces II of Iberia Saurmag II ( ka, საურმაგ II, Latinized as ''Sauromaces''), of the Chosroid Dynasty, was a king of Iberia (Kartli, eastern Georgia) from 361 to 363 and diarch from 370 to 378. He is ignored by the Georgian historic tradition, but men ...

. Peranius and his family fled the Sassanid oppression of Iberia into Lazica in the 520s. They placed themselves under Roman protection and left for Constantinople where Peranius joined the Byzantine imperial army. Later in the 530s, he served under Belisarius in Italy and was in Rome during the siege by the Goths (537–538). During the siege, he defended the

Porta Praenestina The Porta Maggiore ("Larger Gate"), or Porta Prenestina, is one of the eastern gates in the ancient but well-preserved 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome. Through the gate ran two ancient roads: the Via Praenestina and the Via Labicana. The Via P ...

and led a sally from the Porta Salaria. In mid-538, he laid a siege to Urbs Vetus (

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

) which fell in early 539. Early in the 540s, Peranius was transferred to the eastern frontier where he fought the Sassanid Persian armies. He raided Taraunitis in 543 while the main Roman army invaded Persian Armenia. and was one of the Roman commanders defending Edessa in 544. The Persian king

Khosrow I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from ...

(r. 531–579), demanded the surrender of Peranius and Peter on the grounds that they were his hereditary slave. When a Sassanid contingent under

Azarethes Azarethes ( el, ), also recorded as Exarath () and Zuraq, was a Sassanid Persian military commander during the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars. His Greek name is possibly a misunderstanding of the honorific title ''hazaraft''. Biography According ...

threatened to break into the city through one of the gates, Peranius led reinforcements of soldiers and citizens to the spot and averted the danger. Soon after the end of the siege of Edessa, Peranius died of severe injuries sustained in a fall from his horse while

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

References

Sources

* 540s deaths Byzantine generals Magistri militum Georgian princes Generals of Justinian I 6th-century Byzantine people Deaths by horse-riding accident People of the Gothic War (535–554) People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Year of birth unknown Chosroid dynasty Byzantine people of Georgian descent {{Georgia-bio-stub