Fariburz, known in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

sources as Phabrizus ( el, Φάβριζος), was a 6th-century

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

military officer from the Mihran family, who served under the

Sasanian 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 ...

king

Khosrau 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).

Biography

He was the brother of the diplomat and military officer

Izadgushasp Izadgushasp (also spelled Yazdgushnasp), known in Byzantine sources as Isdigousnas Zikh, was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Mihran, who served as one of Khosrow I's ''viziers'' (''wuzurg framadar''). Biography Izadgushasp is first mentione ...

. The Byzantine historian

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...

describes them as: "both holding most important offices ... and at the same time reckoned to be the basest of all Persians, having a great reputation for their cleverness and evil ways." In 548, Fariburz was ordered by Khosrau I to transport the Byzantine prisoners of war captured in the ongoing

Lazic War The Lazic War, also known as the Colchidian War or in Georgian historiography as the Great War of Egrisi was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire for control of the ancient Georgian region of Lazica. The Lazic War lasted fo ...

to Iran, where they were to be settled. Some time later, Fariburz, along with another Iranian officer named Pharsanses, at the head of a small army numbering 300, marched to

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 ...

, where they planned to assassinate the vassal king Gubazes II. However, Pharsanses betrayed the Sasanians and revealed the plan to Gubazes, after which both defected to the Byzantine camp. Fariburz then instructed the Sasanian garrison of the Lazic fortress of

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

to prepare for a Byzantine siege, and returned to the Sasanian capital of

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...

with his troops. In 549, Fariburz, along with three other commanders and an army numbering 5,000 men, were left in the garrison in Petra by

Mihr-Mihroe Mihr-Mihroe (died 555), in Middle Persian either ''Mihr-Mihrōē''Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater, Routledge & Kegan Paul Volume 6, Parts 1-3, page 281a or ''Mihrmāh-rōy''; in Byzantine sources Mermeroes ( el, Μερμερόη� ...

. However, in a surprise attack, the Byzantine military officer

Dagisthaeus Dagisthaeus (, ''Dagisthaîos'') was a 6th-century Eastern Roman military commander, probably of Gothic origin, in the service of the emperor Justinian I. Dagisthaeus was possibly a descendant of the Ostrogothic chieftain Dagistheus.* In 548, Da ...

and Gubazes managed to defeat Fariburz, who along with the rest of the survivors fled from the country.; ; . In 550, Fariburz suppressed the rebellion of Khosrau's eldest son

Anoshazad Anōshazād (Middle Persian), known in the Shahnameh as Nōshzād ( fa, نوشزاد), was a Sasanian prince who was the leader of a revolt in southwestern province of Khuzistan in the 540s. He was the oldest son of king Khosrow I (r. 531-579), whi ...

, and then along with his brother Izadgushasp left Iran on a diplomatic mission 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 (" ...

. Nothing more is known about Fariburz..

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite book, last1=Greatrex, first1=Geoffrey, last2=Lieu, first2=Samuel N. C., title=The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD), location=London, United Kingdom, publisher=Routledge, year=2002, isbn=0-415-14687-9, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnLDQgAACAAJ 6th-century births 6th-century deaths 6th-century Iranian people House of Mihran People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Lazic War Generals of Khosrow I