Pharasmenes III, king of Iberia

Pharasmanes III or P’arsman III (Georgian: ფარსმან III) was a king of Iberia (Kartli, modern central and eastern Georgia), a contemporary of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161). Professor Cyril Toumanoff suggests A.D. 135-185 as the possible years of Pharasmanes’ rule.

According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, P’arsman was one year old at the death of his father, Ghadam (135), whom he succeeded on the throne, and ruled under the regency of his mother Ghadana until he reached a legal age.

The Classical sources evidence Pharasmanes’ friendly relations with Rome. According to Cassius Dio, he came to Rome as guest of Antoninus Pius, together with his wife, son, and noble retinue; he was especially honored, being allowed to sacrifice in the Capitol and to have his equestrian statue in the temple of Bellona; and the emperor increased the territory of his kingdom.[1] This might have happened in 154 A.D. After Julius Capitolinus, the trip to Rome has sometimes been, in confusion, attributed to the earlier Iberian king Pharasmanes II.

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