The THE EPITAPH OF AMAZASPOS

ამაზასპოსის ეპიტაფია

Abstract

The Epitaph of Amazaspos found in Rome is extremely valuable evidence for the study of Georgian History. Several scholarly articles were dedicated to it, however, some aspects still remain unidentified. First of all, the context of the inscription is interesting – when was it created– whether in the first century or not, and therefore is it connected to the activity of Trajan’s father in the East or to Trajan's Parthian campaign, in which Iberians supported him? There is also an opinion that the context of the inscription should be the reign of Antonius Pius and, subsequently, supporters of this idea believe that the only function this inscription had was to demonstrate Roman-Iberian contacts to Pharasmanes the Valiant, who was visiting Rome during Antoninus Pius’s reign. The analysis of the details of the inscription gives us the possibility to discuss the context, identify the era in which it was created and our report will try to deal with this issue. The answers to these questions should be found after analyzing Roman history, Iberian-Roman relations and their dynamics, also after finding some possible links and connections of the time.

Several inscriptions found on the territory of Iberia are interesting from this point of view – Queen Ulpia's inscription is among them. Ulpia had a female version of Emperor Trajan's name – Ulpius, which points to the contacts between Iberians and Rome during Trajan's reign. Narrative sources also indicate that not only Iberia, but also another kingdom inhabited by Kartvelian tribes supported Trajan's during his Parthan expedition – kingdom of the Macheloni and Heniochi. Our paper will try to solve these complicated issues and we will present our opinion about it.

Key Words: Amazaspos, Trajan, Mithridates, Ulpia, Iberia, Roman Citizenship