Udo Reinhold Jeck Vakhtang IGorgasali (r.447–522) as a Christian Monarch in Georgia: HisDepiction in the Life of Kartli In antiquity,the Caucasuswas located between two empires with long-lasting con- flicts of interest: Rome and Persia.¹ In the view of some late Romanemperors,the Persians barredthe path to the East and threatened the eastern part of the empire by their westwardexpansion.² From aPersian perspective,the Romansblocked the path to expansion and resurgence of their old empire.³ This complicated and en- duringconflictdragged on over the course of several centuries into late antiquity.⁴ It included military confrontation with alternating victories and defeats.⁵ As the Persians and Romans fiercelybattledoverhegemonyinthe eastern Med- iterranean, the Caucasus attained strategic importance as one of the frontiers be- tween these two empires.The major powers of late antiquity both wanted to secure their ownspheres of influenceinthe region, relying in part on expansive political power and partlyonthe persuasive forceoftheir respective religious traditions.⁶ Klaus Schippmann, Grundzüge der Geschichtedes sasanidischen Reiches,Darmstadt1990;Josef Wiesehöfer,Das antikePersien. Von550 v. Chr.bis 650n.Chr., Düsseldorf/Zürich 1998. James Howard-Johnston, The Sasanian’sStrategic Dilemma, in: HenningBörm, Josef Wiesehöfer (ed.), Commutatio et contentio. Studies in the Late Roman, Sasanian and EarlyIslamic Near East in Memory of Zeev Rubin, Düsseldorf 2010,37–70;id., The Grand Strategyofthe Sasanian Empire, in Carsten Binder,HenningBörm, Andreas Luther (ed.), Diwan, Studies in the History and Culture of the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean /UntersuchungenzuGeschichte und Kultur des Nahen Ostens und des östlichen Mittelmeerraumes im Altertum. Festschrift für Josef Wiesehöfer zum 65.Geburtstag,Duisburg2016,591–613. RogerC.Blockley,East Roman Foreign Policy.Formation and Conduct from Diocletian to Anasta- sius (ACRA: Classical and Medieval Texts,Papers and Monographs 30), Leeds 1992. James Howard-Johnston, East Rome, Sasanian Persiaand the End of Antiquity.Historiographical and Historical Studies (Variorum Collected Studies 848), Aldershot 2006;Henning Börm, Prokop und die Perser.Untersuchungenzuden römisch-sasanidischenKontakten in der ausgehenden Spä- tantike(Oriens et Occidens 16), Stuttgart 2007. Edward Dabrowa (ed.), The Roman and Byzantine Armyinthe east.Proceedings of aColloquium held at the Jagellonian University,KrakówinSeptember 1992, Kraków 1994;Geoffrey B. Greatrex, Rome and PersiaatWar,502– 532, Leeds 1998. UdoReinhold Jeck, Die lautlose Invasion. ZurAuseinandersetzung griechischerPhilosophen mit dem persischen Mythos,in: Rolf Elberfeld (ed.), Philosophiegeschichtsschreibung in globaler Per- spektive (Deutsches Jahrbuch Philosophie 9), Hamburg2017, 253–277. OpenAccess. ©2021Udo Reinhold Jeck, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110725612-011 222 Udo Reinhold Jeck While the Persians tried to establish aform of Zoroastrianism in the Caucasus,⁷ Chris- tianity,supported by Constantine I, alsopenetratedthe region.⁸ During these political and religious conflicts,the monarchs of Georgia managed to, moreorless successfully, preserveacertain amount of independence through careful manoeuvring. The Georgian ruling classes staunchlyopposedboththe expan- sive Persianimperialism and their religious encroachments through military means. They banked on Byzantium and the late Roman/Byzantine Christianitywhich ulti- matelyprevailed in Georgia. The events of this formativeperiod in Georgian history are very difficult to recon- struct.Later sources offer at least insight into the reception of this time in the Geor- gian tradition. This studywill focus on the representationofGeorgian King Vakhtang IGorgasali in the Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali embedded within the Georgian royal chronicles known as the Life of Kartli,acollection and redaction of earlier texts formedinthe mid-eleventh century.The dates of Vakhtang’srule are disputed, but the most recent scholarship proposes the dates of 447to522.⁹ The Life of Kartli’sde- scription of Vakhtang’sstyle of governing suggests thatlocal elites in the Caucasus at this time receivedaGraeco-Roman education. Thisresulted in aspecific understand- ing of good Christian rulership that will be at the heart of this examination.¹⁰ The surviving records, which certainlyonlydeserve limited trust as sources, de- pict Vakhtang as aprudent politician, an energetic commander,ahighlyeducated monarch with agreat sense of responsibility,and acaring sovereign with adevout Christian disposition. Although the memory of Vakhtang remains quite vibrant with- in Georgia,knowledge of him, his time,and the long and dramatic historical devel- opmentsinGeorgia remainlargely unknown in the West to this day. European schol- ars became aware of Georgia’shistory onlyatarelatively late date through the work of distinguished western scholars of the Caucasus and oriental studies.This study seeks to rectify this in part by bringingattention to the reception of one of the pre- eminent rulersoflate antique Georgia within one of the most important medieval ac- counts of Georgian history. On Persian religion and its manifold forms,see Michael Stausberg, Die Religion Zarathushtras. Ge- schichte – Gegenwart – Rituale, Stuttgart 2002– 2004. Heinz Fähnrich, Geschichte Georgiens (HandbookofOriental Studies,Handbuch der Orientalistik, section eight,Central Asia 21), Leiden/Boston 2010,122: “Der römische Kaiser Konstantin I. war der erste,der das Christentum in seinem Reich zur Staatsreligionerklärte. Dadurch wurde es in den po- litischen Kampf zwischen Rom und Persien einbezogen, und so erklärt es sich, daß die Perser nach der Annahmedes Christentums durch Rom ihreBeziehungzuden Christenradikal änderten: Vonder anfänglichwohlwollenden Duldung gingensie zur gnadenlosenVerfolgung über.” Stephen H. Rapp Jr., The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes. Caucasia and the Iranian Com- monwealthinLate Antique Georgian Literature, Farnham (Surrey) 2014,271. VaxtangGoilaje, VaxtangGorgasali da misi istorikosi, Mecniereba, Tbilisi 1991;Sargis Kakabadze, VaxtangGorgasalisxana, Tbilisis Damoukidebeli Univ.[et.al.], Tbilisi 1994. Vakhtang IGorgasali (r.447 – 522) as aChristian Monarch in Georgia 223 ABrief History of Scholarship on the Life of Kartli At the beginning of the nineteenth century,important tools for researching Vakhtang Iwereunavailable in the western hemisphere. The standard reference works of the time onlyprovided incomplete information on the history of Georgia. Even the fa- mous Conversations-Lexicon oder encyclopädisches Handwörterbuch fürgebildete Stände publishedin1815 was of no use. It merelydevoted acouple of sentences to modern-agepolitical developmentinGeorgia;¹¹ it contains no mention of Vakh- tang IGorgasali. This state of affairs was first changed by Heinrich Julius Klaproth (1783 – 1835). In his Reise in den Kaukasus und nach Georgien unternommeninden Jahren 1807und 1808,the second volume of which was published in 1814,¹² he drew on abundant sources, compiled material on the kingsofGeorgia, and also included aprofile of Vakhtang:¹³ AfterMirdat (346), his son 〈…〉 VachtangGurg-aßlan, meaningVachtangthe Wolf-Lion ruled; as in Persian gurg means ‘wolf’ and aßlan means ‘lion.’ He possessed all royal virtues and is held by Georgians as one of their greatest princes.¹⁴ Unfortunately, Klaproth’sremarks are largely confined to the political activities of the Georgian monarch and his manycampaigns against hostile neighbours. In addition, he merelyidentified him as the founder of Tbilisi. Accordingtohis information, Vakhtang alsobuilt Christian churches and appointed the first “Catholicos of Geor- gia.”¹⁵ Klaproth did not indicate that the basisofthe monarch’spolitics was his in- tellectual disposition. Travel literature of the first half of the nineteenth century Conversations-Lexicon oder encyclopädisches Handwörterbuch für gebildeteStände. Vierter Band. Gund H. Leipzig/Altenburg ³1815,167. Heinrich J. Klaproth, Reise in den Kaukasusund nach Georgien unternommen in den Jahren1807 und 1808, aufVeranstaltung der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St.Petersburg, enthal- tend eine vollständige Beschreibungder Kaukasischen Länder und ihrerBewohner,von Julius von Klaproth, Kaiserl. Russischem Hofrathe und Mitgliede der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St.Pe- tersburg. vol. 1, Halle/Berlin 1812; id., Reise in den Kaukasus und nach Georgien unternommen in den Jahren1807und 1808, aufVeranstaltung der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St. Petersburg,enthaltend eine vollständige Beschreibungder Kaukasischen Länder und ihrer Bewohner, vonJulius vonKlaproth, Hofrathe und correspondirendem Mitgliede der königlichen Societät zu Göt- tingen. vol. 2, Halle/Berlin 1814. Klaprothcompiled this biography from various different materials: idem, Reise in den Kaukasus und nach Georgien II, 62. Klaproth, Reise in den Kaukasus und nach Georgien II, 163: “XXXIII. Nach Mirdat (346) regierte dessen Sohn 〈…〉 WachtangGurg-aßlan, das ist Wachtangder Wolf-Löwe; denn im Persischen bedeu- tetgurgWolf und aßlan Löwe.Erbesaß alle königlichen Tugenden und wirdvon den Georgiern für einen ihrer größten Fürsten gehalten.” Ibid., 163–165. 224 Udo Reinhold Jeck added little new information,¹⁶ and knowledge of Vakhtang’sbiographywas not sub- stantiallyexpanded.¹⁷ This unsatisfactorysituation remained until