Gubazes II was king of Lazica from ca. 541 until his assassination in 555. He was one of the central personalities of the Lazic War, first as a Sassanid Persian vassal and after 548 as an ally of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Early life, turn to the Persians
Gubazes was of Byzantine descent through his mother. The custom of marrying Byzantine women, usually from the senatorial aristocracy, was common among the Lazic royalty: his uncle, the king Opsites (it is unknown when exactly he reigned), was married to a Byzantine lady named Theodora. It is known that Gubazes had a younger brother, Tzath, who succeeded him on the throne, and an unnamed sister. Gubazes was married and had children, but neither the name of his wife nor of any of his offspring is known.[1][2]
The exact date of his accession is unknown, but it must not have been much earlier than 541, when he is attested as king of the Lazi. However it is very likely that before his accession he had lived for several years at the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, for he is recorded to have been a silentiarius, an influential position at the imperial palace; alternatively, but less likely, he may have been given the title as an honorary appointment after his accession.[3] Lazica had been a Byzantine client state since 522, when its king, Tzath I, had rejected Persian hegemony. However, during the rule of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), a series of heavy-handed Byzantine measures made them unpopular. In particular the establishment of a trade monopoly by the magister militum John Tzibus, which was regulated from the newly constructed fortress of Petra, drove Gubazes to seek once again the protection of the Persian shah, Khosrau I (r. 531–579).[4][5]
At the time, Khosrau was already in war with the Byzantines, having broken the "Eternal Peace" of 532 in 540, when he had invaded the Byzantine province ofMesopotamia.[6] In spring 541, Khosrau and his troops, led by Lazi guides, marched over the mountain passes into Lazica, where Gubazes submitted to him. The Byzantines under John Tzibus resisted valiantly from Petra, but he was killed, and the fortress fell soon after.[7][8] Khosrau left a Persian garrison at Petra and departed the country, but soon, the Lazi grew discontented: as Christians, they resented the Persians' Zoroastrianism, and they were greatly affected by the cessation of the Black Sea trade with Byzantium.[9][10] Procopius reports that Khosrau, who was aware of Lazica's strategic importance, intended to resettle the entire Lazi people and replace them with native Persians. As a first step, the Persian ruler planned to assassinate Gubazes. Gubazes however was forewarned, and switched his allegiance back to Byzantium.[3][10][11]
Return to Byzantine allegiance, wars against the Persians
In 548, Justinian dispatched 8,000 men under Dagistheus, who together with a Lazic force set siege to the Persian garrison at Petra. The Persians however were well provisioned, and the siege dragged on. Dagistheus had neglected to keep watch over the mountain passes that led into Lazica, and a far larger Persian relief force under Mihr-Mihroe arrived and raised the siege.[11][12][13] The Persians however lacked sufficient supplies, and so, after strengthening the garrison at Petra and leaving further 5,000 men under Phabrizus to secure its supply routes, Mihr-Mihroe left. In the spring of the next year, Gubazes and Dagistheus combined their forces, destroyed Phabrizus' army in a surprise attack, and pursued the survivors into Iberia. In the same summer, they won another victory against a new Persian army, led by Khorianes. The allies failed however to prevent another Persian army from reinforcing Petra, and Dagistheus was recalled and replaced by Bessas.[14][15][16]
In 550, a pro-Persian revolt broke out among the Abasgians. A high-ranking Lazic noble, called Terdetes, who had quarreled with Gubazes, used the opportunity to betray to the Persians an important fort in the land of the Apsili, a tribe under Lazic suzerainty. The Apsili retook the fort, but refused to accept Lazic rule until persuaded to do so by the Byzantine general John Guzes.[17][18] In 551, the Byzantines finally took and razed Petra, but a new army under Mihr-Mihroe was able to establish Persian control over the eastern part of Lazica. The Byzantine forces in Lazica withdrew west to the mouth of the Phasis, while the Lazi, including Gubazes and his family, sought refuge in the mountains. Despite enduring harsh conditions in the winter of 551/552, Gubazes rejected the peace offers conveyed by envoys from Mihr-Mihroe. In 552, despite substantial reinforcements, the Persian attacks on the fortresses held by the Byzantines and the Lazi were repulsed.[19][20]
Over the next two years, the Byzantines increased their forces in Lazica, but failed to achieve decisive success; Gubazes quarreled with their generals, and wrote to Justinian accusing them of incompetence following a defeat against the Persians. Bessas was recalled, but the other two, Martin and the sacellariusRusticus, resolved to get rid of him. They sent a message to Constantinople accusing Gubazes of dealings with the Persians. Justinian, intending to question Gubazes himself, authorized the two generals to arrest him, using force if necessary. The two Byzantine generals then (September/October 555) invited Gubazes to observe the siege of a Persian-held fort, but when they met, John, Rusticus' brother, stabbed the king with his dagger. Gubazes fell from his horse, and one of Rusticus' servants gave him the finishing blow.[21][22][23]
After his murder, the Lazi stopped participating in operations against the Persians for a time, leading to the failure of a Byzantine attack against the fort of Onoguris. An assembly of the Lazic people informed Justinian of the events, requested that an investigation be launched, and asked that Gubazes' younger brother Tzath, at the time residing in Constantinople, be confirmed as their new ruler. The emperor complied with their requests: the senator Athanasius was dispatched to investigate Gubazes' murder, and Tzath was sent to assume the Lazic throne. Athanasius' investigation cleared Gubazes of any suspicion of treachery; Rusticus and his brother John were found guilty and executed in autumn 556, but Martin was simply deposed from his post.[24][25][26]
References
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 559, 955, 1242
- ^ Bury (1958), p. 100
- ^ a b Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 559
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 638
- ^ Bury (1958), pp. 100–101
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 102ff.
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 559, 639
- ^ Bury (1958), pp. 101–102
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 115–116
- ^ a b Bury (1958), p. 113
- ^ a b Greatrex & Lieu (2002), p. 117
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 380–381
- ^ Bury (1958), pp. 113–114
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 381–382
- ^ Bury (1958), p. 114
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 117–118
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 560, 1221
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), p. 118
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 560
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 118–120
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 560, 841, 1103–1104
- ^ Bury (1958), p. 118
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), pp. 120–121
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 560, 661, 847, 1104
- ^ Bury (1958), pp. 118–119
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu (2002), p. 121