Mirian III of Iberia

Mirian III was the King of Iberia and founder of the Chosroid dynasty. He was the first Christian king of the region.

Mirian was a part of the House of Mihran, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran. He was born in Iran as a Zoroastrian. The Sassanian Emperor, Bahram II, gave the Kingdom of Iberia to Mirian to make the area loyal to the Sassanian Empire. Then the Sassanian Emperor Narseh fought a war with Rome which Mirian joined. He supported the Sassanians but the war ended at the Battle of Satala in 298 with a Roman victory. Narseh gave Armenia and Iberia to the Romans, so Mirian decided to become friends with the Romans.

Mirian became a Christian either in 319 or 326 which made them the second kingdom to make Christianity a state religion (after Armenia). Georgian legends say that Mirian was hunting near the city of Mtskheta when the sky became dark. After praying to the God of a Georgian Christian nun named Nino, the light came back. He decided to become a Christian after this and his people copied this behavior. He took money from pagan temples and donated it to churches. The Georgian nobles asked Roman Emperor Constantine the Great for priests and holy relics which the emperor sent. Mirian also went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.