Iberia in Late Antiquity - a petty state between the poles of two empires

虽然最近关于古代晚期的研究考虑了罗马和波斯之间的多种关系，以及两个帝国在亚美尼亚，美索不达米亚和阿拉伯草原地区的接触和冲突地区，但黑海和里海之间的外高加索地区仍然处于科学研究的阴影领域。然而，这个地区是古罗马晚期皇帝和萨珊人在地缘战略上与另一个伟大帝国结盟的重要参考点。作为两个帝国冲突地区的北端，该地区在政治和军事冲突中具有重要意义，另一方面，它在两个帝国的边界安全中占有关键地位，以防止定居在高加索北部的草原民族（匈奴人，阿兰人，可萨人）。为了检验外高加索地区对两个晚期古代帝国的重要性，以及这一地位对当地发展的影响，拟议的研究希望以文献记载相对较好的伊比利亚王国为例，该王国与每个帝国都有从属关系。伊比利亚在古代晚期的政治和文化发展，在西方和东方传统对原始材料的评价方面，几乎没有分别被不加批判地看待，我们将全面考察。一方面，伊比利亚的历史将在帝国的视角下进行分析，作为一个在帝国边界上依赖小国的角色和定位的案例研究。另一方面，在地方视角下，这一地缘政治区域对伊比利亚公共和社会结构发展的影响，伊比利亚君主的行动范围和当地王国对帝国统治者和伊比利亚贵族的巩固，以及帝国对该地区的宗教和文化影响，将得到解决。因此，基督教在地方认同形成中的相关性也将被审视。最后，在第三个视角下，将分析在草原游牧民族和大帝国之间的联系区域内王国的重要性。在这项研究中，不同类型的来源将被批判性地评估，并在他们自己的问题中被看待，以获得一个新的伊比利亚在公元3世纪到7世纪之间发展的总体排名，从而为重建其古代和中世纪之间的历史做出贡献。同样，这项研究有助于更好地理解罗马和波斯之间的从属国家在古代晚期的作用。

While recent research concerning Late Antiquity take the manifold relationships between Rome and Persia into account, as well as the contact and conflict zones of both Empires in Armenia, Mesopotamia and in the Arabic steppe zone, the Transcaucasian area between the Black and the Caspian Sea remains in the realm of shades of scientific research. However, this region was an essential reference point for the late antique Roman Emperors as well as for the Sasanids concerning their geostrategic alignment towards the other great empire: As the northern end of the conflict zone between both empires, the area bore a great meaning in the political and military conflicts, on the other hand it possessed a key position in the security of the borders of both empires against the steppe people who settled north of the Caucasus (Huns, Alans, Khazars). To examine the importance of the Transcaucasian region for the two late antique empires and the repercussion of this position for the local development, the proposed study wants to focus exemplarily on the comparatively well documented kingdom of Iberia that shared a relationship of dependency with each empire. The political and cultural development of Iberia in Late Antiquity, that has been looked upon rather barely respectively uncritically, concerning the evaluation of the source material, by western and oriental traditions, shall be comprehensively examined. On the one hand, the history of Iberia will be analyzed under an imperial perspective as a case study of the role and positioning of a dependent petty state at the borders of the empires. On the other hand, under a local perspective, the consequences of this geopolitical area for the development of the public and social structures of Iberia, the scope of action of the Iberian monarchs and the consolidation of the local kingdom towards the both imperial rulers and the Iberian nobility, as well as the religious and cultural influences on this region by the empires, will be worked out. Thereby, also the relevance of Christendom within the formation of a local identity will be looked upon. Eventually under a third perspective, the importance of the kingdom within the contact zone between steppe nomads and the great empires will be analyzed. In this study the different types of sources shall be critically evaluated and be looked upon in their own questionability to gain a new overall ranking of the development of Iberia between the 3rd and 7th c. and so to make a contribution to the reconstruction of its history between antiquity and the Middle Ages. Likewise, the study contributes to a better understanding of the role of dependent states between Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity.