Iberian War
526–532 war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia
The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade.
The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at
Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "Perpetual Peace".
Origin
After the Anastasian War, a seven-year truce was agreed on, yet it lasted for nearly twenty years. Even during the war in 505, Emperor Anastasius I had already started fortifying Dara as a counter to the Persian fortress city of Nisibis for a looming conflict. During the reign of Justin I, investment in fortification efforts were increased in Dara.
Fearing the security of his succession, the elderly Kavadh I (r. 488–531) proposed the adoption of his favoured son Khosrow I by the Emperor Justin I. Whilst initially optimistic of the proposal, Procopius writes that Justin's quaestor Proklos advised against an adoption out of a fear that Khosrow could use it as pretext to claim the Roman Empire. Justin would instead request a barbarian adoption, by an attire of arms, which would offend Khosrow.
The public source identifies “Iberian War” as 526–532 war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Iberian, between and Eastern.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2326066. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Iberian War” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.