have been the precursor of St. George in pagan Georgia. Step by step, Iranian beliefs and ways of life penetrated deeply the practices of the Iberian court and elite: the Armazian script and “language,” which is based on Aramaic (see Tsereteli), was adopted officially (a number of inscriptions in Aramaic of the Classical/Hellenistic periods are known from Colchis as well); the court was organized on Iranian models, the elite dress was influenced by Iranian costume, the Iberian elite adopted Iranian personal names, and the official cult of Armazi (q.v.) was introduced by King Pharnavaz in the 3rd century BC (connected by the medieval Georgian chronicle to Zoroastrianism) Between Rome/Byzantium and Persia Decisive for the future history of Iberia was the foundation of the Sasanian (or Sassanid) Empire in 224 by Ardashir I. By replacing the weak Parthian realm with a strong, centralized state, it changed the political orientation of Iberia away from Rome. Iberia became a tributary of the Sasanian state during the reign of Shapur I (241–272). Relations between the two countries seem to have been friendly at first, as Iberia cooperated in Persian campaigns against Rome, and the Iberian king Amazasp III (260–265) was listed as a high dignitary of the Sasanian realm, not a vassal who had been subdued by force of arms. But the aggressive tendencies of the Sasanians were evident in their propagation of Zoroastrianism, which was probably established in Iberia between the 260s and 290s. However, in the Peace of Nisibis (298) while the Roman empire obtained control of Caucasian Iberia again as a vassal state and acknowledged the reign over all the Caucasian area, it recognized Mirian III, the first of the Chosroid dynasty, as king of Iberia. Adoption of Orthodoxy and Sassanid Persian period Roman predominance proved crucial in religious matters, since King Mirian III and leading nobles converted to Eastern Orthodoxy around 317 and declared Orthodoxy as state religion. The event is related with the mission of a Cappadocian woman, Saint Nino, who since 303 had preached Orthodoxy in the Georgian kingdom of Iberia (Eastern Georgia). The religion would become a strong tie between Georgia and Rome (later Byzantium) and have a large scale impact on the state's culture and society. Iranian elements in Georgian art gradually ceased with the adoptation of Eastern Orthodoxy in the fourth century. However, after the emperor Julian was slain during his failed campaign in Persia