MIRIAM, king of GEORGIA. — Born in 265 into the family of the Sassanids of Persia, died in 342.
A strong and courageous warrior, he married a certain Nana at the age of 15.
During his reign, through the apostolate of a holy virgin named Nina, of Armenian origin, who had fled the persecutions in her country, Georgia embraced the Christian religion. M., moved by the miracles performed by Nina, by the example of his wife, and perhaps also by political considerations, asked the emperor Costantino and St. Gregorio l’Illuminatore to send priests to instruct his people. He built several churches and worked zealously to ensure that the ecclesiastical hierarchy was also established. The Georgian Church venerates him as a saint.
BIBL.: Rufino, Hist. eccl., I, 10; Socrate, Hist. eccl., I, 20; Sozomeno, Hist. eccl., II, 7; A. Palmieri, La Chiesa georgiana e le sue origini, in Bessarione, 1 (1901), pp. 397-403; 2 (1902), pp. 188-204, 333-43; 4 (1904), pp. 17-25, 117-24.