Gagik Bagratouni

Gagik Bagratouni was a Vaspurakaner general who led a contingent of his countrymen alongside Videssian emperor Mavrikios Gavras during the Khliat campaign.

He had a commanding presence, as Marcus Scaurus of the Ronams (Romans) noted when Bagratouni reviewed the Videssian army outside the town of Amorion in the west of Videssos; the Roman likened Bagratouni to a lion and compared him to Gaius Julius Caesar and the Roman consul's resemblance to an eagle.

Gagik Bagratouni invited the Roman commanders to dinner at his villa during their stay at Amorion. They noted his taste for a good time, but also saw his hot temper flash whenever crossed, as it was when the radical priest Zemarkhos, whom Bagratouni detested, wished to speak to Scaurus.