His appointment to kingship by the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161) is mentioned in the Historia Augusta, possibly written in the 4th century, immediately after reporting a visit to Rome by Pharasmanes, king of Iberia.
[1] Pacorus' accession might have marked the beginning of ascendancy of the Lazi in Colchis and solidification of a centralized Lazic kingdom.
[3][4] The name "Bakur" is the Georgian (ბაკურ) and Armenian (Բակուր) attestation of Middle Iranian Pakur.
[3] Pacorus is identified by the Georgian scholars Tedo Dondua and Akaki Chikobava with the "king Pacuros" of a Greek inscription on a silver cup found by a team of Russian archaeologists in a grave at Achmarda, in north Abkhazia, in 2005.
[2] The text conveys an Oriental-style royal message: "I, Pacuros, the king, gave to [my] sheep," apparently addressed to the king's subjects living in the area.