Roman Georgia
Encyclopedia
Roman Georgia was the area of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 under Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 control. Between the 1st century BC and the 7th century AD Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 controlled directly or indirectly the kingdoms of Colchis
Colchis
In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...

 and Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

 in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

 region (corresponding approximately to western and eastern contemporary Georgia).

History

Rome's conquests reached the Caucasus area at the end of the 2nd century BC, when the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 started to expand in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

 and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

.
In the area of what is now western Georgia there was the Kingdom of Colchis that in those years has fallen under control of the Kingdom of Pontus
Kingdom of Pontus
The Kingdom of Pontus or Pontic Empire was a state of Persian origin on the southern coast of the Black Sea. It was founded by Mithridates I in 291 BC and lasted until its conquest by the Roman Republic in 63 BC...

 (an enemy of Rome), while further east there was the "Kingdom of Iberia". As a result of the brilliant Roman campaigns of Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

 and Lucullus
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...

 in 65 BC, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory, including Colchis, was incorporated into the Roman Empire as its provinces. Iberia, on the other hand, became a vassal state of the empire.

From this point on Colchis became the Roman province of Lazicum, with Emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

 later incorporating it into the Province of Pontus
Bithynia et Pontus
Bithynia et Pontus was the name of a province of the Roman empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia . It was formed by the amalgamation of the former kingdoms of Bithynia and Pontus ....

 in 63 AD, and successively in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...

 by Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

 in 81 AD. At the same time, Iberia continued to be a vassal state because it enjoyed significant independence and with the lowlands frequently raided by fierce mountain tribes, paying a nominal homage to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 in exchange of protection was viewed as a worthwhile investment.

The following 600 years of Georgian history were marked by struggle between Rome and Parthians and Sassanids of Persia who fought long wars against the Romans for the control of the region.

Despite the fact that all major fortresses along the seacoast were occupied by the Romans, their rule was pretty loose. In 69 AD, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus
Anicetus (Pontus)
Anicetus was the leader of an unsuccessful anti-Roman uprising in Polemonia in 69. Formerly a freedman of King Polemon II of Pontus, Anicetus commanded the royal fleet until Pontus was converted into a Roman province under Emperor Nero in 63...

 staged a major uprising against the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 which ended unsuccessfully.

Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 began to spread in the early 1st century. Traditional accounts relate the event with Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

, Saint Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot
The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon Kananaios or Simon Cananeus , was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of him aside from his name...

, and Saint Matata (but the Hellenistic
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...

, local pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

 and Mithraic religious beliefs would however remain widespread until the 4th century when disappeared).

While the Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Caucasian Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

 freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection. A stone inscription discovered at Mtskheta
Mtskheta
Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia , is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...

 speaks of the 1st-century ruler Mihdrat I (AD 58-106) as "the friend of the Caesars" and the king "of the Roman-loving Iberians." Emperor Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

 fortified the ancient Mtskheta site of Arzami for the Iberian kings in 75 AD.

In the 2nd century AD, Iberia strengthened her position in the area, especially during the reign of King Pharsman II who achieved full independence from Rome and reconquered some of the previously lost territories from declining Armenia.

In the 3rd century AD
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

, the Lazi
Lazi
Lazi may refer to:#the Latin name for the Laz people#Lazi, Siquijor, city in Philippines#Lazi County, county in Tibet#Lhazê , village in Tibet...

 tribe came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi. Colchis was a scene of the protracted rivalry between the Eastern Roman/Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and Sassanid empires, culminating in the Lazic War
Lazic War
The Lazic War or Colchic War, also known as the Great War of Egrisi in Georgian historiography, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Persia for control of the region of Lazica, in what is now western Georgia...

 from 542 to 562.

Furthermore, in the early 3rd century, Rome had to give up the georgian areas of Caucasian Albania and Armenia to Sassanid Persia, but all what is now Georgia was back under Roman control with Marcus Aurelius and Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244  – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

 around 300 AD.

The province of Lazicum (or Lazica) was given a degree of autonomy that by the mid-3rd century developed into full independence with the formation of a new Kingdom of Lazica-Egrisi on the territories of smaller principalities of the Zans, Svans, Apsyls, and Sanyghs. This new Western Georgian state survived more than 250 years until 562 when it was absorbed by the Eastern Roman Empire, during Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...

.

Indeed in 591 AD Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

 and Persia agreed to divide Caucasian Iberia between them, with Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 to be in Persian hands and Mtskheta
Mtskheta
Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia , is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...

 to be under Roman/Byzantine control.

At the beginning of the 7th century the temporary truce between the Romans and Persia collapsed again. The Iberian Prince Stephanoz I (ca. 590-627), decided in 607 AD to join forces with Persia in order to reunite all the territories of Caucasian Iberia, a goal he seems to have accomplished.

But Emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...

's offensive in 628 AD brought victory over the Persians and ensured Roman predominance in western and eastern Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 until the invasion and conquest of the Caucasus by the Arabs
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632, Year 10 A.H.. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia...

 in the second half of the 7th century.

Indeed the presence of Rome started to disappear from Georgia after the Battle of Sebastopolis, fought near the eastern shores of the Black Sea in 692 AD between the Umayyads and the Eastern Roman Empire troops led by Leontios
Leontios
Leontios was Byzantine emperor from 695 to 698. He came to power by overthrowing the Emperor Justinian II, but was overthrown in his turn by Tiberios III. His actual and official name was Leo , but he is known by the name used for him in Byzantine chronicles.- Early life :Leontios was born in...

.

Sebastopolis (actual Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...

) continued to remain the last Roman/Byzantine stronghold in western Georgia, until being finally sacked and destroyed by the Arab conqueror Marwan II
Marwan II
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan or Marwan II was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 744 until 750 when he was killed. He was the last Umayyad ruler to rule from Damascus.In A.H. 114 Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In A.H...

 in 736 AD.

Roman Christianity

One of the main legacies of Rome to Georgia is the christian faith.

Indeed Christianity, first preached by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the 1st century, became the state religion of Caucasian Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

 in 327, making Georgia one of the earliest Christian countries in the World.

The final conversion of all Georgia to Christianity in 327 is credited to St. Nina of Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...

. She was the only daughter of pious and noble parents, the Roman general Zabulon, a relative of the great martyr St. George, and Susanna, sister of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Christianity was declared the state religion by King Mirian III of Iberia
Mirian III of Iberia
Mirian III was a king of Iberia , contemporaneous to the Roman emperor Constantine I .According to the early medieval Georgian annals and hagiography, Mirian was the first Christian king of Iberia, converted through the ministry of Nino, a Cappadocian female missionary...

 as early as 327 AD, which gave a great stimulus to the development of literature, arts and the unification of the country. In 334 AD, Mirian III commissioned the building of the first Christian church in Iberia which was finally completed in 379 AD on the spot where now stands the Cathedral of the Living Pillar
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox cathedral located in the historical town of Mtskheta, Georgia, northwest of the nation's capital of Tbilisi....

 in Mtskheta
Mtskheta
Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia , is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...

, the ancient capital of Georgia.

Roman Forts

Roman presence was huge in coastal Georgia, where some Roman Forts
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...

 were defended for centuries by legionaries (and had even some Roman colonists living in the related cities). The fortress of Gonio
Gonio
Gonio fortress , is a Roman fortification in Adjara, on the Black sea, 15 km south of Batumi, at the mouth of the Chorokhi river. The village sits 4 km north of the Turkish border....

, in the ancient Colchis city of "Apsaros", is considered by some scholars (like Theodore Mommsen) to have been the center of Roman power in western Georgia since the 2nd century AD.

Indeed Roman culture -according to archeological findings- was widespread in western Lazicum, diminished in eastern Colchis but was minimal in Caucasian Iberia (with the exception of the capital Mtskheta
Mtskheta
Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia , is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...

).

The main Roman Forts (and related cities) were:
  • Batumi
    Batumi
    Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...

    . Under Hadrian
    Hadrian
    Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

     it was converted into a fortified Roman port, later deserted for the nearby fortress of "Petra" founded in the times of Justinian I (around 550 AD).
  • Gagra
    Gagra
    Gagra is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains...

    . Romans renamed the town as "Nitica". Its position led the Romans to fortify the town, which was repeatedly attacked by Goths
    Goths
    The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

     and other invaders in the 5th century.
  • Gonio
    Gonio
    Gonio fortress , is a Roman fortification in Adjara, on the Black sea, 15 km south of Batumi, at the mouth of the Chorokhi river. The village sits 4 km north of the Turkish border....

    . In the 2nd century AD it was a well-fortified Roman city, with nearly 2000 legionaries. The town was also known for its theatre and hippodrome. There was even a Genoese trade factory at the site in the 13th century.
  • Pitsunda
    Pitsunda
    Pitsunda is a resort town in Gagra district of Abkhazia.The town was founded by the Greeks in the 5th century BC as a trade colony Pityus or Pitiunt. Excavations guided by Andria Apakidze unearthed remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with superb mosaic floors...

    . Around the Fort flourished a commercial town. In the late 13th century, the area housed a short-lived Genoese trade colony called "Pezonda".
  • Phasis
    Phasis (town)
    Phasis was an ancient and early medieval city on the eastern Black Sea coast, founded in the 7th/6th century BC as a colony of the Milesian Greeks at the mouth of the eponymous river in Colchis, near the modern-day port city of Poti, Georgia.-Etymology:...

    . During the Third Mithridatic War
    Third Mithridatic War
    The Third Mithridatic War was the last and longest of three Mithridatic Wars fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and his allies and the Roman Republic...

    , Phasis (actual Poti
    Poti
    Poti is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also...

    ) came under the Roman control. It was where Pompey
    Pompey
    Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

     met Servilius, the admiral of his Euxine fleet in 65 BC.
  • Sukhumi
    Sukhumi
    Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...

    . Roman emperor Augustus
    Augustus
    Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

     named the city "Sebastopolis". The remains of towers and Roman walls of Sebastopolis have been found underwater. It was the last Roman stronghold in Georgia until 736 AD, when was destroyed by the Arabs.


Archaeopolis (actual Nokalakevi) was ruled by the Romans from Augustus times, but only the Eastern Roman Empire developed in a huge way this fortification in central Lazicum after the 4th century AD. Actually it is a renowned archeological site of Georgia.

Armazi
Armazi
Armazi was, according to the medieval Georgian chronicles, the supreme deity in a pre-Christian pantheon of ancient Georgians of Kartli ....

, in eastern Georgia, was another fortified city related to Rome. This fortress near Mtskheta was captured by the Roman general Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

 during his 65 BC campaign against the Iberian king Artag. A ruined structure over the nearby Mtkvari River dates from that time and is still called "Pompey's bridge". Armazi's heyday came when Iberia was allied with the Roman emperors. A stone stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 unearthed at Armazi in 1867 reports that the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

 fortified Armazi for the Iberian king Mithridates I
Mithridates I of Iberia
Mithridates I was the 1st-century king of Iberia whose reign is evidenced by epigraphic material. Cyril Toumanoff suggests AD 58-106 as the years of his reign....

 in 75 AD. This defense wall constructed in a unique position, to block the southern exit of the Daryal Pass before it widens into the plain of modern Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, was presumably a preventive measure against the Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...

 who frequently raided the Roman frontiers from across the Caucasus.

See also

  • Roman Empire
    Roman Empire
    The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

  • Colchis
    Colchis
    In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...

  • Caucasian Iberia
    Caucasian Iberia
    Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

  • History of Georgia
    History of Georgia (country)
    The nation of Georgia was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty in the 9th to 10th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of ancient Colchis and Iberia...

  • Christianity in Georgia
    Christianity in Georgia (country)
    Today most of the population in Georgia practices Orthodox Christianity, primarily the Georgian Orthodox Church. Of these , around 2% follow the Russian Orthodox Church. Around 5.9% of the population follow the Armenian Church, almost all of which are ethnic Armenians...

  • Lazic War
    Lazic War
    The Lazic War or Colchic War, also known as the Great War of Egrisi in Georgian historiography, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Persia for control of the region of Lazica, in what is now western Georgia...

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