Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

COLCHIS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 663 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

COLCHIS , in See also:

ancient See also:geography, a nearly triangular See also:district of See also:Asia See also:Minor, at the eastern extremity of the See also:Black See also:Sea, bounded on the N. by the See also:Caucasus, which separated it from See also:Asiatic Sarmatia, E. by Iberia, S. by the Montes Moschici, See also:Armenia and See also:part of See also:Pontus, and W. by the Euxine. The ancient district is represented roughly by the See also:modern See also:province of See also:Kutais (formerly See also:Mingrelia). The name of Colchis first appears in See also:Aeschylus and See also:Pindar. It was inhabited by a number of tribes whose settlements See also:lay chiefly along the See also:shore of the Black Sea. The See also:chief of those were the Lazi, Moschi, Apsilae, Abasci, Sagadae, Suani and Coraxi. These tribes differed so completely in See also:language and See also:appearance 5tiom the surrounding nations, that the ancients originated various theories to See also:account for the phenomenon. See also:Herodotus, who states that they, with the Egyptians and the Ethiopians, were the first to practise See also:circumcision, believed them to have sprung from the See also:relics of the See also:army of See also:Sesostris (q.v.), and thus regarded them as Egyptians. See also:Apollonius Rhodius (See also:Argon, iv. 279) states that the Egyptians of Colchis preserved as heirlooms a number of wooden ulp13eis (tablets) showing seas and highways with considerable accuracy. Though this theory was not generally adopted by the ancients; it has been defended, but not with See also:complete success, by some modern writers. It is quite possible that there was an ancient See also:trade connexion between the Colchians and the Mediterranean peoples. We learn that See also:women were buried, while the corpses of men were suspended on trees.

The See also:

principal See also:coast See also:town was the Milesian See also:colony of Dioscurias (See also:Roman Sebastopolis; mod. Sukhum Kaleh), the ancient name being preserved in the modern C. Iskuria. The chief See also:river was the Phasis (mod. Rion). From Colchis is derived the name of the plant See also:Colchicum (q.v.). Colchis was celebrated in See also:Greek See also:mythology as the destination of the See also:Argonauts, the See also:home of See also:Medea and the See also:special domain of sorcery. Several Greek colonies were founded there by See also:Miletus. At a remote See also:period it seems to have been incorporated with the See also:Persian See also:empire, though the inhabitants evidently enjoyed a considerable degree of See also:independence; in this See also:condition it was found by See also:Alexander the See also:Great, when he invaded See also:Persia. From this See also:time till the era of the Mithradatic See also:wars nothing is known of its See also:history. At the time of the Roman invasion it seems to have paid a nominal See also:homage to See also:Mithradates the Great and to have been ruled over by Machares, his second son. On the defeat of Mithradates by See also:Pompey, it became a Roman province.

After the See also:

death of Pompey, Pharnaces, the son of Mithradates, See also:rose in See also:rebellion against the Roman yoke, subdued Colchis and Armenia, and made See also:head, though but for a See also:short time, against the Roman arms. After this Colchis was incorporated with Pontus, and the Colchians are not again alluded to in ancient history till the 6th See also:century, when, along with the Abasci or Abasgi, under their See also:king Gobazes, whose See also:mother was a Roman, they called in the aid of See also:Chosroes I. of Persia (541). The importance of the district, then generally called Lazica from the Lazi (cf. mod. Lazistan) who led the revolt, was due to the fact that it was the only remaining See also:bar which held the Persians, already masters of Iberia, from the Black Sea. It had therefore been specially garrisoned by Justinian under first See also:Peter, a Persian slave, and subsequently Johannes Tzibos, rho built See also:Petra on the coast as the Roman Headquarters. Tzibos took See also:advantage of the extreme poverty of the Lazi to create a Roman See also:monopoly by which he became a middleman for all the trade both export and import. Chosroes at once accepted the invitation of Gobazes and succeeded in capturing Petra (A.D. 541). The missionary zeal of the Zoroastrian priests soon caused discontent among the See also:Christian inhabitants of Colchis, and Gobazes, perceiving that Chosroes intended to Persianize the district, appealed to See also:Rome, with the result that in 549 one Dagisthaeus was sent out with 7000 See also:Romans and r000 auxiliaries of the Tzani (Zani, Sanni). The " Lazic See also:War " lasted till 556 with varying success. Petra was recaptured in 551 and Archaeopolis was held by the Romans against the Persian See also:general Mermeroes. Gobazes was assassinated in 552, but the Persian general Nachoragan was heavily defeated at Phasis in 553.

By the See also:

peace of 562 the district was See also:left in Roman See also:possession, but during the next 150 years it is improbable that the Romans exercised much authority over it. In 697 we hear of a revolt against Rome led by See also:Sergius the Patrician, who allied himself with the See also:Arabs. Justinian II. in his second period of See also:rule sent See also:Leo the Isaurian, afterwards See also:emperor, to induce the Alans to attack the Abasgi. The Alans, having gained knowledge of the district by a See also:trick, invaded Lazica, and, probably in 712, a Roman and Armenian army laid See also:siege to Archaeopolis. On the approach of a Saracen force they retired, but a small plundering detachment was cut off. Ultimately Leo joined this See also:band and aided by the Apsilian chief See also:Marinus escaped with them to the coast. From the beginning of the 14th to the end of the 17th century the district under the name Mingrelia (q.v.) was governed by an See also:independent See also:dynasty, the Dadians, which was succeeded by a semi-independent dynasty, the Chikovans, who by 1838 had submitted to See also:Russia, though they retained a nominal See also:sovereignty. In 1866 the district was finally annexed by Russia. For the See also:kings see Stokvis, See also:Manuel d'histoire, i. 83. (J. M.

End of Article: COLCHIS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
COLCHICUM 		[next]
COLCOTHAR (adapted in Romanic languages from Arabic...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries