Lasika

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lasika or Lazika refers to an empire in ancient Georgia . The name came up during the Roman Empire for the area previously known as Colchis , which received its name from the Greeks. The successor state of Lasikas on its territory is Egrisi .

The Lasika Empire

Lasika (dark green) 385 AD as a Roman vassal in its greatest extent

When the Roman vassal kingdom of Colchis disintegrated, five kingdoms were formed on its territory, including the largest Lasika (Roman Lasica ), which was primarily inhabited by the Lasen . The other kingdoms were that of the Heniocher and Macaroons (people) in the south and that of the Apasgen and Apschiler in the north. Lasika was in the center of the Colchis. Lasika gained more and more power among these neighbors. The port cities on the Black Sea largely lost their importance for trade at this time, but were needed for defense and therefore built as fortresses. Roman troops were stationed in several port cities of the Lasika, and even a cavalry troop in Dioskurias. The Romans only controlled the coast.

In the first half of the 3rd century there were raids by the Goths who had conquered the area of ​​the old Bosporan Empire . They were able to take and plunder Trapezunt and Bitschwinta for a short time . As a result, Roman rule in Colchis initially collapsed, the kingdom of Lasika became independent and conquered further areas in early late antiquity , until it also subjugated the Swans in 380 and thus unified all of western Georgia. The last possessions of the neighboring kingdom of Iberia (Caucasus) west of the Lichi Mountains (the fortresses Schorapani and Skanda) could also be conquered. As a result, Lasika became an important ally of Rome against the nomadic tribes, especially the Black Huns , north of the Caucasus.

The heyday of Lasika lasted from the end of the 4th century to the 70s of the 5th century. At that time, parts of the southern Black Sea coast also belonged to Lasika, and some port cities flourished again. Arhaeopolis (Nokalakewi), the capital of Lasikas, lay on the left bank of the Techuri and was laid out like terraces, it had an acropolis, a troop camp and three city walls. The entire lowland of the Colchis could be seen from the castle towers. Other important centers of the empire were Wardzikhe, Kutaisi and Tolebi. At the beginning of the 4th century, Christianity became the official religion of Lasika. In the 4th to 6th century basilicas were built at least one tooth, and a bishopric was located in Bitschwinta.

In the 5th century there was mostly peace between the rival great powers East and Persia. Nevertheless, the tensions between the Romans and the Persian Sassanids sometimes gave the small peoples in the Caucasus scope room to maneuver (see also Roman-Persian Wars ). Around 470 the Lasen defected to the Persians, but in 521/22 the predominantly Christian people changed sides again. In 526 this was one of the reasons why fighting between the two great powers broke out. However, since neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage in Lasika, the Romans and Persians made an "eternal peace" in 532 AD, in which Lasika was again added to the Roman sphere of influence. Thereupon the Romans strengthened their troops in Lasika many times over, built the strong fortress Petra and provoked the Lasian king Gubas (Gubazes) in particular by attempting to collect taxes , as they also hindered trade in the country. Thereupon Gubas called the Persians for help, who had attacked Eastern Rome again in 540 and invaded Colchis in 541 with a huge army under their king Chosrau I. Together, the rebellious Lasen and the Persians conquered Petra and the greater part of the country, the Romans and their remaining Lasian allies had to withdraw. After the Romans invaded Persia in 542, the Sassanids withdrew most of the troops, but Lasika remained a Persian ally for the time being, and a strong Persian garrison was located in Petra. But when the Persians tried to murder the Lasian king, Gubas called the Romans for help, and a new war broke out. In 549 the allied Roman and Lasian troops inflicted a severe defeat on the Persians on the Rioni, but the Petra fortress was initially not taken. Also in 550 a large Persian army was defeated by the Georgians. When the Romans took and destroyed Petra after a long siege, the Persians responded by occupying Kutaisi .

Lasika in Justinian's time

After the Roman king complained to Emperor Justinian I after the reluctance of the Romans , he was murdered in the Caucasus as a result of a conspiracy by the Eastern Roman generals. Thereupon the Lasian troops refused allegiance to the Romans, so that they lost the battle of Onoguri against the Persians. Afterwards, a "popular assembly" of the Lasen decided to continue to join the Romans on the condition that the conspirators in Constantinople should be punished and the brother of the old king, Zate, should be crowned king. The Eastern Roman emperor complied with these requests, and together the Lasen and Romans were able to drive the Persians out of Lasika for good. In the Roman-Persian peace of 561/62 the land was again assigned to the east.

From the 6th century onwards, the ruler Lasikas of Ostrom was no longer referred to as king, but as Patricius . This probably shows that the Byzantines tried little by little to capture Lasika and turn it into a province. The upper class had long had close contacts with the Eastern Roman Senate aristocracy.

In the 7th century , the Sassanid Empire was destroyed by the Arab invasion. In 697 the Patrikios Sergi Barnukis rose against Byzantium and handed the country over to the Arabs, who controlled it completely at the beginning of the 8th century. Attempts on the part of Byzantium to push back the Arabs in alliance with the Alans failed. Later the Arabs moved through the country again, they were retreating from a campaign through Iberia. Their general was Mervan, whom the Georgians called "the dove". Due to pressure from the Arabs, Lasika disintegrated in the 8th century and new, feudal states such as the Kingdom of Abkhazia and Egrisi emerged. The Arabs could be repulsed by these new states. By the eighties of the 8th century, Lasika had become insignificant among the other states. It then became part of the Georgian feudal states and disappeared by the 9th century at the latest.

The state of Egrisi

In the middle of the 8th century, Egrisi managed to split off from Lasika. When Lasika had become insignificant in the eighties of the 8th century, the King of Abkhazia, Leon II, was able to unite his kingdom with Egrisi and thus create the kingdom of Egrisi-Abkhazia . This then developed into one of the most powerful of the Georgian empires and became through the coronation of Bagrat III. 975/978 (year varies according to source) to the King of Georgia a part of the united Georgia .

See also

literature

  • David Braund: Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC – AD 562 . Oxford 1994.
  • Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia from the beginnings to Mongol rule . Shaker publishing house, Aachen 1993.

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Fähnrich, 1993, p. 74 ff.
  2. Fähnrich, 1993, pp. 80 ff.
  3. a b Fähnrich, 1993, p. 88 f.
  4. Fähnrich, 1993, p. 95
  5. Fähnrich, 1993, p. 97 ff.