| Lazic War | |||||||||
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| Part of theByzantine–Sasanian Wars | |||||||||
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TheLazic War, also known as theColchidian War or in Georgian historiography as theGreat War of Egrisi,[1] was fought between theByzantine Empire and theSasanian Empire for control of the ancientGeorgian region ofLazica. The Lazic War lasted for twenty years, from 541 to 562, and ended with theFifty-Year Peace Treaty, which obligated the Byzantine Empire to pay tribute to Persia each year for the recognition of Lazica as a Byzantine vassal state by Persians. The Lazic War is narrated in detail in the works ofProcopius andAgathias.[2]
Lazica, situated on the eastern shore of theBlack Sea, and controlling important mountain passes across theCaucasus and to theCaspian Sea, had a key strategic importance for both empires. For Byzantines, it was a barrier against a Persian advance throughIberia to the coasts of the Black Sea. Persians on the other side hoped to gain access to the sea, and control a territory from which Iberia, which was by now under their firm domination, could be threatened.[3]
Lazica featured a difficult terrain and was surrounded by naturally impregnable borders. Besides, it was protected by strong fortresses, includingPetra,Archaeopolis,Sarapanis,Skande,Phasis,Rhodopolis,Uchimerion,Kotayon,Onoguris,Trachea,Sebastopolis andPitius.[4]
The PersianSasanians recognized Lazica (Egrisi) as part of the Roman/Byzantine sphere of influence by the "Eternal Peace" Treaty of 532. By that time, in order to foster their influence over the local monarchy, the Byzantines had insisted on the conversion of the king,Tzath I: he received both baptism and royal attributes inConstantinople from EmperorJustin I (Justinian's predecessor) in 522/3.[5] Byzantine garrisons were stationed in Lazica and in neighboringAbasgia, mostly in the coastal cities ofPoti, Sebastopolis and Pitius. The kingdom's capital,Archaeopolis, was fortified, as well as the southern access to the kingdom on the coastal road atPetra (present-dayTsikhisdziri, north ofBatumi). In 536, however, the Byzantine presence turned into a full protectorate, as the king lost many powers to the newmagister militum per ArmeniamJohn Tzibus. When Tzibus curtailed the freedom of trade of Lazic tradesmen to advance Byzantine interests, the popular dissatisfaction led to a full-scale uprising in 541, and the weakened king,Gubazes II, secretly sought Persian assistance against the Byzantines.
Those calls were answered that year by the Persian kingKhosrow I, who entered Lazica,captured the Byzantine main stronghold of Petra, and established another protectorate over the country.[6] Khosrow I retreated to Persia a year later after an abortive invasion of Commagene. In 543, aRoman invasion of Armenia was defeated by a small Persian force at Anglon, and Khosrow I unsuccessfullybesieged Edessa in Mesopotamia a year later. A peace treaty was signed in 545.[7]
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In Lazica, Khosrow I's attempt to establish direct Persian control over the country and the missionary zeal of the Zoroastrian priests soon caused discontent in Christian Lazica and King Gubazes revolted in 548, this time against the Persians. Gubazes II requested aid from EmperorJustinian I and allied with theAlans andSabirs. Justinian sent 7,000 Roman and 1,000Tzani (relatives of theLazes) auxiliaries underDagisthaeus to assist Gubazes andbesieged the fortress of Petra but faced tough resistance from its heavily outnumbered garrison. Persian reinforcements underMihr-Mihroe defeated a small Byzantine force guarding the mountain passes and then relieved the besieged Petra. Lacking enough supplies, Mihr-Mihroe garrisoned 3,000 men in the fortress and marched toArmenia leaving 5,000 soldiers to supply Petra. This force was destroyed by Dagisthaeus at thePhasis river in 549. The next Persian offensive also proved to be unsuccessful with the commander Chorianes killed in a decisive battle at the river Hippis (now theTskhenistskali). Nevertheless, the Persians manage to resupply Petra. The new Byzantine commander Bessas quelled a pro-Persian revolt of theAbasgi tribe, took and dismantled the fort of Petra after alengthy siege and fierce fighting as Mihr-Mihroe did not arrive in time. The latter unsuccessfully diverted his force against Archaeopolis in 551 as many of his men were lost due to a lack of supplies. However, the latter was unopposed elsewhere in the field and managed to captureCotais and the fortress of Uthimereos, blocking the important roads to the highland regions ofScymnia andSouania, which were also captured by him later. In the summer of 555, he dislodged a superior Byzantine-Lazic force atTelephis and Ollaria by stratagem and forced them to retreat to Nesos. Mihr-Mihroe died of illness shortly after and was replaced byNachoragan.
King Gubazes quarreled with Byzantine commandersBessas,Martin, and Rusticus, complaining to emperor Justinian. Bessas was recalled, but Rusticus and his brother John eventually murdered Gubazes. To redress this with a victory on the battlefield, the Byzantine generals launched a full-scale assault at Onoguris, which was repulsed by a small force under Nachoragan, who momentarily took and destroyed the main Byzantine base at Archaeopolis, which Mihr-Mihroe had twice tried and failed to take. These defeats and the murder of the Lazic king caused a bitter feud between the Lazic and Byzantine generals. The Lazi people got the Emperor to nominateTzathes, the younger brother of Gubazes, as their new king, and Senator Athanasius investigated the assassination. Rusticus and John were arrested, tried, and executed. In 556, the allies retook Archaeopolis and routed Nachoragan in his abortiveattack on Phasis. In the autumn and winter of the same year, the Byzantines suppressed a rebellion staged by themountain tribe of theMisimians, and finally made peace.
In 557, a truce ended the hostilities between the Byzantines and Persians. By the"Fifty Years Peace" of Dara of 562, theByzantine Empire was obliged to pay tribute to Persia each year for the recognition of Lazica as a Roman vassal state. Although no clear winner emerged from the conflict, the Sasanian Empire thus held a slight advantage since Rome was required to pay a set amount to Persia annually.[8]The Persian Empire encyclopedia claims that the Sasanian Empire won this war,[9] but some historians say that the result of the war was indecisive.[10]
After 545 truces brought peace to most of the border regions, but the war lingered in the Caucasus until 561, when Khosrow and Justinian finally agreed to a fifty-year peace. There was no definite victor, but the Sasanian Empire was in a slightly better position as Rome was obliged to pay a fixed sum to Persia each year.
After 545 truces brought peace to most of the border regions, but the war lingered in the Caucasus until 561, when Khosrow and Justinian finally agreed to a fifty-year peace. There was no definite victor, but the Sasanian Empire was in a slightly better position as Rome was obliged to pay a fixed sum to Persia each year.
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