Apsaros: A Roman Fort on the Colchis Coast

, Brepols, 2025 Hardback, Pages: 293, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:164 b/w, 200 col., Language: English. ISBN 9782503618579.

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Summary From AD 63/64, when the Roman Empire annexed the kingdom known as Pontus Polemoniacus, up to c. 257 and the invasion of the Borans, the coast of Colchis, in modern-day Georgia, hosted a Roman garrison system that stretched along the south-eastern edge of the Black Sea. One such Roman fort, at the site of Apsaros (Gonio, Georgia) has been the subject of intensive interdisciplinary research, with a focus on exploring the site and its environs to shed new light on the history, chronology, and periodization of the Roman military presence. From the discovery of traces of the presence of four cohorts of the V Macedonian legion through to analysis of the ruins of the garrison commander's house, which was equipped with private baths and decorated with mosaics, this volume draws together ground-breaking new research to shed new light on Roman Colchis, the garrisons who lived here, and their complicated relations with local tribes. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations List of Contributors Preface Introduction Chapter 1. The Apsaros Fort Setting Chapter 2. Materials and Construction Techniques Chapter 3. Local Tribes before the Romans and under Roman Administration Chapter 4. Roman Forts on the Colchis Coast Chapter 5. The Roman Garrison at Apsaros Chapter 6. Apsaros outside the Fortifications in the Principate Period Chapter 7. The Roman Fort during the Principate Period Chapter 8. The Mosaic Floors from the Roman Commander's Residence: By Special Order of L. Flavius Arrianus? Rados?aw Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski and Natalia Alexandria Lockley Chapter 9. The Fort and its Vicinity in the Late Roman Period Chapter 10. The Roman Fort at Apsaros and the Roman Military Presence on the Colchis Coast: Bringing the Evidence Together Appendix 1. The Roman Fort of Apsaros in Gonio Village: A Brief History of Investigations Emzar Kakhidze and Rados?aw Karasiewicz?Szczypiorski Appendix 2. Beyond the Walls: Assessment of the Main Results of Archaeological Excavations Outside the Apsaros Fort Shota Mamuladze ?, Kakhaber Kamadadze, and Tatuli Motskobili Appendix 3. Apsarus in Greek and Latin Geographical Sources from Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Tomasz P?ociennik Appendix 4. Engraved Gems from the Roman Fort in Apsaros (Gonio) and the Makho Cemetery Pawe? Go?y?niak and Shota Mamuladze ? Appendix 5. Ceramic Building Materials at the Roman Fort in Apsaros (Gonio): Local/Regional Products or Longdistance Imports? Ma?gorzata Daszkiewicz Figures Works Cited