The Lazic War, or Egrisi Great War as it is known in Georgian historiography, refers to the twenty-year war between Byzantium and Iran Sassanid Empire for controlling the western Georgian Kingdom of Egrisi/ Lazica in 542-562. Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... Egrisi (or Kolkheti) was a kingdom in the western part of Georgia, which flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It was covered the territory of the former kingdom Kolkha (Colchis) and the territory of modern Abkhazia). ... Events The plague killed upwards of 100,000 in Constantinople and perhaps two million or more in the rest of the Byzantine Empire (possibly exaggerated). ... Events Nan Xiao Ming Di succeeds Nan Liang Xuan Di as ruler of the Chinese Nan Liang Dynasty. ...

The Sassanids recognized Lazica (Egrisi) as the Byzantine sphere of influence by the Eternal Peace Treaty of 532. However, Byzantine encroachment and efforts to establish its own administration resulted in Egrisian uprising in 541. Lazic King Gubazes II appealed to Persian Shah Chosroes I (Khosro Anushirvan) for help. In 542, Persians invaded Egrisi (Lazica) thus beginning the Lazic war. Persian and Lazic troops defeated the Byzantines and their main stronghold took Petra. However, the Shah’s attempt to establish a direct Persian control over the country and the missionary zeal of the Zoroastrian priests soon caused discontent in Christian Lazica and King Gubazes revolted, now against the Persians in 548. Gubazes II requested aid from Caesar Justinian I and brought Alans and Sabirs to an alliance. Justinian sent 7,000 Roman and 1,000 auxiliaries of the Zani (Sanni, relatives of the Lazi) under Dagisthaeus to assist Gubazes and invested Petra fortress. Persian reinforcements under Mermeroes (Mihr-Mihroe) routed the Byzantine corps and released the besieged city of Petra. In 550, the Lazic-Byzantine forces under Dagisthaeus defeated the Persians in the battle of Phasis River (the modern Rioni River). In response, a large Sassanian army led by Farroxan attacked Lazica, but was routed near the river C‘xenis-c‘qali. Farroxan himself was killed in the battle. Bessas, who replaced Dagisthaeus as the commander of the allies, succeeded in taking Petra and defeated Mermeroes at Archaeopolis in 551. However, the latter counterattacked and took the city of Kutatisi (now Kutaisi) and the fortress of Uchimerion. In the summer of 553, Mermeroes defeated the allies at Telephis and forced the Byzantines to retreat from to Nesos. Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Events January 11 - Nika riots in Constantinople; the cathedral is destroyed. ... Events January 1 - Flavius Basilius Junior appointed as consul in Constantinople, the last person to hold this office January 2 - Earthquake strikes Laodicea. ... Khosrau I, the Blessed (Anushirvan), (531 - 579) was the favourite son and successor of Kavadh I, and the most famous of the Sassanid kings. ... Events The plague killed upwards of 100,000 in Constantinople and perhaps two million or more in the rest of the Byzantine Empire (possibly exaggerated). ... This article is about the Persians, an ethnic group. ... Egrisi (or Kolkheti) was a kingdom in the western part of Georgia, which flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It was covered the territory of the former kingdom Kolkha (Colchis) and the territory of modern Abkhazia). ... This article is about the Jordanian site of Petra. ... Zoroastrianism was adapted from an earlier, polytheistic faith by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) in Persia very roughly around 1000 BC (although, in the absence of written records, some scholars estimates are as late as 600 BC). ... This article is about the Persians, an ethnic group. ... Events Belisarius is relieved of command over the Byzantine forces in Italy and replaced with Narses. ... Justinian I, depicted on a contemporary coin Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus or Justinian I (May 11, 483–November 13/14, 565), was Eastern Roman Emperor from AD August 1, 527 until his death. ... The Alans or Alani were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people, warlike nomadic pastoralists of mixed backgrounds, who spoke an Iranian language and shared, in a broad sense, a common culture. ... The Sabir people inhabited the Caspian depression prior to the arrival of the Avars. ... Persia or Persian most often refer to: Persia The Persians, an ethnic group, also called Tajiks Persian language Persian (Pokémon) See also Iranian, Iranian peoples, Iranian languages and Aryan. ... Events End of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and beginning of the Northern Qi Dynasty in northern China. ... The Rioni River is the principal river of western Georgia. ... The Rioni River is the principal river of western Georgia. ... Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Events Jordanes publishes The Origin and Deeds of the Goths. ... Kutaisi (ancient names: Aea/Aia, Kutatisi) is Georgias second city in Imereti province of Western Georgia, 221 km to the west of Tbilisi, with a population of about 230,000(1989). ... Events The Ostrogoth Kingdom is conquered by the Byzantines after the Battle of Mons Lactarius. ...

After the death of Mermeroes, Nachoragan was appointed the Persian commander in 554. Following an abortive attack on the Persians at Onoguris, the defeated Byzantines were forced to abandon Archaeopolis, a city which Mermeroes had twice tried and failed to take. These defeats caused a bitter feud between the Egrisians and Byzantines. Lazican king Gubazes quarreled with Byzantine commanders Bessas, Martin, and Rusticus, complaining to Justinian. Bessas was recalled, but Rusticus and his brother John murdered Gubazes. The Lazi people got the Emperor to nominate Tzathes, the younger brother of Gubazes as their new king, and Senator Athanasius investigated the assassination. Rusticus and John were arrested, tried, and executed. In 555, the allies retook Archaeopolis and routed the Persian general Nachorgan in his unsuccessful attack on Phasis (now Poti). In the years that followed, the Persians were finally expelled from Egrisi. Events The Byzantine general Narses reconquers all of Italy. ... For other uses, see number 555. ... Poti is a city in the Guria province in the west of the Republic of Georgia. ... Egrisi (or Kolkheti) was a kingdom in the western part of Georgia, which flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It was covered the territory of the former kingdom Kolkha (Colchis) and the territory of modern Abkhazia). ...

The 557 truce ended the hostilities between Byzantium and Persia. In 562, the Persian ruler Chosroes I made the Fifty Years Peace with the Byzantine Empire and recognized Lazica as the Byzantine vassal state for an annual payment of gold. The Lazic war is narrated in details through many pages of Procopius of Caesarea and Agathias Scholastikos. Events Beginning of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in northern China. ... Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. ... Persian art is conscious of a great past, and monumental in many respects. ... Events Nan Xiao Ming Di succeeds Nan Liang Xuan Di as ruler of the Chinese Nan Liang Dynasty. ... Khosrau I, the Blessed (Anushirvan), (531 - 579) was the favourite son and successor of Kavadh I, and the most famous of the Sassanid kings. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... The writings of Procopius of Caesarea (500 ? - 565 ?), in Palestine, are the primary source of information for the rule of the emperor Justinian. ...

See also

• History of Georgia

• History of Byzantium

• History of Iran

• Samegrelo

This article is about the history of the country Georgia. ... Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ... Ancient history Few nations in the world present more of a justification for the study of history than Iran. ... Mingrelia (Samegrelo in Georgian) is a historic province in the western part of the republic of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi. ...

External Links

• http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/16*.html

• http://www.san.beck.org/AB12-GothsFranksJustinian.html