Book Series Warsaw Studies in Archaeology, vol. 15

Apsaros

A Roman Fort on the Colchis Coast

Radosław Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski

  • Pages: approx. 379 p.
  • Size:216 x 280 mm
  • Illustrations:212 b/w, 142 col.
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2026


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  • ISBN: 978-2-503-61857-9
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A new perspective on the history of the Roman fort of Apsaros and the Roman military presence in Colchis gleaned from recent archaeological research

BIO

Radosław Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski is Head of the PCMA Research Centre in Georgia (Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw). From 2012, co-director of the Gonio-Apsaros Polish-Georgian Expedition. The author is also co-director of the Polish-Moroccan research programme Tingitana Frontier Project.

He had previously spent many years investigating traces of the Roman military presence in Crimea (Ukraine).

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?
Radosław 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 Radosław 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 Płóciennik

Appendix 4. Engraved Gems from the Roman Fort in Apsaros (Gonio) and the Makho Cemetery
Paweł Gołyźniak and Shota Mamuladze †

Appendix 5. Ceramic Building Materials at the Roman Fort in Apsaros (Gonio). Local/Regional Products or Long Distance Imports?
Małgorzata Daszkiewicz

Works Cited