Apsilae
Principality of Apselia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1st century CE–730 CE | |||||||||
.jpg) The region of Apselia in the 1st century CE | |||||||||
| Other languages | Abkhaz, Greek (possibly) | ||||||||
| Religion | Pagan, later Eastern Orthodox Christianity | ||||||||
| Historical era | Ancient, Classical, Medieval | ||||||||
• Established | c. 1st century CE | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 730 CE | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Principality of Apselia was an ancient people and region located in the area corresponding to modern-day Abkhazia, along the Black Sea. The Apsilians are believed to have descended from the ancient Zygii people who settled in the Black Sea region. The earliest known historical references to Apselia are from the writings of Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) and Flavius Arrian (2nd century CE), who referred to the region as Apsilae (Greek: Αψιλαι).[1][2]
The legal and cultural foundations of Apselia were established during the reign of King Julian (Julianus). During the Roman Empire period, under Emperor Trajan (98-117 CE), Apselia became an official administrative region.[3] However, by around 730 CE, Apselia came under the control of the stronger Abasgoi Principality, and by the second half of the 8th century, the region of Apsilae disappears from historical records. Apselia eventually became part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia after the inclusion of additional territories.[4]
The region has been a subject of political and ethnic debate, with scholars questioning whether the Apsilians are the ancestors of the modern-day Abkhazians or the Georgians. They are also considered to be the ancestors of the Apsuas, a subgroup of the Abkhazian people.
Location
[edit]The tribal territory was located on the Black Sea coast of the northwest Caucasus near the estuary of Kodori.[5] The settlements of Sebastopolis and Tibeleos (associated with Tsebelda by George Hewitt[6]) were located in their territory.[7]
Identity
[edit]The Apsilae may have been the ancestors of the Abkhaz people (in Abkhaz Аҧсуаа Apswa).[8]
Their culture is known as the Tsebelda culture, marked by well-developed local manufacturing of metal products and tools.
History
[edit]The first known record of the Apsilae occurs in the writings of Pliny of the 1st century AD,[9] as well as of Flavius Arrianus in the 2nd century (Greek: Αψιλαι).[10] The territory became an official division of the Roman Empire under Trajan (98-117).[11] It was absorbed by the surrounding, more powerful principality of the Abasgoi, in approximately 730 AD, and the Apsilae are no longer recorded after the second half of the 8th century.[12] Later, and after the inclusion of other territories and people including Misiminia, it became the Kingdom of Abkhazia.
References
[edit]- ^ Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 6.
- ^ Flavius Arrian, Periplus of the Euxine Sea.
- ^ The Cambridge Ancient History.
- ^ Kingdom of Abkhazia, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- ^ "Apsilae". Brill. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ George Hewitt, "The Abkhazians: Handbook", p. 56
- ^ Greek geography (1854). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography: Abacaenum-Hytanis. Walton & Maberly. p. 163.
- ^ Allen, W.E.D. (2023). A History of the Georgian People: From the Beginning Down to the Russian Conquest in the Nineteenth Century. Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 9781032436890.
The Abkhaz were known to the classical geographers as Apsilai, and later as Abasgoi.
- ^ "Апсилы". Bse.sci-lib.com. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
- ^ Arrian; Thomas Falconer (1805). Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea: Translated and Accompanied with a Geographical Dissertation and Maps : to which are Added Three Discourses, I. On the Trade to the East Indies by Means of the Euxine Sea, II. On the Distance which the Ships of Antiquity Usually Sailed in Twenty-four Hours, III. On the Measure of the Olympic Stadium. J. Cooke. p. 9.
- ^ Julian Bennett (2 September 2003). Trajan: Optimus Princeps. Routledge. p. 345. ISBN 1-134-70913-7.
- ^ Alexander Mikaberidze (6 February 2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 130–1. ISBN 978-1-4422-4146-6.
