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Kingdom of Lazica

Kingdom on the eastern Black Sea coast (modern western Georgia), successor to Colchis, that became a strategic buffer state between Byzantium and Sasanian Persia.

After the Lazic War (541–562 CE) Lazica became a Byzantine vassal; the kingdom gradually dissolved into the Byzantine provincial system, with Lazica fully absorbed c. 697 CE; by 780 CE the territory was part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia.

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Borders over time

The atlas holds 7 border frames for Kingdom of Lazica — the shape you scrub through changes in 131 · 200 · 429 · 450 · 550 · 580 · 640.

Further reading

• Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC–AD 562 David Braund · 1994

  Covers the full arc from Colchis through to Lazica's emergence and the Lazic War period; essential context for understanding western Georgia in antiquity.

• Rome and the Friendly King: The Character of Client Kingship David Braund · 1984

  Era/regional study of client kingship illuminating Lazica's role as a strategic buffer between Byzantium and Sasanian Persia on the Black Sea.

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'Lazica', en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazica (retrieved 2026-06-20). Kingdom from c. 131 CE; capital Kotais; in western Georgia on Black Sea coast.
• Wikidata Q136884, 'Lazica', wikidata.org/wiki/Q136884 (confirmed).
• Wikipedia, 'Lazic War', en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazic_War: war 541–562 CE; ended with Fifty-Year Peace Treaty.
• Braund, David. Georgia in Antiquity. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. OL1429199M. Covers Lazica/Colchis.