Phasis
Phasis was an ancient Greek city located in Colchis, south of the Caucasus mountains, in present-day Georgia. It was named after the Phasis River, now known as the Rioni, which was historically navigable and featured numerous bridges, as noted by the geographer Strabo. The city was established as a market colony by immigrants from Miletus and positioned near the river's mouth, although its precise location remains undetermined due to significant silting over the centuries. Archaeological evidence suggests that the area around Simagre, about eleven miles upstream, shows signs of Greek habitation dating back to the sixth century BC, including large timber structures. However, there is also evidence of another settlement from around 450-400 BC located four and a half miles away, which might have served as country houses rather than the main city itself. The history of Phasis highlights the cultural interactions and settlements in the region during ancient times, reflecting the broader dynamics of trade and migration in the Mediterranean world.
Subject Terms
Phasis
(Simagre?)
A Greek city in Colchis south of the Caucasus mountains (now in the Soviet Republic of Georgia). The place was named after a river of the same name (the modern Rioni), which was navigable (according to Strabo) as far as narrow defiles presided over by a large fortress named Sarapana; the Glaucus and Hippius, which issued from the neighboring mountains, were the tributaries of this river, and it was spanned by a hundred and twenty bridges. The city of Phasis, a market colony settled by immigrants from Miletus, lay somewhere near the mouth of the river, but because of extensive silting the site has not yet been determined. It was evidently close to the modern town of Poti, at which, however, the earliest settlement so far known is of the second century AD (and the adjacent Patara Poti area does not seem to have been occupied until three hundred years later).
Eleven miles upstream, however, there are signs of Greek occupation going back to the sixth century BC, notably at Simagre on the south bank of the river, where large timber buildings were erected upon a mound; they were destroyed c 450, but replaced by later houses extending down to the second century. It has been thought that this may have been the location of the city of Phasis. An alternative claim, however, might be made for another settlement, c 450–400 BC, of which remains have now been found some four and a half miles away, spanning the river; although these buildings, more probably, were country houses in the neighborhood of Phasis, whether that was at Simagre or elsewhere.