ARISTARCHUS – DYNAST OF COLCHIS

Abstract

With the Eastern campaign of Pompey, the “Roman order” was established in Asia. Among the countries included in the political sy­stem of Rome was Colchis, whose ruler Pompey appointed Arist­ar­chus. Aristarchus was a local magnate or one of the “Skeptouchos” who supported Pompeus and was appointed as the ruler of Colchis because of the treachery he rendered to the Romans. It is possible that Aristarchus from the 72 year BC, when Lucullus occupied Pontus, to­ok over one part of Colchis, “Upper Colchis” and declared disobe­dience to the Pontians. The basis for such an assumption is given by Plutarchus (46-120 AD) in the list of administrative territories of Pompey mentions ,,Upper Colchis” by the 66 year BC. In 65 year BC after the campaign in Colchis, Pompey left Aris­tarchus as the Colchian dynast, but the latter’s status should not have been officially approved at this time, as the Kingdom of Pontus had not yet been legally abolished. Aristarchus was officially approved in 64 year BC while Pompey’s being in Amiso. The separation of Colchis from the newly created Pontus province and the appointment of Aristarchus as its ruler is part of Pompey’s eastern reorganization. By forming Colchis as a separate administrative unit, Pompey actually created a buffer space between the anti-Roman forces of the northern Black Sea coast and the Roman provinces of Asia Minor, still under the control of Mithridates, which, in case of expansion from the Bos­phorus, was supposed to directly protect the territories of the Republic from the sudden invasion of the barbarians through the Meotida-Colchis way. Although it was not possible to completely restore the local stat­ehood in Colchis and Aristarchus, who was appointed as the head of Col­chis, only held the title of dynast, but this political act was un­do­ubtedly a step forward compared to the previous period in the history of Colchis. Aristarchus turned out to be a very energetic ruler. He was able to establish control over individual skeptouchos and rest­ore the integrity of the country. Aristarchus maintained his power in Colchis for quite a long time, and in the 12th year of his rulling he even ma­naged to mint silver coins in his own name. In 49-48 years BC the ongoing civil war between Pompey and Ca­e­sar, the Colchis actively helped Pompey. They seem to have taken part in the battles of Dyrachium and Pharsalos in Greece. In the context of the ongoing battles in the Balkans, the famous Roman stat­esman, writer and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) me­n­tions the Colchis twice. After the defeat of Pompey, the fate of Aristarchus was virtually decided. He apparently died during the conq­u­est of Colchis by Pharnaces, king of the Bosphorus. With the death of Aristarchus, the last stage of the struggle for the preservation of the ancient Colchian statehood, at least formally, in some form, was end, and Colchis became a part of the Roman-Mediterranean world for a long time.