Apsilae

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 The earliest known historical references to Apselia are from the writings of Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) and Flavius Arrian (2nd century CE), who referred to the region as Apsilae (Greek: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]

Principality of Apselia
c. 1st century CE–730 CE
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
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Imereti Abasgia

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

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

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

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.