[1] See especially a _Memoire_ presented to the king in 1666,
published in the _Lettres, &c., de Colbert_, vol. ii.
COLBERT DE CROISSY, CHARLES, MARQUIS (1625-1696), French diplomatist,
like his elder brother Jean Baptiste Colbert, began his career in the
office of the minister of war Le Tellier. In 1656 he bought a
counsellorship at the parlement of Metz, and in 1658 was appointed
intendant of Alsace and president of the newly-created sovereign council
of Alsace. In this position he had to re-organize the territory recently
annexed to France. The steady support of his brother at court gained for
him several diplomatic missions--to Germany and Italy (1659-1661). In
1662 he became marquis de Croissy and _president a mortier_ of the
parlement of Metz. After various intendancies, at Soissons (1665), at
Amiens (1666), and at Paris (1667), he turned definitely to diplomacy.
In 1668 he represented France at the conference of Aix-la-Chapelle; and
in August of the same year was sent as ambassador to London, where he
was to negotiate the definite treaty of alliance with Charles II. He
arranged the interview at Dover between Charles and his sister Henrietta
of Orleans, gained the king's personal favour by finding a mistress for
him, Louise de Keroualle, maid of honour to Madame, and persuaded him to
declare war against Holland. The negotiation of the treaty of Nijmwegen
(1676-1678) still further increased his reputation as a diplomatist and
Louis XIV. made him secretary of state for foreign affairs after the
disgrace of Arnauld de Pomponne, brought about by his brother, 1679. He
at once assumed the entire direction of French diplomacy. Foreign
ambassadors were no longer received and diplomatic instructions were no
longer given by other secretaries of state. It was he, not Louvois, who
formed the idea of annexation during a time of peace, by means of the
chambers of reunion. He had outlined this plan as early as 1658 with
regard to Alsace. His policy at first was to retain the territory
annexed by the chambers of reunion without declaring war, and for this
purpose he signed treaties of alliance with the elector of Brandenburg
(1681), and with Denmark (1683); but the troubles following upon the
revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685) forced him to give up his
scheme and to prepare for war with Germany (1688). The negotiations for
peace had been begun again when he died, on the 28th of July 1696. His
clerk, Bergeret, was his invaluable assistant.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--His papers, preserved in the _Archives des affaires
etrangeres_ at Paris, have been partially published in the _Recueil
des instructions donnees aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France_
(since 1884). See especially the volumes:--_Autriche_ (t. i.), _Suede_
(t. ii.), _Rome_ (t. vi.), _Baviere_ (t. viii.), _Savoie_ (t. xiv.),
_Prusse_ (t. xvi.). Other documents have been published in Mignet's
_Negociations relatives a la succession d'Espagne_, vol. iv., and in
the collection of _Lettres et negociations ... pour la paix de
Nimegue_, 1676-1677 (La Haye, 1710). In addition to the _Memoires_ of
the time, see Spanheim, _Relation de la cour de France en 1690_, ed.
E. Bourgeois (Paris and Lyons, 1900); Baschet, _Histoire du depot des
affaires etrangeres_; C. Rousset, _Histoire de Louvois_ (4 vols.,
Paris, 1863); E. Bourgeois, "Louvois, et Colbert de Croissy," in the
_Revue historique_, vol. xxxiv. (1887); A. Waddington, _Le Grand
Electeur et Louis XIV_ (Paris, 1905); G. Pagis, _Le Grand Electeur et
Louis XIV_ (Paris, 1905).
COLBURN, HENRY (d. 1855), British publisher, obtained his earliest
experience of bookselling in London at the establishment of W. Earle,
Albemarle Street, and afterwards as an assistant at Morgan's Library,
Conduit Street, of which in 1816 he became proprietor. He afterwards
removed to New Burlington Street, where he established himself as a
publisher, resigning the Conduit Street Library to Messrs Saunders &
Otley. In 1814 he originated the _New Monthly Magazine_, of which at
various times Thomas Campbell, Bulwer Lytton, Theodore Hook and Harrison
Ainsworth were editors. Colburn published in 1818 _Evelyn's Diary_, and
in 1825 the _Diary of Pepys_, edited by Lord Braybrooke, paying L2200
for the copyright. He also issued Disraeli's first novel, _Vivian Grey_,
and a large number of other works by Theodore Hook, G. P. R. James,
Marryat and Bulwer Lytton. In 1829 Richard Bentley (q.v.) was taken into
partnership; and in 1832 Colburn retired, but set up again soon
afterwards independently in Great Marlborough Street; his business was
taken over in 1841 by Messrs Hurst & Blackett. Henry Colburn died on the
16th of August 1855, leaving property to the value of L35,000.
COLBURN, ZERAH (1804-1840), American mathematical prodigy, was born at
Cabot, Vermont, on the 1st of September 1804. At a very early age he
developed remarkable powers of calculating with extreme rapidity, and in
1810 his father began to exhibit him. As a performing prodigy he visited
Great Britain and France. From 1816 to 1819 he studied in Westminster
school, London. After the death of his father in 1824 he returned to
America, and from 1825 to 1834 he was a Methodist preacher. As he grew
older his extraordinary calculating powers diminished. From 1835 until
his death, on the 2nd of March 1840, he was professor of languages at
the Norwich University in Vermont. He published a _Memoir_ of his life
in 1833.
His nephew, also named ZERAH COLBURN (1832-1870), was a well-known
mechanical engineer; the editor successively of the _Railroad Advocate_,
in New York, _The Engineer_, in London, and _Engineering_, in London;
and the author of a work entitled _The Locomotive Engine_ (1851).
COLBY, THOMAS FREDERICK (1784-1852), British major-general and director
of ordnance survey, was born at St Margaret's, Rochester, on the 1st of
September 1784, a member of a South Wales family. Entering the Royal
Engineers he began in 1802 a life-long connexion with the Ordnance
Survey department. His most important work was the survey of Ireland.
This he planned in 1824, and was engaged upon it until 1846. The last
sheets of this survey were almost ready for issue in that year when he
reached the rank of major-general, and according to the rules of the
service had to vacate his survey appointment. He was the inventor of the
compensation bar, an apparatus used in base-measurements. He died at New
Brighton on the 9th of October 1852.
COLCHAGUA, a province of central Chile, bounded N. by Santiago and
O'Higgins, E. by Argentina, S. by Curico, and W. by the Pacific. Its
area is officially estimated at 3856 sq. m.; pop. (1895) 157,566.
Extending across the great central valley of Chile, the province has a
considerable area devoted to agriculture, but much attention is given to
cattle and mining. Its principal river is the Rapel, sometimes
considered as the southern limit of the Inca empire. Its greatest
tributary is the Cachapoal, in the valley of which, among the Andean
foothills, are the popular thermal mineral baths of Cauquenes, 2306 ft.
above sea-level. The state central railway from Santiago to Puerto Montt
crosses the province and has two branches within its borders, one from
Rengo to Peumo, and one from San Fernando via Palmilla to Pichilemu on
the coast. The principal towns are the capital, San Fernando, Rengo and
Palmilla. San Fernando is one of the several towns founded in 1742 by
the governor-general Jose de Manso, and had a population of 7447 in
1895. Rengo is an active commercial town and had a population of 6463 in
1895.
COLCHESTER, CHARLES ABBOT, 1ST BARON (1757-1829), born at Abingdon, was
the son of Dr John Abbot, rector of All Saints, Colchester, and, by his
mother's second marriage, half-brother of the famous Jeremy Bentham.
From Westminster school Charles Abbot passed to Christ Church, Oxford,
at which he gained the chancellor's medal for Latin verse as well as the
Vinerian scholarship. In 1795, after having practised twelve years as a
barrister, and published a treatise proposing the incorporation of the
judicial system of Wales with that of England, he was appointed to the
office previously held by his brother of clerk of the rules in the
king's bench; and in June of the same year he was elected member of
parliament for Helston, through the influence of the duke of Leeds. In
1796 Abbot commenced his career as a reformer in parliament by obtaining
the appointment of two committees--the one to report on the arrangements
which then existed as to temporary laws or laws about to expire, the
other to devise methods for the better publication of new statutes. To
the latter committee, and a second committee which he proposed some
years later, it is owing that copies of new statutes were thenceforth
sent to all magistrates and municipal bodies. To Abbot's efforts were
also due the establishment of the Royal Record Commission, the reform of
the system which had allowed the public money to lie for some time at
long interest in the hands of the public accountants, by charging them
with payment of interest, and, most important of all, the act for taking
the first census, that of 1801. On the formation of the Addington
ministry in March 1801 Abbot became chief secretary and privy seal for
Ireland; and in the February of the following year he was chosen speaker
of the House of Commons--a position which he held with universal
satisfaction till 1817, when an attack of erysipelas compelled him to
retire. In response to an address of the Commons, he was raised to the
peerage as Baron Colchester, with a pension of L4000, of which L3000 was
to be continued to his heir. He died on the 8th of May 1829. His
speeches against the Roman Catholic claims were published in 1828.
He was succeeded by his eldest son CHARLES (d. 1867), postmaster-general
in 1858; and the latter by his son REGINALD CHARLES EDWARD (b. 1842), as
3rd baron.
COLCHESTER a market town, river port and municipal and parliamentary
borough of Essex, England; 52 m. N. E. by E. from London by the Great
Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 38,373. It lies on the river Colne, 12 m.
from the open sea. Among numerous buildings of antiquarian interest the
first is the ruined keep of the castle, a majestic specimen of Norman
architecture, the largest of its kind in England, covering nearly twice
the area of the White Tower in London. It was erected in the reign of
William I. or William II., and is quadrangular, turreted at the angles.
As in other ancient buildings in Colchester there are evidences of the
use of material from the Roman town which occupied the site, but it is
clearly of Norman construction. Here is the museum of the Essex
Archaeological Society, with a remarkable collection of Roman
antiquities, and a library belonging to the Round family, who own the
castle. Among ecclesiastical buildings are remains of two monastic
foundations--the priory of St Botolph, founded early in the 12th century
for Augustinian canons, of which part of the fine Norman west front (in
which Roman bricks occur), and of the nave arcades remain; and the
restored gateway of the Benedictine monastery of St John, founded by
Eudo, steward to William II. This is a beautiful specimen of
Perpendicular work, embattled, flanked by spired turrets, and covered
with panel work. The churches of Holy Trinity, St Martin and St Leonard
at Hythe are of antiquarian interest; the first has an apparently
pre-Norman tower and the last preserves some curious frescoes.
The principal modern buildings are the town hall, corn exchange, free
library, the Eastern Counties' asylum, Essex county hospital and
barracks. The town has long been an important military centre with a
large permanent camp. There are a free grammar school (founded 1539), a
technical and university extension college, a literary institute and
medical and other societies. Castle Park is a public ground surrounding
the castle. Colchester is the centre of an agricultural district, and
has extensive corn and cattle markets. Industries include founding,
engineering, malting, flour-milling, rose-growing and the making of
clothing and boots and shoes. The oyster fisheries at the mouth of the
Colne, for which the town has been famous for centuries, belong to the
corporation, and are held on a ninety-nine years' lease by the Colne
Fishery Company, incorporated under an act of 1870. The harbour, with
quayage at the suburb of Hythe, is controlled by the corporation. The
parliamentary borough, which is co-extensive with the municipal, returns
one member. The municipal corporation consists of a mayor, 8 aldermen
and 24 councillors. Area 11,333 acres.
The Roman town, _Colonia Victricensis Camalodunum_ (or _Camulodunum_),
was of great importance. It was founded by Claudius, early in the period
of the Roman conquest, as a municipality with discharged Roman soldiers
as citizens, to assist the Roman dominion and spread its civilization.
Under Queen Boadicea the natives burned the town and massacred the
colonists; but Camalodunum soon rose to fresh prosperity and flourished
throughout the Roman period. Its walls and some other remains, including
the guardroom at the principal gate, can still be clearly traced, and
many such relics as sculptures, inscriptions, pavements and pottery have
been discovered. When the borough originated is not known, but Domesday
Book mentions two hundred and seventy-six burgesses and land _in commune
burgensium_, a phrase that may point to a nascent municipal corporation.
The first charter given by Richard I. in 1189 granted the burghers leave
to choose their bailiffs and a justice to hold the pleas of the crown
within the borough, freedom from the obligation of duel, freedom of
passage and pontage through England, free warren, fishery and custom as
in the time of Henry I., and other privileges. An _inspeximus_ of this
charter by Henry III. in 1252 granted the burgesses the return of
certain writs. The charters were confirmed by various kings, and new
grants obtained in 1447 and 1535. In 1635 Charles I. granted a fresh
charter, which replaced the bailiffs by a mayor, and in 1653 Cromwell
altered it to secure a permanent majority for his party on the
corporation. But his action was undone in 1659, and in 1663 Charles II.
granted a new charter. In 1684 the charters were surrendered, and a new
one obtained reserving to the crown power to remove the mayor and
alderman, and this one was further modified by James II. But the charter
of 1663 was confirmed in 1693 and remained in force till 1741, when the
liberties were allowed to lapse. In 1763 George III. made the borough a
renewed grant of its liberties. Colchester returned two members to
parliament from 1295 until 1885. Fairs were granted by Richard I. in
1189 to the hospital of St Mary Magdalene, and by Edward II. in 1319 to
the town for the eve of and feast of St Denis and the six following
days--a fair which is still held. In the 13th century Colchester was
sufficiently important as a port to pay a fee-farm of L46, its ships
plying to Winchelsea and France. Elizabeth and James I. encouraged
Flemish settlers in the manufacture of baize ("bays and says"), which
attained great importance, so that a charter of Charles I. speaks of
burgesses industriously exercising the manufacture of cloth. Both Camden
and Fuller mention the trade in barrelled oysters and candied
eringo-root. The most notable event in the history of the town was its
siege by Fairfax in 1648, when the raw levies of the Royalists in the
second civil war held his army at bay for nearly eleven weeks, only
surrendering when starved out, and when Cromwell's victory in the north
made further resistance useless. Colchester was made the see of a
suffragan bishop by King Henry VIII., and two bishops were in succession
appointed by him; no further appointments, however, were made until the
see was re-established under Queen Victoria.
See _Victoria County History, Essex_; _Charters and Letters Patent
granted to the Borough of Colchester_ (Colchester, 1903); Morant,
_History of Colchester_ (1748); Harrod's _Report on the Records of
Colchester_ (1865); Cutts, _Colchester_ (Historic Towns) 1888; J. H.
Round, "Colchester and the Commonwealth" in _Eng. Hist. Rev._ vol.
xv.; Benham, _Red Paper Book of Colchester_ (1902), and _Oath Book of
Colchester_ (1907).
COLCHESTER, a township of Chittenden county, Vermont, U.S.A., on Lake
Champlain, immediately N.E. of Burlington, from which it is separated by
the Winooski river. Pop. (1900) 5352; (1910) 6450. It is served by the
Central Vermont railway. The surface is generally gently rolling, and in
places along the banks of the Winooski or Onion river, the shore of the
lake, and in the valleys, it is very picturesque. At Mallett's Bay, an
arm of Lake Champlain, 2 m. long and 1-1/2 m. wide, several large private
schools hold summer sessions. The soil is varied, much of it being good
meadow land or well adapted to the growing of grain and fruit. The
township has two villages: Colchester Centre, a small, quiet settlement,
and Winooski (pop. in 1900, 3783) on the Winooski river. This stream
furnishes good water power, and the village has manufactories of cotton
and woollen goods, lumber, woodenware, gold and silver plated ware,
carriages, wagons and screens. Within the township there is a United
States military reservation, Fort Ethan Allen. The village was founded
in 1772 by Ira Allen and for many years it was known as "Allen's
Settlement"; but later it was called Winooski Falls, and in 1866 it was
incorporated as the Village of Winooski.
COLCHICUM, the Meadow Saffron, or Autumn Crocus (_Colchicum autumnale_),
a perennial plant of the natural order, Liliaceae, found wild in rich
moist meadow-land in England and Ireland, in middle and southern Europe,
and in the Swiss Alps. It has pale-purple flowers, rarely more than
three in number; the perianth is funnel-shaped, and produced below into
a long slender tube, in the upper part of which the six stamens are
inserted. The ovary is three-celled, and lies at the bottom of this
tube. The leaves are three or four in number, flat, lanceolate, erect
and sheathing; and there is no stem. Propagation is by the formation of
new corms from the parent corm, and by seeds. The latter are numerous,
round, reddish-brown, and of the size of black mustard-seeds. The corm
of the meadow-saffron attains its full size in June or early in July. A
smaller corm is then formed from the old one, close to its root; and
this in September and October produces the crocus-like flowers. In the
succeeding January or February it sends up its leaves, together with the
ovary, which perfects its seeds during the summer. The young corm, at
first about the diameter of the flower-stalk, grows continuously, till
in the following July it attains the size of a small apricot. The parent
corm remains attached to the new one, and keeps its form and size till
April in the third year of its existence, after which it decays. In some
cases a single corm produces several new plants during its second spring
by giving rise to immature corms.
_C. autumnale_ and its numerous varieties as well as other species of
the genus, are well known in cultivation, forming some of the most
beautiful of autumn-flowering plants. They are very easy to cultivate
and do not require lifting. The most suitable soil is a light, sandy
loam enriched with well decomposed manure, in a rather moist situation.
The corms should be planted not less than 3 in. deep. Propagation is
effected by seed or increase of corms; the seed should be sown as soon
as it is ripe in June or July.
Colchicum was known to the Greeks under the name of [Greek: Kolchikon],
from [Greek: Kolchis], or Colchis, a country in which the plant grew;
and it is described by Dioscorides as a poison. In the 17th century the
corms were worn by some of the German peasantry as a charm against the
plague. The drug was little used till 1763, when Baron Storck of Vienna
introduced it for the treatment of dropsy. Its use in febrile diseases,
at one time extensive, is now obsolete. As a specific for gout colchicum
was early employed by the Arabs; and the preparation known as _eau
medicinale_, much resorted to in the 18th century for the cure of gout,
owes its therapeutic virtues to colchicum; but general attention was
first directed by Sir Everard Home to the use of the drug in gout.
For medical purposes the corm should be collected in the early summer
and, after the outer coat has been removed, should be sliced and dried
at a temperature of 130 deg. to 150 deg. F.
The chief constituents of colchicum are two alkaloids, _colchicine_ and
_veratrine_. Colchicine is the active principle and may be given in full
form in doses of 1/32 to 1/16 grain. It is a yellow, micro-crystalline
powder, soluble in water, alcohol and chloroform, and forming readily
decomposed salts with acids. It is the methyl ester of a neutral body
_colchicein_, which may be obtained in white acicular crystals.
The official dose of powdered colchicum is 2 to 5 grains, which may be
given in a cachet. The British Pharmacopoeia contains (1) an extract of
the fresh corm, having doses of 1/4 to 1 grain, and (2) the _Vinum
Colchici_, made by treating the dried corm with sherry and given in
doses of 10 to 30 minims. This latter is the preparation still most
generally used, though the presence of veratrine both in the corm and
the seeds renders the use of colchicine itself theoretically preferable.
The dried ripe seeds of this plant are also used in medicine. They are
exceedingly hard and difficult to pulverize, odourless, bitter and
readily confused with black mustard seeds. They contain a volatile oil
which does not occur in the corm, and their proportion of colchicine is
higher, for which reason the _Tinctura Colchici Seminum_--dose 5 to 15
minims--is preferable to the wine prepared from the corm. At present
this otherwise excellent preparation is not standardized, but the
suggestion has been made that it should be standardized to contain 0.1%
of colchicine. The salicylate of colchicine is stable in water and may
be given in doses of about one-thirtieth of a grain. It is often known
as Colchi-Sal.
_Pharmacology._--Colchicum or colchicine, when applied to the skin, acts
as a powerful irritant, causing local pain and congestion. When inhaled,
the powder causes violent sneezing, similar to that produced by
veratrine itself, which is, as already stated, a constituent of the
corm. Taken internally, colchicum or colchicine markedly increases the
amount of bile poured into the alimentary canal, being amongst the most
powerful of known cholagogues. Though this action doubtless contributes
to its remarkable therapeutic power, it is very far from being an
adequate explanation of the virtues of the drug in gout. In larger doses
colchicum or colchicine acts as a most violent gastrointestinal
irritant, causing terrible pain, colic, vomiting, diarrhoea, haemorrhage
from the bowel, thirst and ultimately death from collapse. This is
accelerated by a marked depressant action upon the heart, similar to
that produced by veratrine and aconite. Large doses also depress the
nervous system, weakening the anterior horns of grey matter in the
spinal cord so as ultimately to cause complete paralysis, and also
causing a partial insensibility of the cutaneous nerves of touch and
pain. The action of colchicum or colchicine upon the kidneys has been
minutely studied, and it is asserted on the one hand that the urinary
solids are much diminished and, on the other hand, that they are
markedly increased, the specific gravity of the secretion being much
raised. These assertions, and the total inadequacy of the pharmacology
of colchicum, as above detailed, to explain its specific therapeutic
property, show that the secret of colchicum is as yet undiscovered.
The sole but extremely important use of this drug is as a specific for
gout. It has an extraordinary power over the pain of acute gout; it
lessens the severity and frequency of the attacks when given
continuously between them, and it markedly controls such symptoms of
gout as eczema, bronchitis and neuritis, whilst it is entirely
inoperative against these conditions when they are not of gouty origin.
Despite the general recognition of these facts, the pharmacology of
colchicum has hitherto thrown no light on the pathology of gout, and the
pathology of gout has thrown no light upon the manner in which colchicum
exerts its unique influence upon this disease. Veratrine is useless in
the treatment of gout. A further curious fact, doubtless of very great
significance, but hitherto lacking interpretation, is that the
administration of colchicum during an acute attack of gout may often
hasten the oncoming of the next attack; and this property, familiar to
many gouty patients, may not be affected by the administration of small
doses after the attack. Altogether colchicum is a puzzle, and will
remain so until the efficient poison of gout is isolated and defined.
When that is done, colchicine may be found to exhibit a definite
chemical interaction with this hitherto undiscovered substance.
In _colchicum poisoning_, empty the stomach, give white of egg, olive or
salad oil, and water. Use hot bottles and stimulants, especially trying
to counteract the cardiac depression by atropine, caffeine,
strophanthin, &c.
COLCHIS, in ancient geography, a nearly triangular district of Asia
Minor, at the eastern extremity of the Black Sea, bounded on the N. by
the Caucasus, which separated it from Asiatic Sarmatia, E. by Iberia,
S. by the Montes Moschici, Armenia and part of Pontus, and W. by the
Euxine. The ancient district is represented roughly by the modern
province of Kutais (formerly Mingrelia). The name of Colchis first
appears in Aeschylus and Pindar. It was inhabited by a number of tribes
whose settlements lay chiefly along the shore of the Black Sea. The
chief of those were the Lazi, Moschi, Apsilae, Abasci, Sagadae, Suani
and Coraxi. These tribes differed so completely in language and
appearance from the surrounding nations, that the ancients originated
various theories to account for the phenomenon. Herodotus, who states
that they, with the Egyptians and the Ethiopians, were the first to
practise circumcision, believed them to have sprung from the relics of
the army of Sesostris (q.v.), and thus regarded them as Egyptians.
Apollonius Rhodius (_Argon_, iv. 279) states that the Egyptians of
Colchis preserved as heirlooms a number of wooden [Greek: kurbeis]
(tablets) showing seas and highways with considerable accuracy. Though
this theory was not generally adopted by the ancients, it has been
defended, but not with complete success, by some modern writers. It is
quite possible that there was an ancient trade connexion between the
Colchians and the Mediterranean peoples. We learn that women were
buried, while the corpses of men were suspended on trees. The principal
coast town was the Milesian colony of Dioscurias (Roman Sebastopolis;
mod. Sukhum Kaleh), the ancient name being preserved in the modern C.
Iskuria. The chief river was the Phasis (mod. Rion). From Colchis is
derived the name of the plant Colchicum (q.v.).
Colchis was celebrated in Greek mythology as the destination of the
Argonauts, the home of Medea and the special domain of sorcery. Several
Greek colonies were founded there by Miletus. At a remote period it
seems to have been incorporated with the Persian empire, though the
inhabitants evidently enjoyed a considerable degree of independence; in
this condition it was found by Alexander the Great, when he invaded
Persia. From this time till the era of the Mithradatic wars nothing is
known of its history. At the time of the Roman invasion it seems to have
paid a nominal homage to Mithradates the Great and to have been ruled
over by Machares, his second son. On the defeat of Mithradates by
Pompey, it became a Roman province. After the death of Pompey,
Pharnaces, the son of Mithradates, rose in rebellion against the Roman
yoke, subdued Colchis and Armenia, and made head, though but for a short
time, against the Roman arms. After this Colchis was incorporated with
Pontus, and the Colchians are not again alluded to in ancient history
till the 6th century, when, along with the Abasci or Abasgi, under their
king Gobazes, whose mother was a Roman, they called in the aid of
Chosroes I. of Persia (541). The importance of the district, then
generally called Lazica from the Lazi (cf. mod. Lazistan) who led the
revolt, was due to the fact that it was the only remaining bar which
held the Persians, already masters of Iberia, from the Black Sea. It had
therefore been specially garrisoned by Justinian under first Peter, a
Persian slave, and subsequently Johannes Tzibos, who built Petra on the
coast as the Roman Headquarters. Tzibos took advantage of the extreme
poverty of the Lazi to create a Roman monopoly by which he became a
middleman for all the trade both export and import. Chosroes at once
accepted the invitation of Gobazes and succeeded in capturing Petra
(A.D. 541). The missionary zeal of the Zoroastrian priests soon caused
discontent among the Christian inhabitants of Colchis, and Gobazes,
perceiving that Chosroes intended to Persianize the district, appealed
to Rome, with the result that in 549 one Dagisthaeus was sent out with
7000 Romans and 1000 auxiliaries of the Tzani (Zani, Sanni). The "Lazic
War" lasted till 556 with varying success. Petra was recaptured in 551
and Archaeopolis was held by the Romans against the Persian general
Mermeroes. Gobazes was assassinated in 552, but the Persian general
Nachoragan was heavily defeated at Phasis in 553.
By the peace of 562 the district was left in Roman possession, but
during the next 150 years it is improbable that the Romans exercised
much authority over it. In 697 we hear of a revolt against Rome led by
Sergius the Patrician, who allied himself with the Arabs. Justinian II.
in his second period of rule sent Leo the Isaurian, afterwards emperor,
to induce the Alans to attack the Abasgi. The Alans, having gained
knowledge of the district by a trick, invaded Lazica, and, probably in
712, a Roman and Armenian army laid siege to Archaeopolis. On the
approach of a Saracen force they retired, but a small plundering
detachment was cut off. Ultimately Leo joined this band and aided by the
Apsilian chief Marinus escaped with them to the coast.
From the beginning of the 14th to the end of the 17th century the
district under the name Mingrelia (q.v.) was governed by an independent
dynasty, the Dadians, which was succeeded by a semi-independent dynasty,
the Chikovans, who by 1838 had submitted to Russia, though they retained
a nominal sovereignty. In 1866 the district was finally annexed by
Russia.