A work on ancient Georgia, the mythical home of Medea and Prometheus, and historically at the centre of the successive struggles for power by the Persians, Greeks, Romans and later, the Byzantine Empire. The author has first-hand knowledge of most of the area discussed.

not only a first - virtually no one else has tried to construct a complete history of Georgia spanning 550 BC - AD 562 ... This heroic, ground-breaking book is a fine tribute to the cooperation that, almost single-handedly, Braund had brought about between the Georgian and British academic Establishment. Braund, then, has produced a brilliant first.' Peter Jones, Literary Review. Dec '94 `David Braund's presentation of new Georgian archaeological material is invaluable. ... the great virtue of the book is that Braund looks anew at classical sources for the Caucasus. ... Braund's analysis is the most extensive and sensible yet' Times Literary Supplement `This book is a standard for all the works to follow on the eastern part of the Black Sea during 550 BC to 562CE, and acts as as introduction to Russian and Georgian scholarship.' Religious Studies Review `Braund has much which is new to contribute...' Greece and Rome Reviews 42 `written by a British scholar, who has an excellent knowledge of the Russian and Georgian languages - an exceptionally rare combination amongst academics outside Georgia itself' The Classical Review `remarkable that it should have been written by a British scholar, who has an excellent knowledge of the Russian and Georgian languages - an exceptionally rare combination amongst academics outside Georgia itself ... The book is a beginning for th study of ancient Georgia in modern English language historiography.' Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, Royal Holloway, University of London, The Classical Review, XLV, 2, '95