Phasis, Colchis (near modern Poti, Georgia) was on the eastern Black Sea coast at the mouth of the river Phasis. It was a Milesian Greek colony founded in the 7th or 6th century B.C., probably a mixed Hellenic–barbarian city in which Greek settlers coexisted peacefully with natives. In mythology, Jason went to Phasis to find the Golden Fleece. Phasis appears in numerous Classical sources. Strabo and Pliny identify it as important on the trade route from India to the Black Sea. Hippocrates calls it an emporion, "a trading place." Phasis came under Roman control during the Third Mithridatic War. In 65 B.C., Pompey met the admiral of his Euxine fleet at Phasis. The name "Phasis" is the origin of the word "pheasant." |  |