saqarTvelos mecnierebaTa erovnuli akademiis moambe, t. 4, #1, 2010 BULLETIN OF THE GEORGIAN NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, vol. 4, no. 1, 2010 Humanities & Social Sciences History European Integration - Longstanding Aspiration of Georgia Giuli Alasania I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Presented by Academy Member Th.V. Gamkrelidze) ABSTRACT. The article presents a historical review of the attempts of Georgia towards European integration, this being a longstanding aspiration of Georgia and the Georgian people finding its realization only in our times. In this respect the territory of Georgia may be considered belonging to the sphere of European civilization. It is noteworthy that, on medieval geographic maps, Georgia is usually located in the European part of the Eurasian Continent (cf. "The Map of Europe" by the famous cartographer ORTELIUS dating back to 1575). © 2010 Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci. Key words: European integration, crossroads of Europe and Central Asia. Past Experience Proceeding from the above-stated, the orientation is- Traditions of statehood on the Georgian territory sue was always topical for Georgians. In most typical can be traced from the mid II ML BC. Preconditions for situations, when two superpowers rivaled for the Geor- the creation of a unified state started to form in the gian land, there were people inside Georgia with different beginning of the 3rd century BC, when the western part outlooks regarding the political orientation of the coun- of the country submitted to the eastern part, resulting in try. Any perception, even wrong, served the desire for the creation of the Kingdom of Kartvels (Georgians). territorial integrity and the aspiration towards sovereignty. th Being located at the crossroads, Georgia attracted Herodotus (5 c. BC), who considers the causes of different invasions. In some cases, frequent invasions the Greco-Persian wars, refers to Persian sources about led to establishment of foreign rule over Georgian lands kidnapping of women by the Hellenes (Europe, daugh- that were mostly divided into two main parts: western ter of the Phoenician king, later – Medea from Colchis, and eastern. Whereas the eastern and the western parts Western Georgia), the kidnapping of Helen by Alexander fell to the Romans in the first centuries AD, in the fol- to Troy and as a response the invasion of Asia (Troy) lowing times the eastern part was controlled by Per- by Greeks earlier than the Asians invaded Europe. sians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Mongols, Khorezmians, Hereby the author assumes that Persians considered the Turkmen; while the western part was mostly controlled Asians and barbarian tribes as their relatives, whilst they and influenced by Rome or Byzantium. The western part were separated from Europe and the Hellenic tribes. In was just partially occupied by Ottomans before Russia this context Colchis should be placed in Asia [1: 37, 38]. annexed the entire Georgia in the early 19th c. and inter- But what was the vision of Georgians on their cultural rupted longstanding traditions of Georgian statehood. affinity? Being influenced by the east Christian civilization, © 2010 Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci. European Integration - Longstanding Aspiration of Georgia 159 as well as oriental traditions, Georgian culture preserved its participants of that expedition were known as Argonauts. uniqueness, which had roots in primordial times and adopted Eguri was Colchis – a wealthy state, which emerged in novelties very selectively and creatively [2]. the mid-second millennium BC. One can trace that Georgian state institutions, met- In the 6-5th cc. BC Greek migrants from Miletus rical and coinage systems [3], urban life, historiography founded trade factories in the coastal line of Egrisi and literary traditions have roots in the East. For in- (Colchis): Phasis (Poti), Dioscurias (Sokhumi), Pityus stance, Achaemenid Persia served as a model for state (Bichvinta), Gyenos (Ochamchire). Greek written sources building in the 3rd c. BC, whilst for David the Builder in of the 6th c. BC provide us with detailed information the 12th c. it was the State of the Seljuk Turks. Unlike about ancient Georgian state formations, filling some West European cities, Georgian cities, as well as their gaps in local chronicles of the later period. Middle Eastern counterparts, were not independent even As a result of an expedition of the Roman com- in the late Middle Ages. The historiography (“Kartlis mander Pompey (65 BC) Kartli (the same Iberia - Eastern Tshkovreba”) deriving from biblical traditions created Georgia) fell to Rome, while Western Georgia (Egrisi) as literature that was profoundly influenced by Persian a province of Pontus was included in the Empire in 63 masterpieces even in times of open conflicts between AD. The short dependence took a turn for an alliance, Kartli and Persia; however, this did not hinder adoption formulated as a “brotherhood and an alliance”. In the of cultural ideas from the West. Strong desire of West- first half of the 2nd century the King of Iberia Pharsman ern integration is a longstanding, however not easily was invited to Rome, where his equestrian statue was achievable, Georgian tradition. erected in the temple. Early contacts of Georgians with the West were Christianity spread to Georgia in the first century reflected in the popular myth about the Argonauts. In AD. Simon the Canaanite and Matthias came to Georgia the mid-second millennium BC Greeks from Iolkos together with Andrew the First-Called. The first episco- (Balkan Peninsula) came to the country Eguri (Egrisi) for pacy in Georgia was established by Andrew the First- the Golden Fleece. Their boat was called Argo, while the Called in Atsquri; he also assigned the first bishop, sev- Bull. Georg. Natl. Acad. Sci., vol. 4, no. 1, 2010 160 Giuli Alasania eral priests and a deacon. According to historical self in different ways. Different distinct characteristics sources, Christ’s tunic, as well as the Prophet Elijah’s made the country prominent. One sign of such a mani- mantle, were kept in Mtskheta, and Khobi monastery festation was the title of the king in united Georgia. kept the Virgin’s robe, which is now kept in the Museum According to relevant sources, Giorgi II (12th c.) was of Zugdidi. According to the Christian ecclesiastical tra- “The King of Kings, the Caesar of All the East and the dition, the Tsilkani church had an icon of the Mother of West”. The title “The King of Kings”, adopted from the God created by Luke the Evangelist. Today it is in the Achaemenids, by which the ancient Persian Kings were National Museum of Art in Tbilisi. referred to, was complemented by another word In 298, under the treaty concluded by Rome and sharavandedtani (“the haloed”), also derived from Per- Sassanid Persia in Nisibis, the Kartli kingdom came un- sian. In times when the title of the Georgian king be- der Roman political control, enabling the authorities to came “the King of Abkhazians, Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs, acknowledge Christianity. There is certain evidence to Armenians, Shahansha and Sharvansha”, the king was prove that Georgians were involved in the creation of mentioned in the Georgian Chronicles as a leader com- the Christian creed. Bishop Stratophilus of Bichvinta bining “kingship and sultanate”. The expression “the attended the first Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea and King of Mashriq-Maghrib” [7: 90-93], frequent parallels the Bishop of Kartli Pantophilus attended the second between the Georgian Kings and Alexander the Great, Ecumenical Council. The Christian churches in Bichvinta, Augustine, Constantine the Great means that Georgians Nokalakevi, built in the 4th century in Western Georgia, evidently considered themselves as heirs of western, also attest to the spreading of the Christian religion in Greco-Roman traditions. The Georgian thinker Arsen southern and eastern Black Sea regions. Iqaltoeli (11th -12th cc.) translated from Greek into Geor- Kartli declared Christianity as the state religion in gian the Nomocanon, the complete recension of 920, 326, and about that time the same was done in Egrisi which was recognized as a canonical code of the World (Lazica) [4: 34, 35]. This decision for Georgia, situated at Orthodox Church. Georgians were familiar with the po- the crossroads between the West and the East, implied ems of Homer and medical, philosophical and philologi- taking political orientation towards the West, while two cal anthologies, written in Medieval Georgia, were influ- strong superpowers, Rome and Sassanid Persia, were enced by Greek thought. “Philosophers such as rivaling for world domination. The decision determined Democritus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Georgia’s further fate and strongly tied the Georgian Philo are represented” [2; 8] via the thinking of Corpus people and Georgian culture to Western civilization, Dionysiacum, of which the author, as supposed by Sh. even though after that Georgia, as said above, was Nutsubidze and the Belgian scholar Honigmann, was mostly controlled by Persians or for a shorter time - by Peter the Iberian (401-491), Bishop of Majuma, - a hy- Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Mongols, Khorezmians, Turkmen, pothesis not shared by other scholars - Neoplatonic ideas and in the late Middle Ages - by the Ottomans. were introduced into Georgian culture [2]. In 482, the powerful Georgian King Vakhtang Deriving from Roman-Byzantine traditions Georgian Gorgasali broke with Iran, turned to Byzantium, married law was based on liberal, democratic and tolerant prin- the Byzantine princess Helen, achieved independence ciples. Since Georgia had almost continuous traditions for the Georgian church, and expressed his loyalty to of statehood, the purpose of Ancient and medieval Geor- Byzantium, adhering to this course till his death. His gian law was primarily to defend the interests of the last words to his people were: “Never abandon love for State. Accordingly, treason, a crime against the integrity the Greeks” [5: 182], which was a confirmation of West- of the State, was considered a capital offense. ern orientation. At the top of the hierarchy was the king, who personi- In 596 the Catholicos of Kartli Kyrion, correspond- fied the State.