Pacorus of the Lazi
Pacorus was a 2nd-century king of the Lazi, a people in Colchis. His appointment to kingship by the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161) is mentioned in the Historia Augusta, possibly written in the 4th century, immediately after reporting a visit to Rome by Pharasmanes, king of Iberia.[1] Pacorus' accession might have marked the beginning of ascendancy of the Lazi in Colchis and solidification of a centralized Lazic kingdom.[2]
Pacorus is identified by the Georgian scholars Tedo Dondua and Akaki Chikobava with the "king Pacuros" of a Greek inscription on a silver cup found by a team of Russian archaeologists in a grave at Achmarda, in north Abkhazia, in 2005.[2] The text conveys an Oriental-style royal message: "I, Pacuros, the king, gave to [my] sheep," apparently addressed to the king's subjects living in the area.[2]
