Antiquity

King Mirian III converted the nation to Christianity in the 4th century.

Archaeological evidence indicates that Georgia has been the site of wine production since at least
6,000 BC, which over time played a role in forming Georgia's culture and national identity.[31][32]
The classical period saw the rise of a number of early Georgian states, the principal of which
were Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east. In Greek mythology, Colchis was the location of
the Golden Fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts in Apollonius Rhodius' epic tale
Argonautica. The incorporation of the Golden Fleece into the myth may have derived from the
local practice of using fleeces to sift gold dust from rivers.[33] In the 4th century BC, a kingdom
of Iberia – an early example of advanced state organization under one king and an aristocratic
hierarchy – was established.[34]

After the Roman Republic completed its brief conquest of what is now Georgia in 66 BC, the
area became a primary objective of what would eventually turn out to be over 700 years of
protracted Irano-Roman geo-political rivalry and warfare.[35][36] From the first centuries AD, the
cult of Mithras, pagan beliefs, and Zoroastrianism were commonly practised in Georgia.[37] In
337 AD King Mirian III declared Christianity as the state religion, giving a great stimulus to the
development of literature, arts, and ultimately playing a key role in the formation of the unified
Georgian nation,[38][39] The acceptance led to the slow but sure decline of Zoroastrianism,[40]
which until the 5th century AD, appeared to have become something like a second established
religion in Iberia (eastern Georgia), and was widely practised there.[41]

Middle Ages up to early modern period