The period from the sixth to the fourth centuries B.C. was a time of intensive consolidation of the Kartlian tribes in eastern and southern Georgia. The Meskhian tribes gradually moved northeastward and formed their settlements in the very heart of Kartli. Mtskheta was one such settlement, deriving its name from the ethnonym “Meskhians”.  

The struggle between the various Georgian confederations ultimately resulted in the formation of the Kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) with Mtskheta as its capital. According to ancient Georgian tradition, the creation of the kingdom is dated at the end of the fourth century B.C. and linked to the name of King Parnavaz I, the founder of the Parnavazid dynasty. King Parnavaz I expelled the invaders from Georgia and began to reign over the liberated country. The Meskhians, who preserved and carried over cultural and religious traditions inherited from the Hittites and other nations of Asia Minor, played an active role in the creation of the kingdom, where the god of the Moon, Armazi, and the goddess of fertility, Zadeni, both names of Hittite origin, became the chief deities. During Parnavaz I’s reign, Armazistsikhe, the citadel of the capital, and an idol representing the god Armazi, were erected. According to Kartlis Tskhovreba (“History of Georgia”), Parnavaz I created the Georgian script.  

Archeological finds show that from early times Mtskheta had been an advanced and powerful city. This is evidenced by the monuments of architecture like the acropolis, unearthed in the city and its environs.  

The kingdoms of Kartli and Colchis were among the first state formations in the Caucasus. Ancient Georgian states maintained political and economic ties with Achaemenid, Iran, the Seleucids, and Pontus. Thus, in the time from the sixth to the fourth centuries B.C., the Kingdoms of Kartli and Colchis played significant roles in the economic and political life of the ancient world.  

In the classical period, Georgia gained in strength: its agriculture and crafts developed and town sprang up. Under Parnavaz I and his successor Saurmag, the Kingdom of Kartli included not only Eastern Georgia, but some adjacent areas as well. It incorporated part of Western Georgia to form an administrative unit of Kartli, of the Argveti Eristavate. The Kingdom of Egrisi also came under the influence of the Kingdom of Kartli. This contributed to closer contacts among the Georgian population and paved the way for a quick unification of tribes of the same ethnic roots and for the formation of a single Georgian nation.  

The kingdoms of Kartli and Colchis waged incessant wars against foreign conquerors who strove to subjugate them, especially in the first century B.C. The Romans were the first to come. In 66 B.C., after the Roman forces had defeated the Kingdom of Pontus, Pompey led military operations against Armenia, Albania and Kartli. Subjugating Armenia, Pompey marched into Kartli and Albania. In 65 B.C., King Artag of Kartli was forced to surrender. Pompey was then able to cross to Western Georgia and reach the city of Phasis. He later subdued Albania as well. 

However, the population of Kartli offered stubborn resistance to the Romans, causing the latter to give up the idea of totally defeating Kartli. In the first century B.C., Kartli emerged as a strong state, with a strong policy of independence.  

In the first half of the second century A.D., the Kingdom of Kartli grew still stronger, especially under Parsman II (130-150 A.D.) King Parsman openly opposed Rome. In the year 134, he mustered the Alans and led them against the Roman and Parthian vassal states: Albania, Media, Armenia, and Cappadocia. The Emperor Hadrian (117-138) sought to improve relations with Kartli, but Parsman refused to compromise. Under Hadrian’s  successor, the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161), the relations between the Roman Empire and Kartli improved. King Parsman II, accompanied by a large retinue, arrived in Rome to a royal welcome and the Georgians were granted the right to offer sacrifice in the capitol. According to Dio Cassius, a statue of King Parsman was erected in Rome. The emperor recognized Kartli’s extended territory.  

Earlier, too, Roman emperors used to send various gifts and make donations to the kings of Kartli. Thus, the Emperor Vespasian (69-79), on behalf of his sons, Titus and Domitian, and in his own name, had a wall erected in Mtskheta. The inscription on the wall says that King mithradates of Kartli is Caesar’s friend and a favorite of the Roman people. Emperor Hadrian presented king Parsman with a war elephant and 500 troops.  

In the latter half of the second and beginning of the third century A.D., the Kingdom of Kartli retained the power and success it had achieved earlier; but, in the 230s, after a strong Sassanid kingdom had risen on the ruins of the Kingdom of Parthia, the foreign political situation of Iberia became complicated.  

Like Kartli, the West Georgian Kingdom of Colchis waged a continuous struggle against the Romans for its independence. Roman domination in Western Georgia was seriously undermined in the 270s by an uprising led by a Colchian slave, Anicetus. The Romans, attracted by the geographical situation of Georgia and by its wealth, were reluctant to withdraw, and the Georgians had to battle with them for centuries. Through their success, the Georgian people preserved their independence together with their national spiritual and material culture.  

During this period there was an increase in the development of architecture, building art, goldsmithing, painting, and glass manufacturing. Various examples of these cultural arts have been unearthed in Mtskheta-Armazi, Uplistsikhe, Vani, and Tsikhe-Goji.  

The architectural monuments of the period are marked by grandeur and exquisiteness of form. It is noteworthy hat offices of architects and senior artists were in Mtskheta. Of the surviving monuments, Armaz-tsikhe, the king’s residence, and a large fortress at the village of Tsitsamuri known as Zedan-tsikhe and referred to by foreign authors as Seusamora reflected the advancement of architectural methods. The Classical period monuments in Western Georgia are most remarkable at Vani as well as the remains of a city that later served as the residence of the rulers of Lazica. The tombs of members of the royal family and of the aristocracy found at Mtskheta near Bagineti are perfect monuments of architecture. The gold ornaments set with precious stones, and the rings, earrings, bracelets, pendants, beads and diadems found here, are genuine works of jewelers’ art. Along with goldsmith’s art, various crafts also developed such as the manufacture of tiles, glassware and metal weapons.  

Commerce also increased and was extended to foreign countries. International trade routes ran through Mtsketa, connecting it with Artashat, the capital of Armenia, with the Rioni valley, with Albania, and with areasin Asia Minor via Samckhe-Javakheti. The archaeological material shows that in the first centuries of the Christian era, Roman and Partian silver coins circulated in Kartli, where local coins were also minted, following the foreign design as a model. A large number of imported items have been unearthed in Kartli, mostly articles of luxury. There occur many items of Roman glyptic and Syrian glassware. The Kingdom of Kartli maintained trade relations with artisan centers in Egypt, Central Asia, India and Arabia, from which localities precious stones were imported.