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GALATIA . I. In the strict sense (Galatia Proper, See also:Roman Gallograecia) this is the name applied by See also:Greek-speaking peoples to a large inland See also:district of See also:Asia See also:Minor since its occupation by Gaulish tribes in the 3rd See also:century B.c. Bounded on the N. by See also:Bithynia and See also:Paphlagonia, W. by See also:Phrygia, S. by See also:Lycaonia and See also:Cappadocia, E. by See also:Pontus, it included the greater See also:part of the See also:modern vilayet of See also:Angora, stretching from See also:Pessinus eastwards to Tavium and from the Paphlagonian hills N. of See also:Ancyra southwards to the N. end of the See also:salt See also:lake See also:Tatta (but probably including the plains W. of the lake during the greater part of its See also:history),—a rough oblong about 200 m. See also:long and roo (to 130) broad. Galatia is part of the See also:great central See also:plateau of Asia Minor, here ranging from 2000 to 3000 ft. above See also:sea-level, and falls geographic-ally into two parts separated by the Halys (Kizil Irmak),a small eastern district lying chiefly in the See also:basin of the Delije Irmak, the See also:principal affluent of the Halys, and a large western region drained almost entirely by the Sangarius (Sakaria) and its tributaries. On the N. See also:side Galatia consists of a See also:series of plains with fairly fertile See also:soil, lying between See also:bare hills. But the greater part is a dreary stretch of barren, undulating uplands, intersected by tiny streams and passing gradually into the vast level See also:waste of treeless (anc. Axylon) See also:plain that runs S. to Lycaonia; these uplands are little cultivated and only afford extensive pasturage for large flocks of See also:sheep and goats. Cities are few and far apart, and the See also:climate is one of extremes of See also:heat and See also:cold. The See also:general See also:condition and aspect of the See also:country was much the same in See also:ancient as in modern times. The Gaulish invaders appeared in Asia Minor in 278–277 B.C. They numbered 20,000, of which only one-See also:half were fighting men, the See also:rest being doubtless See also:women and See also:children; and not long after their arrival we find them divided into three tribes, Trocmi, Tolistobogii and Tectosages, each of which claimed a See also:separate See also:sphere of operations. They had split off from the See also:army which invaded See also:Greece under See also:Brennus in 279 B.C., and, marching into See also:Thrace under Leonnorius and Lutarius, crossed over to Asia at the invitation of Nicomedes I. of Bithynia, who required help in his struggle against his See also:brother. For about 46 years they were the See also:scourge of the western half of Asia Minor, ravaging the country, as See also:allies of one or other of the warring princes, without any serious check, until Attalus I., See also: Galatia became a client-state of the See also:empire, the old constitution disappeared, and three chiefs (wrongly styled " tetrarchs ") were appointed, one for each tribe. But this arrangement soon gave way before the ambition of one of these tetrarchs, See also:Deiotarus, the contemporary of See also:Cicero and See also:Caesar, who made himself See also:master of the other two tetrarchies and was finally recognized by the Romans as king of Galatia. On the death of the third king Amyntas in 25 B.C., Galatia was incorporated by See also:Augustus in the Roman empire, and few of the provinces were more enthusiastically loyal. The See also:population of Galatia was not entirely Gallic. Before the arrival of the Gauls, western Galatia up to the Halys was inhabited by Phrygians, and eastern Galatia by Cappadocians and other native races. This native population remained, and constituted the See also:majority; of the inhabitants of the rural parts and almost the See also:sole inhabitants of the towns. They were See also:left in See also:possession of two-thirds of the See also:land (cf. Caesar, B.G. i. 31) on condition of paying part of the produce to their new lords, who took the other third, and See also:agriculture and See also:commerce with all the arts and crafts of peaceful See also:life remained entirely in their hands. They were henceforth ranked as " See also:Galatians " by the outside See also:world equally with their overlords, and it was from their See also:numbers that the "Galatian " slaves who figure in the markets of the ancient world were drawn. The conquerors, who were few in number, formed a small military See also:aristocracy, living not in the towns, but in fortified villages, where the chiefs in their castles kept up a barbaric state, surrounded by their tribesmen. With the decline of their warlike vigour they began gradually to mix with the natives and to adopt at least their See also:religion: the amalgamation was accelerated under Roman See also:influence and ultimately became as See also:complete as that of the See also:Normans with the See also:Saxons in See also:England, but they gave to the mixed See also:race a distinctive See also:tone and spirit, and long retained their See also:national characteristics and social customs, as well as their See also:language (which continued in use, side by side with Greek, in the 4th century after See also:Christ). In the 1st century, when St See also:Paul made his missionary journeys, even the towns Ancyra, Pessinus and Tavium (where Gauls were few) were not Hellenized, though Greek, the language of See also:government and See also:trade, was spoken there; while the rural population was unaffected by Greek See also:civilization. Hellenic ways and modes of thought begin to appear in the towns only in the later 2nd century. In the rustic parts a knowledge of Greek begins to spread in the 3rd century; but only in the 4th and 5th centuries, after the transference of the centre of government first to Nicornedia and then to See also:Constantinople placed Galatia on the See also:highway of imperial communication, was See also:Hellenism in its See also:Christian See also:form gradually diffused over the country. (See also ANCYRA; PESSINus; GoimuM.) II. The Roman See also:province of Galatia, constituted 25 B.c., included the greater part of the country ruled by Amyntas, viz. Galatia Proper, part of Phrygia towards See also:Pisidia (See also:Apollonia, See also:Antioch and See also:Iconium), Pisidia, part of Lycaonia (including Lystra and Derbe) and See also:Isauria. For nearly See also:loo years it was the frontier province, and the changes in its boundaries are an See also:epitome of the stages of Roman advance to the See also:Euphrates, one client-state after another being annexed: Paphlagonia in 6-5 B.C.; Sebastopolis, 3-2 B.C.; See also:Amasia, A.D. 1—2; See also:Comana, A.D. 34-3 5 ,—together forming Pontus Galaticus,—the Pontic See also:kingdom of Polemon, A.D. 64, under the name Pontus Polemoniacus. In A.D. 70 Cappadocia (a procuratorial province since A.D. 17) with See also:Armenia Minor became the centre of the forward See also:movement and Galatia lost its importance, being merged with Cappadocia in a vast See also:double governorship until A.D. 114 (probably), when See also:Trajan separated the two parts, making Galatia an inferior province of diminished See also:size, while Cappadocia with Armenia Minor and Pontus became a great consular military province, charged with the See also:defence of the frontier. Under See also:Diocletian's reorganization Galatia was divided, about 295, into two parts and the name retained for the See also:northern (now nearly identical with the Galatia of Deiotarus); and about 390 this province, amplified by the addition of a few towns in the See also:west, was divided into Galatia Prima and Secunda or Salutaris, the See also:division indicating the renewed importance of Galatia in the See also:Byzantine empire.. After suffering from See also:Persian and Arabic raids, Galatia was conquered by the Seljuk See also:Turks in the 11th century and passed to the See also:Ottoman Turks in the See also:middle of the 14th. The question whether the " Churches of Galatia," to which St Paul addressed his See also:Epistle, were situated in the northern or See also:southern part of the province has been much discussed, and in England Prof. See also:Sir W. M. See also:Ramsay has been the principal See also:advocate of the See also:adoption of the See also:South-Galatian theory, which maintains that they were the churches planted in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch (see GALATIANS). In the See also:present writer's See also:opinion this is supported by the study of the See also:historical and See also:geographical facts.' In the unsettled state of this controversy, See also:weight naturally attaches to the opinion of experts on either side; and the above statement, while opposed to the view taken in the following See also:article on the epistle, must be taken on its merits.—Ed. E.B.prov. Rom. (1867); Sir W. M. Ramsay, Histor. Geogr. (1890), St Paul (1898), and Introd. to Histor. Commentary on Galatians (1899). For antiquities generally, See also:Perrot, Explor. archeol. de la Galatie (1862); K. See also:Hamann and O. Puchstein, Reisen in Kleinasien (189o) ; Koerte, Athen. Mitteilungen (1897); See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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