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LYCAONIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 151 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LYCAONIA , in See also:

ancient See also:geography, a large region in the interior of See also:Asia See also:Minor, See also:north of See also:Mount See also:Taurus. It was bounded on the E. by See also:Cappadocia, on the N. by See also:Galatia, on the W. by See also:Phrygia and See also:Pisidia, while to the S. it extended to the See also:chain of Mount Taurus, where it bordered on the See also:country popularly called in earlier times See also:Cilicia Tracheia and in the See also:Byzantine See also:period See also:Isauria; but its boundaries varied greatly at different times. The name is not found in See also:Herodotus, but Lycaonia is mentioned by See also:Xenophon as traversed by See also:Cyrus the younger on his See also:march through Asia. That author describes See also:Iconium as the last See also:city of Phrygia; and in Acts xiv. 5 St See also:Paul, after leaving Iconium, crossed the frontier and came to Lystra in Lycaonia. See also:Ptolemy, on the other See also:hand, includes Lycaonia as a See also:part of the See also:province of Cappadocia, with which it was associated by the See also:Romans for administrative purposes; but the two countries are clearly distinguished both by See also:Strabo and Xenophon and by authorities generally. Lycaonia is described by Strabo as a See also:cold region of elevated plains, affording pasture to See also:wild asses and to See also:sheep; and at the See also:present See also:day sheep abound, but asses are practically unknown. Amyntas, See also:king of Galatia, to whom the See also:district was for a See also:time subject, maintained there not less than three See also:hundred flocks. It forms part of the interior tableland of Asia Minor, and has an See also:elevation of more than 3000 ft. It suffers from want of See also:water, aggravated in some parts by abundance of See also:salt in the See also:soil, so that the See also:northern portion, extending from near Iconium to the salt See also:lake of See also:Tatta and the frontiers of Galatia, is almost wholly barren, only small patches being cultivated near Iconium and the large villages. The soil, where water is supplied, is productive. In ancient times See also:great See also:attention was paid to storing and distributing the water, so that much See also:land now barren was formerly cultivated and supported a large number of cities.

The See also:

plain is interrupted by some minor See also:groups of mountains, of volcanic See also:character, of which the Kara Dagh in the See also:south, a few See also:miles north of See also:Karaman, rises above 7000 ft., while the Karadja Dagh, north-See also:east of it, though of inferior elevation, presents a striking range of volcanic cones. The mountains in the north-See also:west, near Iconium and See also:Laodicea, are the termination of the See also:Sultan Dagh range, which traverses a large part of Phrygia. The Lycaonians appear to have been in See also:early times to a great extent See also:independent of the See also:Persian See also:empire, and were like their neighbours the Isaurians a wild and lawless See also:race of freebooters; but their country was traversed by one of the great natural linesof high road through Asia Minor, from See also:Sardis and See also:Ephesus to the Cilician See also:gates, and a few considerable towns See also:grew up along or near this See also:line. The most important was Iconium, in the most fertile spot in the country, of which it was always regarded by the Romans as the See also:capital, although ethnologically it was Phrygian. It is still called See also:Konia, and it was the capital of the Seljuk See also:Turkish empire for several centuries. A little farther north, immediately on the frontier of Phrygia, stood Laodicea (Ladik), called Combusta, to distinguish it from the Phrygian city of that name; and in the south, near the See also:foot of Mount Taurus, was Laranda, now called Karaman, which has given name to the province of See also:Karamania. Derbe and Lystra, which appear from the Acts of the Apostles to have been considerable towns, were between Iconium and Laranda. There were many other towns, which became bishoprics in Byzantine times. Lycaonia was Christianized very early; and its ecclesiastical See also:system was more completely organized in its final See also:form during the 4th See also:century than that of any other region of Asia Minor. After the defeat of See also:Antiochus the Great, Lycaonia was given by the Romans to See also:Eumenes II., king of Pergamos. About 16o B.C. part of it, the " Tetrarchy of Lycaonia," was added to Galatia; and in 129 B.C. the eastern See also:half (usually called during the following 200 years Lycaonia proper) was given to Cappadocia as an See also:eleventh strategia. In the readjustment of the Provinciae, 64 B.C., by See also:Pompey after the Mithradatic See also:wars, he gave the northern part of the tetrarchy to Galatia and the eastern part of the eleventh strategia to Cappadocia.

The See also:

remainder was attached to Cilicia. Its See also:administration and grouping changed often under the Romans. In A.D. 371 Lycaonia was first formed into a See also:separate province. It now forms part of the Konia vilayet. The Lycaonians appear to have retained a distinct See also:nationality in the time of Strabo, but their ethnical See also:affinities are unknown. The mention of the Lycaonian See also:language in the Acts of the Apostles (xiv. II) shows that the native language was spoken by the See also:common See also:people at Lystra about A.D. 50; and probably it was only later and under See also:Christian See also:influence that See also:Greek took its See also:place. See See also:Sir W. M. See also:Ramsay, See also:Historical Geography of Asia Minor (189o), Historical Commentary on See also:Galatians (1899) and Cities of St Paul (1907); also an See also:article on the See also:topography in the Jahreshefte See also:des Oesterr.

Archaeolog. Instituts, 194 (Beiblatt) pp. 57-132. (W. M.

End of Article: LYCAONIA

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