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PAMPHYLIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 662 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PAMPHYLIA , in See also:

ancient See also:geography, the region in the See also:south of See also:Asia See also:Minor, between See also:Lycia and See also:Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mt See also:Taurus. It was bounded on the N. by See also:Pisidia and was therefore a See also:country of small extent, having a See also:coast-See also:line of only about 75 M. with a breadth of about 30 M. There can be little doubt that the Pamphylians and Pisidians were the same See also:people, though the former had received colonies from See also:Greece and other lands, and from this cause, combined with the greater fertility of their territory, had become more cjvilized than their neighbours in the interior. But the distinction between the two seems to have been established at an See also:early See also:period. See also:Herodotus, who does not mention the Pisidians, enumerates the Pamphylians among the nations of Asia Minor, while See also:Ephorus mentions them both, correctly including the one among the nations on the coast, the other among those of the interior. The early Pamphylians, like the Lycians, had an See also:alphabet of their own, partly See also:Greek, partly " Asianic," which a few See also:inscriptions on See also:marble and coins preserve. Under the See also:Roman See also:administration the See also:term Pamphylia was extended so as to include Pisidia and the whole See also:tract up to the frontiers of See also:Phrygia and See also:Lycaonia, and in this wider sense it is employed by See also:Ptolemy. Pamphylia consists almost entirely of a See also:plain, extending from the slopes of Taurus to the See also:sea, but this plain, though presenting an unbroken level to the See also:eye, does not all consist of alluvial deposits, but is formed in See also:part of travertine. " The See also:rivers pouring out of the caverns at the See also:base of the Lycian and Pisidian ranges of the Taurus come forth from their subterranean courses charged with carbonate of See also:lime, and are continually adding to the Pamphylian plain. They build up natural aqueducts of See also:limestone, and after flowing for a See also:time on these elevated beds burst their walls and take a new course. Consequently it is very difficult to reconcile the accounts of this See also:district, as transmitted by ancient authors, with its See also:present aspect and the See also:distribution of the streams which See also:water it. By the sea-See also:side in the See also:west of the district the travertine forms cliffs from 20 to 8o ft. high " (See also:Forbes's Lycia, ii.

188). See also:

Strabo describes a See also:river which he terms Catarractes as a large stream falling with a See also:great See also:noise over a lofty cliff. This is the See also:cataract near See also:Adalia. See also:East of Adalia is the Cestrus, and beyond that again the See also:Eurymedon, both of which were considerable streams, navigable in antiquity for some little distance from the sea. Near the mouth of the latter was a See also:lake called Caprias, mentioned by Strabo; but it is now a See also:mere See also:salt See also:marsh. The See also:chief towns on the coast are: See also:Olbia, the first See also:town in Pamphylia, near the Lycian frontier; See also:Attalia (q.v.); and Side (q.v.). On a See also:hill above the Eurymedon stood See also:Aspendus (q.v.) and above the river Cestrus was See also:Perga (q.v.). Between the two rivers, but somewhat farther inland, stood Sylleum, a strong fortress, which even ventured to defy the arms of See also:Alexander. These towns are not known to have been Greek colonies; but the See also:foundation of Aspendus was traditionally ascribed to the Argives, and Side was said to be a See also:colony from Cyme in See also:Aeolis. The See also:legend related by Herodotus and Strabo, which ascribed the origin of the Pamphylians to a colony led into their country by See also:Amphilochus and See also:Calchas after the Trojan See also:War, is merely a characteristic myth. The 'coins of Aspendus, though of Greek See also:character, See also:bear legends in a barbarous See also:dialect; and probably the Pamphylians were of See also:Asiatic origin and mixed See also:race. They became largely hellenized in Roman times, and have See also:left magnificent memorials of their See also:civilization at Perga, Aspendus and Side.

The district is now largely peopled with See also:

recent settlers from Greece, See also:Crete and the Balkans. The Pamphylians are first mentioned among the nations subdued by the Mermnad See also:kings of See also:Lydia, and afterwards passed in See also:succession under the dominion of the See also:Persian and Macedonian monarchs. After the defeat of See also:Antiochus III. in 190 B.C. they were included among the provinces annexed by the See also:Romans to the dominions of See also:Eumenes of See also:Pergamum; but somewhat later they joined with the Pisidians and Cilicians in piratical ravages, and Side became the chief centre and slave mart of these freebooters. Paniphylia was for a See also:short time included inthe dominions of Amyntas, See also:king of See also:Galatia, but after his See also:death lapsed into a district of a Roman See also:province, and its name is not again mentioned in See also:history. See C. Lanckomiski, See also:Les Villes de la Pamphylie et de la Pisidie (189o). (D. G.

End of Article: PAMPHYLIA

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