Difference between revisions of "Pisidia"

<p> [[Pisidia]] ( ''Pî-Sĭd'I-Ah'' ), ''Pitchy.'' A district of Asia Minor. The ranges of the Taurus mountains extended through it. Notorious robbers were in this region, and here Paul may have been ''"In'' perils of waters, [[In]] perils of robbers." &nbsp;2 Corinthians 11:26. Paul twice visited Pisidia, passing directly north from Perga to Antioch, &nbsp;Acts 13:14, and again returning through Pisidia to Pamphylia. &nbsp;Acts 14:21-24. </p>

<p> Pisidia was a mountainous region in the south of the Roman province of Galatia. Its most important town was Antioch, where Paul established a church that spread the gospel throughout the region (&nbsp;Acts 13:14; &nbsp;Acts 13:49; &nbsp;Acts 14:24). (For map and other details see [[Antioch In Pisidia; Galatia]] ) </p>

<p> ( '''''Πισιδία''''' '','' etymology uncertain) was a district of Asia Minor, which cannot be very exactly defined. But it may be described sufficiently by saying that it was to the north of Pamphylia, and stretched along the range of Taurus. [[Northward]] it reached to and was partly included in Phrygia, which was similarly an indefinite district, though far more extensive. Thus Antioch in Pisidia was sometimes called a Phrygian town. In general terms it may be said that Pisidia was bounded on the north by Phrygia, on the west by [[Caria]] and Lycia, on the south by Pamphylia, and on the east by Cilicia and [[Isauria]] (Strabo, 12:569; Ptolemy, 5, 5). It was a mountainous region; but high up among the peaks of Taurus were some fertile valleys and little upland plains. The province was subdivided into minute sections, and held by tribes of wild and warlike highlanders, who were the terror of the whole surrounding country (Strabo, 1. c.; Xenoph. Anab. 1, 1, 11; 2, 5, 13). It was probably among the defiles of Pisidia that the apostle Paul experienced some of those "perils of robbers" of which he speaks in &nbsp;2 Corinthians 11:26; and perhaps fear of the bandits that inhabited them had something to do with John's abrupt departure from Paul and Barnabas just as they were about to enter Pisidia (&nbsp;Acts 13:13-14). The Pisidian tribes had rulers of their own, and they maintained their independence in spite of the repeated attacks of more powerful neighbors, and of the conquests of the Greeks, and even of the Romans. The latter were content to receive from them a scanty tribute, allowing them to remain undisturbed amid their mountain fastnesses. See Smith, ''Dict. Of Class. Geog.'' s.v. The scenery of Pisidia is wild and grand. The mountains are mostly limestone, and are partially clothed with forests of oak, pine, and juniper. The lower slopes are here and there planted with olives, vines, and pomegranates. Many of the ravines are singularly grand-bare cliffs rising up a thousand feet and more on each side of the bed of a foaming torrent. In other places fountains gush forth, and streams brawl along amid thickets of oleander. The passes from the sea-coast to the interior are difficult, and have always been dangerous. (See [[Asia Minor]]). Paul paid two visits to Pisidia. In company with Barnabas he entered it from Pamphylia on the south, and crossed over the mountains to Antioch, which lay near the northern border (&nbsp;Acts 13:14). Their mission was successful; but the enemies of the truth soon caused them to be expelled from the province (&nbsp;Acts 13:50). After an adventurous journey through Lacaonia and Isauria, they again returned through Pisidia to Pamphylia, apparently by the same route (14, 2124). See Arundell, ''Asia Minor,'' vol. 2; Fellows, ''Asia Minor;'' Spratt, ''Travels In Lycia;'' see also full extracts in Conybeare and Howson, ''Life Of St. Paul,'' 1, 164 sq., and article (See [[Antioch Of Pisidia]]). </p>

<p> ''''' pi ''''' - ''''' sid´i ''''' - ''''' a ''''' ( τὴν Πισιδίαν , <i> ''''' tḗn ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Pisidı́an ''''' </i> (&nbsp; Acts 14:24 ); in &nbsp;Acts 13:14 , Codices Sinaitica, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi give Ἀντιόχειαν τὴν Πισιδίαν , <i> ''''' Antiócheian ''''' </i> <i> ''''' tḗn ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Pisidı́an ''''' </i> , "the Pisidian Antioch," the other manuscripts, Ἀντιόχειαν τὴν Πισιδίας , <i> ''''' Antiócheian ''''' </i> <i> ''''' tḗn ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Pisidı́as ''''' </i> , "Antioch of Pisidia." The former, but not the latter, reading correctly describes the condition of affairs at the time when Paul traveled in the country; see below): </p> 1. [[Situation]] and History: <p> Pisidia, as a strict geographical term, was the name given to the huge block of mountain country stretching northward from the Taurus range where the latter overlooked the Pamphylian coast land, to the valleys which connected [[Apamea]] with Antioch, and Antioch with Iconium. It was bounded by [[Lycia]] on the West, by the Phrygian country on the North, and by Isauria on the East; but there is no natural boundary between Pisidia and Isauria, and the frontier was never strictly drawn. The name is used in its geographical sense in the <i> ''''' Anabasis ''''' </i> of Xenophon, who informs us that the Pisidians were independent of the king of [[Persia]] at the end of the 5th century BC. [[Alexander]] the Great had difficulty in reducing the Pisidian cities, and throughout ancient history we find the Pisidian mountains described as the home of a turbulent and warlike people, given to robbery and pillage. The task of subjugating them was entrusted by the Romans to the Galatian king Amyntas, and, at his death in 25 BC, Pisidia passed with the rest of his possessions into the Roman province Galatia. Augustus now took seriously in hand the pacification of Pisidia and the Isaurian mountains on the East Five military colonies were founded in Pisidia and the eastern mountains - C remna, Comama, Olbasa, Parlais and [[Lystra]] - and all were connected by military roads with the main garrison city Antioch, which lay in Galatian Phrygia, near the northern border of Pisidia. An inscription discovered in 1912 shows that Quirinius, who is mentioned in &nbsp;Luke 2:2 as governor of Syria in the year of Christ's birth, was an honorary magistrate of the colony of Antioch; his connection with Antioch dates from his campaign against the Homonades - who had resisted and killed Amyntas - about 8 Bc (see Ramsay in <i> The Expositor </i> , November, 1912, 385 ff, 406). The military system set up in Pisidia was based on that of Antioch, and from this fact, and from its proximity to Pisidia, Antioch derived its title "the Pisidian," which served to distinguish it from the other cities called Antioch. It is by a mistake arising from confusion with a later political arrangement that Antioch is designated "of Pisidia" in the majority of the manuscripts. </p> <p> Pisidia remained part of the province Galatia till 74 AD, when the greater (southern) part of it was assigned to the new double province Lycia-Pamphylia, and the cities in this portion of Pisidia now ranked as Pamphylian. The northern part of Pisidia continued to belong to Galatia, until, in the time of Diocletian, the southern part of the province Galatia (including the cities of Antioch and Iconium), with parts of Lycaonia and Asia, were formed Into a province called Pisidia, with Antioch as capital. Antioch was now for the first time correctly described as a city "of Pisidia," although there is reason to believe that the term "Pisidia" had already been extended northward in popular usage to include part at least of the Phrygian region of Galatia. This perhaps explains the reading "Antioch of Pisidia" in the Codex Bezae, whose readings usually reflect the conditions of the 2nd century of our era in Asia Minor. This use of the term was of course political and administrative; Antioch continued to be a city of Phrygia in the ethnical sense and a recently discovered inscription proves that the Phrygian language was spoken in the neighborhood of Antioch as late as the 3century of our era (see also Calder in <i> Journal of Roman Studies </i> , 1912,84). </p> 2. Paul in Pisidia: <p> Paul crossed Pisidia on the journey from Perga to Antioch referred to in &nbsp;Acts 13:14 , and again on the return journey, &nbsp;Acts 14:24 . Of those journeys no details are recorded in Acts, but it has been suggested by Conybeare and Howson that the "perils of rivers" and "perils of robbers" mentioned by Paul in &nbsp;2 Corinthians 11:26 refer to his journeys across Pisidia, and Ramsay has pointed out in confirmation of this view that a considerable number of Pisidian inscriptions refer to the armed policemen and soldiers who kept the peace in this region, while others refer to a conflict with robbers, or to an escape from drowning in a river ( <i> The Church in the Roman Empire </i> , 23 f; compare <i> Journal of Roman Studies </i> , 1912, 82 f). Adada, a city off Paul's route from Perga to Antioch, is called by the Turks <i> ''''' Kara ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Baulo ''''' </i> ; "Baulo" is the Turkish pronunciation of "Paulos," and the name is doubtless reminiscent of an early tradition connecting the city with Paul. Pisidia had remained unaffected by Hellenic civilization, and the Roman occupation at the time of Paul was purely military. It is therefore unlikely that Paul preached in Pisidia. Except on the extreme Northwest, none of the [[Christian]] inscriptions of Pisidia - in glaring contrast with those of Phrygia - date before the legal recognition of Christianity under Constantine. </p> Literature. <p> Murray, <i> Handbook of Asia Minor </i> , 150 ff; Ramsay, <i> The Church in the Roman Empire </i> , 18 ff; Lanckoronski, <i> Stadte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens </i> ; Sterrett, <i> Epigraphical [[Journey]] and Wolfe Expedition </i> . A few inscriptions containing Pisidian names with native inflections have been published by Ramsay in <i> Revue des universites du midi </i> , 1895,353 ff. </p>