Lycaonia

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Λυκαονία)

Lycaonia, the country of the Lycaones, who spoke Λυκαονιστί (‘in the speech of Lycaonia,  Acts 14:11), was a vast elevated plain, often called ‘The Treeless’ (τὸ ἄζυλον), in the centre of Asia Minor. It was bounded on the N. and E. by Galatia and Cappadocia, on the W. and S. by Phrygia, Pisidia, and Isauria; but its limits were very uncertain and liable to change, especially in the N. and S. Its physical character is described by Strabo (xii vi. 1):

‘The places around the mountainous plane of Lycaonia are cold and bare, affording pasture only for wild asses; there is a great scarcity of water, and wherever it is found the wells are very deep … Although the country is ill supplied with water, it is suprisingly well adapted for feeding sheep.… Some persons have acquired great wealth by these flocks alone. Amyntas had above 300 flocks of sheep in these parts.’

Having no opportunity and perhaps little capacity for self-government, the Lycaonians had no history of their own. Driven eastward by the Phrygians, they were always, under the away of some stronger power, which cut and carved their territory without ever asking their leave. In the 3rd cent. Lycaonia belonged to the empire of the Seleucids, who more or less hellenized its larger towns, such as Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. After the Roman victory over Antiochus the Great at Magnesia (190 b.c.), it was given to the Attalids of Pergamos; but as they never effectively occupied it, the northern part of it was claimed by the Galatians, while the eastern was added to Cappadocia. When Pompey re-organized Asia Minor after the defeat of Mithridates (64 b.c.), he left northern Lycaonia (somewhat curtailed) to the Galatians, and eastern Lycaonia (also diminished) to Cappadocia, while he attached southwestern Lycaonia (considerably increased) to the province of Cilicia. Mark Antony gave the last part, including Iconium and Lystra, to Polemon in 39 b.c., but transferred it in 36 to King Amyntas of Pisidia, who at the same time became king of all Galatia. Soon afterwards this brilliant soldier-the most interesting of Asiatic Gaels-overthrew Antipater of Derbe, with the result that the whole of Lycaonia, except the so-called Eleventh Strategia (which about this time was given to King Antiochus of Commagene, to be henceforth called Lycaonia Antiochiana) was now included in the Galatian realm. After the untimely death of Amyntas in 25 b.c., his kingdom was converted into the Roman province of Galatia. This arrangement lasted for nearly a century, except that Claudius apparently presented the S.E. corner of Lycaonia, Including the important city of Laranda, to the king of Commagene.

When St. Paul brought Christianity to Lycaonia, he confined his mission to that part of it which was in the province of Galatia. On reaching the frontier city of Derbe, he retraced his steps. Laranda, in Antiochian Lycaonia, was beyond his sphere. If the S. Galatian theory is to be accepted, he passed through Galatic Lycaonia four times ( Acts 14:6; Acts 21;  Acts 16:1;  Acts 18:23); he addressed the mixed population of its cities-Lycaonians, Greeks, and Jews-as all alike ‘Galatians’; and the Christians of Lycaonian and Phrygian Galatia, not the inhabitants of Galatia proper, are the ‘foolish Galatians’ ( Galatians 3:1) about whom he was so ‘perplexed’ ( Galatians 4:20). But see Galatians.

Nothing remains of the Lycaonian language except some place-names; but the Christian inscriptions found in Lycaonia are very numerous, and show how widely diffused the new religion was in the 3rd cent. throughout this country which was evangelized by St. Paul in the 1st.

Literature.-W. M. Ramsay, Hist. Geog. of Asia Minor , 1890, also Hist. Com. on Galatians , 1899; J. R. S. Sterrett, Wolfe Expedition in Asia Minor , 1888; C. Wilson, in Murray’s Handbook to Asia Minor , 1895.

James Strahan.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

LYCAONIA meant originally the country inhabited by the Lycaones, a central tribe of Asia Minor. It is for the most part a level plain, which is merged on the north and east in the plains of Galatia and Cappadocia, and is bounded on the west and south by hills. It was and is an excellent country for pasturage. Its exact boundaries varied at different times. At some uncertain date a part of Lycaonia, containing fourteen cities, of which Iconium was one, was transferred to Galatia. (See Iconium.) Lycaonia was part of the Seleucid Empire until b.c. 190. Later the whole or part of it belonged successively to the Pergamenian kings, the Galatians, Cappadocia, and Pontus. At the settlement of b.c. 64 by Pompey, the north part was added to Galatia, the south-east to Cappadocia, and the west was added to the Roman Empire, to be administered by the governor of the Roman province Cilicia. In b.c. 39 Mark Antony gave the western part (including Lystra and Iconium) to Polemon, but in b.c. 36 it was transferred to Amyntas along with Galatia proper. (See Galatia.) Amyntas conquered Derbe and Laranda, which were incorporated in the Roman Empire when Amyntas’ kingdom was made into the province Galatia in b.c. 25. In a.d. 37 Eastern Lycaonia, which up to that time had continued under the weak Cappadocian rule, was placed under Antiochus of Commagene, along with most of Cilicia Tracheia, and got the name Lycaonia Antiochiana.

Under Claudius and Nero, when St. Paul visited the churches of South Galatia, Lycaonia included the two parts, the Roman and Antiochian. The former part included Lystra and Derbe and a number of smaller places, and it is correctly described in  Acts 14:6 . The Apostles, when persecuted at Iconium in Phrygia (or the Phrygian district of the vast province Galatia), crossed into Lycaonia (another district of the same province). In   Acts 16:1-4 this territory is not explicitly named, but its two cities are mentioned by name. In   Acts 18:23 the same cities are included in the expression used.

Both parts of Lycaonia were comprised in the united province of Galatia-Cappadocia under Vespasian and his sons (a.d. 70 onwards). They were again divided by Trajan in 106. About a.d. 137 ‘the triple eparchy’ was formed, consisting of Cilicia, Lycaonia, and Isauria.

The name of the Lycaonins is not mentioned in the Bible, but their language is in  Acts 14:11 : it was no doubt prevalent in the villages and smaller towns.

A collection of Christian inscriptions (of 3rd cent. a.d. and later) has been discovered in Lycaonia, which for numbers cannot be matched in any other Eastern province. They show the wide diffusion of Christianity in this district evangelized by St. Paul.

A. Souter.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A province in the S. of Asia Minor, having Galatia on the N., Cappadocia E., Pisidia and Phrygia W., Cilicia S. A bare tableland without trees or lakes of fresh water (but many salt lakes), only fit for sheep pasture. "The speech of Lycaonia" was probably a corrupt mixture of Greek and Syriac; the people's objects of worship were those of the Greeks and Romans, Mercury and Jupiter, whose visit to this quarter is one of Ovid's fables (Metam. 8:626). At Lystra in the center of the region Paul delivered his address, admirably suited to his audience ( Acts 14:15-17). Iconium was far on the W. toward Antioch in Pisidia; Derbe was on the E. of Lystra, toward the pass from Cilicia up through Taurus to the central tableland ( Acts 14:1;  Acts 14:6). Paul on his first journey passed through Lycaonia from W. to E., then back the reverse way E. to W. ( Acts 14:21;  2 Timothy 3:11.) At his second journey he passed from E. to W. through Lycaonia to Troas ( Acts 16:1-8); on the third, in the same direction, to Ephesus ( Acts 18:23;  Acts 19:1).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Lycao'nia. (Land Of Lycanon, or Wolf Land). A district of Asia Minor. From what is said in  Acts 14:11 of "the speech of Lycaonia," it is evident that the inhabitants of the district, in St. Paul's day, spoke something very different from ordinary Greek. Whether the language was some Syrian dialect, or a corrupt form of Greek, has been much debated. The fact that the Lycaonians were familiar with the Greek mythology is consistent with either supposition.

Lycaonia is for the most part a dreary plain, bare of trees, destitute of fresh water, and with several salt lakes. (It was about 20 miles long from east to west, and 13 miles wide. "Cappadocia is on the east, Galatia on the north, Phrygia on the west and Cilicia on the south." Among its chief cities are Derbe, Lystra and Iconium. - Editor).

After the provincial system of Rome had embraced the whole of Asia Minor, the boundaries of the provinces were variable; and Lycaonia was, politically, sometimes in Cappadocia, sometimes in Galatia. Paul visited it three times in his missionary tours.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Originally, Lycaonia was a small kingdom in Asia Minor. When the Romans incorporated Asia Minor into their Empire, they drew new boundaries and Lycaonia was split between the provinces of Galatia, Cappadocia and Cilicia. It is the Galatian part of Lycaonia that is referred to in the New Testament account of Paul’s first missionary journey. Paul established churches in the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe, and these were among the churches that he addressed in his letter to the Galatians ( Acts 14:6). Although the local people spoke Greek, the chief language of the Roman Empire, they continued to use their own Lycaonian language ( Acts 14:11).

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Lycaonia ( Ly-Ka-Ô'Ni-Ah ). A province of Asia Minor which the apostle Paul twice visited.  Acts 14:1-23;  Acts 16:1-6. It was separated from Phrygia, and bounded north by Galatia, east by Cappadocia, south by Cilicia, and west by Pisidia and Phrygia. Its chief towns were Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra. The speech of this province.  Acts 14:11, is supposed to have been either a Syrian or a corrupted Greek dialect.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A small province of Asia Minor, bounded north by Galatia, east by Cappadocia, south by Isauria and Cilicia, and west by Phrygia. It appears to have been within the limits of Phrygia Major, but was erected into a Roman province by Augustus. The country is level, but not fertile, though peculiarly adapted to pasturage. Of its cities, Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra and mentioned in the New Testament,  Acts 14:6 . The "speech of Lycaonia now forms part of the Turkish province of Caramania.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a province of Asia Minor, accounted a part of Cappadocia, having Pisidia on the west, and Cilicia on the south. In it were the cities of Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, mentioned in the travels of St. Paul. The former was the capital, and the country itself at that time a Roman province. The "speech of Lycaonia," mentioned  Acts 14:11 , is supposed to have been a corrupt Greek, intermingled with many oriental words.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 14:11 Acts 16:1-6 18:23 19:1

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

So called from the Greek, meaning a she wolf Here Paul preached. (See  Acts 14:6-10)

Morrish Bible Dictionary

District nearly in the centre of Asia Minor, in which were Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium .  Acts 14:6,11 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Acts 14:1-23

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

lik - a - ō´ni - a , lı̄ - ka - ō´ni - a ( Λυκαονία , Lukaonı́a (  Acts 14:6 ), Λυκασνιστί , Lukaonistı́ , ( Acts 14:11 , "in the speech of Lycaonia"); Lycaonia is meant, according to the South Galatian view, by the expression τὴν Γαλατικὴν χώραν , tḗn Galatikḗn chṓran , in  Acts 18:23 , and the incidents in  Acts 16:1-4 belong to Lycaonia): Was a country in the central and southern part of Asia Minor whose boundaries and extent varied at different periods. In the time of Paul, it was bounded on the North by Galatia proper (but lay in the Roman province Galatia), on the East by Cappadocia, on the South by Cilicia Tracheia, and on the West by Pisidia and Phrygia. The boundary of Phrygia and Lycaonia passed between Iconium and Lystra (see Iconium ). Lycaonia consists of a level plain, waterless and treeless, rising at its southern fringe for some distance into the foothills of Taurus, and broken on its eastern side by the volcanic mass of Kara-Dagh and by many smaller hills. Strabo informs us that King Amyntas of Galatia fed many flocks of sheep on the Lycaonian plain. Much of the northern portion of Lycaonia has been proved by recent discovery to have belonged to the Roman emperors, who inherited the crown lands of Amyntas.

In  Acts 14:6 Lycaonia is summed up as consisting of the cities of Lystra and Derbe and the district (including many villages) lying around them. This description refers to a particular division of Lycaonia, which alone is mentioned in the Bible. In the time of Paul, Lycaonia consisted of two parts, a western and an eastern. The western part was a "region" or subdivision of the Roman province Galatia; the eastern was called Lycaonia Antiochiana, after Antiochus of Commagene under whom it had been placed in 37 AD. This non-Roman portion was traversed by Paul; but nothing is recorded of his journey through it (see Derbe ). It included the important city of Laranda; and when Lycaonia is described as consisting of the cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding district, the writer is clearly thinking only of the western portion of Lycaonia, which lay in, and formed a "region" of, the province Galatia. This is the tract of country which is meant in  Acts 18:23 , where it is called the "region" of Galatia, and placed side by side with Phrygia, another region of Galatia. The province Galatia was divided into districts technically known as "regions," and Roman Lycaonia is called the "region of Galatia" in implied contrast with Antiochian Lycaonia, which lay outside the Roman province. Of the language of Lycaonia. (see Lystra ) nothing survives except some personal and place names, which are discussed in Kretschmar's Einleitung in die Gesch. der griech. Sprache .

Literature.

Ramsay, Historical Commentary on Galatians (Introduction); Sterrett, Wolfe Expedition (inscriptions).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Λυκαονία , either from the mythological name Lyca Ö n, or from Λύκος , a wof ), a province of Asia Minor, having Cappadocia on the east, Galatia on the north, Phrygia on the west, and Isauria and Cilicia on the south. These boundaries, however, are differently described by ancient authors (Ptolemy, 6:16; 5:6; Pliny, 5:25; Strabo, 14:663; Livy, 38:38). It extends in length about twenty geographical miles from east to west, and about thirteen in breadth. It was an undulating plain, involved among mountains, which were noted for the concourse of wild asses. The soil was so strongly impregnated with salt that few of the brooks supplied drinkable water, so that good water was sold for money; but sheep throve on the pasturage, and were reared with great advantage (Strabo, 12:568; Pliny, Hist. Nat. 8:69). Lycaonia first appears in history in connection with the expedition of Cyrus the younger (Xenophon, Anab. 1:2,19; 3:2, 23; Cyrop. 6:2, 20). The inhabitants were a hardy race, not subject to the Persians. and lived by plunder and foray (Dionysitus, Per. 857; Prisc. 806; Avien. 1020). With these descriptions modern authors agree (Leake's Journal, page 67 sq.; Rennel, Geog. of West. Asia, 2:99; Cramer, As. Min. 2:63; Mannert, Geog. VI, 2:190 sq.). It was a Roman province when visited by Pau. ( Acts 14:6), and its chief towns were Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, of which the first was the capital (see Smith's Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v.). "The speech of Lycaonia" ( Acts 14:11) is supposed by some to have been the ancient Assyrian language, also spoken by the Cappadocians (Jablonsky, Disquis. De Lingua Lycaonica , Berlin, 1714; also in his Opusc. 3:3 sq.); but it is more usually conceived to have been a corrupt Greek, intermingled with many Syriac words (Guhling, Dissesrt. De Lingua Lycaonica , Viteb. 1726), since the people appear, from the account in the Acts, to have adopted the Grecian mythology as the basis of their religion (see Sommel, De Lingua Lyc. Lond. 1787). "It is deeply interesting to see these rude country people, when Paul and Barnabas worked miracles among them, rushing to the conclusion that the strangers were Mercury and Jupiter, whose visit to this very neighborhood forms the subject of one of Ovid's, most charming stories (Ovid, Metam. 8:626). Nor can we fail to notice how admirably Paul's address on the occasion was adapted to a simple and imperfectly civilized race ( Acts 14:15-17). See Bomer, De Paulo In Lycaonia (Lips. 1708). (See Asia Minor); (See Paul).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Lycao´nia, a province of Asia Minor, having Cappadocia on the east, Galatia on the north, Phrygia on the west, and Isauria and Cilicia on the south. It extends in length about twenty geographical miles from east to west, and about thirteen in breadth. It was an undulating plain, involved among mountains, which were noted for the concourse of wild-asses. The soil was so strongly impregnated with salt that few of the brooks supplied drinkable water, so that good water was sold for money. But sheep throve on the pasturage, and were reared with great advantage. It was a Roman province when visited by Paul , and its chief towns were Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, of which the first was the capital. 'The speech of Lycaonia' is supposed by some to have been the ancient Assyrian language, also spoken by the Cappadocians; but it is more usually conceived to have been a corrupt Greek, intermingled with many Syriac words.