Isauria
Isauria | |
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Ancient region of Anatolia | |
Location | South-Western Asia Minor/Anatolia in the Greco-Roman period. The classical regions and their main settlements, including Isauria. |
Isauria (
It derives its name from the warlike Isaurian tribe and the twin settlements Isaura Palaea (Ἰσαυρα Παλαιά, Latin: Isaura Vetus 'Old Isaura') and Isaura Nea (Ἰσαυρα Νέα, Latin: Isaura Nova 'New Isaura').
The Isaurians were fiercely independent
History
Early
The permanent nucleus of Isauria was north of the Taurus range which lies directly south of
In the 4th century BC, Isauria was the wild district about Isaura Palaea and the heads of the
Roman rule
When the
The Isaurians were brought partially under control (76–75 BC) by the Romans. During the war of the Cilician and other pirates against Rome, the Isaurians took so active a part that the
In the year AD 6, Cassius Dio mentions that the Isaurians were marauding through the province of Asia until they were faced with open war and were defeated.[3]
The Isaurians were afterwards placed for a time under the rule of Amyntas, king of Galatia; but it is evident that they continued to retain their predatory habits and virtual independence. In the 3rd century they sheltered the rebel emperor Trebellianus.[1]
In the early 4th century, all Cilicia was detached by order of Diocletian for administrative purposes from the northern slope of Taurus. A province called at first Isauria-Lycaonia, and later Isauria alone, extended up to the limits of Galatia, but not past Taurus on the south. Pisidia, part of which had hitherto been included in one province with Isauria, was also detached, and made to include Iconium; Isauria received the eastern part of Pamphylia.[1] The coastal Metropolis of Seleucia was designated as Isauria's provincial capital.[4]
In the 4th century they were still described by Ammianus Marcellinus as the scourge of the neighbouring provinces of Asia Minor, with a major series of raids occurring from AD 404 to 409, including one campaign to eradicate them led by the Eastern Roman general Arbazacius, but they were said to have been effectually subdued in the reign of Justinian I.
Some Byzantine emperors were of Isaurian descent:
Later
The ruins of Isaura Palaea are mainly remarkable for their fine situation, fortifications and tombs. Those of Isaura Nea have disappeared, but numerous inscriptions and many sculpture stelae, built into the houses of
Ramsay discovered there more than fifty Greek inscriptions, the greater number Christian, as well as magnificent tombs.[5] These monuments date from the third, fourth, and fifth centuries.[6]
Ecclesiastical history
It is argued that Paul evangelised in Claudiopolis, the only Roman colony in the region by that time.[7]
The Isaurian church was originally under the authority of the Patriarch of Antioch, but was attached to the Patriarch of Constantinople in the late 7th or early 8th century.[4]
Because Aetius, fl 451.[8] is called in inscriptions bishop of Isauropolis and Isaura Palaea and as no Notitia episcopatuum makes mention of Isaura, or Isauropolis, Ramsay supposes that the Diocese of Isaura Nova was early joined with that of Leontopolis, the more recent name of Isaura Palaea which is mentioned in all the "Notitiae".[6]
See also
- Ancient regions of Anatolia
- Olba (ancient city) – Hellenistic period city in Isauria.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i public domain: Hogarth, David George (1911). "Isauria". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 866. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 0-1953-3403-5.
- ^ Cassius Dio, Bk 55, Ch 28
- ^ ISBN 0-674-51173-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Ramsay, Studies in the History and Art of the Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire (Aberdeen, 1906), 25–58
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Vailhé, Siméon (1910). "Isaura". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ISBN 978-3-11-057381-7.
- ^ Le Quien, "Oriens christ.", I, 1085