| Isauria | |
|---|---|
| Ancient region of Anatolia | |
| Location | South-WesternAnatolia |
| Language | Isaurian |
| Biggest city | Isaura Palaea |
| Persian satrapy | Phrygia/Intermittently independent along withPisidia |
| Roman province | Galatia |
 | |
Isauria (/aɪˈzɔːriə/ or/aɪˈsɔːriə/;Ancient Greek:Ἰσαυρία), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior ofAsia Minor, of very different extent at different periods,[1] but generally covering what is now the district ofBozkır and its surroundings in theKonya Province of Turkey, or the core of theTaurus Mountains. In its coastal extension it bordered onCilicia.
It derives its name from the warlike Isaurian tribe and the twin settlementsIsaura Palaea (Ἰσαυρα Παλαιά, Latin:Isaura Vetus 'Old Isaura') andIsaura Nea (Ἰσαυρα Νέα, Latin:Isaura Nova 'New Isaura').
The Isaurians were fiercely independentmountain people who marauded and created havoc in neighboring districts under Macedonian and Roman occupations.
The permanent nucleus of Isauria was north of the Taurus range which lies directly south ofIconium andLystra.Lycaonia had all theIconian plain; but Isauria began as soon as the foothills were reached. Its two original towns, Isaura Nea andIsaura Palaea, lay, one among these foothills (Doria) and the other on thewatershed (Zengibar Kalesi),[1] located at approximately 37°29′N 32°12′E near Bozkir.
In the 4th century BC, Isauria was the wild district about Isaura Palaea and the heads of theCalycadnus.[1] When the capital, Isaura (also known as Isaura Vetus orIsaura Palaea), a strongly fortified city at the foot of Mt. Taurus, was besieged byPerdiccas, theMacedonian regent afterAlexander the Great's death, the Isaurians set the place alight and let it perish in flames rather than submit to capture.[1][2]
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When theRomans first encountered the Isaurians (early in the 1st century BC), they regardedCilicia Trachea as part of Isauria, which thus extended to the Mediterranean Sea; and this extension of the name continued to be in common use for two centuries. The whole basin of theCalycadnus was reckoned Isaurian, and the cities in the valley of its southern branch formed what was known as theIsaurian Decapolis.[1]
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 theproconsulP. Servilius deemed it necessary to follow them into their rugged strongholds, and compel the whole people to submission, an exploit for which he received the title of Isauricus (75 BC).[1]
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 ofAmyntas, 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 emperorTrebellianus.[1]
In the early 4th century, all Cilicia was detached by order ofDiocletian 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 ofPamphylia.[1] The coastal Metropolis of Seleucia was designated as Isauria's provincial capital.[4]
In the 4th century they were still described byAmmianus 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 theEastern Roman generalArbazacius, but they were said to have been effectually subdued in the reign ofJustinian I.
Some Byzantine emperors were of Isaurian descent:Zeno, whose native name was Tarasicodissa Rousoumbladadiotes; his son,Leo II; and perhapsLeontius, who reigned from 695 to 698.[a] The empire used Isaurians as soldiers, generals and at one point they even formed part of the emperor's personal guard, theExcubitores.[4] However, the population of Constantinople considered the Isaurians as barbarians, and emperorAnastasius I had to fight a long war against Isaurian rebels (Isaurian War, 492–497).
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 ofDorla, prove the site. It was the latter, and not the former town, that Servilius reduced by cutting off the water supply.J. R. S. Sterrett explored in the highland of Isauria in 1885 but it was not exhaustive. The site was identified byW. M. Ramsay in 1901.[1]
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]
It is argued that Paul evangelised inClaudiopolis, the only Roman colony in the region by that time.[7]
The Isaurian church was originally under the authority of thePatriarch of Antioch, but was attached to thePatriarch 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 noNotitia 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]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Hogarth, David George (1911). "Isauria". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 866.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Vailhé, Siméon (1910). "Isaura". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company.| Peoples |  | |
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