Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
") was an ancient area in the highlands of central
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, roughly corresponding to the
provinces of
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
and
Eskişehir, in modern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. Galatia was named after the
Gauls
The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They sp ...
from
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...
(cf.
Tylis), who settled here and became a small transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BC, following the
Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of the East.
Geography
Galatia was bounded on the north by
Bithynia
Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwe ...
and
Paphlagonia, on the east by
Pontus and
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
, on the south by
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...
and
Lycaonia
Lycaonia (; el, Λυκαονία, ''Lykaonia''; tr, Likaonya) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west b ...
, and on the west by
Phrygia. Its capital was Ancyra (i.e.
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
, today the capital of modern Turkey).
Celtic Galatia
The terms "Galatians" came to be used by the Greeks for the three Celtic peoples of Anatolia: the
Tectosages, the
Trocmii The Trocmii or Trocmi were one of the three ancient tribes of Galatia in central Asia Minor, together with the Tolistobogii and Tectosages,Livy, xxxviii. 16 part of the possible Gallic group who moved from Macedonia into Asia Minor
Anatoli ...
, and the
Tolistobogii
Tolistobogii (in other sources Tolistobogioi, Tolistobōgioi, Tolistoboioi, Tolistobioi, Toligistobogioi or Tolistoagioi) is the name used by the Roman historian, Livy, for one of the three ancient Gallic tribes of Galatia in central Asia Minor ...
.
By the 1st century BC, the Celts had become so
Hellenized
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...
that some Greek writers called them ''Hellenogalatai'' (Ἑλληνογαλάται).
The Romans called them ''Gallograeci''.
Though the Celts had, to a large extent, integrated into
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
Asia Minor, they preserved their linguistic and ethnic identity.
By the 4th century BC, the Celts had penetrated into the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, coming into contact with the
Thracians
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
and Greeks. In 380 BC, they fought in the southern regions of
Dalmatia (present day Croatia), and rumors circulated around the ancient world that
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
s father,
Philip II of Macedonia had been assassinated by someone using a dagger of Celtic origins.
Arrian writes that "Celts established on the Ionic coast" were among those who came to meet Alexander the Great during a campaign against the
Getae in 335 BC. Several ancient accounts mention that the Celts formed an alliance with
Dionysius I of Syracuse who sent them to fight alongside the
Macedonians against the
Thebans
Thebes (; ell, Θήβα, ''Thíva'' ; grc, Θῆβαι, ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. Archaeol ...
. In 279 BC, two Celtic factions united under the leadership of
Brennus and began to push southwards from southern Bulgaria towards the Greek states. According to
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
, a sizable force split off from this main group and headed toward
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.
For several years, a federation of Hellespontine cities, including
Byzantion and
Chalkedon, prevented the Celts from entering Asia Minor.
During the course of the power struggle between
Nikomedes I of
Bithynia
Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwe ...
and his brother
Zipoetes, the former hired 20,000 Galatian mercenaries. The Galatians split into two groups headed by
Leonnorius
Leonnorius was one of the leaders of the Celts in their invasion of Macedonia and the adjoining countries.
When the main body under Brennus marched southwards into Macedonia and Greece (279 BC), Leonnorius and Lutarius led a detachment, twenty-th ...
and Lutarius respectively, which crossed the
Bosporus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
and the
Hellespont respectively. In 277 BC, when the hostilities had ended the Galatians came out of Nikomedes' control and began raiding Greek cities in Asia Minor while Antiochus was solidifying his rule in Syria. The Galatians looted
Cyzikus,
Ilion,
Didyma,
Priene,
Thyatira and
Laodicea on the Lycus, while the citizens of
Erythras paid them ransom. Either in 275 or 269 BC, Antiochus' army faced the Galatians somewhere on the plain of
Sardis in the Battle of Elephants. In the aftermath of the battle, the Celts then settled in northern
Phrygia, a region that eventually came to be known as Galatia.
The territory of Celtic Galatia included the cities of
Ancyra (present day Ankara),
Pessinus,
Tavium, and
Gordion
Gordion ( Phrygian: ; el, Γόρδιον, translit=Górdion; tr, Gordion or ; la, Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the ...
.
Roman Galatia
Upon the death of
Deiotarus, the Kingdom of Galatia was given to
Amyntas, an auxiliary commander in the Roman army of Brutus and Cassius who gained the favor of Mark Antony. After his death in 25 BC, Galatia was incorporated by
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
into the Roman Empire, becoming a Roman province. Near his capital Ancyra (modern Ankara), Pylamenes, the king's heir, rebuilt a temple of the
Phrygian god
Men to venerate Augustus (the
Monumentum Ancyranum), as a sign of fidelity. It was on the walls of this temple in Galatia that the major source for the ''
Res Gestae'' of Augustus were preserved for modernity. Few of the provinces proved more enthusiastically loyal to Rome.
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
related the Biblical figure
Gomer
Gomer ( he, ''Gōmer'', ; el, Γαμὲρ, translit=Gamér) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible ( Genesis 10).
The ...
to Galatia (or perhaps to Gaul in general): "For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians,
alls but were then called Gomerites." Others have related Gomer to
Cimmerians.
Paul the Apostle visited Galatia in his missionary journeys, and wrote to the Christians there in the
Epistle to the Galatians.
Although originally possessing a strong
cultural identity, by the 2nd century AD, the Galatians had become
assimilated (
Hellenization
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...
) into the
Hellenistic civilization
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.
Galatia
/ref> The Galatians were still speaking the Galatian language in the time of St. Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
(347–420 AD), who wrote that the Galatians of Ancyra and the Treveri
The Trēverī (Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fring ...
of Trier (in what is now the Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
) spoke the same language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
(''Comentarii in Epistolam ad Galatos'', 2.3, composed c. 387).
In an administrative reorganisation (''c.'' 386–395), two new provinces succeeded it, ''Galatia Prima'' and ''Galatia Secunda'' or ''Salutaris'', which included part of Phrygia. The fate of the Galatian people is a subject of some uncertainty, but they seem ultimately to have been absorbed into the Greek-speaking populations of Anatolia.
Gallery
File:Galatian head Thrace detail.jpg, A Galatian's head as depicted on a gold Thracian ''objet d'art'', 3rd century BC. Istanbul Archaeological Museum
The Istanbul Archaeology Museums ( tr, ) are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace.
The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums:
#Arc ...
.
File:Galatian bronze horse bit.jpg, Galatian bronze horse bit, 3rd century BC, Hidirsihlar tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or '' kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones ...
, Bolu
Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province. The population is 131,264 (2012 census).
The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Özcan (Republican People's Party, CHP) since 2019 Turkish local elections, local electi ...
. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
File:Galatian bracelets and earrings 3rd century BCE Bolu Hidirsihlar tumulus.jpg, Galatian bracelets and earrings, 3rd century BC, Hidirsihlar tumulus, Bolu
Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province. The population is 131,264 (2012 census).
The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Özcan (Republican People's Party, CHP) since 2019 Turkish local elections, local electi ...
. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
File:Galatian torques 3rd century BCE Bolu Hidirsihlar tumulus.jpg, Galatian torcs, 3rd century BC, Hidirsihlar tumulus, Bolu. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
File:Galatian plate 3rd century BCE Bolu Hidirsihlar tumulus.jpg, Galatian plate, 3rd century BC, Hidirsihlar tumulus, Bolu. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
File:Galatian object 3rd century BCE Bolu Hidirsihlar tumulus.jpg, Galatian object, 3rd century BC, Hidirsihlar tumulus, Bolu. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
File:15th century map of Turkey region.jpg, Part of a 15th-century map showing Galatia.
See also
* Ancient regions of Anatolia
* History of Anatolia
The history of Anatolia (often referred to in historical sources as Asia Minor) can be roughly subdivided into: Prehistory of Anatolia (up to the end of the 3rd millennium BCE), Ancient Anatolia (including Hattian, Hittite and post-Hittite perio ...
References
Notes
* Encyclopedia, MS Encarta 2001, under article "Galatia".
* Barraclough, Geoffrey, ed. ''HarperCollins Atlas of World History''. 2nd ed. Oxford: HarperCollins, 1989. 76–77.
* John King, Celt Kingdoms, pg. 74–75.
* The Catholic Encyclopedia, VI: Epistle to the Galatians.
* Stephen Mitchell, 1993. ''Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor'' vol. 1: "The Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule." (Oxford: Clarendon Press) 1993. . Concentrates on Galatia; volume 2 covers "The Rise of the Church".
Bryn Mawr Classical Review
* David Rankin, (1987) 1996. ''Celts and the Classical World'' (London: Routledge): Chapter 9 "The Galatians".
* Coşkun, A., "Das Ende der "romfreundlichen Herrschaft" in Galatien und das Beispiel einer "sanften Provinzialisierung" in Zentralanatolien," in Coşkun, A. (hg), ''Freundschaft und Gefolgschaft in den auswärtigen Beziehungen der Römer (2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. – 1. Jahrhundert n. Chr.)'', (Frankfurt M. u. a., 2008) (Inklusion, Exklusion, 9), 133–164.
* Justin K. Hardin: ''Galatians and the Imperial Cult. A Critical Analysis of the First-Century Social Context of Paul's Letter''. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany 2008, .
*
External links
*
UNRV.com: Galatia
{{Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia
States and territories established in the 3rd century BC
States and territories disestablished in the 1st century BC
Regions of Asia
Historical regions
Historical regions of Anatolia
Pauline churches
Ancient Greek geography
Former countries in the Middle East
Hellenistic Phrygia
Geography of the Middle East
History of Western Asia
Near East
New Testament regions
Gauls