The Leuco-Syrians or literally White Syrians ( or ), also known as Syrians ( or ), and Cappadocians () were an ancient people in central

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

during the period of

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

Name

''Leuco-Syroi'' translates literally to White-Syrians. Strabo suggested this distinction was made by the Greeks to distinguish the ''Syrians'' of Anatolia from those of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and the Levant. The etymology of the term ''Syrian'' in this context is unknown, but seems unrelated to either the

Syrians Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine Arabic, Levantine and Mesopotamian Arabic, Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The culture of Syria, cultural ...

of the Levant or the Assyrians of Mesopotamia, and is likely derived from a native Anatolian term. The earliest appearance of this term is theorized to have been the ''

Sura A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...

'' mentioned in inscriptions from Carchemish. Although this connection is unconfirmed. The alternate term ''Cappadocian'' is described by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

as the Persian's word for the White Syrians. ''Cappadocia'' () is derived from , itself likely from .

Language

The White Syrians likely spoke the

Ancient Cappadocian language The ancient Cappadocian language was an ancient language or group of languages spoken in Asia Minor, possibly related to Hittite language, Hittite or Luwian language, Luwian.Mark Janse, "The Resurrection of Cappadocian (Asia Minor Greek)", ΑΩ ...

, an Anatolian language related to Luwian and Hittite. It is possible that remnants of this language survive in the vocabulary of the modern

Cappadocian Greek Cappadocian Greek (, also known as Cappadocian is a dialect of modern Greek, originally spoken in Cappadocia (modern-day Central Turkey) by the descendants of the Byzantine Greeks of Anatolia. The language originally diverged from Medieval Gree ...

dialect.

Location

According to Greek historiographers and geographers, the White Syrians lived in the Pontus region on the eastern side of the

Halys River Halys may refer to: * Health-adjusted life years (HALYs), a type of disability-adjusted life year which are used in attempts to quantify the burden of disease or disability in populations * Halys River, a western name for the Kızılırmak River ...

, in between the Paphlagonians and Chalybes. They also lived in the regions of

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, Cilicia and other inland regions of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

History

After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, the descendants of the Hittites were ruled by various conquering peoples throughout the following centuries. Those south of the Halys River eventually established the various city-states and kingdoms of the Tabal region. For those north of the Halys, their history is mostly unknown until the 5th Century BC. According to Herodotus, the White Syrians were subjugated by the

Medes The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...

, and then by the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

under Cyrus. Under the Persians, the White Syrians were grouped into the 3rd taxation district along with the Phrygians, Bithynians, Paphlagonians and Mariandynians.

Histories (Herodotus) The ''Histories'' (, ''Historíai''; also known as ''The History'') of Herodotus is considered the founding work of history in Western literature. Although not a fully impartial record, it remains one of the West's most important sources regardin ...

3.90 During the later

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, they were eventually hellenised. During the

Mithridatic Wars The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by the Roman Republic against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars, who initiated the ho ...

, the Leucosyrians were recruited as mercenaries into the Pontic army to fight off the Roman army of

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

and later

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

References

Sources