Lycia
Summary
A mountainous province in southwest Asia Minor where Paul stopped at the ports of Patara and Myra during his journeys.
☩Geography
Lycia occupied the southwestern portion of Asia Minor, immediately opposite the island of Rhodes. It was bounded by Caria on the west, Phrygia and Pisidia on the north, Pamphylia on the northeast, and the Mediterranean Sea (called the Lycian Sea) on the south. The surface of Lycia was exceedingly rugged, with lofty mountains rising almost directly from the sea. The Taurus range descended here in majestic masses, forming the heights of Cragus and Anticragus, with the river Xanthus winding between them. The region was fertile in corn and wine, and its cedars and firs were celebrated.
☩Historical Background
The Lycians were believed to be descendants of Cretans who came under Sarpedon, brother of Minos. They were a warlike people, powerful on the sea and attached to their independence, which they successfully maintained against Croesus of Lydia. After Alexander the Great, Lycia passed through the hands of the Seleucids and Ptolemies. In 188 BC, following the Roman victory over Antiochus at Magnesia, it was given to the island of Rhodes, but was later allowed to be an independent state—its golden period. In AD 43, under Claudius, Lycia was made a Roman province, later combined with Pamphylia.
☩Biblical References
Lycia is named in 1 Maccabees 15:23 as one of the countries to which the Roman senate sent a letter favoring the Jews. In the New Testament, Paul visited two of its port cities: Patara (Acts 21:1-2), where he found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, and Myra (Acts 27:5), where he boarded an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Italy. Phaselis is also mentioned in the Apocrypha (1 Maccabees 15:23). Lycia appears to have been one of the last parts of Asia Minor to accept Christianity; it is notably absent from the provinces addressed in 1 Peter 1:1 as having been evangelized.
Related Verses1 mention
Acts· 1 verse
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Lycia," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Lycia," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).