View source for Galatia

{{distinguish|Galicia (disambiguation){{!}}Galicia|Galatea (disambiguation){{!}}Galatea}}
{{other uses}}
{{Short description|Ancient region of central Anatolia once inhabited by Celts}}
{{Infobox
| bodyclass = geography
| abovestyle = background:#DEB887;
| subheader = Ancient region of Anatolia
| above = Galatia
| image = [[File:Asia Minor in the Greco-Roman period - general map - regions and main settlements.jpg|300px]]
| caption = [[Anatolia]] in the Greco-Roman period. The classical regions and their main settlements, including Galatia.
| label1 = Location
| coordinates = {{coord|40.0|33.5|dim:300km|display=title,inline}}
| data1  = [[Central Anatolia]], [[Turkey]]
| label2 = State existed
| data2  = 280–64 BC
| label3 = Successive languages
| data3  = [[Galatian language|Galatian]], [[Greek language|Greek]]
| label4 = [[Achaemenid]] [[satrapy]]
| data4  = [[Cappadocia (satrapy)|Cappadocia]]
| label5 = [[Roman provinces|Roman province]]
| data5  = [[Galatia (Roman province)|Galatia]]
}}

'''Galatia''' ({{IPAc-en|g|ə|ˈ|l|eɪ|ʃ|ə}}; {{langx|grc|Γαλατία}}, ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central [[Anatolia]], roughly corresponding to the [[Provinces of Turkey|provinces]] of [[Ankara Province|Ankara]] and [[Eskişehir Province|Eskişehir]] in modern [[Turkey]]. Galatia was named after the [[Gauls]] from [[Thrace]] (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, "Gallacia" ultimately deriving from the northwest of ancient Spain.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Larned |first=Josephus Nelson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=notPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1409 |title=El Dorado-Greaves |date=1894 |publisher=C. A. Nichols Company |page=1409 |language=en}}</ref>

==Geography==
Galatia was bounded to the north by [[Bithynia]] and [[Paphlagonia]], to the east by [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] and [[Cappadocia]], to the south by [[Cilicia]] and [[Lycaonia]], and to the west by [[Phrygia]]. Its capital was Ancyra (i.e. [[Ankara]], today the capital of modern Turkey).
[[File:Settlement areas and zone of influence of the Galatians in the 3rd (and early 2nd) centuries BC.jpg|thumb|Areas of Galatian settlement in the 3rd and early 2nd centuries BC]]

==Celtic Galatia==
{{main|Galatians (people)}}
[[File:Celts_in_Europe-fr.svg|thumb|right|Celts in Europe]]
The terms "Galatians" came to be used by the Greeks for the three Celtic peoples of Anatolia: the [[Tectosages]], the [[Trocmii]], and the [[Tolistobogii]].<ref name=OUP>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-984653-5| last = Strobel| first = Karl| title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology| chapter = Central Anatolia| access-date = 2018-05-15| date = 2013| chapter-url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:obso/9780199846535.001.0001/acref-9780199846535-e-109}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-0-415-11037-2| last = Esler| first = Philip Francis| title = Galatians| date = 1998 |page=29 |quote=''Galatai'' was the Greek word used for the Celts from beyond the Rhine who invaded regions of Macedonia, Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor in the period 280-275 BCE}}</ref> By the 1st century BC, the Celts had become so [[Hellenization|Hellenized]] that some Greek writers called them ''Hellenogalatai'' (Ἑλληνογαλάται).<ref>''See'' Diod.5.32-3; Just.26.2. Cf. Liv.38.17; Strabo 13.4.2.</ref><ref name=brill /> The Romans called them ''Gallograeci''.<ref name=brill /> Though the Celts had, to a large extent, integrated into [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] Asia Minor, they preserved their linguistic and ethnic identity.<ref name=OUP />

By the 4th century BC, the Celts had penetrated into the [[Balkans]], coming into contact with the [[Thracians]] and Greeks.<ref>''See'' The [[Periplus of Scylax]] (18-19)</ref> 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]]{{'}}s father, [[Philip II of Macedonia]] had been assassinated by someone using a dagger of Celtic origins.<ref>''See'' Diod. 16, 94, 3</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Random House Incorporated| isbn = 978-0-8478-2193-8| last1 = Moscati| first1 = Sabatino| last2 = Grassi| first2 = Palazzo| title = The Celts|chapter=4: Ancient Literary Sources| date = 1999}}</ref> [[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.<ref>''See also'' Strabo, vii, 3, 8.</ref> Several ancient accounts mention that the Celts formed an alliance with [[Dionysius I of Syracuse]] who sent them to fight alongside the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]] against the [[Thebes, Greece|Thebans]].<ref>Justin, xx, 4, 9; Xen., Hell., vii, 1, 20, 31; Diod., xv, 70. For a full discussion see [[Henri Hubert]], ''The Rise of the Celts'', 1966 pp. 5-6</ref> In 279 BC, two Celtic factions united under the leadership of [[Brennus (3rd century BC)|Brennus]] and began to push southwards from southern Bulgaria towards the Greek states. According to [[Livy]], a sizable force split off from this main group and headed toward [[Asia Minor]].<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-875293-6| last = Cunliffe| first = Barry| title = The Ancient Celts| page=81 |date = 2018-04-10}}</ref>

[[File:Dying gaul.jpg|300px|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Dying Gaul|''The Dying Gaul'']], [[Capitoline Museums]], Rome]]
For several years, a federation of Hellespontine cities, including [[Byzantion]] and [[Chalkedon]], prevented the Celts from entering Asia Minor.<ref name=brill>{{Cite book| publisher = Brill| isbn = 978-90-04-14291-6| last1 = Enenkel| first1 = K. A. E.| last2 = Pfeijffer| first2 = Ilja Leonard| title = The Manipulative Mode: Political Propaganda in Antiquity : a Collection of Case Studies| date = January 2005}}</ref><ref name="OUP"/> During the course of the power struggle between [[Nicomedes I of Bithynia|Nikomedes I]] of [[Bithynia]] and his brother [[Zipoetes II of Bithynia|Zipoetes II]], the former hired 20,000 Galatian mercenaries. The Galatians split into two groups headed by [[Leonnorius]] and Lutarius, which crossed the [[Bosporus]] 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]], [[Troy|Ilion]], [[Didyma]], [[Priene]], [[Thyatira]] and [[Laodicea on the Lycus]], while the citizens of [[Erythras (Ionia)|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.{{sfn|Sartre|2006|pp=128–129,77}}

The territory of Celtic Galatia included the cities of [[Ankara|Ancyra]] (present day Ankara), [[Pessinus]], [[Tavium]], and [[Gordium|Gordion]].<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Augsburg Publishing House| isbn = 978-0-8066-2166-1| last = Krentz| first = Edgar| title = Galatians| date = 1985-01-01| page = [https://archive.org/details/galatians0000kren/page/16 16]| url = https://archive.org/details/galatians0000kren/page/16}}</ref>

==Roman Galatia==
{{main|Galatia (Roman province)}}
Upon the death of [[Deiotarus]], the Kingdom of Galatia was given to [[Amyntas of Galatia|Amyntas]], an auxiliary commander in the Roman army of Brutus and Cassius who gained the favor of Mark Antony.<ref>It appears Amyntas was quite prodigious in striking coins for his various exploits (with his title as King) —[http://www.asiaminorcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=191 Asia Minor Coins – Amyntas]</ref> After his death in 25 BC, Galatia was incorporated by [[Augustus]] into the Roman Empire, becoming a Roman province.<ref>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Galatia |volume=11 |pages=393–394|inline=1}}</ref> Near his capital Ancyra (modern Ankara), Pylamenes, the king's heir, rebuilt a temple of the [[Phrygia]]n god [[Men (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 Divi Augusti|Res Gestae]]'' of Augustus were preserved for modernity. Few of the provinces proved more enthusiastically loyal to Rome.

[[Josephus]] related the Biblical figure [[Gomer (Ezekiel)|Gomer]] to Galatia (or perhaps to Gaul in general): "For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls], but were then called Gomerites."<ref>[[Josephus]]. ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'', I:6.</ref> Others have related Gomer to [[Cimmerians]].

[[Paul the Apostle]] visited Galatia in his missionary journeys,<ref>Acts [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016:6;&version=31; 16:6] and Acts [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2018:23;&version=31; 18:23]</ref> and wrote to the Christians there in the [[Epistle to the Galatians]].

Although originally possessing a strong [[Celts|cultural identity]], by the 2nd century AD, the Galatians had become [[Cultural assimilation|assimilated]] ([[Hellenization]]) into the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic civilization]] of [[Anatolia]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/223798/Galatia Galatia]</ref> The Galatians were still speaking the [[Galatian language]] in the time of St. [[Jerome]] (347–420 AD), who wrote that the Galatians of Ancyra and the [[Treveri]] of [[Trier]] (in what is now the [[Rhineland]]) spoke the same [[Gaulish language|language]] (''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==
<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]].
File:Galatian bronze horse bit.jpg|Galatian bronze horse bit, 3rd century BC, [[Hidirsihlar]] [[tumulus]], [[Bolu]]. 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]]. Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
File:Galatian torques 3rd century BCE Bolu Hidirsihlar tumulus.jpg|Galatian [[torc]]s, 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.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Ancient regions of Anatolia]]
* [[History of Anatolia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==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. {{ISBN|0-19-814080-0}}. Concentrates on Galatia; volume 2 covers "The Rise of the Church". ([http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1995/95.02.02.html 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, {{ISBN|978-3-16-149563-2}}.
* {{cite book|last=Sartre|first=Maurice|title=Ελληνιστική Μικρασία: Aπο το Αιγαίο ως τον Καύκασο|trans-title=Hellenistic Asia Minor: From the Aegean to the Caucaus|publisher=Ekdoseis Pataki|language=el|location=Athens|isbn=9789601617565|date=2006}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Galatia}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090112221356/http://www.galloturca.com/galatians.htm Celtic Galatians]
* {{cite web|url= http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/TheCeltsInTheEast.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927030621/http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/TheCeltsInTheEast.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=live |title=A Detailed Map of Celtic Settlements in Galatia }} {{small|(1.60 [[Megabyte|MB]])}}
* [http://www.unrv.com/provinces/galatia.php UNRV.com: Galatia]

{{Celts}}
{{History of Turkey timeline|state=expanded}}
{{Historical regions of Anatolia}}
{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman Provinces|state=collapsed}}
{{Journeys of Paul of Tarsus}}
{{Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia}}

[[Category:Galatia| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 3rd century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Historical regions of Anatolia]]
[[Category:Pauline churches]]
[[Category:Geography of ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Former countries in West Asia]]
[[Category:Hellenistic Phrygia]]
[[Category:Geography of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Ancient Near East]]
[[Category:New Testament regions]]
[[Category:Gauls]]