Lycia

Lycia can be roughly defined as the country lying across the Teke Peninsula (draw a straight line from Köyceğiz to Antalya, the area to the south of this line is Lycia). The first settlements in the region can be dated back to 2000 B.C.




Who are the Lycians?
Herodotus indicates that the origins of the Lycians are rooted in Crete. The struggle between two brothers Minos and Sarpedon for taking over control of Crete resulted with Sarpedon’s defeat. After losing the struggle for power, Sarpedon fleeted to Anatolia. He took control of the Lycia region and became the first Lycian King.
Recent excavations and research illustrate the possibility that Lycians were one of the oldest tribes of Anatolia. Thus, Lycian origins are in debate whereas Herodotus’’ claim is still widely accepted throughout the western world.

The Lycian language was different than Greek. Lycians called themselves “Trimilae”. Most possibly, “Lycia” was a Helen conversion of the Hittite word “Lukka”, which means “Land of Light”.

A Brief History of Lycia
Lycians made it as far as Egypt between 1200 -1300 B.C., they even allied with Hittites against Egypt during the Kadesh War (1295 B.C.). The Hittites were destroyed in 12th century B.C., followed by the rule of the Phrygian State which spread as far as Lycia region. The annihilation of the Phrygians led to the formation of Lydian State in the Western Anatolia. Lydians never succeeded to rule the Lycians. After the Persians defeated the Lydians, Lycians tried to put up resistance against the Persians which ended with the mass suicide of the Xanthians. Lycians tried to rebel against Persians but was suppressed by the Carian dynast of Persia, Mausolus. But the Lycians rebelled against Mausolus, leaded by Pericles, ruler of Limyra.



The Persians were never totally dominant over Lycia. After they were defeated by Alexander the Great, the Persian rule over Anatolia ended. After the death of Alexander, in 324 BC, Lycia passed under the rule of Antigonos, one of Alexander’s generals. Shortly after, in 310 B.C., Lycian land was under the rule of Ptolemy, King of Egypt. During this period the Lycian language was replaced by Greek and the rule of Pericles and Lycian Dynasties came to an end. In 197 B.C. King Antiochus III of Syria took control over the country and ruled Lycia until he was defeated by the Romans in Magnesia, in 190 B.C.

Under the Roman rule Lycia was subjected to Rhodians’ control. The Lycians were reluctant to accept the Rhodian control, so they rebelled for 3 times until 167 B.C. When relations between Roma and Rhodes weakened, Lycia was freed from any other control but the Romans

This extended state of liberty led to the formation of the “Lycian League”. This league has a senate to take care of all matters of the Lycian League member cities. Each city had a designated number of votes, changing between 3 and 1, depending on its importance. This league is considered to be history’s earliest example of the republican form of government.
In 88 B.C. the Pontus King, Mithridates attacked Southern Asia. The Romans received major support from the Lycians during the war against Pontus, which ended with the death of Mithridates. The loyalty of the Lycians caused the Romans to extend the Lycia country northwards.

During the Roman civil war Lycians sided with Caesar. Following Caesar’s assassination, Brutus and Cassius wanted to collect soldiers and money from the Lycia cities. But the Lycians were unwilling to supply such support, which resulted with a Roman attack on Xanthos in 42 B.C. and the second mass suicide of the Xanthians in the Lycian history.
When Antoninius defeated Brutus, he gave the Lycians their freedom, which meant that Lycian land was the only region in Asia Minor not to be under direct Roman rule. The Empire period of Romans witnessed the recovery and the expansion of Lycia by every means.

Lycia was destroyed by two earthquakes first in 141 A.D. and later in 240 A.D. By the time of the second temblor the boundary of Lycia was extended to northwest, including Caunos. During the struggle between Christianity and Paganism, Myra became the region’s metropolis. The existence of the Lycian cities continued during the Byzantine period until the Arab raids that started in 8th century A.D. After this point cities were to disappear one after another.

Tombs and Monuments in Lycia
The Lycian region is a marvelous open air museum with all various types of tombs. The country is mainly famous of very well preserved “Lycian Tombs”.
The custom of burying the dead in a tomb resembling a house can be dated back to as early as the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C. Many of the tombs in Lycia were built before the time of Alexander and have sculpture works on them as adornments. This indicates that the tombs are the oldest remains in Lycian archeological sites.
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