Pamphylia (/pæmˈfɪliə/;
Ancient Greek: Παμφυλία, Pamphylía) was a region in the south of
Asia Minor, between
Lycia and
Cilicia, extending from the
Mediterranean to
Mount Taurus (all in modern-day
Antalya province,
Turkey). It was bounded on the north by
Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 120 km (75 miles) with a breadth of about 50 km (30 miles). Under the Roman administration the term Pamphylia was extended so as to include Pisidia and the whole tract up to the frontiers of
Phrygia and
Lycaonia, and in this wider sense it is employed by
Ptolemy.[1]
Name
The name Pamphylia comes from the
Greek Παμφυλία,[2] itself from
Ancient Greek: πάμφυλος (pamphylos), literally "of mingled tribes or races",[3] a compound of πᾶν (pan), neuter of πᾶς (pas) "all"[4] + φυλή (phylē), "race, tribe".[5] Herodotus derived its etymology from a
Dorian tribe, the Pamphyloi (Πάμφυλοι), who were said to have colonized the region.[6] The tribe, in turn, was said to be named after
Pamphylos (Greek: Πάμφυλος), son of
Aigimios.[7][8]
Origins of the Pamphylians
According to
Encyclopædia Britannica, the Pamphylians were “a mixture of
aboriginal inhabitants, immigrant
Cilicians (
Greek: Κίλικες) and
Greeks”.[9] However,
Herodotus and
Strabo record that the Pamphylians were descended from Greeks who came with
Calchas and
Amphilochos after the
Trojan War.[10] Additionally,
Pausanias states that they were a Greek race.[11] Theopompus, as well, informs us that Pamphylia was inhabited by Greeks.[12] Some modern scholars suggest that they migrated to Pamphylia from
Arcadia and generally the
Peloponnese in the 12th century BC.[13] The significance of the Greek contribution to the origin of the Pamphylians can be attested alike by tradition and archaeology,[14] and Pamphylia can be considered a Greek country from the early
Iron Age until the early
Middle Ages.[15]
There can be little doubt that the Pamphylians and Pisidians were the same people, though the former had received colonies from Greece and other lands, and from this cause, combined with the greater fertility of their territory, had become more civilized than their neighbours in the interior.[citation needed] But the distinction between the two seems to have been established at an early period. Herodotus, who does not mention the Pisidians, enumerates the Pamphylians among the nations of Asia Minor, while
Ephorus mentions them both, correctly including the one among the nations on the coast, the other among those of the interior.[1]
A number of scholars have distinguished in the
Pamphylian dialect important
isoglosses with both Arcadian and Cypriot (
Arcadocypriot Greek) which allow them to be studied together with the group of dialects sometimes referred to as
Achaean since it was settled not only by Achaean tribes but also colonists from other Greek-speaking regions, Dorians and
Aeolians.[16] The legend related by Herodotus and Strabo, which ascribed the origin of the Pamphylians to a colony led into their country by
Amphilochus and
Calchas after the
Trojan War, is merely a characteristic myth.[1]
In the historical era, the region's population spoke
Pamphylian, an idiosyncratic dialect of
Greek seemingly influenced by
Anatolian languages spoken nearby. On Cyrus's defeat of Croesus, Pamphylia passed to the Persian Empire. Darius included it in his first tax-district alongside Lycia, Magnesia, Ionia, Aeolia, Mysia, and Caria.[19] At some point between 468 and 465 BC, the Athenians under Cimon fought the Persians at the
Eurymedon, and won; thus adding Pamphylia to their "Delian League" empire. Toward the end of the
Peloponnesian War, the Athenians were weakened enough that the Persians were able to retake it.[20]
Upon
Alexander the Great's defeat of
Darius III, Pamphylia passed back to Greek rule, now Macedonians. After the defeat of
Antiochus III in 190 BC they were included among the provinces annexed by the Romans to the dominions of
Eumenes of Pergamum; but somewhat later they joined with the Pisidians and Cilicians in piratical ravages, and
Side became the chief centre and slave mart of these freebooters. Pamphylia was for a short time included in the dominions of
Amyntas, king of
Galatia, but after his death lapsed into a district of a Roman province.[1]
As of 1911, the district was largely peopled with recently settled Ottoman Muslims from Greece, Crete, and the Balkans, as a result of the long-term consequences of the
Congress of Berlin and the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.[1]
^Colvin, Stephen (2013).
A Brief History of Ancient Greek. John Wiley & Sons. p. 84.
ISBN978-1-118-61072-5. Herodotus and Strabo record the story that the Pamphylians were the descendants of Greeks who arrived with the seers Calchas and Amphilochos after the Trojan War.
^Ahmad Hasan Dani, Jean-Pierre Mohen, J. L. Lorenzo, and V. M. Masson, History of Humanity-Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century B.C (Vol II), UNESCO, 1996, p.425
^Elaine Fantham, Helene Peet Foley, Natalie Boymel Kampen, Sarah B. Pomeroy & H. Alan Shapiro (1995) Women in the Classical World: Image and Text, Oxford University Press
As found in the Notitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed and
dioceses established by
Diocletian,
c. 293. Permanent
praetorian prefectures established after the death of
Constantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates of
Ravenna and
Africa established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by the
theme system in c. 640–660, although in
Asia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century.