Phrygia (c.1200-116 BC)
Phrygia was an ancient region in west central Anatolia. Gordium appears to have been settled c.1200 BC by an Indo-European people who had migrated from Thrace. During the ninth and eighth centuries BC the city grew to become the capital of a kingdom that controlled much of Asia Minor west of the Halys River. In the eighth century, the lower city and the area to the north of the citadel was surrounded by a fortification circuit wall with regularly spaced towers.
Tradition has it that the first Phrygian king, Gordias, was the originator of the celebrated Gordian Knot, which was so complicated that it could not be untied even by Alexander the Great, who severed it with his sword. Gordias is supposed to have said: ‘Any many who can untie this knot will be king of Phrygia’. This myth would seem to have been invented by the Greeks to confer legitimacy to the new ruler. Midas (r.c.738-c.695 BC) is remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything into gold – the Midas or golden touch.
About 690 BC the Phrygian kingdom was overwhelmed by the Cimmerians and annexed by its neighbour Lydia. Phrygia passed into the empires of Persia (546), Alexander (333), Antigonus-I (323 BC), Lysimachus (301 BC), the Seleucids (281 BC), and the Attalids of Pergamum (188 BC). In 116 BC most of Phrygia was included in the Roman province of Asia.
Lycia (c.1200-00-43)
The region of Lycia on the southwest coast was bounded by Caria to the northwest and Pamphylia to the east. It is a rugged mountainous region, the only level portions being the alluvial plains of the Xanthos and Limyrus rivers. The mountainous topography accounts for its inhospitable coastline, the rivers providing the few good harbours.
In Greek mythology the Lycian kingdom was said to have been ruled by Sarpendon, a Cretan exile and brother of King Minos. This mythical story (as with Caria) implies a Cretan connection with the founding of Asia Minor. After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, Lycia emerged as an independent Neo-Hittite kingdom. The region was never unified in antiquity, but remained a confederation of independent city-states. The principal ancient cities of Lycia were Xanthos, Patara, Myra, Pinara, Tlos, Olympos and Phaselis.
Neither the Phrygians nor the Lydians were able to defeat Lycia, but after Asia Minor was conquered by Cyrus II’s general Harpagus of Media, Lycia came under the control of the Persian Empire. Harpagus’ descendants ruled Lycia until 468 BC when Athens wrestled control away. The Lycians joined the Delian League (478-404 BC) but when it ceased to exist after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), Lycia again fell under Persian domination. Lycia passed into the empires of Alexander (334 BC), Antigonus-I (323 BC), Ptolemy-I (309 BC), Antiochus III of Syria (197 BC), and the Romans (190 BC). The Lycians were given their freedom in 169 BC until Lycia/Pamphylia became a Roman province in AD 43.
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