Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "PAMFYLIA Ancient country TURKEY".
A narrow strip of the southern coast of Asia Minor, extending in a sort of arch along the Sinus Pamphylius (Gulf of Adalia), between Lycia on the west and Cilicia on the east, and on the north bordering on Pisidia. The inhabitants were a mixture of races, whence their name Pamphyli (Pamphuloi), "of all races." There were Greek settlements in the land, the foundation of which was ascribed to Mopsus. It was successively a part of the Persian, Macedonian, GrecoSyrian, and Pergamene kingdoms, and passed by the will of Attalus III. to the Romans (B.C. 130), under whom it was made a province; but this province of Pamphylia included also Pisidia and Isauria, and afterwards a part of Lycia. Under Constantine Pisidia was again separated from Pamphylia. Pamphylia was in early times called Mopsopia, as its early settlements were ascribed to Mopsus, the famous seer, as stated above.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Pamphylia (Pampulia), a country on the south coast of Asia Minor,
bordering in the west on Lycia, in the north on Pisidia, and in the east on Cilicia.
The country, consisting of only a narrow strip of coast, forms an arch round the
bay, which is called after it the Pamphylius Sinus or the Pamphylium Mare. According
to Pliny (v. 26) the country was originally called Mopsopsia, from Mopsus, a leader
of one of those bands of Greeks who after the Trojan War are said to have settled
in Pamphylia, Cilicia, and Syria. (Strab. xiv. p. 668; comp. Scylax, p. 39; Ptol.
v. 5; Dionys. Per. 850, &c.; Pomp. Mela, i. 14; Stadiasm. Mar.Mag. § 194, &c.;
Hierecl. p. 679, &c.) Pamphylia, according to Strabo, extended from Olbia to Ptolemais,
a line measuring 640 stadia, or about 18 geographical miles: the breadth of the
country, from the coast towards the interior, was nowhere above a few miles. In
later times, however, the Romans applied the name Pamphylia in such a manner as
to embrace Pisidia on both sides of Mount Taurus, which does not appear as a distinct
province of the empire until the new division under Constantine was made. This
accounts for the fact of Polybius (xxii. 27) doubting whether Pamphylia (in the
Roman sense) was one of the countries beyond or this side of Mount Taurus; for
Pisidia, in its narrower sense, is unquestionably a country beyond Mount Taurus.
(Comp. Strab. xii. p. 570, xiv. p. 632, xv. p 685.) In this latter sense Pamphylia
was separated from Lycia by Mount Climax, and from Cilicia by the river Melas,
and accordingly embraced the districts called in modern times Tekke and the coast
district of Itshil. But these limits were not always strictly observed; for Olbia
and Perge are described by some writers as belonging to Lycia (Scylax, p. 39);
while Ptolemais, beyond the Melas, which is generally regarded as belonging to
Pamphylia, is assigned by some to Cilicia. The country of Pamphylia is, on the
whole, very mountainous; for the ramifications of Mount Taurus rise in some parts
on the coast itself, and in others at a distance of only a few miles from it.
There is only one great promontory on the coast, viz. Leucotheum, or Leucolla.
The principal rivers, all of which discharge their waters into the Pamphylian
bay, are the Catarrhactes, Cestrus, Eurymedon, and Melas all of which are navigable.
The coast district between the Cestrus and Eurymedon contains the lake Capria,
which is of considerable extent.
The inhabitants of Pamphylia, Pamphyli, that is, a mixture of various
races, consisted of aborigines mixed with Cilicians who had immigrated: to these
were added bands of Greeks after the Trojan War, and later Greek colonies. (Strab.
l. c.; Eustath. ad Dion. Per. 854; Herod. vii. 91, viii. 68; Pans. vii. 3. § 3;
Appian, B.C. ii. 71, iv. 60; Liv. xliv. 14.) The Pamphylians (Pamphyli, Pamphylii,
Pamphuloi, Pamphulioi), accordingly, were in those parts what the Alemanni were
in Germany, though the current traditions related that they were all descended
from Pamphyle, a daughter of Rhacius and Manto (Steph. B. s. v. Pamphulia). or
from one Pamphylus (Eustath. ad Dion. Per. l. c.). Others again, though without
good reason, derive the name from pas and phullon, because the country was rich
in wood. The Pamphylians never acquired any great power or political importance;
they shared the fate of all the nations of Asia Minor, and in the war of Xerxes
against the Greeks their naval contingent consisted of only 30 ships, while the
Lycians furnished 50, and the Cilicians 100. (Herod. vii. 92.) After the Persian
empire was broken to pieces by Alexander, the Pamphylians first became subject
to Macedonia, and then to Syria. After the defeat of Antiochus the Great, they
were annexed by the Romans to the kingdom of Pergamus (Polyb. xxii. 27), and remained
connected with it, until it was made over to the Romans. The Greek colonies, however,
such as Aspendus and Side, remained independent republics even under the Persian
dominion (Arrian, Anab. i. 25, foll.); but we have no information at all about
their political constitutions. In their manners and social habits, the Pamphylians
strongly resembled the Cilicians (Strab. xii. p. 570, xiv. p. 670), and took part
with them in their piratical proceedings; their maritime towns were in fact the
great marts where the spoils of the Cilician pirates were disposed of. (Strab.
xiv. p. 664.) Navigation seems to have been their principal occupation, as is
evident from the coins of several of their towns. Their language was probably
a mixture of Greek and some barbarous dialects, which could scarcely be recognised
as a dialect of the Greek. (Arrian, Anab. i. 26.) But their coins bear evidence
of an intimate acquaintance with the gymnastic and agonistic arts, and with the
gods of the Hellenes, among whom Zeus, Artemis, and Dionysus are often represented.
The more important towns of Pamphylia were Lyrnas or Lyrnessus, Tenedus, Olbia,
Corycus, Aspendus, Perge, Syllium, Side, Cibyra, Ptolemais, &c. (Comp. Sestini,
Descript. Num. Vet. p. 388, foll.; Eckhel, Doctr. Num. i. 3, pp. 6, 14, &c.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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