Isauria
Isauria was a mountainous region located in the southern hinterland of Asia Minor, bordered by several notable areas, including Pisidia and Pamphylia. Its historical narrative is marked by conflict and resilience, notably beginning in 325 BC when Isaurians killed Alexander the Great's governor, leading to punitive actions against them. Over time, the region transitioned through various political dominions, including Roman control, where it was integrated into the province of Cilicia and later into Galatia, with significant settlements like Isaura Vetus.
The Isaurians were known for their independent spirit, often resorting to banditry and piracy, which enriched their settlements. Despite being subdued by Roman forces in the mid-1st century BC, they remained a turbulent population, described by historical figures such as Ammianus Marcellinus and St. John Chrysostom as a persistent threat to their neighbors. In the 5th century AD, Isaurians gained prominence when incorporated into the military by Emperor Leo I, who sought to strengthen his forces against foreign threats. This period saw the creation of the city Leontopolis and the merging of Isaurian villages, but their fortunes shifted under Emperor Anastasius I, who deported many Isaurians to Thrace, marking a significant decline in their influence. The history of Isauria reflects a complex interplay of resistance, adaptation, and integration within the larger frameworks of regional power dynamics.
Subject Terms
Isauria
A mountainous territory in the southern hinterland of Asia Minor, east of Pisidia, north of Pamphylia, and northwest (or sometimes inclusive) of `Rough’ Cilicia (Cilicia Tracheia, Aspera)
In 325 BC the Isaurians murdered Alexander the Great's governor Balacrus, and were punished by Perdiccas, who destroyed their largest settlement Isaura Vetus (Zengibar Kalesi). Thereafter, their villages lived an independent existence, mainly by banditry and piracy which, according to Diodorus, filled Isaura Vetus with silver and gold. Subjugated in 76/5 by Publius Servilius Vatia, who assumed the title of Isauricus, the country was successively included in Rome's province of Cilicia (where the cities on the lower Calycadnus [Göksu] were known as the Isaurian Decapolis), in the client kingdom of Galatia (whose monarch fortified Isaura Vetus), and then, after the annexation of that kingdom (25), in the Galatian province (in which the stronghold attained the rank of a city).
Fortresses were constructed by the Romans at various epochs to keep the turbulent populations in check, and in the later empire two new provinces of Lycaonia (including the former Isauria) and Isauria (Rough Cilicia) were established, in which the civil powers were vested in a military governor. During the fourth century AD Ammianus Marcellinus still described the Isaurians as a menace to their neighbors, and when St. John Chrysostom was exiled by the eastern emperor Arcadius (404), his letters reported that the region was once again distressed by their slaughtering and looting, which continued over a period of three years and caused the ignominious defeat of the east Roman general Arbazacius.
Later in the same century, however, the Isaurians moved onto the center of the world stage when Leo I the Great (457–74) enrolled this hardy, native mountaineering people into his army as a deliberate counterweight to its powerful foreign (German) element. Leo I amalgamated Isaurian villages into the new city of Leontopolis, while those that remained were merged with Isaura Vetus, subsequently known as Colonia Isauria. This policy of developing national Isaurian troops was entrusted to Zeno, himself an Isaurian chieftain (originally named Tarasicodissa), who became Leo's son-in-law and then, after a transitory interval, his successor (474–91): whereupon he firmly persisted in the military enhancement of the Isaurians, who provided two of his principal generals, Cottomenes and Longinus. Anastasius I (493–518), however, put a stop to this brief ascendancy, deporting numerous Isaurians from their homeland and sending them to Thrace.