Isauria | |
---|---|
Ancient region of Anatolia | |
Location | South-Western Anatolia |
Language | Isaurian |
Biggest city | Isaura Palaea |
Persian satrapy | Phrygia/Intermittently independent along with Pisidia |
Roman province | Galatia |
Isauria (/aɪˈzɔːriə/ or /aɪˈsɔːriə/; Ancient Greek: Ἰσαυρία), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods,[1] but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya Province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In its coastal extension it bordered on Cilicia.
It derives its name from the warlike Isaurian tribe and the twin settlements Isaura Palaea (Ἰσαυρα Παλαιά, Latin: Isaura Vetus 'Old Isaura') and Isaura Nea (Ἰσαυρα Νέα, Latin: Isaura Nova 'New Isaura').
The Isaurians were fiercely independent mountain people who marauded and created havoc in neighboring districts under Macedonian and Roman occupations.