Editing Lycia

{{Short description|Ancient geopolitical region of Anatolia (Turkey)}}
{{Other uses|Lycia (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Lydia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox
| bodyclass = geography
| abovestyle = background:#DEB887;
| subheader = Ancient Region of Anatolia
| above = Lycia<br>''Lukka''<br>{{lang|tr|Likya}}<br>{{lang|xlc|𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖}} (''Trm̃mis'')<br>{{Lang|grc|Λυκία}} ({{Lang|grc-Latn|Lykia}})
| image = [[File:Rock_tombs_(1091851058).jpg|275px|Lycian rock cut tombs of Dalyan]]
| caption = Lycian rock cut tombs of Dalyan
| label1 = Location
| data1  = [[Teke Peninsula]], Western Taurus Range, Southern [[Anatolia]], [[Turkey]]
| label2 = Languages
| data2  = [[Lycian language|Lycian]], [[Greek language|Greek]]
| label3 = Successive [[Capital (political)|capitals]]{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
| data3  = [[Xanthos]] (Kınık) [[Patara (Lycia)|Patara]] (Gelemiş)
| label4= [[Achaemenid]] [[satrapy]]
| data4  = [[Cilicia (Satrapy)|Cilicia]] & [[Lydia (Satrapy)|Lydia]]
| label5 = Roman protectorate
| data5  = Lycian League
| label6 = [[Roman provinces|Roman province]]
| data6  =  Lycia, then Lycia with other states
| label7 = Byzantine eparchy
| data7  = Lykia
| data8  = [[File:Map of Lycia.jpg|thumb|center|320px|Location of Lycia. [[Anatolia]]/[[Asia Minor]] in the Greco-Roman period. The classical regions, including Lycia, and their main settlements]]
}}
[[File:Ancient Lycia.png|thumb|350px]]

'''Lycia''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɪ|s|i|ə}};<ref>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/lycia "Lycia"]. ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.</ref> [[Lycian language|Lycian]]: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; {{langx|el|Λυκία}}, {{Lang|el-Latn|Lykia}}; {{langx|tr|Likya}}) was a [[historical region]] in [[Anatolia]] from 15–14th centuries BC (as [[Lukka lands|Lukka]]) to 546&nbsp;BC. It bordered the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in what is today the [[Provinces of Turkey|provinces]] of [[Antalya Province|Antalya]] and [[Muğla Province|Muğla]] in [[Turkey]] as well some inland parts of [[Burdur Province]]. The region was known to history from the [[Late Bronze Age]] records of [[ancient Egypt]] and the [[Hittite Empire]].

Lycia was populated by speakers of [[Luwic languages]]. Written records began to be inscribed in stone in the [[Lycian language]] after Lycia's involuntary incorporation into the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the [[Iron Age]]. At that time (546&nbsp;BC) the Luwian speakers were displaced as Lycia received an influx of Persian speakers.

The many cities in Lycia were wealthy as shown by their elaborate architecture starting at least from the 5th century BC and extending to the Roman period.

Lycia fought for the Persians in the [[Persian Wars]], but on the defeat of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] by the Greeks, it became intermittently a free agent. After a brief membership in the [[Athenian Empire]], it seceded and became independent (its treaty with Athens had omitted the usual non-secession clause), was under the Persians again, revolted again, was conquered by [[Mausolus]] of [[Caria]], returned to the Persians, and finally fell under [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] [[hegemony]] upon the defeat of the Persians by [[Alexander the Great]]. Due to the influx of Greek speakers and the sparsity of the remaining Lycian speakers, Lycia was rapidly [[Hellenization|Hellenized]] under the Macedonians, and the Lycian language disappeared from inscriptions and coinage.

On defeating [[Antiochus III the Great]] in 188 BC, the [[Roman Republic]] gave Lycia to [[Rhodes]] for 20&nbsp;years, taking it back in 168&nbsp;BC. In these latter stages of the Roman Republic, Lycia came to enjoy freedom as a Roman [[protectorate]]. The Romans validated [[home rule]] officially under the Lycian League in 168&nbsp;BC. This native government was an early [[federation]] with republican principles; these later came to the attention of the framers of the [[United States Constitution]], influencing their thoughts.<ref>{{Cite news|date=19 September 2005 |first=Richard |last=Bernstein |newspaper=The New York Times |title=A Congress, Buried in Turkey's Sand |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905123826/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/international/europe/19patara.html?_r=1 |archive-date=5 September 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/international/europe/19patara.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite home rule, Lycia was not a sovereign state and had not been since its defeat by the [[Carians]]. In 43&nbsp;AD the Roman emperor [[Claudius]] dissolved the league, and Lycia was incorporated  into the Roman province of [[Lycia et Pamphylia]]. In 395, the province was assigned to the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]]. It lost the region to the [[Sultanate of Rum]] in the early 13th century, which itself collapsed in 1308. It was then absorbed by the [[Beylik of Teke]] and came under the rule of the  [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1423. Lycia was inherited by the [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]] after the [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]].

==Geography==
[[File:Reconstruction_Nereid_Monument_BM.jpg|thumb|Partial reconstruction of the Nereid Monument at [[Xanthos]] in Lycia, c. 390–380 BC.]]

The borders of Lycia varied over time, but at its centre was the [[Teke peninsula]] of southwestern Turkey, which juts southward into the [[Mediterranean Sea]], bounded on the west by the [[Gulf of Fethiye]], and on the east by the [[Gulf of Antalya]]. Lycia comprised what is now the westernmost portion of [[Antalya]] Province, the easternmost portion of [[Muğla Province]], and the southernmost portion of [[Burdur]] Province. In ancient times the surrounding districts were, from west to east, [[Caria]], [[Pisidia]], and [[Pamphylia]], all equally as ancient, and each speaking its own [[Anatolian languages|Anatolian language]].

The name of the Teke Peninsula comes from the former name of Antalya Province, which was [[Teke Province]], named from the Turkish tribe that settled in the region.

===Physical geography===

Four ridges extend from northeast to southwest, roughly, forming the western extremity of the [[Taurus Mountains]]. Furthest west of the four are Boncuk Dağlari, or 'the Boncuk Mountains', extending from about [[Altinyayla, Burdur]], southwest to about Oren north of [[Fethiye]]. This is a fairly low range peaking at about {{convert|2340|m|ft|abbr=on}}. To the west of it the steep gorges of [[Dalaman River|Dalaman Çayi]] ('the Dalaman River'), the ancient Indus, formed the traditional border between Caria and Lycia. The stream, {{convert|229|km|mi|abbr=on}} long, enters the Mediterranean to the west of modern-day [[Dalaman]]. Upstream it is dammed in four places, after an origin in the vicinity of Sarikavak in [[Denizli]] Province.

[[File:Xanthos inschriftenpfeiler axb01.jpg|thumb|Inscribed [[Xanthian Obelisk]] (c. 400 BC), a funerary pillar for a sarcophagus that probably belonged to Dynast [[Kheriga]].{{sfn|Keen|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ig4KJySudYC&pg=PA130 130]}}]]
The next ridge to the east is Akdağlari, 'the White Mountains', about {{convert|150|km|mi|abbr=on}} long, with a high point at Uyluktepe, "Uyluk Peak", of {{convert|3024|m|ft|abbr=on}}. This massif may have been ancient Mount Cragus. Along its western side flows Eşen Çayi, "the Esen River", anciently the [[Xanthos]], Lycian Arñna, originating in the Boncuk Mountains, flowing south, and transecting the several-mile-long beach at [[Patara (Lycia)|Patara]]. The Xanthos Valley was the country called Tŗmmis in dynastic Lycia, from which the people were the Termilae or Tremilae, or Kragos in the coin inscriptions of Greek Lycia: Kr or Ksan Kr. The name of western Lycia was given by [[Charles Fellows]] to it and points of Lycia west of it.

The next ridge to the east, Beydağlari, 'the Bey Mountains', peaks at Kizlarsevrisi, {{convert|3086|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the highest point of the Teke Peninsula. It is most likely the ancient Masicytus range. Between Beydağlari and Akdağlari is an upland plateau, Elmali, where ancient Milyas was located. The elevation of the town of Elmali, which means 'Apple Town,' from the density of fruit-bearing groves in the region, is {{convert|1100|m|ft|abbr=on}}, which is the highest part of the valley below it. Fellows considered the valley to be central Lycia.

The Akçay, or 'White River', the ancient Aedesa, brought water from the slopes to the plain, where it pooled in two lakes below the town, Karagöl and Avlangöl. Currently the two lakes are dry, the waters being captured on an ongoing basis by irrigation systems for the trees. The Aedesa once drained the plain through a chasm to the east, but now flows entirely through pipelines covering the same route, but emptying into the water supplies of Arycanda and Arif. An effort has been made to restore some of the cedar forests cleared in antiquity.<ref>{{cite book | title=Mountain and plain: from the Lycian coast to the Phrygian plateau in the late Roman and early Byzantine period | first1=Martin | last1=Harrison | first2=Wendy | last2=Young | location=Ann Arbor | publisher=The University of Michigan Press | year=2001 | pages=48–50}}</ref>

The easternmost ridge extends along the east coast of the Teke Peninsula, and is called, generally, Tahtali Dağlari, "The Tahtali Mountains." The high point within them is Tahtali Dağ, elevation {{convert|2366|m|ft|abbr=on}}, dubbed "Mount Olympus" in antiquity by the Greeks, remembering [[Mount Olympus]] in Greece.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tahtali Dagi (2366 m.) |work=Antalya Website |date=1996–2011 |publisher=antalyaonline.net |url=http://www.antalya-ws.com/english/mountain/tahtali.asp |access-date=21 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825212131/http://www.antalya-ws.com/english/mountain/tahtali.asp |archive-date=25 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> These mountains create a rugged coastline called by Fellows eastern Lycia. Much of it has been reserved as Olimpos Beydağlari Parki. Within the park on the slopes of Mount Olympus is a U-shaped outcrop, [[Yanartaş]], above [[Cirali]], from which [[methane]] gas, naturally perpetually escaping from below through the rocks, feeds eternal flames. This is the location of ancient [[Mount Chimaera]].

Through the [[cul-de-sac]] between Baydağlari and Tahtalidağlari, the Alakir Çay ('Alakir River'), the ancient Limyra, flows to the south trickling from the broad valley under superhighway D400 near downtown [[Kumluca]] across a barrier beach into the Mediterranean. This configuration is entirely modern. Upstream the river is impounded behind Alakir Dam to form an urban-size reservoir. Below the reservoir a braided stream alternates with a single, small channel flowing through irrigated land. The wide bed gives an indication of the former size of the river. Upstream from the reservoir the stream lies in an unaltered gorge, flowing from the slopes of Baydağlari. The ancient route to Antalya goes up the valley and over the cul-de-sac, as the coast itself is impassible except by boat. The valley was the seat of ancient Solymus, home of the Solymi.

===Demography===

There are at least 381 ancient settlements in the broader region of Lycia-Pamphylia, with the vast majority of these in Lycia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jacobson |first1=Matthew J. |last2=Pickett |first2=Jordan |last3=Gascoigne |first3=Alison L. |last4=Fleitmann |first4=Dominik |last5=Elton |first5=Hugh |date=2022-06-27 |title=Settlement, environment, and climate change in SW Anatolia: Dynamics of regional variation and the end of Antiquity |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=e0270295 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0270295 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=9236232 |pmid=35759500 |bibcode=2022PLoSO..1770295J |doi-access=free }}</ref> These are situated either along the coastal strip in the protecting coves or on the slopes and hills of the mountain ranges. They are often difficult to access, which in ancient times was a defensive feature. The rugged coastline favored well-defended ports from which, in troubled times, Lycian pirate fleets sallied forth.

The principal cities of ancient Lycia were [[Xanthos]], [[Patara (Lycia)|Patara]], [[Myra]], [[Pinara]], [[Tlos]] and [[Olympos (Lycia)|Olympos]] (each entitled to three votes in the Lycian League) and [[Phaselis]]. Cities such as [[Telmessos]] and [[Krya]] were sometimes listed by Classical authors as Carian and sometimes as Lycian.

{{Further|List of Lycian place names}}

==Modern Tourism==
{{multiple image
| align = right
|title=Rock-cut Temple-like tombs
| width = 
| image1 = Lycian Kings Tombs-Dalyan.JPG
| width1 = 209
| caption1 = Lycian rock cut tombs of [[Dalyan]].
| image2 = 1911 Britannica-Architecture-Telmessus.png
| width2 = 156
| caption2 = Rock-cut tomb at [[Telmessus]].
| caption_align = center
}}
{{See also|Tombs at Xanthos|Lycian Way}}

Although the 2nd-century BC dialogue ''[[Erōtes (Lucian)|Erōtes]]'' found the cities of Lycia "interesting more for their history than for their monuments, since they have retained none of their former splendor," many relics of the [[Lycians]] remain visible today. These relics include the distinctive [[rock-cut tombs]] in the sides of cliffs. The [[British Museum]] in [[London]] contains one of the best collections of Lycian artifacts. [[Letoon]], an important center in Hellenic times of worship for the goddess [[Leto]] and her twin children, [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]], and nearby Xanthos, ancient capital of Lycia, constitute a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/484/ |title=Xanthos-Letoon |work= World Heritage – The List|publisher= UNESCO|access-date= 13 October 2010}}</ref>

Turkey's first [[Waymarking#Waymarking signage|waymarked]] long-distance footpath, the [[Lycian Way]], follows part of the coast of the region. The establishment of the path was a private initiative by a British/Turkish woman called Kate Clow. It is intended to support [[sustainable tourism]] in smaller mountain villages which are in the process of depopulation. Since it is mainly walked in March – June and Sept–Nov, it also has lengthened the tourism season. The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry promotes the Lycian coast as part of the [[Turkish Riviera]] or the Turquoise Coast, but the most important part of this is further west near Bodrum. This coast features rocky or sandy beaches at the bases of cliffs and settlements in protected coves that cater to the yachting industry.

[[Yeşilüzümlü]] village is a popular touristic attraction among the tourists beyond the Lycian Way due to its historic architecture and narrow cobblestone streets. The village is also located near the [[Cadyanda]] ruins, which date back to 3000 BCE, that are also popular among the tourists. The inhabitants are also known for their weavings called "Dastar", which Turkish Patent Institute granted a geographical indication status in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Üzümlü Villages - GoTürkiye Destinations |url=https://villages.goturkiye.com/uzumlu |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=goturkiyevillages.com |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Telmessos rock tomb.jpg|Telmessos rock tomb. The sign on site says the tombs date from about 400 BC
File:Myra_Tombs_Temples.jpg|Rock-cut tombs in [[Myra]]
File:Pinara Ancient Lycian City Fethiye Turkey several Rock Tombs detail.jpg|Ogival rock-cut tomb at [[Pinara]], 4th century BC
File:Kash 95 019.jpg|Ancient Lycian tomb in [[Kaş]]
File:Tomb of Amyntas.jpg|The [[Tomb of Amyntas]] in [[Fethiye]]
File:Oinoanda 3.JPG|Ancient Greek theater at [[Oinoanda]]
File:Lycian tomb Kas IMGP8941.jpg|Lycian tomb in [[Kaş]]
File:185A7263.jpg|Lycian tomb in Fethiye
File:Λυκιακός τάφος.jpg|Lycian tomb in [[Kastellorizo]]
</gallery>

==Ancient language==
{{main|Luwian language|Lycian language}}
{{multiple image
| total_width = 440
| align    = right
| image1   = Tomb_Payava_south_BM_950.jpg
| width1   = 
| caption1 = The Lycian [[Tomb of Payava|Payava]] as depicted on his tomb, with inscription. 
| image2   = Payava tomb front inscription.jpg
| width2   = 
| caption2 = The inscription on the front of the tomb of Payava.
| caption_align = center
| footer=The Lydian inscription runs: “Payava, son of Ed[...], acquired [this grave] in the sacred [burial] area of the acropolis(?) of [[Artumpara|A[rttumba]ra]] (a Lycian ruler), when Lycia saw(?) S[alas](??) [as governor(?)]. This tomb I made, a 10 year ''iti'' (project?), by means of Xanthian ''ahama''s.”<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schürr |first1=Diether |title=Der lykische Dynast Arttumbara und seine Anhänger |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274519945 |publisher=Akademie Verlag |access-date=2021-04-07}} = ''Klio'' 94/1 (2012) 18-44.</ref> 375–360 BC.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Payava Tomb |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=461543&partId=1}}</ref>
}}
The eponymous inhabitants of Lycia, the [[Lycians]], spoke Lycian, a member of the [[Luwian]] branch of the [[Anatolian languages]], a subfamily of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family. Lycian has been attested only between about 500&nbsp;BC and no later than 300&nbsp;BC, in a [[Lycian alphabet|unique alphabet]] devised for the purpose from the Greek alphabet of Rhodes. However, the Luwian languages originated in Anatolia during the 2nd millennium BC. The country was known by the name of [[Lukka]] then, and was sometimes under Hittite rule.

At about 535&nbsp;BC, before the first appearance of attested Lycian, the [[Achaemenid Empire]] overran Lycia. Despite its resistance, because of which the population of Xanthos was decimated, Lycia became part of the Persian Empire. The first coins with Lycian letters on them appeared not long before 500 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=11}}.</ref> Lycia prospered under a monarchy set up by the Persians. Subsequently, the Lycians were verbose in stone, carving memorial, historical and governmental inscriptions. Not all of these can yet be entirely understood, due to remaining ignorance of the language. The term "dynastic period" is used. If the government was any sort of federal democracy, there is no evidence of it, as the term "dynastic" suggests.

{{multiple image
| direction=vertical
| align    = right
| width=220
| image1   = Lycian tomb relief at Myra 4th century BCE.jpg
| width1   = 
| caption1 = Warrior in Lycian tomb relief at [[Myra]], 4th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fant |first1=Clyde E. |last2=Reddish |first2=Mitchell G. |title=A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199881451 |page=485 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPDXFPxKBzIC&pg=PT485}}</ref>
| image2   = Myra tomb relief.jpg
| width2   = 
| caption2 = Drawing of the complete tomb relief, Myra.
| caption_align = center
}}
Lycia hosted a small enclave of Dorian Greeks for some centuries and [[Rhodes]] was mainly inhabited by Dorians at the time. After the defeat of the Persians by the Greeks, Lycia became open to further Greek settlement. During this period, inscriptions in Lycian diminished, while those in Greek multiplied. Complete assimilation to Greek occurred sometime in the 4th century, after Lycia had come under the control of [[Alexander the Great]] and his fellow Macedonians.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=49}}.</ref> There is no agreement yet on which inscription in the Lycian language is the very last, but nothing dated after the year 300 BC has yet been found.

Subsequently, the Lycians were vassalized by the [[Roman Republic]], which allowed the Lycians home rule under their own language, which at that point was Greek. Lycia continued to exist as a vassal state under the [[Roman Empire]] until its final division after the death of [[Theodosius I]] at which point it became a part of the [[Byzantine Empire]] under [[Arcadius]]. After the fall of the Byzantines in the 15th century, Lycia fell under the control of the [[Ottoman Empire]]; Turkish colonization of the area soon followed. Turkish and Greek settlements existed side-by-side, each speaking their own language.

All Greek-speaking enclaves in Anatolia were exchanged for Turkish speakers in Greece during the final settlement of the border with Greece at the beginning of the [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]] in 1923. The Turks had won wars against both Greece and Armenia in the preceding few years, settling the issue of whether the coast of Anatolia was going to be Greek or Turkish. The intent of the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)]] was to define borders that would not leave substantial populations of one country in another. Some population transfers were enforced. Former Greek villages still stand as ghost towns in Lycia.

==History==
===Bronze Age===
{{main|Lukka lands}}

During the [[Late Bronze Age]], Lycia was part of the ''Lukka lands'' known from [[Hittite language|Hittite]] and [[Egyptian language|ancient Egyptian]] records. The toponyms Lukka and Lycia are believed to be cognate, as are the names of numerous Lukkan and Lycian settlements.<ref>[[Trevor Bryce]] (2005) ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=O2VnjMAwNqUC&pg=PA54&dq=lukka&sig=lPpSxJc0_GPkX92TAdcjXczuKJ8#PPA54,M1 p. 54]</ref><ref>Ilya Yakubovich (2010) ''Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language'', Leiden: Brill, p. 134</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor|title=The Trojans and their Neighbours|year=2005 |publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-34959-8|pages=81–82}}</ref>

The Lukka lands were never a unified kingdom, instead having a decentralized political structure.
Archaeological remains of the Lukka people are sparse. The Lukka people were famously fractious, with Hittite and Egyptian records describing them as raiders, rebels, and pirates. 
Lukka people fought against the Hittites as part of the [[Assuwa|Assuwa confederation]], later fought for the Hittites in the [[Battle of Kadesh]], and are listed among the groups known to modern scholars as the [[Sea People]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beckman |first1=Gary|last2=Bryce|first2=Trevor|last3=Cline|first3=Eric|year=2012 |title=The Ahhiyawa Texts|publisher=Brill|page=99|isbn=978-1589832688}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor|title=The Trojans and their Neighbours|year=2005 |publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-34959-8|pages=82, 148–149}}</ref><ref>Bryce 2005, p. 336; Yakubovich 2010, p. 134</ref>

===Dynastic period===

====Acquisition by Cyrus the Great (circa 540 BC)====
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Kizilbel Elmali tomb charioteer.jpg
| width1 = 
| caption1 = Charioteers on a tomb at Kizilbel near [[Elmali]], Lycia, c. 525 BC
| image2 = Kizilbel Elmali tomb warrior.jpg
| width2 = 
| caption2 = Detail of the frescoe: Lycian warrior painted in [[Archaic Greek]] style.
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Herodotus writes more credibly of contemporaneous events, especially where they concerned his native land. Asia Minor had been partly conquered by [[Iranian peoples]], first the [[Scythians]], later the [[Medes]]. The latter were defeated by the [[Persians]], who incorporated them and their lands into the new [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]]. [[Cyrus the Great]], founder of the [[Achaemenid]] dynasty, resolved to complete the conquest of Anatolia as a prelude to operations further west, to be carried out by his successors. He assigned the task to [[Harpagus]], a Median general, who proceeded to subdue the various states of Anatolia, one by one, some by convincing them to submit, others through military action.

Arriving at the southern coast of Anatolia in 546&nbsp;BC, the army of Harpagus encountered no problem with the Carians and their immediate Greek neighbors and alien populations, who submitted peacefully. In the [[Xanthos]] Valley an army of Xanthian Greeks sallied out to meet them, fighting determinedly, although vastly outnumbered. Driven into the citadel, they collected all their property, dependents and slaves into a central building, and burned them up. Then, after taking an oath not to surrender, they died to a man fighting the Persians, foreshadowing and perhaps setting an example for Spartan conduct at the [[Battle of Thermopylae]] a few generations later.

[[File:Kybernis north BM B287.jpg|thumb|Probable depiction of the Lycian ruler [[Kybernis]] (520–480 BC), [[Harpy Tomb]]. [[Archaic Greek]] style.]]
Archaeological evidence indicates there was a major fire on the acropolis of Xanthos in the mid-6th century BC but, as Antony Keen points out, there is no way to connect that fire with the event presented by Herodotus. It might have been another fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=73}}.</ref> The Caunians, says Herodotus, followed a similar example immediately after.<ref>''Histories'', Book I, Section 176.</ref> If there was an attempt by any of the states of Lycia to join forces, as happened in Greece 50&nbsp;years later, there is no record of it, suggesting that no central government existed. Each country awaited its own fate alone.

Herodotus also says or implies that 80 Xanthian families were away at the time, perhaps with the herd animals in alpine summer pastures (pure speculation), but helped repopulate the place. However, he reports, the Xanthians of his time were mainly descended from non-Xanthians. Looking for any nuance that might shed light on the repopulation of Xanthos, Keen interprets Herodotus' "those Lycians who now say that they are Xanthians" to mean that Xanthos was repopulated by other Lycians (and not by Iranians or other foreigners).<ref name=Keen76>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=76}}.</ref> Herodotus said nothing of the remainder of Lycia; presumably, that is true because they submitted without further incident. Lycia was well populated and flourished as a Persian satrapy; moreover, they spoke mainly Lycian.

====The Harpagid theory====
The Harpagid Theory was initiated by [[Charles Fellows]], discoverer of the [[Xanthian Obelisk]], and person responsible for the transportation of the Xanthian Marbles from Lycia to the [[British Museum]]. Fellows could not read the Lycian inscription, except for one line identifying a person of illegible name, to whom the monument was erected, termed the son of Arppakhu in Lycian, equivalent to Greek [[Harpagos]]. Concluding that this person was the conqueror of Lycia in 546, Fellows conjectured that Harpagos had been made permanent satrap of Lycia for his services; moreover, the position was hereditary, creating a Harpagid Dynasty. This theory prevailed nearly without question for several generations.

[[File:Xanthos sarcophagus (cropped).jpg|thumb|The "[[Harpy Tomb]]" of [[Kybernis]], a solid sandstone pillar with the sarcophagus of Kybernis on top (c. 480 BC).]]
To the inscriptions of the Xanthian Obelisk were added those of the [[Letoon trilingual]], which gave a sequel, as it were, to the names on the obelisk. Studies of coin legends, initiated by Fellows, went on. Currently, most (but not all) of the Harpagid Theory has been rejected. The Achaemenids utilized no permanent satrapies; the political circumstances changed too often. The conqueror of new lands was seldom made their satrap; he went on to other conquests. It was not the Persian custom to grant hereditary satrapies; satrap was only a step in the ''[[cursus honorum]]''. And finally, a destitute mountain country would have been a poor reward for Cyrus' best general.<ref name=Keen76/> The main evidence against the Harpagid Theory (as Keen calls it) is the reconstruction of the name of the Xanthian Obelisk's deceased as Lycian Kheriga, Greek Gergis ([[Nereid Monument]]), a king reigning approximately 440–410&nbsp;BC, over a century later than the conqueror of Lycia.

The next logical possibility is that Kheriga's father, Arppakhu, was a descendant of the conqueror. In opposition, Keen reconstructs the dynastic sequence from coin inscriptions as follows.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|pp=78, 116–117}}.</ref> Kheriga had two grandfathers, Kuprlli and Kheriga. The younger Kheriga was the successor of Kuprlli. The latter's son, therefore, Kheziga, who was Kheriga's uncle, must have predeceased Kuprlli. Arppakhu is listed as regnant on two other inscriptions, but he did not succeed Kuprlli. He must therefore have married a daughter of Kuprlli, and have also predeceased the long-lived Kuprlli. The latter then was too old to reign de facto. On the contemporaneous deaths of both him and his son-in-law, Kheriga, named after his paternal grandfather, acquired the throne.

Kuprlli was the first king recorded for certain (there was an earlier possible) in the coin legends. He reigned approximately 480–440. Harpagos was not related by blood. The conqueror, therefore, was not the founder of the line, which was not Harpagid. An Iranian family, however, producing some other Harpagids, did live in Lycia and was of sufficient rank to marry the king's daughter. As to whether the Iranian family were related to any satrap, probably not. Herodotus said that Satrapy 1 (the satrapies were numbered) consisted of Ionia, Magnesia, Aeolia, Caria, Lycia, Milya, and Pamphylia, who together paid a tax of 400 silver talents. This satrapy was later broken up and recombined.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, 3.90</ref> Keen hypothesizes that since Caria had responsibility for the King's Highway through Lycia, Lycia and Caria were a satrapy.<ref name="Keen 1998 84">{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=84}}.</ref>

====The Lycian monarchy====
[[File:Karaburun Elmali dignitary 470 BCE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Lycian dignitary in Achaemenid style, at the Karaburun tomb near [[Elmalı]], Lycia, c. 475 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=André-Salvini |first1=Béatrice |title=Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520247314 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC&pg=PA46}}</ref>]]
The [[Achaemenids|Achaemenid Persian]] policy toward Lycia was hands-off.<ref name="Keen 1998 84"/> There was not even a satrap stationed in the country. The reason for this tolerance after such a determined initial resistance is that the Iranians were utilizing another method of control: the placement of aristocratic Persian families in a region to exercise putative home rule. There is some evidence that the Lycian population was not as docile as the Persian hand-off policy would suggest. A section of the [[Persepolis Administrative Archives]] called the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, regarding the redistribution of goods and services in the Persepolis [[palace economy]], mentions some redistributed prisoners of war, among whom were the Turmirla or Turmirliya, Lycian Trm̃mili, "Lycians." They lived during the reign of [[Darius I]] (522–486), the tablets dating from 509.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=86}}.</ref>

{{multiple image
| align = right
|title=Ogival tombs
| total_width = 300 
| image1 = The tomb of Payava, a Lykian aristocrat, about 375-360 BC, from Xanthos, British Museum (9504934234).jpg
| width1 = 
| caption1 = The [[tomb of Payava]], a Lykian aristocrat, about 375–360 BC, from [[Xanthos]], [[British Museum]].
| image2 = Tomb at Pinara.jpg
| width2 = 
| caption2 = Ogival (pointed [[Barrel vault|barrel-vaulted]]) rock-cut tomb at [[Pinara]], Lycia, highly reminiscent of Indian [[Chaitya]] arches.<ref name="GHA">{{cite book |last1=Ching |first1=Francis D.K |author-link1=Frank Ching |last2=Jarzombek |first2=Mark M. |author-link2=Mark Jarzombek |last3=Prakash |first3=Vikramaditya |title=A Global History of Architecture |date=2017 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781118981603 |page=707 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPqKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT707}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Coomaraswamy |first1=Ananda K. |title=History of Indian and Indonesian art |date=1972 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.52349/page/n313 12] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.52349}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bombay |first1=Asiatic Society of |title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay |date=1974 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bombay |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7NW1AAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=The Lydian tombs at Pinara and Xanthos, on the south-coast of Asia Minor, were excavated like the early Indian rock-hewn chaitya-hall. |last1=Joveau-Dubreuil |first1=Gabriel |title=Vedic antiquites |date=1976 |publisher=Akshara |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcEtAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>
| caption_align = center
}} 
For closer attention to their conquered, the Persian government preferred to establish a [[client state]], setting up a monarchy under their control. The term "[[dynast]]" has come into use among English-speaking scholars, but that is not a native term. The Lycian inscriptions indicate the monarch was titled xñtawati, more phonetically khñtawati. The holders of this title can be traced in coin legends, having been given the right to coin. Lycia had a single monarch, who ruled the entire country from a palace at Xanthos. The monarchy was hereditary, hence the term "dynast." It was utilized by Persia as a means of transmitting Persian policy. It must have been they who put down local resistance and transported the prisoners to Persepolis, or ordered them transported. Some members of the dynasty were Iranian, but mainly it was native Lycian. If the survivors of 546 were in fact herdsmen (speculation), then all the Xanthian nobility had perished, and the Persians must have designated some other Lycian noble, whom they could trust.<ref name=Keen87>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=87}}.</ref>

The first dynast is believed to be the person mentioned in the last line of the Greek epigram inscribed on the [[Xanthian Obelisk]], which says "this monument has brought glory to the family (genos) of ka[]ika," which has a letter missing. It is probably not *karikas, for Kherika, as the latter is translated in the [[Letoon trilingual]] as Gergis. A more likely possibility is *kasikas for Kheziga, the same as Kheriga's uncle, the successor to Kuprlli, who predeceased him.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=81}}.</ref>

Herodotus mentioned that the leader of the Lycian fleet under [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]] in the [[Second Persian War]] of 480&nbsp;BC was ''Kuberniskos Sika'', previously interpreted as "Cyberniscus, the son of Sicas," two non-Lycian names.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, 7.98.</ref> A slight regrouping of the letters obtains ''kubernis kosika'', "Cybernis, son of Cosicas," where Cosicas is for Kheziga.<ref name=Keen87/> Cybernis went to the bottom of the Straits of Salamis with the entire Lycian fleet in the [[Battle of Salamis]], but he may be commemorated by the [[Harpy Tomb]]. According to this theory, Cybernis was the KUB of the first coin legends, dated to the window, 520–500.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=89}}.</ref> The date would have been more towards 500.<ref>{{harvnb|Hill|1897|p=xxvi}}. – Coin Series I of the British Museum, bearing the KUB, is dated by Hill to the window 520–480, somewhat less precisely than the 520–500.</ref>

There is a gap, however, between him and Kuprlli, who should have had a father named the same as his son, Kheziga. The name Kubernis does not appear again. Keen suggests that [[Darius I]] created the kingship on reorganizing the satrapies in 525, and that on the intestate death of Kubernis in battle, the Persians chose another relative named Kheziga, who was the father of Kuprlli. The Lycian dynasty may therefore be summarized as follows:<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=221}}.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!width=25% |Greek Name !! Lycian "Kings" (at Xanthos) !! Local Lycian rulers !!Coinage!!width=35% | Status !!Date BC
|-
|Pre-dynastic period (c.540–c.530 BC) ||  ||  ||[[File:LYCIA,_Phaselis._Circa_550-530-20_BC.jpg|center|60px]]||Initial Achaemenid control since circa 542/539 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=224}}.</ref>|| c.540–c.530
|-
|Kosikas || Kheziga I ||  ||[[File:Lycia_coin_Circa_520-470_BCE.jpg|center|60px]] ||First of the line. || c.525
|-
|[[Kubernis]] || KUB ||  ||[[File:Kybernis_north_BM_B287.jpg|center|50px]] ||Second in succession, son of the former.|| c.520–480
|-
|Kosikas ||  || Kheziga II ||[[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Uncertain dynast coinage. Circa 490-80-440-30 BC.jpg|center|60px]] || Third in succession, unknown relative (possibly son of Kheziga I ?). || fl. c.500
|-
| rowspan="3" | ? || rowspan="3" valign="top" | [[Kuprlli]] (ΚΟ𐊓, pronounced "coupe") ||  || [[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kuprilli. Circa 480-440 BC.jpg|center|60px]]|| Kuprlli, son of Kheziga II, was fourth in succession. First monarch identifiable through coin legends.|| 480–c.440
|-
| colspan="3" | During Kuprlli's long reign at least a dozen local Lycian rulers started to mint their own coins,<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|pp=113–114}}.</ref> among them [[Teththiweibi]]: ||
|-
| Teththiweibi ||[[File:Coin of Teththiweibi, dynast of Achaemenid Lycia.jpg|center|60px]] || || c.450–430/20
|-
| Kosikas || (Kheziga III: heir-apparent) ||  ||  || Son of Kuprlli, first in line to succeed him, but died young. || † c.460
|-
| Harpagus (Iranian name) || (Arppakhu: regent for Kuprlli) ||  ||  || Son-in-law of Kuprlli. The elderly Kuprlli, when he became incapacitated, remained nominal king, but real power rested with Arpakkhu as his regent.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=117}}.</ref> || fl. c.450
|-
| [[Kheriga|Gergis]] || [[Kheriga]] ||  ||[[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kheriga. Circa 450-410 BC.jpg|center|60px]]|| Fifth in succession, son of Arppakhu. Probably regent for Kuprlli in his last years, after his death Kheriga became king himself. || c.440-c.410
|-
|? ||[[Kherei]]  ||  ||[[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kherei. Circa 440-30-410 BC.jpg|center|60px]]|| Sixth in succession, brother of Kheriga.|| c.410–c.390
|-
|[[Arbinas]] (Iranian name)|| [[Arbinas|Erbbina]]  ||  ||[[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina. Circa 430-20-400 BC.jpg|center|60px]]||Seventh in succession, son of Kheriga. The last known of the line.|| c.390–c.380
|-
| Artembares (Iranian name, *Rtambura, self-identified as "the Mede.") || [[Artumpara|Arttum̃para]]  ||  ||[[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Artumpara. Circa 400-370 BC.jpg|center|60px]]|| Ruler of western Lycia from Telmessos. Ousted by Perikle. || c.380–c.360
|-
|Mithrapata ||  || [[Mithrapata]] ||[[File:DYNASTS_of_LYCIA._Mithrapata._Circa_390-370_BC.jpg|center|60px]]|| Ruler in eastern Lycia. || c.390–c.370
|-
|Pericles (Greek name) || [[Pericles, Dynast of Lycia|Perikle]]  ||  ||[[File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Perikles. Circa 380-360 BC.jpg|center|60px]]|| At first ruler of eastern Lycia from Limyra, then victor over Arttum̃para, rebel in the [[Revolt of the Satraps]], last Lycian king. || c.360
|}

===Classical period===
====Ally of Athens in the Delian League (c. 470–430 BC)====
[[File:DYNASTS_of_LYCIA._Kuprilli._Circa_480-440_BC.jpg|thumb|[[Kuprlli]] (480–440 BC) ruled at the time of the Athenian alliance. Head of Karneios or [[Zeus]]-Ammon and [[Triskeles]]. KO-𐊓-P(ΛΛE) around.]]
Following the Achaemenid defeat in the [[Greco-Persian War]] (479 BC), the Lycians may have temporarily joined the Greek side during the counter-attacks of the Spartan [[Pausanias (general)|Pausanias]] in the Eastern Mediterranean circa 478 BC.<ref name="AK97">{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ig4KJySudYC&pg=PA97 97–]}}</ref> However, the Lycian were still on the Persian side during the expeditions of [[Kimon]] circa 470 BC, who finally persuaded the Lycian to join the Athenian alliance, the [[Delian League]]: [[Diodorus]] relates that Kimon "persuaded those of Lycia and took them into his allegiance".<ref name="AK97"/>

As the power of Athens weakened and Athens and Sparta fought the [[Peloponnesian war]]s (431–404 BC), the majority of Lycian cities defaulted from the [[Delian League]], with the exception of Telmessos and Phaselis. In 429&nbsp;BC, Athens sent an expedition against Lycia to try to force it to rejoin the League. This failed when Lycia's leader Gergis/[[Kheriga]] of Xanthos defeated Athenian General Melesander.<ref>{{cite book |title=The History of the Peloponnesian War: Translated from the Greek of Thucydides. To which are Annexed, Three Preliminary Discourses. I. On the Life of Thucydides. II. On His Qualifications as a Historian. III. A Survey of the History |date=1818 |publisher=Edward Earle T.H. Palmer, printer |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9E_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA173}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tuplin |first1=Christopher |title=Persian Responses: Political and Cultural Interaction with(in) the Achaemenid Empire |date=2007 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=9781910589465 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cwFPDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150}}</ref>

==== Renewed Achaemenid control (c. 430–333 BC) ====
{{multiple image
| total_width = 365
| align    = right
| title =Stand-alone Temple-like tombs
| image1   = Illustrerad Verldshistoria band I Ill 102.jpg
| width1   = 
| caption1 = Illustration of the original [[Nereid Monument]], tomb of King [[Arbinas]].
| image2   = Reconstruction Nereid Monument BM.jpg
| width2   = 
| caption2 = Reconstruction of the Nereid Monument, British Museum. This was a new "Greek Temple" type of tomb for Lycia, adopted circa 380 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mortensen |first1=Eva |last2=Poulsen |first2=Birte |title=Cityscapes and Monuments of Western Asia Minor: Memories and Identities |date=2017 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=9781785708398 |page=273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yU5mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA273}}</ref>
| caption_align = center
}}
The Lycians once again fell under Persian domination, and by 412&nbsp;BC, Lycia is documented as fighting on the winning side of Persia. The Persian [[satraps]] were re-installed, but (as the coinage of the time attests) they allowed local dynasts the freedom to rule.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiaminorcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=262 |title=Lycian Dynasts |work=www.AsiaMinorCoins.com}}</ref>

The last known dynast of Lycia was [[Pericles, Dynast of Lycia|Perikles]]. He ruled 380–360 BC over eastern Lycia from [[Limyra]], at a time when Western Lycia was directly under Persian domination.<ref name="PC">{{cite book |last1=Houwink ten Cate |first1=Philo Hendrik Jan |title=The Luwian Population Groups of Lycia and Cilicia Aspera During the Hellenistic Period |date=1961 |publisher=Brill Archive |pages=12–13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNM3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA12}}</ref> Pericles took an active part in the [[Revolt of the Satraps]] against Achaemenid power, but lost his territory when defeated.<ref name="PC"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire |date=2002 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=9781575061207 |page=673 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxQ9W6F1oSYC&pg=PA673}}</ref><ref name="BT">{{cite book |last1=Bryce |first1=Trevor |title=The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134159079 |page=419 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwwNS0diXP4C&pg=PA419}}</ref>

After Perikles, Persian rule was reestablished firmly in Lycia in 366 or 362 BC. Control was taken by [[Mausolus]], the satrap of nearby [[Caria]], who moved the satrap's residence to [[Halicarnassus]].<ref name="PC"/> Lycia was also ruled directly by the Carian dynast [[Pixodarus]], son of [[Hecatomnus]], as shown in the [[Xanthos trilingual inscription]].

Lycia was also ruled by men such as [[Mithrapata]] (late 4th century BC), whose name was Persian. Persia held Lycia until it was conquered by [[Alexander the Great|Alexander III (the Great)]] [[Macedon|of Macedon]] during 334–333&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haywood |first=John |display-authors=et al |title=Historical Atlas of the Classical World: 500&nbsp;BC – AD&nbsp;600 |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |location=New York |year=2002 |at=Plate 2.09}}</ref>

During the Alexander the Great period, [[Nearchus]] was appointed viceroy of Lycia and of the land adjacent to it as far as mount Taurus.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0074.tlg001.perseus-grc1:3.6| title = Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, 3.6}}</ref>

;Dynastic portraiture on coinage
{{See also|Coins}}
Although many of the first [[coin]]s in [[wikt:Antiquity|Antiquity]] illustrated the images of various gods, the first portraiture of actual rulers appears with the coinage of Lycia in the late 5th century BC.<ref>{{cite book |quote=The earliest attempts at portraiture appear to have taken place in Lycia. The heads of various dynasts appear on coins of the fifth century. |last1=Carradice |first1=Ian |title=Ancient Greek Portrait Coins |date=1978 |publisher=British Museum Publications |isbn=9780714108490 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FdmAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="SW">{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Shearer |last2=Birmingham |first2=Shearer |title=Portraiture |date=2004 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780192842589 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3sRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68}}</ref> No ruler had dared to illustrate his own portrait on coinage until that time.<ref name="SW"/> The Achaemenids had been the first to illustrate the person of their king or a hero in a stereotypical undifferentiated manner, showing a bust or the full body, but never an actual portrait, on their [[Sigloi]] and [[Daric]] coinage from circa 500 BC.<ref name="SW"/><ref name="Root">{{cite journal |last1=Root |first1=Margaret Cool |title=The Persian archer at Persepolis : aspects of chronology, style and symbolism |journal=Revue des Études Anciennes |date=1989 |volume=91 |pages=43–50 |doi=10.3406/rea.1989.4361 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rea_0035-2004_1989_num_91_1_4361}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |page=20 |title=Half-figure of the King: unravelling the mysteries of the earliest Sigloi of Darius I |journal=The Celator |volume=26 |issue=2 |date=February 2012 |url=https://community.vcoins.com/thecelator/The-Celator-Vol.26-No.02-Feb-2012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121161656/https://community.vcoins.com/thecelator/The-Celator-Vol.26-No.02-Feb-2012.pdf |archive-date=2018-11-21 |url-status=live}}</ref> From the time of [[Alexander the Great]], portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage.<ref name="SW"/>

<gallery>
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kherei. Circa 440-30-410 BC.jpg|Coin of the dynast of Lycia, [[Kherei]], with [[Athena]] on the obverse, and himself wearing the [[Bashlik|Persian cap]] on the reverse. 410–390 BC.
File:Official receiving Visitors, Xanthos, Nereid Monument, Frieze II, Block 879.jpg|Dynast [[Arbinas]], in Persian dress, receiving emissaries. Scene from the upper podium frieze of the [[Nereid Monument]], c. 380 BC.
File:Silver stater of Mithrapata of Lycia (c. 390–370 BC).jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler [[Mithrapata]] (ruled 390–370 BC).
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Perikles. Circa 380-360 BC.jpg|Coin of [[Pericles, Dynast of Lycia|Perikles]], last king of Lycia. Circa 380–360 BC.
File:Lycian sarcophagus.jpg|"[[Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon]]", [[Sidon]], end of 5th century BC. 
</gallery>

===Hellenistic period (333–168 BC)===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| title = ''Ptolemaion'' in [[Lymira]]
| image1 = Limyra, Ptolemaion.jpg
| width1 = 
| caption1 = Ptolemaion in [[Limyra]], c. 270 BC.
| image2 = Limyra, Ptolemaion, lady.jpg
| width2 = 
| caption2 = Ptolemaion sculpture of a lady.
| caption_align = center
| direction = 
| total_width = 365
| alt1 = 
}}
After the [[death of Alexander the Great]] in 323&nbsp;BC, [[Diadochi|his generals]] fought amongst themselves over the succession. Lycia fell into the hands of the general [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]] by 304&nbsp;BC. In 301&nbsp;BC Antigonus was killed by an alliance of the other successors of Alexander, and Lycia became a part of the kingdom of [[Lysimachus]], who ruled until he was killed in battle in 281&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Haywood|2002|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}

Control then passed to the Ptolemaic Kingdom, centre on Egypt. [[Ptolemy II Philadelphos]] (ruled 285–246 BC), who supported the Limyrans of Lycia when they were threatened by the [[Galatians (people)|Galatians]] (a Celtic tribe that had invaded [[Asia Minor]]). The citizens of Limyra in return dedicated a monument to Ptolemy, called the ''Ptolemaion'' circa 270 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Waelkens |first1=Marc |last2=Loots |first2=Lieven |title=Sagalassos Five |date=2000 |publisher=Leuven University Press |isbn=9789058670793 |page=497 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zs5xuX231MoC&pg=PA497}}</ref> By 240&nbsp;BC Lycia was firmly part of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]], centred on Egypt,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Barraclough |editor-first=Geoffrey |title=Collins Atlas of World History |publisher=Borders Press |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |year=2003 |page=77}}</ref> and remained in their control through 200&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Black |editor-first=Jeremy |title=World History Atlas |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London |year=2000 |page=179}}</ref>

It had apparently come under [[Seleucid]] control by 190&nbsp;BC, when the Seleucids' defeat in the [[Battle of Magnesia]] resulted in Lycia being awarded to [[Rhodes]] in the [[Peace of Apamea]] in 188&nbsp;BC.

In 181 BC, at the end of the [[Roman-Seleucid War]], the consul [[Gnaeus Manlius Vulso (consul 189 BC)|Gnaeus Manlius Vulso]] decided to fight the [[Galatian War]] (189 BC) against the [[Galatians (people)|Galatians]]. He was supported by [[Attalus II]], the king of [[Pergamon]]. The two leaders marched inland and reached Pamphylia levying soldiers from local rulers. They then got to the territory of Cibyra, ruled by another tyrant called Moagetes. When Roman envoys went to the city he begged them not to ravage his lands as he was a friend of Rome and promised a paltry sum of money, fifteen talents. Moagetes sent his envoys to Manlius' camp. Polybius had Manlius say that he was the worst enemy of Rome and that he deserved punishment rather than friendship. Moagetes and his friends went to meet Manlius dressed in humble clothing, bewailing the weakness of his town and begging to accept the fifteen talents. Manlius was 'amazed at his impudence' and said that if he did not pay 500 talents, he would lay his lands to waste and sack the city. Moagetes successfully persuaded him to reduce the sum to 100 talents and promised an amount of grain, and Manlius moved on.  Polybius described Moagetes as "cruel and treacherous man and worthy of more than a passing notice."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/21*.html| title = Polybius, The histories, 21.34}}</ref>

===Lycian League<!--'Lycian League' redirects here-->===
{| border="2"  style="font-size:75%; margin: 0 0 10px 15px;"  cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" align="right"
|+'''LYCIAN LEAGUE'''<br />τὸ Λυκιακοῦ σύστημα
|- style="background:#ddd;"
!align=left|City !!Votes
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Xanthos]] ||3
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Patara (Lycia)|Patara]] ||3
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Myra]] ||3
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Pinara]] ||3
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Tlos]] ||3
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Olympos (Lycia)|Olympos]] ||3
|- style="background:#fff;"
|Sympolity of [[Aperlae]], [[Simena]], <br />[[Isinda (Lycia)|Isinda]], [[Apollonia (Lycia)|Apollonia]] ||1
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Amelas]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Antiphellus]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Arycanda]] ||?
|- style="background:##fff;"
|[[Balbura (Lycia)|Balbura]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Bubon (Lycia)|Bubon]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Cyaneae]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Dias (Lycia)|Dias]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Gagae]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Idebessos]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Limyra]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Oenoanda]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Phaselis]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Phellus]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Podalia (Lycia)|Podalia]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Rhodiapolis]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Sidyma]] ||?
|- style="background:#e5e5e5;"
|[[Telmessus]] ||?
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Trebenna]] ||?
|}

The '''Lycian League'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> of independent city-states was the first such democratic union in history and the league remained strong in spite of the mountainous terrain, invasions of foreign powers and attempts of tyrants to take power.

====Formation====

The Lycian League (''Lykiakon systema'' in Strabo's Greek transliterated, a "standing together") is first known from two inscriptions of the early 2nd century BC in which it honors two citizens.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryce|Zahle|1986|p=102}}.</ref> Bryce hypothesizes that it was formed as an agent to convince Rome to rescind the annexation of Lycia to [[Rhodes]]. It is not known for certain whether it was formed before or after Lycia was removed from Rhodian control. According to [[Livy]], the consul [[Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus]] put Lycia under Rhodian control in 190 BC. He wrote that a Lycian embassy complained about the cruel tyranny of the Rhodians and that when they were under king [[Antiochus III the Great]] they had been in liberty in comparison. It was slavery, rather that just political oppression: "they, their wives and children were the victims of violence; their oppressors vented their rage on their persons and their backs, their good name was besmirched and dishonoured, their condition rendered detestable in order that their tyrants might openly assert a legal right over them and reduce them to the status of slaves bought with money.. the senate gave them a letter to and to the Rhodians that ...it was not the pleasure of the senate that either the Lycians or any other men born free should be handed over as slaves to the Rhodians or any one else. The Lycians possessed the same rights under the suzerainty and protection of Rhodes that friendly states possessed under the suzerainty of Rome."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0167%3Abook%3D41%3Achapter%3D6| title = Livy, The History of Rome, 41.6.8–12}}</ref>

[[Polybius]] wrote that the Romans sent envoys to Rhodes to say that "the Lycians had not been handed over to Rhodes as a gift, but to be treated like friends and allies."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/25*.html| title = Polybius, The Histories, 25.3}}</ref> The Rhodians claimed that king Eumenes of Pergamon had stirred up the Lycians against them.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0167%3Abook%3D42%3Achapter%3D14| title = Livy, The History of Rome, 42.14.8}}</ref> In 169 BC, during the Third Macedonian War, the relationship between Rome and Rhodes became strained and the Roman senate issued a decree which gave the Carians and the Lycians their freedom.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0168%3Abook%3D44%3Achapter%3D40| title = Livy, The History of Rome, 44.15.1}}</ref> Polybius recorded a decree “freeing” the Carians and Lycians in 168–7 BC.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/30*.html| title = Polybius, The Histories, 30.5.12}}</ref>

Strabo wrote that there were twenty-three cities which came together for a general assembly and had a share in its votes "after choosing whatever city they approve of". The last statement is unclear. The largest cities had three votes, the medium-sized ones two, and the rest one. He noted that the League did not have freedom over matters of war and peace: "Formerly they deliberated about war and peace, and alliances, but this is not now permitted, as these things are under the control of the Romans. It is only done by their consent, or when it may be for their own advantage." However, they had the freedom to choose a [[Lyciarch]] as the head of the league and to designate general courts. He also noted "since they lived under such a good government, they remained ever free under the Romans, thus retaining their ancestral usages [i.e ancestral laws and customs]."<ref name="14.3.3">{{cite web| url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14C*.html| title = Strabo, Geographia, 14.3.3}}</ref>

====Composition====

Strabo wrote that according to a source the six largest were [[Xanthos]], [[Patara (Lycia)|Patara]], [[Pinara]], [[Olympos (Lycia)|Olympos]], [[Myra]], and [[Tlos]]. Tlos was near the pass that leads over into Cibyra.<ref name="14.3.3"/> The names of the other cities has been identified by a study of the coins and mention in other texts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiaminorcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=491 |title=Lycian League cities and coins |work=www.AsiaMinorCoins.com}}</ref> The coins recognize two districts, termed, for want of a better term, "monetary districts:" Masicytus and Cragus, both named after mountain ranges, in the shadow of which, presumably, the communities lived and conducted business.<ref>{{harvnb|Hill|1897|p=xxii}}.</ref> Where coinage before the Lycian League had often been stamped LY for Lycia, it was now stamped KP (kr) or MA.

In 81 BC [[Lucius Licinius Murena (propraetor in Asia)|Lucius Licinius Murena]], the Roman commander who fought the [[Second Mithridatic War]] (83–81 BC) in Anatolia deposed Moagetes, a tyrant of the tetrapolis (four towns) in the Cibyratis (northern Lycia). It had been formed by the city of [[Kibyra|Cibyra Megale]], (Greater Cibyra, as opposed to [[Cibyra Mikra]], Little Cibyra, of the coast, not too far from modern [[Fatsa|Side]]). It was in the Cibyratis region, in today's [[Turkish Lakes Region|Turkish Lake Region]]. According to Strabo, Cibyra had two votes, while the other three cities had one and the tetrarchy was ruled by a benign tyrant. When Murena ended the tyranny he included the cities of [[Balbura (Lycia)|Balbura]] and [[Bubon (Lycia)|Bubon]] within the territory of the Lycians.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/13D*.html| title = Strabo Geographia, 13.4.17}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hill|1897|p=xxiii}}.</ref>

===Roman period===

Lycia was granted autonomy as a protectorate of [[Rome]] in 168&nbsp;BC and remained so until becoming a Roman province in 43&nbsp;AD under Claudius.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}

When Rome got involved in the eastern Mediterranean the Lycians allied with Rome. An inscription found in Tyberissos provides the first record of such an alliance treaty (foedus). The dating is uncertain. It precedes the treaty of 46 BC (see below) and could go back to the second or first century BC. The context in which this treaty was made in unknown. It could have been concluded during the expansionist moves by [[Antiochus III the Great]], the Seleucid king, in Anatolia prior to the [[Roman-Seleucid War]] (192–188 BC), or during or after this war. Alternatively, it could have been concluded in the context of the [[Mithridatic Wars]] in Anatolia in the first century BC. The preamble stated: "There will be peace and loyal alliance between the People of the Romans and the cities of Lycia and the assembly of the Lycians by land and sea for all time.” There were four clauses which stipulated that: 1) the Lycian League was not to allow enemies of Rome to cross all territory over which they had authority so that they could bring war on Rome or her subjects and was not to give them aid; 2) Rome was not to allow enemies of the Lycians to pass through territory they controlled or had authority over so that they might bring war on the Lycian League or the people subject to them and was not to give them aid; 3) if anyone started a war against the Lycian people first, Rome was to come to her aid as soon as possible and if anyone started a war against Rome, the Lycian league was to aid Rome as soon as possible provided that this was allowed to Rome and the Lycian League in accordance with the agreements and oath; 4) Additions and subtractions to the agreements were possible if each side agreed though a joint decision.<ref>{{cite book | title=Imperialism, cultural politics, and polybius | first=Peter |last=Derow |author2=Christopher John Smith |author3=Liv Mariah Yarrow  | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2012 | page=136}}</ref>

[[File:Theater Pinara Türkei.JPG|thumb|The Roman theater in [[Pinara]].]]
[[File:Olympos Römisches Bad.JPG|thumb|Roman baths in [[Olympos (Lycia)|Olympos]].]]
[[File:Bridge near Limyra. Pic 04.jpg|thumb|The Roman [[Bridge near Limyra]] in Lycia, one of the oldest segmental arch bridges in the world.]]
An inscription found on a statue-base found in Thespiae attests that in 46 BC Julius Caesar signed a treaty with the Lycian league. It had nine articles. The first article stipulated "Friendship, alliance and peace both by land and sea in perpetuity "Let the Lycians observe the power and preeminence of the Romans as is proper in all circumstances." The other articles stipulated: 2) Neutrality of each party to the other's enemy; 3)  mutual help in case of an attack on either party; 4) anyone charged with import or export of contraband goods was to be charged by the highest official of the two parties; 5) Romans accused of a capital crime in Lycia were to be judged in Rome by her own laws and Lycians accused of these crimes were to be judged in Lycia by her own laws; 6) Romans in a dispute with Lycians were to be judged in Lycia according to her own laws, if Lycians were brought to court by Romans the case was to be heard by whatever official the disputants chose for the case to be dealt with justly; 7) No person was to be taken as a surety,  Roman and Lycian war prisoners were to be returned to their own countries, captured horses, slaves or ships were to be restored; 8) named cities, ports and territories which were restored to the Lycians were to belong to them; 9) both parties agreed to abide by the terms of this oath and the treaty.  Details could be amended if both parties agreed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roman-Lycian Friendship and Reciprocal Military Alliance 46 AD |website=Lycian Turkey - Discover the Beauty of Ancient Lycia |url=http://lycianturkey.com/roman-lycian-treaty.htm |access-date=12 July 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924164736/http://lycianturkey.com/roman-lycian-treaty.htm |url-status=usurped }} – Note that the given date is mistaken. It should be 46 BC instead of 46 AD</ref>

In 43 AD the emperor [[Claudius]] annexed Lycia. [[Cassius Dio]] wrote that Claudius ‘reduced the Lycians to servitude because they had revolted and slain some Romans and he incorporated them in the prefecture of Pamphylia." He also provided some details of the investigation of this affair conducted in the senate.<ref>Cassius Dio, Roman History, 60.17.3–4</ref> [[Suetonius]] wrote that Claudius "deprived the Lycians of their independence because of deadly intestine feuds."<ref>Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars; The Life of Claudius, 23.3</ref> In an inscription found at [[Perga|Perge]] which has been dated to late 46/early 45 BC the Lycians, who described themselves as 'faithful allies’, praised Claudius for freeing them from disturbances, lawlessness and brigandage and for the restoration of the ancestral laws. It makes a reference to the transfer of power from the multitude to the councillors, selected from among the best. Therefore, it seems that there might have been a revolutionary popular uprising which could have overturned the established order. The annexation of Lycia seems to fit the common reason for annexing Roman client states or allies in this period: the loss on stability due to internal strife or, in some cases, the weakening or end of a ruling dynasty. The restoration of ancestral law was probably linked to the Roman practice of respecting and guaranteeing the ancestral laws, customs and privileges of city-states or leagues of city-states it made alliance agreements with in the eastern Mediterranean. Lycia was annexed, but the Lycian League was retained as so were self-governance regarding most local matters according to local traditional laws and the League's authority over local courts. The treaty concluded by Caesar in 46 BC had already established a framework for the distinction of judicial areas under the competence of the Lycian League and those under the Roman praetor peregrino (chief justice for foreigners) and could be used to define the assignment of legal areas between the Roman provincial governor and the League. The Romans re-established stability in Lycia and retained friendly relations with the Lycians and Lycian rights to their traditional laws, customs and privileges.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Kantor |first=Georgy |title=Ancestral laws under the Roman rule: The case of Lycia |type=PhD |publisher=Balliol College, University of Oxford |year=2006 |url=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ball1674/lycian_text.rtf}}</ref>

In 74 AD the emperor [[Vespasian]] joined the Roman provinces of Lycia and [[Pamphylia]] into the province of [[Lycia et Pamphylia]].<ref>Şahin, S. and M. Adak, ''Stadiasmus Patarensis. Itinera Romana Provinciae Lyciae''. İstanbul 2007; F. Onur, Two Procuratorian Inscriptions from Perge, ''Gephyra'' 5 (2008), 53–66.</ref><ref>Syme R., Pamphylia from Augustus to Vespasian, ibid., XXX, 1937, pp. 227–231</ref> Cassius Dio's statement that Claudius incorporated Lycia into Phampylia (which he had as governed by a prefect, rather than a [[propraetor]], see above) is refuted by the existence of legati Augusti pro praetore Lyciae (imperial provincial governors of Lycia with propraetorial rank). The adoptive son and heir of [[Augustus]], [[Gaius Caesar]], died in Lycia in 4&nbsp;AD after being wounded during a campaign in Artagira, Armenia.<ref>Mommsen, Theodore, A History of Rome Under the Emperors, p. 107</ref>

[[File:Trajan Drachm of Lycia, 98-99 AD.jpg|alt=Silver Drachm of Trajan from Lycia, minted during Roman rule.|thumb|Silver Drachm of Trajan from Lycia, 98–99 AD, minted during Roman rule.]]

===Byzantine era===
{{Main|Cibyrrhaeot Theme}}
During the Byzantine period Lycia and Pamphylia came under the command of the [[Karabisianoi]] (the mainstay of the Byzantine navy from the mid-7th century until the early 8th century). After the Karabisianoi were disbanded (between c. 719/720 and c. 727) they became the [[Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots]].

===Turkish era===
[[File:Kayaköyü.jpg|thumb|alt=Kayaköyü.jpg|Abandoned Greek city of [[Kayaköy]]]]
Lycia was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire and eventually became part of [[Turkey]]. After [[World War I]], Lycia was assigned to the [[kingdom of Italy]] according to the terms of the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] and [[:it:Occupazione italiana di Adalia|occupied for a few years]], but in 1923 was assigned to Turkey.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/10/sykes-picot-treaty-of-sevres-modern-turkey-middle-east-borders-turkey/| title = Treaty of Sevres| date = 10 August 2015}}</ref>

During this period, Lycia hosted both Turkish and Greek communities. The substantial [[Christians|Christian]] community of [[Greeks]] lived in Lycia until the 1920s, when they were forced to migrate to [[Greece]] after the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]].<ref name=" Darke, Diana 1986 160 ">{{cite book |author=Darke, Diana |title=Guide to Aegean and Mediterranean Turkey |publisher=M. Haag |year=1986 |url=https://archive.org/details/guidetoaegeanmed00dark/page/160 |page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetoaegeanmed00dark/page/160 160] |isbn=9780902743342 |quote=The Lycians were essentially Greeks so they were moved to Greece, leaving a small population of Turkish farmers to move in behind them. The Greek ghost town of Kaya in the hills behind Fethiye is the most dramatic reminder of this exodus, but derelict Greek houses can also be seen at Kalkan, Kas and Demre. |url-access=registration }}</ref> The abandoned Greek villages in the region are a striking reminder of this exodus. Abandoned Greek houses can still be seen in the region, and [[Kayaköy|Kaya]] is a Greek [[ghost town]].<ref name=" Darke, Diana 1986 160 "/> A small population of Turkish farmers moved into the region when the Lycian Greeks migrated.<ref name=" Darke, Diana 1986 160 "/> The region is now one of the key centres of domestic and foreign tourism in Turkey.

==In Greek mythology==

{{main|Milyas}}

[[File:Lycia coin Circa 520-470 BCE.jpg|thumb|Lycia coin, c. 520–470 BC.]]
According to [[Herodotus]], the earliest known name for the area was [[Milyas]], and its original inhabitants, who spoke the [[Milyan language]], were the [[Milyae]] ({{Lang|grc|Μιλύαι}}),<ref>Herod. vii. 77; Strab. xiv. p. 667; Plin. v. 25, 42.</ref> or Milyans, also known by the [[exonyms]] {{Lang|grc-Latn|Sólymoi}} ({{Lang|grc|Σόλυμοι}}), Solymi, and Solymians.

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Solymus''' or '''Solymos'''  was the ancestral hero and [[eponym]] of the Solymi. He was a son of either [[Zeus]] or [[Ares]]; his mother's name is variously given as [[Chaldene]], Caldene ("daughter of [[Pisidus]]"), Calchedonia, or Chalcea "the [[nymph]]".<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium]], s. v. ''Pisidia''</ref><ref>''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'', 721. 43, under ''Solymoi''</ref><ref>[[Antimachus]] in [[scholia]] on [[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'', 5. 283</ref><ref>[[Clement of Rome]] in [[Rufinus of Aquileia]], ''Recognitiones'', 10. 21</ref> Meanwhile, [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]] had (at least) two sons, [[Sarpedon (brother of Minos)|Sarpedon]] and [[Minos]], who vied for the kingship of their native land, [[Crete]]. Minos drove Sarpedon and his people, the [[Termilae]], into exile and they settled in Milyas. Subsequently, [[Lycus (son of Pandion II)|Lycus]] of [[Athens]] (son of [[Pandion II]]), who was driven into exile by his brother, King [[Aegeus]], settled in Milyas among the Termilae. The name Lycia was adopted subsequently in honor of Lycus. (It had in fact been around much longer under the name [[Lukka]], probably derived from the same root as [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:lucus|lucus]]'' (grove, bright space)). Herodotus ends his tale with the observation that the Lycians were [[matrilineal]].<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, 1.173.</ref>

Lycia appears elsewhere in Greek myth, such as in the story of [[Bellerophon]], who eventually succeeded to the throne of the Lycian king [[Iobates]] (or Amphianax). Lycia was frequently mentioned by [[Homer]] as an ally of [[Troy]]. In Homer's [[Iliad]], the Lycian contingent was said to have been led by two esteemed warriors: [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]] (son of [[Zeus]] and [[Laodamia]]) and [[Glaucus (soldier)|Glaucus]] (son of [[Hippolochus (mythology)|Hippolochus]]).

== See also ==
* [[Ancient regions of Anatolia]]
* [[Lycian peasants]]
* [[Lycian script]]
* Saint [[Gerasimus of the Jordan]], 5th-century Christian saint born in Lycia
* [[Saint Nicholas]], Christian saint said to have been born in Patara, Lycia
* [[Saint Christopher]], Christian saint said to have been of the region of Lycia

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

===Primary sources===
*"Poem on the Battle of Kadesh" 305–313, Ramesses II
*"Great Karnak Inscription" 572–592, Merneptah
*:Breasted, J. H. 1906. ''Ancient Records of Egypt. Vol. III.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*"Plague Prayers of Mursilis"  A1–11, b, Mursilis
*:Pritchard, J. B. 1969. ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press.
*{{Cite book|last=Ovidius Naso |first=Publius|author-link=Ovid|title=Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 1-5|year=1997|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0806128948}}

===Secondary sources===
*{{Cite book|last1=Auerbach |first1=Jeffrey|last2=Hoffenberg |first2=Peter|title=Britain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition of 1851|year=2013|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|location=Surrey|isbn=978-1409480082}}
*{{Cite book
 | first1 = T.
 | last1=Bryce
 | first2=J.
 | last2=Zahle
 | year = 1986
 | title = The Lycians
 | volume = 1
 | location = Copenhagen
 | publisher = [[Museum Tusculanum Press]]
}} – Covers the Lycians and where they lived, their history, language, culture, cults, and their language.
*{{cite book
 | first=George Francis
 | last=Hill
 | title=A Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum
 | chapter=Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia
 | location=London
 | year=1897
 | publisher=Trustees of the British Museum
 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2wCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR5
}} – A presentation of the history of Lycia during the time of its minting coins, and the coins.
*{{cite book | title=Dynastic Lycia: A Political History of the Lycians & Their Relations with Foreign Powers, c. 545 – 362 BC | first=Antony G. | last=Keen | publisher=Brill | orig-year=1992 | year=1998 | location=Leiden; Boston; Köln | series=Mnemosyne: bibliotheca classica Batavia. Supplementum |isbn=9004109560 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ig4KJySudYC}}
* {{cite book|last= Spratt|first= Thomas|author-link=Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt|title=Travels in Lycia, Milyas, and the Cibyratis|year=1847|publisher=J. Van Voorst|location=London |oclc=582161294}}

===Further reading===
*{{Cite book
 | first= R. D.
 | last=Barnett
 | year = 1975
 | chapter = The Sea Peoples
 | pages = 362–366
 | title = The Cambridge Ancient History
 | volume = II, part 2
 | editor = [[J. B. Bury]]
 | editor2=S. A. Cook
 | editor3=F. E. Adcock
 | location = Cambridge
 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]barne
}} – Refers to many different [[Sea Peoples|sea peoples]] and their contact with [[Egypt]] and [[Anatolia]]. Also tells about the [[Philistines]] during the reign of [[Ramesses III]].
*{{Cite journal
  | first= T.
 | last=Bryce
 | year = 1993
 | title = Lukka Revisited
 | journal = [[Journal of Near Eastern Studies]]
 | volume = 51
 | issue = 2
 | pages = 121–130
 | doi = 10.1086/373535
 | s2cid=222441745
 | author-link = T. Bryce
}} – Discusses Lukka's relations to other regions (like [[Miletus]]) and where they inhabited.
*{{Cite book
  | first= R.
 | last=Drews
 | author-link=Robert Drews
 | year = 1995
 | title = The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C.
 | location = Princeton
 | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]]
}} – A description of the Egyptian evidence on the Sea Peoples.
*Jacobson MJ, Pickett J, Gascoigne AL, [[Dominik Fleitmann|Fleitmann]] D, Elton H (2022) Settlement, environment, and climate change in SW Anatolia: Dynamics of regional variation and the end of Antiquity. PLoS ONE 17(6): e0270295. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270295
*{{cite book |last1=Kılıç Aslan |first1=Selen |title=Lycian families in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. A regional study of inscriptions: towards a social and legal framework |date=2023 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden; Boston |isbn=9789004548411}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikivoyage|Lycia}}
{{EB1911 poster|Lycia}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.lycianturkey.com/ |title=Lycian Turkey |first1=Patty |last1=Satyurek |first2=Kemal |last2=Satyurek |publisher=lycianturkey.com |access-date=14 February 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204045045/http://www.lycianturkey.com/ |archive-date=4 February 2012 }}
*{{cite journal | url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200705/splendid.ruins.of.an.excellent.republic..htm | title=Splendid Ruins for an 'Excellent Republic' | first1=Christopher | last1=Walker | first2=Thorne (Photographer) | last2=Anderson | journal=Saudi Aramco World | date=September–October 2007}}
*{{cite encyclopedia|title=Lycia |url=http://people.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Lycia/lycia.html |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces (ERP) |first=Pedar W |last=Foss |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226204856/http://people.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Lycia/lycia.html |archive-date=26 February 2012 }}
*{{cite web | title=Virtual Tours / Myra, Mahmutlar, Lara (Turkey) | url=http://www.360pano.eu/turkey/ | publisher=EDS Systems}} Fullscreen panoramas of the rock-cut tombs of the ancient Lycian necropolis at Myra
*{{cite web | title=Virtual Tour—Demre. Myra (Lycia) | url=http://www.apeskov.ru/images/stories/Lycia/demre.html | year=2011 | publisher=Alexander Peskov Photography}}
*{{cite web | url=http://www.trekkinginturkey.com/ | title=Lycian Way guidebook |first=Kate |last=Clow | access-date=3 May 2017}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190711234522/https://www.notitiadignitatum.org/613-map.htm Map of the Roman state according to the Compilation notitia dignitatum]

{{coord|36|44|N|29|54|E|region:TR|display=title}}
{{Historical regions of Anatolia}}
{{History of Anatolia}}
{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman Provinces}}
{{Lycian League}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lycia| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek geography]]
[[Category:Late Roman provinces]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Antalya Province]]
[[Category:Historical regions of Anatolia]]
[[Category:Muğla Province]]
[[Category:Rock-cut tombs]]
[[Category:Praetorian prefecture of the East]]
[[Category:Geography of Antalya Province]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Antalya Province]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 15th century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 14th century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 13th century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 6th century BC]]
[[Category:Lycia et Pamphylia]]