The ancient region of Lycia

The Lycians enjoyed a reputation for independence and fought for it. In 546 B.C. the Persians defeated Croesus, the last king of Lydia, and advanced upon Lycia. On the plain of Xanthos the Lycians met the much superior forces of the Persians, to no avail. Herodotus, originally from Halicarnassus (Bodrum), tells us of the tragic finale of the battle:

"When Harpagus advanced into the plain of Xanthos, they met him in battle, though greatly outnumbered, and fought with much gallantry; at length, however, they were defeated and forced to retire within their walls, whereupon they collected their women, children, slaves, and other property and shut them up in the citadel, set fire to it and burnt it to the ground. Then having sworn to do or die, they marched out to meet the enemy and were killed to a man."

Later, in 42 AC, the tragedy was to be repeated. Such was the feeling of the Lycians towards their independence that they were the last region to be incorporated into the Roman provinces in Asia Minor.

Herodotus gives some information about who the Lycians were. They came from Crete after "Sarpedon and Minos, fought for the throne, and the victorious Minos expelled Sarpedon and his party." They were then called the Termilae, and only adopted the name of Lycians when the noble Lycus, son of King Pandion, was expelled from Athens and came to join Sarpedon. From Lycus they adopted the name Lycian.

More than forty ancient cities have been found in the region. The rock tombs and sarcophagi are the most obvious features of this culture. You will find them everywhere in the landscape of the gulf. The older sarcophagi are the largest with massive stone bases, grave chambers, and heavy lids. In Roman times the sarcophagi became smaller and simpler.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, so too Lycian fortunes declined. In Byzantine times there were small settlements around the coast. A number of Byzantine churches will be seen in isolated spots, but the interior was not as heavily populated as in Lycian times. In the late Middle Ages this region was viewed as a wilderness, the "frontier" of the Ottoman. Not until the 19th century, through the visits of several scholars, was the Lycian culture and civilization noted by the western intellectual circles.

LYCIA: THE PIRATES' HEAVEN

The Lycian coast has often been referred to as the "Pirate coast", and with its many strategically sited coves and islands, where these sea-raiders could lie in wait for plump merchant ships tramping up and down the coast, it deserves the name. Numerous campaigns were mounted to clean up the coast from as early as 1194 B.C., right up to the 19th century. A relief at Medinet Habu in the Nile’s Delta records how Ramses III put together a great fleet to take on the Lukki (Egyptian name for that area) and decisively defeated them, leaving the coast free of piracy for a while. When Xerxes assembled his huge force for the invasion of Greece in 480 B.C. the Lycians contributed fifty ships and Herodotus gives us this description of the piratical bunch that manned them:

"The wore greaves and corslets; they carried bows of cornel wood, cane arrows without feathers, and javelins. They had goatskin slung round their shoulders, and hats stuck round with feathers. They also carried daggers and rip-hooks."

Piracy is again mentioned in the 5th century BC, but it is not until the Roman occupation of Asia Minor that attempts were made to bring it under control. In 78 B.C. a campaign was mounted by Servilius Vatia, governor of Cilicia, and though he had moderate success, it did little to check it. In 67 BC, Pompey, an able and intelligent admiral, was given wide ranging powers and almost unlimited resources to tackle the piracy problem, which he did with total success. However Pompey was reluctant to give up his power and his ships and became himself something of a thorn in the Senate's side. After the fall of Rome the Lycian coast once again became a heaven for pirate fleets and not until the 18th and 19th centuries and the presence of the British Navy was the piracy problem finally dealt with and the Lycian coast cleaned up.

The coast between KUSADASI and BODRUM: St. JOHN'S HERITAGE
The coast between BODRUM and MARMARIS: the “TURQUOISE COAST”
The coast between MARMARIS and FETHIYE: the ROUTE OF ST. PAUL
The coast between FETHIYE and KAS: the LYCIAN COAST
The coast between KAS and ANTALYA: the “COAST OF LIGHT”