Pamphylia, generally the area around Antalya

Even in antiquity, the borders of Pamphylia were difficult to establish accurately. It roughly starts in the west, where Lycia stops and covers the plains north and east of Antalya up to the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. The cities in my field of interest generally lie within its borders: Antalya, Perge, Sillyum, Aspendos, and Side, while Termessos and Selge belong to Pisidia, situated to the north, together with Sagalassos.

In as much as it was traceable, the Pamphylian language is a Greek dialect spoken in southern Greece, moving to Asia Minor with its emigrants who arrived here before 1100 BC. Proof of this dialect can be found in an inscription from Sillyum. On the other hand, strangely enough, the people of Side spoke a dialect of their own that had yet to be deciphered.

The history of Pamphylia is somewhat confusing. We have to wait till the 6th century BC when King Croesus of Lydia annexed this territory. However, his rule was short-lived because, in 546 BC, he was already defeated by the Persian King Cyrus. During the following centuries, Pamphylia was occupied in turns by the Athenians and the Persians until, in 386 BC, a treaty of peace was finally signed by both powers, giving the cities of Asia Minor to the Great Persian King. The yoke of Persian rule was not heavy, and Pamphylia settled quickly.

The situation changed in 333 BC when Alexander entered Pamphylia from Phaselis in Lycia after his march along the coast. His first stop was Perge (Antalya did not exist yet), where he received a delegation from Aspendos, who surrendered their city, provided Alexander did not leave a garrison behind. Alexander generously agrees, but in exchange, he demands fifty talents to pay his army and deliver as many horses as they usually give to the Persian King.

Aspendos accepts, and Alexander moves on to Side, where he meets no resistance. He leaves a garrison behind and returns westwards to Sillyum, which turns out to be the first Pamphylian city to resist. Whoever has ever seen Sillyum (modern Sillyon) will quickly realize that the town is a practically impregnable fortress high on a trapezoidal hilltop in the middle of the plain. As can be expected, Alexander attacks, without success, though. Before he can conceive a second plan, the news reaches him that the people of Aspendos have changed their minds and have decided not to respect the freshly signed treaty. Catapults are dismantled, and Alexander wasted no time marching his army immediately back to Aspendos. This fast reaction was not what Aspendos anticipated, and their previous promises were hastily reconfirmed. Alexander was not keen to start a siege of the strongly defended city. So he agreed, claiming, however, an extra fifty talents, several hostages, and a yearly contribution to be paid to Macedonia. No joking!

Alexander then returned to Perge and conceived plans to push northwards to meet up with his general Parmenion and the rest of his army, who spent the winter in Gordion. For unclear reasons, Alexander is made to believe that the only road to Gordion passes through the strategic city of Termessos, which commanded a very narrow mountain pass, a sort of Thermopylae. While Alexander was preparing for the attack, a peace delegation from Selge reached him. What exactly has been said remains a mystery. Still, they pointed out that there was indeed a much easier road north, the one that corresponds to the modern main road from Antalya to Sagalassos. The entire attack of Termessos was called off, of course, and Alexander led his army to Sagalassos.

 

After Alexander died in 323 BC, his generals fought and bickered over the territory of Pamphylia, which fell successively under the rule of Greece and Macedonia, then of Egypt under the Ptolemys, and finally under the Seleucids of Syria. By 280 BC, the Seleucid branch of Pergamon was taking over with kings that all went by the name of Attalus or Eumenes. The Romans appear but are in no mood to worry about this part of the world and leave things in the hands of Pergamon. This dynasty ended in 133 BC when Attalus III, the last king of Pergamon, simply donated his kingdom to Rome. But Rome showed little or no interest until they were forced to interfere because of the heavy piracy along the coast of Asia Minor. Solving this problem was not easy. The first success was booked by Servilius Vatia in 78 BC, but Emperor Pompey finalized the job in 67 BC. 

During the days of the Roman Empire, Pamphylian cities received more freedom, especially Aspendos, Perge, Sillyum, and Side. In the year 43 AD, the region was once more joined to Lycia and remained so until the fourth century. The Byzantine Emperors organized and reorganized Asia Minor over and over until Lycia and Pamphylia became once gain independent provinces. Later on, it was the turn of the Arabs to take possession of Pamphylia, followed by the Crusaders, until finally, it was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire.  

This is a corner of Turkey I want to investigate further since it plays a significant part in Alexander's conquests eastwards. Walking in the great man's footsteps always is an honor and a privilege, and I'm very excited to see all these fascinating places with my own eyes. Besides the usual Alexander historians, I am relying on the precision work of George Bean with his Turkey's Southern Coast and on the handy maps and itineraries from the Sunflower Guide, From Antalya to Demre.   Alexander, here I come!

[Click here to see all the pictures of Pamphylia]