GALATIA. I. In the strict sense this is the name applied to a large inland district of Asia Minor occupied by Gaulish tribes in the 3rd century B.C. It was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, west by Phrygia, south by Lycaonia and Cappadocia, east by Pontus.
Galatia is part of the great central plateau of Asia Minor, here ranging from 2,000 to 3,000f t. above sea-level, and falls geographically into two parts separated by the Halys (Kizil Irmak), a small eastern district lying chiefly in the basin of the Delije Irmak, the principal affluent of the Halys, and a large west ern region drained by the Sangarius (Sakaria) and its tributaries. On the north side Galatia consists of a series of plains with fairly fertile soil, lying between bare hills. But the greater part is a stretch of barren, undulating uplands, intersected by tiny streams and passing gradually into the vast level waste of treeless plain that runs south to Lycaonia; these uplands are little culti vated but afford pasturage for large flocks of sheep and goats.
The Gaulish invaders appeared in Asia Minor in 278-277 B.C. They numbered 20,000 of which only one-half were fighting men; not long after their arrival we find them divided into three tribes, Trocmi, Tolistoboii and Tectosages. They had split off from the army which invaded Greece under Brennus in 279 B.C., and crossed over to Asia at the invitation of Nicomedes I. of Bithynia, who required help in his struggle against his brother. For about 46 years they were the scourge of the western half of Asia Minor, ravaging the country without any serious check, until Attalus I., king of Pergamum, inflicted several severe defeats upon them, and about 232 B.C. forced them to settle permanently in the region to which they gave their name. In the settlement of 64 B.C. Galatia became a client-state of the Roman empire, and three chiefs were appointed, one for each tribe. But this arrange ment soon gave way before the ambition of the chief Deiotarus (q.v.), the contemporary of Cicero and Caesar, who was recog nized by the Romans as king of Galatia. On the death of the third king, Amyntas, in 25 B.C., Galatia was incorporated by Augustus in the Roman empire, and few of the provinces were more enthusiastically loyal.
The population of Galatia was not entirely Gallic. Before the arrival of the Gauls, western Galatia up to the Halys was inhabited by Phrygians, and eastern Galatia by Cappadocians and other native races. This native population remained, and constituted the majority of the inhabitants of the rural parts and almost the sole inhabitants of the towns. They were left in possession of two-thirds of the land (Caesar, B.G. i. 31) on condition of paying part of the produce to their new lords, and agriculture and commerce with all the arts and crafts remained in their hands. They ranked as "Galatians" equally with their overlords, and it was from their numbers that the "Galatian" slaves were drawn. The conquerors, who were few in number, formed a small mili tary aristocracy, living not in the towns, but in fortified villages, where the chiefs in their castles kept up a barbaric state, sur rounded by their tribesmen. With the decline of their warlike vigour they began gradually to mix with the natives and to adopt their religion : the amalgamation was accelerated under Roman influence and ultimately became complete ; but they gave to the mixed race a distinctive tone and spirit, and long retained their national characteristics and social customs, as well as their lan guage (which continued in use, side by side with Greek, in the 4th century A.D.) . In the 1st century, when St. Paul made his missionary journeys, even the towns Ancyra (mod. Angora), Pessinus and Tavium (where Gauls were few) were not hellen ized ; while the rural population was unaffected by Greek civiliza tion. Hellenic ways and modes of thought begin to appear in the towns only in the later 2nd century. In the rustic parts a know ledge of Greek begins to spread in the 3rd century; but only in the 4th and 5th centuries, after the transference of the centre of gov ernment to Constantinople placed Galatia on the highway of imperial communication, was Hellenism in its Christian form gradually diffused over the country. (See also ANCYRA; PES SINUS ; GORDIUM.) II. The Roman province of Galatia, constituted 25 B.C., in cluded the greater part of the country ruled by Amyntas, viz., Galatia Proper, part of Phrygia towards Pisidia (Apollonia, Anti och and Iconium), Pisidia, part of Lycaonia (including Lystra and Derbe) and Isauria. For nearly loo years it was the frontier province, and the changes in its boundaries are an epitome of the Roman advance to the Euphrates. Under Diocletian's re organization Galatia was divided, about 295, into two parts, and the name retained for the northern. After suffering from Persian and Arabic raids, Galatia was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century and passed to the Ottoman Turks in the middle of the 14th.