LYCIA, lish'i-a (Lat., from Gk. AvKia,Lykia). .A country on the southwestern coast of Asia :Mino•• bounded on the northwest by C'aria, on the north by Phrygia, on the northeast by Pisidia, and on the east by Pamphylia. Theancient inhabit ants are said to have been two races called the So/yna and Tramilx or Terniikr, the former of whom seem to have been driven from the coast to the mountain plateau of Milyas in the north by the latter, who seem to have been of the indo European raee, and to have entered the country by sea. They early developed a city life and stood in close connection with the Greeks. It is doubtful whether the Lycians can be identified with the Leka of the Egyptian inscriptions. Though the Lycians seem to have maintained their independence against the Lydians, they were subdued by the Persians under Harpagus. the general of Cyrus, after an heroic resistance dur ing which the inhabitants of the ellief city, Xanthus, burned their citadel. with their wives. children, and property, rather than surrender. The Persians attached the country to the Carian satrapy, but seem to have left the old forms of government undisturbed. The Ly•ians seem to have formed a league of cities governed by a body of nobles, with a ehief in every eity whose name appears on the coins. The chief cities were: Xanthus; Patara, with a temple of Apollo; Pinara, and Tlos in the west, on the hills along the valley of the Xanthus; Telmessu-, the seat of an oracle, further to the northwest. while to the south and east, near the coast, were Alvra, Limyra, and I dynmus. Persian wa, ,truer in the ruling lint the civilization and especially the art were strongly Hellenic. Even in the sixth eentury B.C. the Harps tomb of Xanthus shows the work of Greek artists, the re liefs of (hvsaI are a reflection of the paintings of Polygnotus. and the Nereid. monument reproduces the Greek art of the fourth century u.c. After the Persian wars the Lucian cities were r a time enrolled in the lip lian League, but seem to have returned to Persian rule before n.c. 440. Early in the fourth century the y for a time attempted to assert their independence.
but were again reduced. With the rest of Asia, :Minor Lucia was subdued by Alexander. and later came under the rule of the kings of Syria. The Romans first gave it to the Ithodians. but later recognized its independence, and the Lucian league of twenty-three cities. with a Lyeinrch as its chief officer. continued to exist. with some vicissitudes, until Vespasian finally united the district to Pamphylia. The mountainous region abounds in interesting ruins of the past. The antiquities, however, had received little atten tion till Sir Charles Fellow; (q.v.1, about the year 1535, pointed out their interesting char acter. Since that time they have been inore carefully 'explored and studied. .1mong the monuments a prominent place is held by the in scriptions in the native language. (See LANGUAGE.) Lycia has no importance in early Christian history.
BrumounAenv. The history is treated by Treuher, Geschichte dcr Lykier (Stuttgart, 15571. The monuments are described in Ac count of Discoveries in Lyria (London.
Sprott and Forbes. Trurcls in Lucia 1547), and especially in Benndorf, Niemann, Petersen, and Luschan, lleiscu int n leinasien (Aleppo, 1554 and I5ti8 I. Consult also Benndorf and Niemann. Dos //croon roil (1/6/baschi-Trysa (Vienna. 1559) ; Perrot and Chipiez, Histuire de Curt dens ('antigun(, vol. V. (Paris. 1S90) ; English translation, istury of Art in. Ph•ygia, Lydia, ("aria, and Lyria (New York, 1592). For the coins, consult: Hill, Coins of Lycia, uuhphqlia, and Pisidiu, vol. viii. of Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Mu semn (London. 15971. The inscriptions h. ve been for the first time fully collected and edited under the auspices of the Vienna academy lit Sciences, as the first volume of a eollection of the inscriptions of Asia 7\linor. TOO; 1 sio.
vol. i. Tit uli Luria • Lingua Luria ( 'onsciipt edited by E. Kalitka ( Vienna, 1901). The work contains a full bibliography.and snper•edes all pre vious publications. though for detailed disenssion it is still necessary to compare earlier :inlet's in the philological and arclueological journals.