Milyas

Milyas(Ancient Greek:Μιλυάς) was a mountainous country in ancient south-westAnatolia(modern Turkey). However, it is generally described as being mostly in the northern part of the successor kingdom ofLycia,as well as southernPisidia,and part of easternPhrygia.^[1]According toHerodotus,the boundaries of Milyas were never fixed.^[2]

Its inhabitants used theendonym Milyae(Μιλύαι),^[3]or Milyans. However, the oldest known name for inhabitants of the area isSólymoi(Σόλυμοι), Solymi and Solymians – names that are probably derived from the nearbyMount Solymus.Louis Feldmansuggested that the Solymoi originally spoke an unattestedSemitic language(this opinion is not commonly supported),^[4]whereas theMilyan languagewas anIndo-European language.

Toponymy

Later the name Milyas was sometimes used to describe only as a part of Lycia. However, after the accession of the dynasty of theSeleucidaein Syria, the name Milyas was limited to the south-western part of Pisidia, bordering upon Lycia, that is, the territory extending fromTermessusnorthward to the foot ofMount Cadmus.^[5]This district, the western part of which bore the name ofCabalia,is afterwards described, sometimes as a part of Lycia (as byPtolemy)^[6]and sometimes as part ofPamphyliaorPisidia(as byPliny the Elder).^[7]After the conquest ofAntiochus the Great,the Romans gave the country toEumenes,^[8]though Pisidian princes still continue to be mentioned as its rulers.

Geography

The Solymi appear to have taken their name from a mountain in Anatolia namedSolymus(later Güllük Dagi).

The greater part of Milyas was rugged and mountainous, but it also contained a few fertile plains.^[9]The name, which does not occur in theHomericpoems, probably belonged to the remnants of the Milyae, who had been driven into the mountains by invaders from Crete, known as theTermilae,who later referred to themselves asLycians.

Important cities and towns in Milyas includedCibyra,Oenoanda,Balbura,andBubon,which formed the Cibyratian tetrapolis. Some authors also mention a town named Milyas, which must have been situated north of Termessus in Pisidia.^[10]

References

^Strab.xii. p. 573.
^Herod.i. 173;Arrian,Anab.i. 25.
^Herod. vii. 77; Strab. xiv. p. 667; Plin. v. 25, 42.
^Louis H. Feldman, 1996,Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World: Attitudes and Interactions from Alexander to Justinian.Princeton, Princeton University Press, pp. 190–1; 519–21.
^Polyb.v. 72; Strab. xii. p. 570, xiii. p. 631, xiv. p. 666.
^Ptol. v. 3. § 7, 5. § 6.
^Plin. v. 42; see also Ptol. v. 2. § 12.
^Polyb.Exc. de Leg.36
^Strab. xii. p. 570.
^Polyb. v. 72; Ptol. v. 2. § 12;Steph. B.s. v.Μιλύαι

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Milyas".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.

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[1] Strab.xii. p. 573.

[2] Herod.i. 173;Arrian,Anab.i. 25.

[3] Herod. vii. 77; Strab. xiv. p. 667; Plin. v. 25, 42.

[4] Louis H. Feldman, 1996,Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World: Attitudes and Interactions from Alexander to Justinian.Princeton, Princeton University Press, pp. 190–1; 519–21.

[5] Polyb.v. 72; Strab. xii. p. 570, xiii. p. 631, xiv. p. 666.

[6] Ptol. v. 3. § 7, 5. § 6.

[7] Plin. v. 42; see also Ptol. v. 2. § 12.

[8] Polyb.Exc. de Leg.36

[9] Strab. xii. p. 570.

[10] Polyb. v. 72; Ptol. v. 2. § 12;Steph. B.s. v.Μιλύαι

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