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R.E.C.A.M. Notes and Studies No. 9: The Milyadeis and their Territory

1986; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 36; Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3642831

2048-0849

Alan Hall,

Classical Antiquity Studies

At the end of a passage in Strabo's Geography (XIII, 631), where he gives an account of the foundation of Kibyra and the extent of its power in the first century B.C., we find a succinct definition of the territory of the neighbouring Milyas (τῆς ὀμόρου Μιλυάδος): “The Milyas is the territory from the defiles by Termessus and the passage through them to Isinda, stretching in a mountainous area as far as Sagalassus and the territory of Apameia.” In spite of its precision, Strabo's definition of the Milyas is inadequate in several ways. First, the geographical limits are set from south to north, but not from east to west. Secondly, it is only a brief footnote to his account of the Kibyratis, and lacks comparable information about the language, settlements and history of the inhabitants of this neighbouring region. Probably a dearth of information in Strabo's sources restricted him to a statement of what was agreed to be the core of a once extensive territory; earlier writers, such as Herodotus and Polybius, had referred to the Milyas in terms which show that it extended more widely in earlier centuries.