Lycia’s History - A Struggle For Freedom

The history of Lycia is a story of fierce struggles against those who sought to invade and dominate it. The first recorded instance of Lycian resistance fighting occurred around 540 BC when the Persians overran all Asia Minor. The Persians attacked the Lycian capital city of Xanthos, but the Xanthosians chose mass suicide over surrender. The men of Xanthos gathered their wives, children and possessions in the acropolis and set fire to all before rushing out fighting to die to the last man.

"The Persian Army entered the plain of Xanthos under the command of Harpagos, and did battle with the Xanthians. The Xanthians fought with small numbers against the superior Persians forces, with legendary bravery. They resisted the endless Persian forces with great courage, but were finally beaten, their womenfolk, children, slaves and treasures into the fortress. This was then set on fire from, below and around the walls , until destroyed by conflagration. Then the warriors of Xanthos made their final attack on the Persians, their voices raised in calls of war, until every last man from Xanthos was killed."

Herodotus of Halicarnassos (6th century B.C.)

Xanthos was later repopulated by families outside the city at the time. Persian rule of Lycia actually proved to be quite mild and fostered economic growth and the strength of the region. It was during this period that the first rock-cut tombs were carved and the Lycian alphabet came into wide-spread use.

The Athenians had little success at capturing Lycia in the next century despite several attempts, only managing to set up one important colony, Phaselis. However, in 334 BC, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great received a friendly reception from the Lycians following his defeat of the Persians - he was welcomed as a deliverer of the Lycians from the threat of attack by their neighbor - the Carian dynasts of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum).

During this period Lycia began to lose a bit of its native character and Greek was adopted as the nation’s language. However, Lycia did remain culturally distinct. Herodotos noted: "They have customs that resemble no one else’s. They use their mother’s name instead of their father’s. If one Lycian asks another from whom he is descended, he gives the name of his mother. And if a citizen woman should cohabit with a slave, the children are considered of free birth; but if a citizen man, even the foremost of them, has a foreign wife or mistress, the children are without honour". It was also during this time that the democratic Lycian Union was formed. It eventually consisted of 23 cities.
The strong unity of the Lycian Union was very important following the death of Alexander the Great. First Lycia fell to the Macedonian Antigonos and then it changed hands for many years between the Ptolemies and Seleucids. Later Lycia was handed over to Rhodes by Rome, to which Rhodes had allied itself. The Lycians were very resentful of this and spent the next two decades fighting against the Rhodesians and petitioning the Roman Senate. Finally in 167 BC, by a decision of the Senate, the Lycians’ independence was recognized and it was not incorporated into the Roman Empire until 74 BC.

Although the power of the Lycian Union was reduced a bit under the Romans, Lycia did prosper. Most urban architecture in the Lycian cities dates from the Roman period. As trade expanded people became wealthier and many Lycian millionaires gave generously to their country. For example, Opramoas of Rhodiapolis personally financed almost 60 major monuments in all Lycian cities including the theatres of Xanthos, Tlos, and Limyra.

The second half of the first century BC was a time in which Lycia was affected by the internal conflicts and disturbances in Rome, sometimes suffering disaster as a result. In 42 BC Brutus attempted to take control of Xanthos during the Roman Civil Wars. Once again the Xanthosians chose mass suicide over domination. However, one year later, Marcus Antonius tried to make peace with them and had the city rebuilt. Lycia then recovered under the reign of Augustus in 27 BC. During the first and second centuries BC, the emperors Vespasian, Traianus and Hadrian visited Lycia for various reasons. The emperor Vespasian treated the town with respect and built some monuments for it (69-79 A.D.) Lycia naturally underwent a process of romanization of its culture, art and daily life during this time. Lycian aristocrats began to adopt Roman names, there was a demand for wild animal fights and gladiator combat and the emperor cult spread rapidly.


Following two very large earthquakes in 141 AD and 240 AD some cities were unable to recover and Lycia began to decline. However, a distinct Lycian nationhood seems to have survived well after the arrival of Christianity in the 4th century AD. The spread of Christianity brought important social and cultural changes to Lycia. The most important figure of this time was St. Nicholas (later known as Santa Claus), Bishop of the Lycian city of Myra. Many ancient Lycian cities became Byzantine settlements of importance. Xanthos became the seat of an arch bishopric in the 8th century, but was deserted during the first wave of Arab raids. These raids eventually finished off Lycia and the country lay almost uninhabited for nearly a thousand years until the Turks, led by the lords of the Teke Dynasty, settled the area in the 13th century. However, the Turks mainly kept to the high plateau and left the coast to pirates. At the turn of the 19th century the Ottoman government began repopulating the coast with Greeks from the Aegean islands in order to balance the power of the local feudal lords. Many towns like Kalkan and the neighboring town of Kas came into existence at this time. However, the Anatolian Greeks were obliged to leave after the war of 1919-1922 with the exchange of populations.