Galatia

Galatia (gəlā`shə) [Gr.,=Gaul], ancient territory of central Asia Minor, in present Turkey (around modern Ankara). It was so called from its inhabitants, the Gauls, who invaded from the west and conquered it in the 3d cent. B.C. The name applies to the Gallic territory that was originally composed of parts of Phrygia and Cappadocia. Attalus I checked (230 B.C.) the advance of the Gauls and reduced the size of Galatia. The region was subjected (189 B.C.) by the Romans. The name was also used for the Roman province, formed in 25 B.C. At first the Roman province was much larger than old Galatia, but it was reduced (A.D. 72) to a smaller scope.

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Galatia

Ancient district, central Anatolia. It was occupied early in the 3rd century BC by Celtic tribes who were then overpowered by the Seleucid king Antiochus I (Soter) in 275 BC. At that point the Celts, called Galatae (Galatians) by 3rd-century-BC writers, settled in the territory to which they gave their name. Passing successively under the rule of Pergamum and Pontus, Galatia became a Roman protectorate in 85 BC. By the 2nd century AD, the region had become absorbed into the Hellenistic civilization.

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Galatia

an ancient region in central Asia Minor, conquered by Gauls 278--277 bc: later a Roman province