Lycaonia

Lycaonia (meaning she-wolf) was an inland province of Asia Minor (modern central Turkey), situated on the Anatolian plateau west of Cappadocia and south of Galatia. Its principal cities included Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe—all of which figure prominently in Paul's first and second missionary journeys (Acts 13:51–14:23; 16:1). The region was remote, rugged, and culturally distinct: the Lycaonians spoke their own language (Acts 14:11 specifically notes this when the people of Lystra spoke in the speech of Lycaonia on witnessing Paul and Barnabas's miraculous healing), and the population was regarded by ancient writers as wild and difficult to govern.

Lycaonia's administrative boundaries shifted frequently under successive imperial rulers—Seleucids, various Hellenistic kingdoms, and finally Rome—and at different periods portions of the region were assigned to the provinces of Galatia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia. The churches Paul founded in Lycaonia (at Iconium, Lystra, Derbe) became important bases for the expansion of Christianity into Asia Minor and form part of the audience of the letter to the Galatians if the South Galatian hypothesis is correct.