Again, when Paul and Barnabas went from Antioch to Iconium, they were not going to a new district, but to an outlying city of the same district ; hence there is no definition of their proposed sphere of duty. They were expelled from Antioch, and they came to Iconium. The case was very different when they found it expedient to
1 1 o Foundation of the Churches of Galatia. Chap. V.
leave Iconium. They then had to cross the frontier to a new Region of the same province, which began a few miles south and east from Iconium. The passage to a new Region and a new sphere of work is clearly marked in the text.
6. THE CITIES OF LYCAONIA. (xiv 6) Paul and Barnabas FLED UNTO THE CITIES OF LYCAONIA, LYSTRA AND DERBE, AND THE SURROUNDING REGION ; (7) AND THERE THEY WERE ENGAGED IN PREACHING THE GOSPEL.
The expression used in XIV 6 is remarkable (p. 90) : "they fled into Lycaonia, especially to the part of it which is summed up as the cities, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding Region ". To understand this we must bear in mind that the growth of cities in Central and Eastern Asia Minor was connected with the spread of Greek civilisation ; and in the primitive pre-Greek condition of the country there were no cities organised according to the Greek system, and hardly any large settlements, except the governing centres, which were, however, Oriental towns, not Greek cities. Now, in v. 6 a Region comprising part of Lycaonia is distinguished from the rest as consisting of two cities and a stretch of cityless territory (i.e., territory organised on the native pre-Greek village system).
Here, as in XIII 14, we have one of those definite statements, involving both historical and geographical facts, which the student of ancient literature pounces upon as evidence to test accuracy and date. Is the description accurate ? If so, was it accurate at all periods of history, or was it accurate only at a particular period ? To these questions we must answer that it was accurate at the period when Paul visited Lycaonia ; that it was accurate at no other time except between 37
Sec. 6. The Cities of Lycaonia. J 1 1
and 72 A.D. ; and that its only meaning is to distinguish between the Roman part of Lycaonia and the non- Roman part ruled by Antiochus. It is instructive as to Luke's conception of Paul's method, and about Luke's own ideas on the development of the Christian Church, that he should here so pointedly define the Roman part of Lycaonia as the region to which Paul went and where he continued preaching.
In modern expression we might call this district " Roman Lycaonia " ; but that would not be true to ancient usage. Territory subject to Rome was not termed ager Romanics (p. 347), but was designated after the province to which it was attached ; and this district was Galatica Lycaonia, because it was in the province Galatia. It was distinguished from "Lycaonia Antiochiana" which was ruled by King Antiochus.
Such was official usage ; but we know the capricious- ness of popular nomenclature, which often prefers some other name to the official designation. The inhabitants of the Roman part spoke of the other as " the Antiochian Region" CAvrcoxiavh %^Pa\ ancl tne people of the latter spoke of the Roman part as the " Galatic Region" {TaXarLKrj %(opa). It was unnecessary for persons who were living in the country to be more precise. Now this Region of Roman or Galatic Lycaonia is three times mentioned in Acts. (1) In XIV 7 it is defined by enumerating its parts ; and as Paul goes to it out of Phrygia, it is necessary to express that he went into Lycaonia : the advice which the Iconians gave him would be to go into Lycaonia. (2) In XVI 1-3 the writer does not sum up the district as a whole, for his narrative requires a distinction between the brief