Lycaonia (; ,
Lukaonia, ) was a large region in the interior of
Asia Minor, north of the
Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by
Cappadocia, on the north by
Galatia, on the west by
Phrygia and
Pisidia, while to the south it extended to the chain of Mount Taurus, where it bordered on the country popularly called in earlier times
Cilicia and in the Byzantine period
Isauria; but its boundaries varied greatly at different times. The name is not found in
Herodotus, but Lycaonia is mentioned by
Xenophon as traversed by
Cyrus the Younger on his march through Asia. That author describes
Iconium as the last city of Phrygia; and in
Acts 14:6
Paul, after leaving Iconium, crossed the frontier and came to
Lystra in Lycaonia.
Ptolemy, on the other hand, includes Lycaonia as a part of the province of Cappadocia, with which it was associated by the Romans for administrative purposes; but the two countries are clearly distinguished both by
Strabo and Xenophon and by authorities generally.
