Galatia

Galatia is a historic region in central Anatolia, in present-day Turkey. It was settled in the 3rd century BCE by Galatians, Celtic migrants who came from Europe and formed a confederation of tribes known as the Galatai. The core area lay on the central plateau around Ancyra (modern Ankara) with nearby communities such as Pessinus and Tavium; boundaries shifted with pressures from neighboring Phrygia, Cappadocia, and Lycaonia.

In the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods, Galatia became increasingly integrated into the Roman world. By about 25 BCE, Augustus organized Galatia as a formal Roman province. It remained a frontier and cultural crossroads, and its administrative status changed in late antiquity, sometimes being linked with Cappadocia or Pontus, and later reorganized under the Diocletianic reforms within the eastern provinces.

Galatia is notable in early Christian history because the Apostle Paul addressed his Epistle to the Galatians to Christian communities in this region, probably in the southern part of Galatia such as Pisidia and Lycaonia, written in the mid-1st century CE. The letter reflects the region’s role as a contact point between Hellenistic culture and emerging Christian communities.

Today, the name Galatia survives as a historic designation for central Anatolia. Its legacy is preserved in archaeological remains and in the historical geography of late antiquity, with the area roughly corresponding to parts of modern Turkish provinces including Ankara, Eskişehir, and Konya.