Galatia

Who were the Galatians? How did the area get its name? Why did Paul write a letter there? In this episode of Bible Backdrop, I answer these questions along with some history of the area. Before you listen, I recommend you read the book of Galatians and also Acts 13. If you like the show, please subscribe and write a 5 star rating and review. You can also get in touch with the show by the e-mail address mentioned in the podcast. 

Transcript

Hello again everyone! Thank you so much for joining me on the latest episode of the Bible Backdrop podcast. Today, we continue the series looking at the cities and regions of Paul’s epistles. I have to say regions because today’s subject, Galatia, actually encompassed several cities. 

The area known as Galatia covers much of what today is central Turkey...also referred to as Anatolia or Asia Minor. The name comes from the Gauls who settled there in 278 BC. At first, they had been kept out of the area but then they were invited in by Nicomedes, king of Bithynia which is an area in northwest Turkey. He invited them in to help settle a dynastic dispute between him and his brother. The Gauls acted as mercenaries and helped Nicomedes keep his throne. They were awarded the plains of north-central Anatolia. This area was defined by a plateau which, in antiquity, had been part of the Hittite kingdom. 

The Gauls settled in the area bringing their wives and children with them. They then divided into three different tribes. In the central part you had the Tectosages with their capital at Ancyra (which today is Turkey’s capital of Ankara). In the west, you had the Tolistbobolii with their capital at Pressimo. Finally, in the east, you had the Trocmi with their capital at Tavium. They were loosely organized but did establish a national council to deal with issues that affected them as a whole. This central plateau was perfect for raiding the surrounding areas and they did so until 225 BC when King Attalus of Pergammum inflicted several defeats on them but allowed them to stay in Galatia. During this time, the Gauls continued to be a separate race and did not intermarry with the locals, who they considered to be a lower class and inferior. They also adopted the local religion alongside their own.

In 197 BC, the Galatians get their first contact with Rome. In the Roman-Seleucid war (also called the Syrian War), the Galatians fought alongside Antiochus III of Syria, whose son became Antiochus IV also known as Antiochus Epiphanes. You’ll remember that name from epsidoes 7 & 8 when I discussed the political factions during Jesus’ time. And, yes, I’m correcting the pronunciation in this episode. Apparently, it is Anti-o-chus...not Antio-cus. Thank you, History Channel, for that correction.

Back to the Galatians. In this war, Rome was allied with Pergamum, making the two forces on a collision course. In 187 BC, Rome launched an invasion under Manlius Vulso. This invastion and the war in general was stunningly successful for the Romans. As a result, Roman influence spread deep into the east.

In the early to mid-first century BC, the Galatians were under the rule of Ponus who apparently was rather heavy handed. However, they remained loyal to Rome. During the campaigns of Sulla and Pompey Magnus, the Galatians proved to be excellent allies. After Pompey’s victory, they were officially made into a Roman state in 64 BC. A year later, the three tribes were brought under one king by the name of Deiotaros. How did he manage this? Simple! He murdered the other 2 kinds and had himself installed as ruler. Soon after this, Rome was distracted by their own political turmoil and strife. The Galatians mostly stayed out of all this and Rome recognized Deiotaros as the Galatian king. After Deiotaros diead in 40 BC, his power then went to Castor and then to Amyntas. In 25 BC, Augustus was on the throne as emperor of Rome and when Amyntas died, he willed it to the Roman empire. Augustus formally incorporated Galatia as a Roman province. Although considered a backwater, the Galatians had been infused with Hellenistic and Roman culture.

So in this multilayered Greek, Roman and Celtic culture, Paul moves in to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts chapter 13, verse 14, Paul and Barnabas first visit Galatia by going to the synagogue in the city of Prisidian Antioch. From there, they go to Iconium (13:51). After that, they go to Lycaonia, Derbe, and Lystra. Later, they revisit these cities to strengthen the churches there. 

Paul’s letter to the Galatians comes as a result of people coming behind him saying that the converts must follow some of the Law of Moses to be saved, including circumcision. When Paul hears of this, he writes the letter which was considered a circular… meaning it was to be sent on to and covered several churches in the area. This begs the question: who exactly were the Galatians that Paul wrote to? Most likely, it was not the Gauls who had been there for almost 300 years. They were the nobility and spoke their Celtic language well in the 5th century AD. This was a proud group that held onto their religion. The group that Paul wrote to were probably Greek descendants along with some Jews and Romans. This is seen by his writing in Greek (the common language of the day) and the use of adoption and inheritance in Galatians 4. This being a form of Greek law would be understood by other Greeks and not by the Celts. This also shows the letter was probably written to the cities in southern Galatia as it was populated more by Greeks and lines up with his first missionary journey in Acts.

And that is it for this episode on Galatia. Now you can impress your friends at your next Bible study on Galatians by giving them all the background. I hope you enjoyed this episode and are learning something new to help with your Bible reading. Join me next week when I dive into the city of Ephesus. If you haven’t already, I would appreciate if you would subscribe to the show and leave a 5 star rating and review. As always, you can e-mail the show at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Also, word of mouth is the best way for this podcast to gain more followers. Please tell a friend about it and have them subscribe to get future episodes. Thank you again for listening and have a great week.