3. The Provinces on the Mediterranean. (1.) Lycia (Acts 27:5) lay south of Mount Taurus, and opposite to the island of Rhodes. Two of its cities, Patara and Myra, were visited by the apostle Paul. (Acts 21:1; 27:5.) (2.) Pamphylia (Acts 13:13) was a small province between Lycia and Cilicia, and also between Mount Taurus and the sea. Its capital, Perga, was the first city in Asia Minor visited by Paul on his first missionary journey. On his return, he preached in its seaport, Attalia. (Acts 13:13; 14:24, 25.) (3.) Cilicia (Acts 6:9) is a long and narrow province, also lying between Mount Taurus and the sea, and separated from Syria by the Syrian Gates, a pass in the mountains. Its capital, Tarsus, was one of the leading cities of the Roman empire, and the birthplace of Paul.
4. The Provinces in the Interior. (1.) On the north was Galatia, a land of uncertain and varying boundaries, but located between Bithynia, Cappadocia, Lycaonia and Phrygia. It received its name from a race of Gauls, who conquered it about 300 B.C., was twice visited by Paul, and its Christian population was addressed in the Epistle to the Galatians. (Acts 16:6; 18:23; Gal. 1:2.) (2.) Cappadocia lay on the southeast of Galatia, and south of Pontus. It was the largest province in Asia Minor. Some of its people were in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:9); and its churches were among those addressed in 1 Peter. (3.) Lycaonia (Acts 14:1-23) was not a political division, but a district in southern Galatia. It was west of Cappadocia and east of Phrygia, and separated by the Taurus range from Cilicia. Its principal places were Iconium, Derbe and Lystra, in all of which Paul preached the gospel and suffered persecution. (4.) Pisidia was politically connected with Pamphylia, but lay north of the Taurus, between Lycaonia and Phrygia. Its principal city was Antioch (to be distinguished from Antioch in Syria), twice, at least, visited by the apostle Paul. (Acts 13:14; 14:21.) (5.) Phrygia varied greatly at different periods, and in Paul's time had no separate existence as a province. In the earlier days, when Galatia was a part of it, it was said to touch in some way every other land in Asia Minor. In its southern section lay the three cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colosse, all named in Paul's letters.
THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY.
1. Paul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their assistant, set forth upon the first missionary journey from Antioch, the metropolis of Syria (Acts 13:1), already described on [page 107].
2. They descended the mountains to Seleucia (Acts 13:4), the seaport of Antioch, 16 miles from the city, named from its founder, Seleucus Nicator, B.C. 280. It is now a small village known as el Kalusi, having among its ruins an ancient gateway, still standing, through which Paul and Barnabas may have passed.
3. Setting sail, they crossed over the arm of the Mediterranean to the island of Cyprus (Acts 13:4-13), the early home of Barnabas, 60 miles west of Syria, and 40 miles south of Asia Minor; of irregular shape, 140 miles long and 50 wide; then thickly inhabited, and governed by a Roman proconsul, now under the rule of Great Britain.
4. Their first stopping place was at Salamis (Acts 13:5), on its eastern shore, on the river Pediæsus, where they found a Jewish synagogue. The city is now desolate, and its unoccupied site is known as Old Famagousta.
5. They crossed the island from east to west, preaching on their way, and came to Paphos (Acts 13:6), the capital, and residence of the proconsul. This city contained a famous shrine of Venus, to whose worship, with all its immoralities, its people were devoted. There was an old and a new city, of which the former was the one visited by Paul and Barnabas. It is now called Baffa.
6. Sailing in a northwesterly direction a distance of 170 miles, they reached Asia Minor, in the province of Pamphylia. Passing by Attalia for the present, they ascended the river Cestrus, and landed at Perga (Acts 13:13), 7½ miles from the sea. This was a Greek city, devoted to the worship of Diana: now in ruins, and called Eski Kalessi. Here their young assistant, Mark, left the two missionaries to prosecute the hardest part of the journey without his help.