Classical Anatolia

Anatolia, also known by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is considered to be the westernmost extent of Asia. Geographically it encompasses the central uplands of modern Turkey, from the coastal plain of the Aegean Sea east to the mountains on the Armenian border and from the narrow coast of the Black Sea south to the Taurus mountains and Mediterranean coast.

The earliest representations of culture in Anatolia were Stone Age artifacts. The remnants of Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Hittite peoples provide us with many examples of the daily lives of its citizens and their trade. After the fall of the Hittites, the new states of Phrygia and Lydia stood strong on the western coast as Greek civilization began to flourish. Only the threat from the emerging Persian kingdom prevented them from advancing past their peak of success.

For the next 200 years, all of Anatolia came under Achaemenid Persian rule. Their system of local government divided in satrapies in Anatolia allowed many port cities to grow and to become wealthy. Their governors revolted periodically but did not pose a serious threat. In the aftermath of the Greco-Persian Wars, all of Anatolia still remained under Persian control. The Greek Alexander the Great finally wrested control of the whole region from Persia in successive battles, proving victorious over the Persian Darius III. After Alexander's death, his conquests were split amongst several of his trusted generals, but were under constant threat of invasion from both the Gauls and other powerful rulers in Pergamon, Pontus, and Egypt. The Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexander's territories, and which included Anatolia, became involved in a disastrous war with Rome culminating in the battles of Thermopylae and Magnesia. The resulting Treaty of Apamea in (188 BC) saw the Seleucids retreat from Anatolia. The Kingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes, Rome's allies in the war, were granted the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Anatolia subsequently became contested between the neighboring rivalling Romans and the Parthian Empire, which frequently culminated in the Roman-Parthian Wars

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