In the last post, we looked in general at Asia Minor, seeing it as crossroads of early Christianity. We wanted to pay particular attention to the provinces/regions mentioned in 1 Peter 1: Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. This time, we’ll take each of these provinces in turn, and briefly explore their significance to early Christianity.
Pontus was a province located in northeastern Asia Minor, bordering the independent buffer state of Armenia. The rather intimidating rival empires of Parthia lay just on the other side, with both Rome and Parthia vying for control. The region of Pontus had led the resistance to Roman incursion in the 60s BC. Jews from this region were present at the first Pentecost (Acts 2), but no other mention of the region is made. Aquila, the husband of Prisca, was born here. In modern times, a version of Greek called ‘Ophitic’ or Romeyka Greek is still spoken, retaining various elements of Ancient Greek which most modern versions have lost.
Moving west and a bit south, we arrive in the center of Asia Minor to find the region of Galatia. Galatia, made famous through Paul’s letter directed at several cities in the region, is named after Celtic tribes who settled here in 278BC. Speaking a variety of Celtic (cf. Welsh), this region was known for being somewhat wild and uncivilized: a frontier region. It was only subdued by the Romans by 30BC, and most of the region had assimilated by the second century CE.
In Paul’s travels, he passed mostly through the southern coastal region. The following map does not show Galatia touching the sea, but it likely did – the boundaries of these regions is rather nebulous — at least until Diocletian’s reforms in 297, when southern Galatia was detached from Galatia. Thus both Peter’s and Paul’s letters were likely addressed to the cities in southern Galatia.((Wilson, M. (2020). Epistles: Galatia in Text, Geography, and Archaeology. Biblical Archaeology Review, 46(4), 54, 56.))
Moving back East, we run into Cappadocia (Καππαδοκία) – both ‘c’s should be pronounced as “k”. Apart from this letter and the mentions in Acts 2, this region is mostly silent until the fourth century when the great Cappadocian fathers seem to appear from nowhere. The three (or four) – Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Macrina – helped advance early Christian theology, particularly on the doctrine of the Trinity.
Next we turn to the western coastline of Asia Minor, to the province of Asia. While the name may not bring anything significant to mind, the cities lying therein certainly will: Ephesus, Laodicea, Smyrna, Sardis, Pergamon, and so forth. These are regions through which Paul frequently passed and to which the letters of Revelation were directed. Early letters from Ignatius of Antioch were written to these churches as well.
Finally, Bithynia – the region Paul almost made it to. “When [Paul and his companions] came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus would not permit them.” Instead, they were beckoned across the Aegean into Greece, but this shouldn’t prevent us from exploring. Not only do we possess a fascinating description of early Christians in the region around 100 by Pliny the Younger, but the region becomes a significant center of Christianity when Constantine moves the imperial capital to Constantinople (formerly Byzantium) on the far western border of Bithynia. It was in the outskirts of Constantinople, in Nicaea and Chalcedon where much discussion considered how best to understand the Christian God.
Although we have repeatedly reference Paul, it is important to realize that his work was some forty years prior to the writing of 1 Peter. To get closer to the actual context, we will turn to the writings of Pliny the Younger and Ignatius of Antioch who were writing in the decade or two after Peter’s first letter was likely penned.