LICAONIA. — An inland region of Asia Minor, consisting of a vast plateau (1,000 m. above sea level), bounded to the east by the mountains of Phrygia and Isauria, to the south by the Taurus range, and to the northeast by Cappadocia. The territory, dotted with salt lakes, is steppe-like and arid, and was always sparsely inhabited. At first, the region did not enjoy political autonomy but was incorporated into the neighboring provinces, particularly Galatia.
According to Acts 13:51–52, when Paul and Barnabas were expelled from Antioch of Pisidia, they took refuge in Licaonia and evangelized its principal centers: Iconium (Acts 14:1–6), Lystra, and Derbe (ibid., 14:6). The population, though uncultured and superstitious, despite knowing Greek, continued to speak Lycaonian (ibid., 14:8–12), an ancient Anatolian language of which only a few fragments of inscriptions remain.
Old legends about indigenous deities, whom the Greeks equated with Zeus and Hermes and the Romans with Jupiter and Mercury, and about their relations with humans, were widespread in Licaonia. The Phrygian legend of the couple Philemon and Baucis, who, having welcomed Zeus and Hermes in human form into their humble dwelling, were transformed into immortal and divine trees as a reward (Ovid, *Metamorphoses*, VIII, 621–725), explains the mindset of the inhabitants in their treatment of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:8–12). During his second missionary journey, Paul, accompanied by Silas, visited the churches he had founded, noting their firm faith and continued growth (Acts 16:1–4).