Isaurians

From Freepedia

Isauria is an ancient inland district of south central Anatolia. Its inhabitants, a mountain people described by Greco-Roman authors as warlike and uncivilized, were conquered by the Roman general Servilius Isauricus early in the 1st century BC, who derived his cognomen from his victory. Their country with its capital, Isaura Palaia, was joined with Cilicia by Pompey; and under Caesar Augustus (reigned 27 BC–AD 14) it became part of the Roman province of Galatia.

Isauria was later prominent as the birthplace of the East Roman (Byzantine) emperor Zeno, whose reign (474–491) is sometimes known as the “Isaurian Ascendancy.” The Byzantine emperor Leo III (reigned 717–741) was once called "the Isaurian", on the mistaken belief that he had been born in Isauria.