Galatia was a Roman province in central Anatolia, and a general term for the region until Muslims conquered the area in the ninth century. Its name comes from the Greek word for “Gaul” because it was settled by a group of Gauls around 200 BCE. I found it fascinating that they had settled that far southeast, but apparently, they were engaging in a lot of migration during that time period. Other groups were sacking Rome and pillaging parts of Greece before one tribe got lured into Asia Minor for mercenary work and decided to make it their home. There is also a region called Galicia just north of Portugal, named after the Roman province of Gallaecia, which was also named after the Gauls because another tribe had established themselves in that area.
