Mysia (UK , US or ; ; ; ) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, Troad on the west, and the Propontis on the north. In ancient times it was inhabited by the Mysians, Phrygians, Aeolian Greeks and other groups.

Geography

The precise limits of Mysia are difficult to assign. The Phrygian frontier was fluctuating, while in the northwest the Troad was only sometimes included in Mysia.

Under Augustus, Mysia occupied the whole of the northwest corner of Asia Minor, between the Hellespont and the Propontis to the north, Bithynia and Phrygia to the east, Lydia to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west.

thumb|upright=1.5|Coin of [[Orontes I|Orontes as Satrap of Mysia, Adramyteion – 357–352 BC]]

thumb|upright=1.5|Coinage of [[Memnon of Rhodes, Mysia. Mid-4th century BC]]

Under the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the northwest corner of Asia Minor, still occupied by Phrygians but mainly by Aeolians, was called "Phrygia Minor" – and by the Greeks "Hellespontos".

After Rome's defeat of Antiochus the Great in the Roman-Syrian War of 192 to 188 BC, the area, which had been held by the Diadoch Seleucid Empire, passed to Rome's ally, the Attalid kingdom, and, on the death of King Attalus III in 133 BC, to Rome itself, which made it part of the province of Asia

According to the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles Paul, Silas and Timothy came to (or passed by) Mysia during Paul's second missionary journey. The narrative suggests that they were uncertain where to travel during this part of the journey, being "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia".

Shortly afterwards Paul had a vision of a "man of Macedonia" who invited the apostles to travel westwards to Macedonia.

Ancient bridges

The remains of several Roman bridges can still be found:

  • Aesepus Bridge across the Aesepus (today Gönen Çayı)
  • Constantine's Bridge across the Rhyndacus (Adırnas Çayı)
  • Makestos Bridge across the Makestos (Susurluk Çayı)
  • White Bridge across the Granicus (Biga Çayı)

== See also ==<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦--->

  • Aeolis
  • Ancient regions of Anatolia
  • Mysian language
  • Mysians
  • Telephus

References