ISAURIA, in Ancient Geography, a tract of country in Asia Minor, on the northern side of Mt. Taurus, which separated it from Cilicia, and bounded on the E. by Lycania, on the N. by Phrygia, and on the W. by Pisidia. Practically it may be considered as forming part of Pisidia, especially as strong affinities subsisted between the inhabitants of the two countries. The Isaurians were a wild and half-barbarous race, who lived by rapine and plunder. When resisted by superior numbers they fled to their mountain strongholds, where few either cared or dared to follow them. On sea they were equally formidable. Along with their Cilician neighbours they ranged the eastern seas as pirates, and at one time nearly swept the Roman flag off the Levant and adjoining waters. So formidable did they now become, that in n.c. 78, the Romans set on foot a special campaign against them, and reduced them into a kind of temporary submission. When Pompey put an end to piracy in the east, the Isaurians, though surrounded on every side by the Roman power, were still unsubdued, and by their incessant raids and forays kept their more peaceful neighbours in constant alarm. The Romans then proceeded to surround their country with a chain of fortresses, but the Isaurians broke through them and remained as untameable as before. Under the empire, army after army was sent against Isauria, which stood to Rome, and afterwards to Constantinople, very much in the relation that Cir-
cassia now does to Russia. In the 8th century their national vanity was gratified by seeing a countryman of their own appointed to the throne of the Eastern empire in the person of Leo III. From this date they gradually ceased to be formidable. The only city of importance in Isauria was Isaura, its capital. It was a large, rich, and well-fortified place, at the foot of Mt. Taurus on its northern slope. The country itself was rocky and barren. The only useful plant that thrived in it was the vine, which was cultivated with care.