a country of Asia Minor, bounded by the Mediterranean on the south, Caria on the west, Pamphylia on the east, and Phrygia on the north. It was anciently called Milyas and Tremile, from the Milyae, or Solymi, a people of Crete, who came to settle there. The country received the name of Lycia from Lycus the son of Pandon, who established himself there. The inhabitants have been greatly commended by all the ancients for their sobriety and justice. They were conquered by Croesus king of Lydia, and afterwards by Cyrus. Though they were subject to the power of Persia, yet they were governed by their own kings, and only paid a yearly tribute to the Persian monarch. They became part of the Macedonian empire when Alexander came into the east, and afterwards were ceded to the house of the Seleucidae. The country was reduced into a Roman province by the emperor Claudius.