The Roman Empire made Lystra a colony in 6 BCE, under the name of Colonia Iulia Felix Gemina,[6] possibly to gain better control of the tribes in the mountains to the west.

The man leaped up and began to walk and thus so impressed the crowd that they took Paul for Hermes, because he was the "chief speaker," and his companion Barnabas for Zeus.

The crowd spoke in the local Lycaonian language and wanted to offer sacrifices to them,[9] but Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes in dismay and shouted that they were merely men.

The next day, he and Barnabas left for Derbe; but on the return part of their journey, they stopped once more at Lystra, encouraging the disciples there to steadfastness.

[14] Unlike other cities Paul visited, Lystra apparently had no synagogue, although Timothy's mother and grandmother were Jewesses, thus exposing him at an early age to the Holy Scriptures.

[15] Lystra appears to have been the first location where the apostles reached the Gentiles with the gospel of Christ without approaching them through the common ground of Judaism.

[22] He wrote in 1941: "One hopes that some enthusiast will spend the money needed to clear up the topography of Lystra; and some fragments, at present valueless, may be completed by his discoveries".