Before the prominence of the Lycian League, the Lycian culture had been conquered and suppressed by foreign powers. The first kingdom to overtake Lycia was the Persians in
540 B.C., when Cyrus the Great ruled Persia. Initially, the Persians were kind rulers over the Lycians, only wanting tribute. Later Persia resorted to militarism and oppression in the 4th century B.C., which caused the Lycians to side with Alexander the Great and oust the Persians. Over the course of the next 150 years, the Greeks, Romans and Rhodes ruled over Lycia, until it was set free from Rhodian rule by the Romans in 167 B.C.
Lycia was under the sovereignty of Rome during the Lycian League era. Although they technically belonged to the Empire, Rome allowed Lycia to live freely as a province; it was the last territory in Asia Minor to be formally incorporated as a Roman province. Lycia was its own province until A.D. 43, when Rome combined Lycia with Pisidia and Pamphylia in a new province. Even though it was part of a new province, deep geographical ridges and valleys separated Lycia from the rest of Asia Minor. As a result, Rome did little to try and influence Lycia's administration and local government.
Since Lycia was under Rome's sovereignty, the Lycian League was primarily responsible for overseeing local matters. The League's responsibilities included the administration of Lycia's towns, religious ceremonies and economic issues. However, the Lycian League was never able to declare war or free themselves from tribute owed to Rome. Each city-state of Lycia was able to send two or three representatives to the Lycian League's parliament building, known as the Bouleuterion, in modern-day Patara, Turkey. The League had one presiding officer, the Lyciarch; this relationship was comparable to the U.S. President and Congress.
Two of the United States' Founding Fathers, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, recognized the Lycian League as a major influence on the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Also, two branches of the United States government – executive and legislative – were patterned after the structure of the Lycian League. Madison claimed following the example of the Lycian League inspired the formation of the U.S. Government in three ways: the possibility of a large republic gaining support from its constituents, representative government and strong national government.