Cilicia - Clickable Map of the Roman Empire - First Century AD
Cilicia
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Ancient Cilicia Ci-li'ci-a. In the Roman Empire Cilicia was a province of Asia Minor, created by Pompey. The Cilicians were of a bad moral character among the Greeks and Romans. Cilicia contained two main areas: on the west a mountainous region called the Rough, and on the east a level plain called the Plain Cilicia. In the north the Taurus mountains blocked Cilicia from Cappadocia, Lycaonia, and Isauria. In the east mount Amanus blocked Cilicia from Syria, in the south the Mediterranean Sea blocked Cilicia, and Pamphylia blocked Cicilia on the west. The capital of the province of Cilicia was Tarsus, which was the famous birthplace of Paul the Apostle (Acts 21:39; 22:3; 23:34). The Bible also mentions that Jews from Cilicia disputed with Stephen (Acts 6:9). The good news about Jesus reached Cilicia early on (Acts 15:23) and a Christian church was planted by Paul in Cilicia (Acts 9:30; Galatians 1:21). Later Paul passed through Cilicia blessing the churches that he had founded (Acts 15:41). On his voyage to Rome as a prisoner he sailed over the sea of Cilicia (Acts 27:5).
Acts 6:9 - Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Acts 15:23 - And they wrote [letters] by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren [send] greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Acts 15:41 -
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.
Acts 21:39 - But
Paul said, I am a man [which am] a Jew of Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia,
a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the
people.
Acts 22:3 - I
am verily a man [which am] a Jew, born in Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia,
yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, [and] taught according to
the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye
all are this day.
Acts 23:34 - And
when the governor had read [the letter], he asked of what province he was. And
when he understood that [he was] of Cilicia;
Acts 27:5 - And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, [a city] of Lycia.
Galatians 1:21
- Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
Cilicia (Κιλικία). A district in the southeast of Asia Minor, bounded by the Mediterranean on the south, Mount Amanus on the east, and Mount Taurus on the north. The western part of Cilicia is intersected by the offshoots of the Taurus, while in its eastern part the mountain chains inclose much larger tracts of level country; and hence arose the division of the country into Cilicia Aspera or Trachea, and Cilicia Campestris�the latter being also called Cilicia Propria. The first inhabitants of the country are supposed to have been of the Syrian race. The mythical story derived their name from Cilix, the son of Agenor, who started with his brothers, Cadmus and Phoenix, for Europe, but stopped short on the coast of Asia Minor, and peopled with his followers the plain of Cilicia. The country remained independent till the time of the Persian Empire, under which it formed a satrapy, but it appears to have been still governed by its native princes. Alexander subdued it on his march into Upper Asia, and after the division of his empire it formed a part of the kingdom of the Seleucidae. Its plains were settled by Greeks, and the old inhabitants were for the most part driven back into the mountains of Cilicia Aspera, where they remained virtually independent, practicing robbery by land and piracy by sea, till Pompey drove them from the sea in his war against the pirates; and, having rescued the level country from the power of Tigranes, who had overrun it, he erected it into a Roman province, B.C. 67-66. The mountain country was not made a province till the reign of Vespasian. The Cilicians bore a low character among the Greeks and Romans; so that the Carians (Κᾶρες), Cappadocians (Καππάδοκες), and Cilicians (Κίλικες) were called the �three bad K's� (τρία κάππα κάκιστα). - Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers.
Roman Cilicia. Cilicia Trachea became the haunt of pirates, who were subdued by Pompey in 67 BC following a Battle of Korakesion (modern Alanya), and Tarsus was made the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. Cilicia Pedias became Roman territory in 103 BC first conquered by Marcus Antonius Orator in his campaign against pirates, with Sulla acting as its first governor, foiling an invasion of Mithridates, and the whole was organized by Pompey, 64 BC, into a province which, for a short time, extended to and included part of Phrygia. It was reorganized by Julius Caesar, 47 BC, and about 27 BC became part of the province Syria-Cilicia Phoenice. At first the western district was left independent under native kings or priest-dynasts, and a small kingdom, under Tarkondimotus, was left in the east; but these were finally united to the province by Vespasian, AD 72. It had been deemed important enough to be governed by a proconsul.Under Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy (circa 297), Cilicia was governed by a Consularis; with Isauria and the Syrian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Libyan provinces, formed the Diocesis Orientis (in the third century the African component was split off as diocese Aegyptus), part of the pretorian prefecture also called Oriens ('the East', also including the dioceses Asiana and Pontus, both in Anatolia, and Thraciae on the Balkans), the rich bulk of the eastern Roman Empire.
In the 7th century it was invaded by the Muslim Arabs, who held the country until it was reoccupied by the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II in 965.
Roman Cilicia exported the goats-hair cloth, Cilicium, of which tents were made. Tarsus was also the birthplace of the early Christian missionary and author St. Paul, writer (or purported writer) of 13 of the 27 writings included in the New Testament. - Wikipedia
Cilicia CILI�CIA
CILI�CIA (ἡ Κιλικία). The description of Cilicia is difficult; but the best way
of understanding the character of this country is by following Strabo's
description. Strabo calls Cilicia, which lies along the coast of the
Mediterranean, �Cilicia outside of the Taurus� (ἡ ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου), for there was
a country called Cilicia which was within (ἐντός) the Taurus; which district he
has described under Cappadocia. [CAPPADOCIA] Cilicia Proper was bounded on the
west by Pamphylia, on the north by Lycaonia and Cappadocia, and on the east by
the range of Amanus, which extends from the interior to the shore of the
Mediterranean at the gulf of Issus. The southern boundary is the Mediterranean.
Cilicia is naturally divided into two parts. The western and mountainous part
was called Cilicia the Rough (Τραχεῖα, Τραχειῶτις: Eth. Τραχειώτης). The eastern
part contains a considerable extent of plain country, and was called Cilicia the
Plain or Campestris (Πεδιάς).
Cilicia Trachea presents to the sea a convex outline, with a narrow tract along
the coast, as Strabo describes it, and it has little or no plain country. Strabo
makes Coracesium (Alaya) the boundary between Pamphylia and Cilicia. Pliny
places the boundary at the river Melas (Manavgat) 26 miles west of Coracesium.
Mela (1.13) makes Anemurium, Cape Anamour, the boundary between Cilicia and
Pamphylia. Anemurium is the most southern point of this mountainous coast, and
the most southern point of the peninsula of Asia Minor; but it is above 50 miles
east of Strabo's boundary. Ptolemy does not seem consistent with himself, for
under Pamphylia (5.5) he makes Side the last town in Pamphylia, his description
proceeding from west to east; and he immediately after enumerates Coracesium and
Syedra as coast towns of Cilicia Trachea. But under Cilicia (5.8) he mentions
Syedra as a city of Pamphylia, and he makes Cilicia Trachea commence east of
Syedra. The coast of Cilicia Trachea presents a rude outline, backed by high
mountains from Coracesium to Cape Cavaliere, a distance of above 140 miles. To
the east of Cape Cavaliere the high mountains recede from the coast, and the
appearance of the country, as seen from the sea, alters materially. (Beaufort,
Karamania, p. 219). But Strabo extends the eastern limit of Cilicia Trachea to
the river Lamus (Lamas), which is between the island Elaeussa and Soli. �Here,�
observes Beaufort, �the rocky coast finally terminates, being succeeded by a
gravelly beach and broad plains, which extend inland to the foot of the
mountains.� Strabo reckons the distance along the coast from Coracesium to
Anemurium to be 820 stadia; and the distance from Anemurium to Soli at about 500
stadia. The distance from Coracesium to Anemurium is 68 English miles; and
Strabo's distance is too great. The distance from Anemurium to Soli, afterwards
Pompeiopolis, is about 149 miles; and here Strabo's error is very great, or at
least the error in his present text.
A branch of the great mountain mass of Taurus runs direct from Coracesium (Alaya)
towards Anemurium, but it is interrupted off Karadran [CHARADRUS]. From
Charadrus eastward the mountains still run near the shore; and there are no
large rivers on the coast of Cilicia till we come to the Calycadnus. [CALYCADNUS]
This river is represented as rising in the range of Taurus, east of Coracesium,
and as having a general eastern course to Seleuceia, below which it enters the
sea. The basin of the Calycadnus is separated from the coast by a rough mountain
tract, which some geographers have identified with the Imbarus of Pliny (5.27).
The northern boundary of the basin of the Calycadnus and of Cilicia Trachea is
the Taurus; from which a considerable stream flows southward, and joins the
Calycadnus on the left bank, a little below Mout, supposed to be on the site of
Claudiopolis. A district named Lalassis by Ptolemy (5.8) was probably contained
in the upper and western part of the basin of the Calycadnus; and Ptolemy's
Cetis may have comprehended the middle and lower basin of the same river,--the
only level tract in this rugged country. Ptolemy, however, includes in Cetis,
both Anemurium, Arsinoe, Celenderis, and other places on the coast.
The route from Laranda (Karaman), on the north side of the Taurus, through Mout
to Celenderis, is described in Leake's Asia Minor, p. 103. It is one of the few
passes through the Cilician mountains. Ptolemy also mentions a district Lamotis,
so named from a town Lamus, which was also the name of the river that was the
boundary between the Trachea and the Campestris. The mountains at the back of
the coast of Cilicia Trachea contain timber trees; and Strabo mentions Hamaxia,
which is between Coracesium and Selinus, as a station to which shiptimber was
brought down,--chiefly cedar, which was abundant; and he adds that M. Antonius
gave these parts to Cleopatra, because they were suited for the equipment of a
navy.
From the Lamus the coast of Cilicia Campestris runs NE. beyond Soli, and then
has an ESE. course to Cape Karadash (the ancient Magarsus). These two
coast-lines form a considerable bay. A long straight beach extends from the
Lamus to Soli; and as we advance eastward from the Lamus the mountains recede
further from the shores, and leave a greater breadth of level country. The
mountains that bound this plain on the north have their peaks covered with snow
in June. (Beaufort.) The first river within Cilicia Campestris, which, by its
direction from north to south and the length of its courses [1.618] indicates
the commencement of the Cilician plain, is the Cydnus, which flows past Tarsus (Tersoos).
Nearly due north of Tarsus is a gorge in the limestone rock of the mountains,
through which the Cydnus flows from the high range of the Taurus. This difficult
pass, which the Turks call G�lek B�gh�z, is that by which the younger Cyrus
passed from Dana or Tyana, in Cappadocia, to Tarsus; and it is clearly described
by Xenophon (Xen. Anab. 1.2.21). This was also the pass by which Alexander
entered Cilicia, and the pass which Niger attempted to defend against Septimius
Severus, who was marching against him from Cappadocia. (Herodian, 3.8, &c.) But
there was another pass between that of Laranda and the Pylae Ciliciae, which is
mentioned by Xenophon (Xen. Anab. 1.2.19). Cyrus was accompanied in his march
from Iconium through Lycaonia by the Cilician queen Epyaxa; and on his route
through Lycaonia, he sent her with an escort into Cilicia, by the pass between
Laranda and the Ciliciae Pylae. This is the pass which �leads by Kizil Chesmeh
and Alan Buzuk, Karahisar and Mezetli, to Soli or Pompeiopolis, and to Tarsus.�
(Ainsworth, Travels in the Track, &c., p. 40.) After passing through the
Ciliciae Pylae, Cyrus and his army descended into the Level Cilicia, which
Xenophon describes as a large, beautiful, well-watered plain, full of all kinds
of forest trees and vines. It produced sesame, panic, millet, wheat, and
barley,--which are cultivated there at the present day,--with rice, cotton, and
the sugar-cane; the date tree is indigenous. (Ainsworth,) Xenophon describes the
plain as surrounded by rugged and lofty mountains on all sides from sea to sea;
by which expression we must understand that he considered the plain of Cilicia
as extending eastward to the place where the Amanus runs down to the sea, and
terminates in Cape Hynzyr, or Ras-el-Chansir, as it is sometimes called.
�Cape Karadash (Magarsus) is a white cliff, about 130 feet high, and is the
first interruption of that low sandy beach, which commences near the river
Lamas.� (Beaufort.) This point may be considered as the commencement of the deep
bay of Issus, now the gulf of Iskenderun; the corresponding point on the
opposite side is Cape Hynzyr. The coast of this bay east of Karadash has first a
general eastern, and then a north-eastern direction, to the head of the gulf of
Issus. �Eastward of Karadash, the same dreary waste of sand, interspersed with
partial inundations of water, again recurs, and extends to the river Jyhoon or
Jyhan, the ancient Pyramus.� (Beaufort.) Immediately north of the outlet of the
Pyramus is the bay of Ayas [AEGAE], the northern part of which is �a level plain
of firm soil, from ten to twenty feet above the sea.� (Beaufort.) From the head
or most northern part of the gulf of Issus, the coast has a general south
direction, nearly as far as Alexandria (Iskenderun); and from Iskenderun to Cape
Hynzyr, the direction of the coast is south-west, being nearly parallel to the
coast on the opposite side of the bay. The form of the eastern coast is
determined by the eastern or Syrian range of Amanus, which has a general
southern direction as far as the latitude of Iskenderun, and then a SW.
direction to Cape Hynzyr. There is only a very narrow tract between these
mountains and the sea from Cape Hynzyr to the head of the gulf of Issus. The
level land at the head of the gulf is the plain of Issus, which is bounded on
the north and north-west by the other range of Amanus, which descends in a SW.
direction as far as the lower course of the Pyramus. This range is crossed in
going from Mopsuestia (Misis) to the gulf of Iskenderun; and the high lands, in
fact, descend to the shore of the gulf of Issus, at a place called Matakh. This
appears to be the station (ὕφορμος) which Strabo mentions as belonging to the
Amanides Pylae, for he describes the SW. branch of the Amanus as reaching to the
sea at this place. [AMANIDES.] These two ranges of the Amanus, the eastern or
Syrian, and western or Cilician, enclose the plain of Issus, and separate it
from the more extensive plain to the west, which we may call the Cilician.
Strabo (p. 676) reckons it a voyage of near 1,000 stadia, direct distance from
Seleuceia in Pieria, which is the first Syrian city south of Rhosus, to Soli in
Cilicia. The real distance is only about 85 English miles. Strabo further says
that the south coast of Asia Minor runs eastward from the Rhodian Peraea to the
mouth of the Cydnus, and that it then takes a direction nearly ESE. (ἐπὶ τὴν
χειμερινὴν ἀνατολήν) as far as Issus, and that from Issus the coast makes a bend
to the south as far as Phoenice. Now, this is true of the coast as far as Cape
Karadash, but no further; and Strabo's notion of the coast east of Karadash
makes the bay of Issus disappear altogether. Therefore, the geographer has
either expressed himself very inaccurately, or he was not acquainted with the
form of the bay of Issus.
The lower part of the plain of Cilicia between the Sarus and the Pyramus is the
Aleian (Ἀλήιον πεδίον), which was celebrated in the mythi of the Greeks as the
place of Bellerophon's wanderings (Il. 6.201). The cavalry of Alexander, in his
Asiatic campaign, passed through this plain from Tarsus to the Pyramus (Arrian,
Arr. Anab. 2.5.11). It is seen from the sea by those who follow the coast from
the mouth of the Cydnus to Cape Karadash; and �as far as the eye could discern,
it consists entirely of dreary sandhills, interspersed with shallow lakes.�
(Beaufort.)
The Cilician plain contains three large rivers. The Cydnus (Tersoos Tchy) is
described by Strabo as having its source not far above Tarsus, passing through a
deep ravine, and then immediately flowing down to Tarsus; and the stream is cold
and rapid. He makes it only 120 stadia from the Cilician boundary on the north
to Tarsus, and five stadia from Tarsus to the sea. But the Ciliciae Pylae are
about 25 miles NNW. of Tarsus; and the distance from Tarsus to the present
outlet of the river is at least 12 miles, through a level and well cultivated
country. The best maps represent it as rising not further north than the
Ciliciae Pylae, and on the south side of the range of Taurus, now called Bhulgar
Dagh. The Cydnus can now only be entered by the smallest boat, the entrance
being obstructed by bars; but inside of the bar �it is deep enough, and about
160 feet wide. It was navigable in ancient times up to Tarsus� (Plut. Ant.
100.26); and probably much later. It seems that the progress of the alluvium has
been very rapid at the mouth of this river, and this is the only way of
explaining Strabo, who says that the Cydnus, at its mouth, flows into a kind of
lake, called Rhegma, which had ancient dockyards, and the lake was the port of
Tarsus. Strabo's five stadia from Tarsus were probably reckoned to the Rhegma,
which the alluvium has changed into a sandy plain. But there is some error in
the five stadia: the Stadiasmus makes the same distance 70 stadia. The water of
the Cydnus is [1.619] cold, but not colder �than that of the other rivers which
carry down the melted snow of Mount Taurus.� (Beaufort.) Alexander, who is said
to have been seized with a violent illness from bathing in it, threw himself
into the water when he was in a great heat. (Arrian, Arr. Anab. 2.4.10; Plut.
Alex. 100.19.)
East of the river Tarsus the Stadiasmus places the mouth of the Sarus (in the
Stadiasmus incorrectly written Areius), 70 stadia from the outlet of the Rhegma.
The Sarus is the modern Sihun, and the coast between the mouths of these two
rivers projects in a long sandy spit. This river is 270 feet wide at its mouth,
and as difficult to enter as the river of Tarsus. The Sarus is not mentioned by
Strabo in his description of Cilicia; but in his account of Cataonia [CATAONIA]
he describes the course of the Sarus as being through Comana, and through the
gorges of Taurus to the Cilician plain (p. 535). The Sihun is represented in
some maps as having two sources far to the north, one of which is nearly in the
parallel of 39� N. lat., and the other still further north. The course of these
two streams is south, and a long mountain tract separates the two river basins,
which unite within the mountain region. The stream then takes a very irregular
course to Adana, a place which retains its name (Adanah); and from Adana it has
a SW. course through the Cilician pain to the sea. If the course of these two
branches of the Sarus is correctly represented in Kiepert's map, it is one of
the large rivers of the peninsula, and at least above 200 miles long. There is,
however, a third branch of the Sarus, the course of which is well ascertained,
and it is laid down in the map which accompanies Hamilton's work (Researches,
&c.). This is the branch which rises east of Eregli or Ercle, about 37 1/2� N.
lat., much further to the south and west than either of the branches already
mentioned, and passes through the great range of Taurus; that part of the range
west of the gap is called Bulghar Dagh. The course of this branch of the river
is eastward, and the road follows the waters �for some distance amidst
precipitous cliffs and wooded abutments, till they sever the main chain, which
is composed of a somewhat narrow and rugged belt of limestone reposing on
schistus; the pass is however wide, and would permit of the passage of three
chariots abreast.� (Ainsworth.) The road then turns up a valley to the
south-west, down which flows a stream, and joins the Sarus on the right bank.
The road is over wooded rocks and hills up to the head waters of this stream,
where there is an extensive flat, �at the summit of which, and at an elevation
of 3812 feet, are the fortified costs of Mohammed Ali Pacha; immediately beyond
which the waters again run to the S. and SE., rushing through a tremendous gap,
and thence flow direct towards the Cydnus or river of Tarsus.� (Ainsworth,
London Geog. Journal, vol. x. p. 499.) Thus the road passes from the basin of
this tributary of the Sihun into the basin of the Cydnus, and it then follows
the waters of the Cydnus, which �soon lead to a deep gorge or fissure in another
lofty ridge of limestone rocks; this is the narrowest and most difficult portion
of the pass: it is the point to which Xenophon's description applies as just
broad enough for a chariot to pass, and that would be with great difficulty;
this portion of the road bears evident traces of ancient chiselling.�
(Ainsworth.) It is also clearly the deep ravine which Strabo describes the river
Cydnus as passing through in its course to Tarsus; and that which Niger blocked
up to stop the approach of Septimius Severus. Niebuhr (Reisebeschreibung, vol.
iii. p. 108), who went through this defile, observes that this road, through the
Boghaz from the pashalik of Adanah to that of Konie, would be as dangerous for a
hostile army as Xenophon and Curtius describe it, for it is narrow, and the
rocks on both sides are steep as a wall; yet the caravan, which he accompanied
in December 1766 from Adanah, made its way through these Ciliciae Pylae without
any great difficulty.
When the army of Cyrus (B.C. 401) left Tarsus, it marched to the Sarus or Psarus,
as the best MSS. have it (Xenoph. Anab. 1.4.1). The march was ten parasangs or
300 stadia from Tarsus to the Sarus; and the width of the Sarus was estimated by
Xenophon at 300 Greek feet. Mr. Ainsworth found the Sarus, at Adanah, in the
month of December, 325 feet wide at the bridge, but not fordable. Adanah, which
is on the site of the old city, is, at present, a town of some trade, and
surrounded by a fertile tract of well-cultivated gardens.
From the passage of the Sarus the army of Cyrus marched five parasangs, or 150
stadia, to the Py. ramus, the width of which Xenophon estimated at 600 Greek
feet (Anab. 1.4.1.). The present passage of the Pyramus (Jihun) is at Misis, the
site of Mopsuestia, which is on the road from Baiae (Bayas), on the bay of
Issus, to Adanah. Mr. Ainsworth, however, gives some good reasons for supposing
that Cyrus crossed the Pyramus below Mopsuestia, and much nearer the old mouth
of the river. Niebuhr (A.D. 1766) found a handsome bridge at Misis, recently
built, and a hundred double steps in length. The Pyramus is the largest of the
Cilician rivers, It rises in Cataonia [CATAONIA], and consists of two main
branches, one the Carmalas, flowing from the north, and the other from the east.
[CARMALAS] These two branches unite SW. of Marash, from which point the river
has a SW. course, through the Taurus. It passes the site of Anazarbus and Misis,
and at present enters the sea a little south of the inlet, already mentioned, at
the eastern extremity of which Ayas stands. But the old bed of the river seems
to have entered the sea some distance from the present mouth, and a little west
of Cape Karadash, as Beaufort supposes; for here there is a shallow inlet of
salt water, about 12 miles long. The present outlet of the Jihun is 23 miles
east of the supposed former outlet. A short distance NE. of Karadash, and near
the eastern extremity of this shallow inlet, is the site of Mallus, the chief
town of the Mallotis. Thus Mallus would stand on the east side of the old bed of
the Pyramus, and near the mouth of the river, which is consistent with all the
ancient authorities.
Strabo (p. 536) describes the Pyramus as a navigable river which rises in the
middle of the plain of Cataonia. There is a considerable channel, through which
the clear water flows unseen for some distance under ground, and then rises to
the surface. If a man lets down a spear from above into the channel, the force
of the stream is so great that the spear is with difficulty dipped in the water.
After its re-appearance the river runs on in a broad deep stream, but on
approaching the Taurus, it is wonderfully contracted. Wonderful also is the gap
in the mountains through which the bed of the river passes, for as it happens in
rocks which have been rent and split asunder, that the projections on one side
correspond to the recesses on the other, in such wise that [1.620] they may be
fitted together, so we observed that the rocks overhanging the river on each
side, and rising almost up to the summits of the mountains, at a distance of two
or three hundred feet, had the receding parts corresponding to the projecting
parts. The bottom between the steep sides is all rock, and has a deep and very
narrow fissure in the middle, so narrow that a dog or a hare might leap over.
This is the channel of the river which is full to the brim, like a broad canal
to the extent of a thousand stadia. Owing to the winding course of the stream,
and the great contraction, and the depth of the chasm, the noise falls on the
ear of persons even as they approach at some distance, like the sound of
thunder. Passing through the mountains the river brings down so much alluvium to
the sea, some from Cataonia, and some from the Cilician. plains, that a prophecy
uttered about it is in vogue, to the following effect: �In time to come broad
flowing Pyramus Shall push his banks to Cyprus' sacred shore.�
The same thing happens here, adds Strabo, as in Egypt, where the Nile is
continually making land of the sea by its alluvium. (See the notes on this
passage of Strabo about the Pyramus, in Groskurd's Transl., vol. ii. p. 450).
Mr. Ainsworth remarks, from his own observations on the plain of Cilicia, as far
as the ruins of Anazarbus, that �its bed is throughout the plain deep and
narrow, from the nature of the soil, which is alluvial;� and that �in its lower
part it divides into several streams on arriving at its delta.� He concludes
that the army of Cyrus crossed this river in the lower parts, where it is most
easily forded, at which time its embouchure was probably at Karadash. The
prophecy is not yet fulfilled; but the river still brings down a great quantity
of earth and sand. This deposit has produced a plain of sand along the side of
the gulf, like that formed by the Calycadnus. �The Jyhoon, half a mile from its
mouth, is 490 feet wide, and is the largest of all the rivers on the south coast
of Asia Minor� (Beaufort). It is now as shallow over its bar as the Cydnus and
the Sarus; though it appears from a passage of Anna Comnena, quoted by Beaufort,
that it was open for galleys even in the time of the crusades.
The remainder of Cilicia contains no large river, and is closed, as already
described, by the two branches of the Amanus. It lies around the Gulf of Issus,
and the more particular description of this gulf, and the examination of the
difficult question of the site of Issus, will come more appropriately in another
place. [ISSUS].
The extensive tract of country called Cilicia has a coast line of 430 miles,
from Coracesium to Rhosus, at the southern extremity of the bay of Issus. The
direct distance from Coracesium to the Syrian Gates on the east side of the gulf
of Issus is about 230 miles. It is, aptly enough, divided into the Mountainous
(ἡ ὀρεινή, Hdt. 2.34) and the Level, and a ready communication between the
extreme west and eastern parts could only be by sea. The coast, however, of the
Tracheia, or Mountainous Cilicia, nearly as far east as the outlet of the
Calycadnus, though included in Cilicia by the later geographers, is really a
distant country. But the valley of the Calycadnus, which lies from west to east,
may be considered one of the three, natural divisions of Cilicia; the other two
being the plain of Tarsus and Adana, and the plain of Issus. Indeed, from the
peninsula of Cape Cavaliere, �the last and highest of the series of noble
promontories that project from this coast� (Beaufort), the rude outline of the
shore is changed, and the land communication along the coast with the eastern
part of Cilicia is not difficult. There is a road represented in the Table, all
along the coast from the border of Pamphylia to Seleuceia on the Calycadnus, and
thence eastward through Corycus, Soli (or Pompeiopolis), the Aleian plain,
Mallus, Aegae, and Issus, to Rhosus. Alexander, after reaching Tarsus by the
pass in the Taurus, led part of his army to Anchiale, and from Anchiale to Soli;
and he afterwards advanced from Soli eastwards to Magarsus and Mallus, on the
Pyramus. The two natural chief divisions of Cilicia, the basin of the Calycadnus
and the plain country east of the Cydnus, are represented by the modern Turkish
governments or pashalicks of Selefkeh (Seleuceia on the Calycadnus) and Adanah.
It is difficult to estimate the extent of the Cilician plain, through which the
Cydnus, Sarus and Pyramus flow. The level country appears to reach somewhat
north of Mopsuestia (Miss), Adana (Adanah), and Tarsus (Tersoos); and in this
part the plain may be between 40 and 50 miles from east to west. The form of the
coast makes the dimensions of the plain from north to south very unequal in
different parts. The widest part extends north from Cape Karadash, and it may be
above 30 miles. The level land, that. has been named the plain of Issus, is only
a narrow strip, except at the head of the gulf of Issus, when it seems to extend
eight or ten miles inland. Cilicia surrounded by mountain barriers, with a long
coast and numerous ports, a fertile plain, and mountains covered with forests,
possessed great natural advantages. Its position between Syria on one side, and
the rest of Asia Minor on the other, made it the highway from the Hellespont and
the Bosporus to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and the middle course of
the Euphrates. Its proximity to Syria invites the cupidity of any one who is
master of that country; and the Greek rulers of Egypt coveted the possession of
the opposite coast of Cilicia, which contains the materials for shipbuilding,
which Egypt does not.
Besides the products of Cilicia mentioned above, Corycus on the coast was famed
for its saffron, which was an article of export. A cloth made of goats' hair,
which the Romans called Cilicium, was the work of Cilician industry; at least
the thing seems to have had its name from the Cilician article.
The Cilicians, Herodotus says (7.91), were originally named Hypachaei, and
afterwards they had the name of Cilices from Cilix, the son of Agenor, a
Phoenician. According to this tradition, they were of the same stock as the
Phoenicians. It is probable that they did belong to some branch of the Aramaic
nations, and the Assyrian kings seem to have extended their power to the level
Cilicia. [ANCHIALE] Cilicia had a king Syennesis, who is represented as
mediating, in conjunction with a king of Babylon, to make peace between Croesus
the Lydian king and the Medes, B.C. 610. (Hdt. 1.74.) Cilicia was the fourth
division in the arrangement of Darius, and it paid the king a yearly tribute of
360 white horses and 500 talents of silver (Hdt. 3.90); of which sum 140 talents
were expended on the cavalry on duty in Cilicia, and the rest came into the
Persian king's treasury. Herodotus (5.52) makes Cilicia extend north of the
Taurus to the east of Cappadocia, and he makes the Euphrates the boundary
between the Cilicians and the Armenians; [1.621] so that, if his statement is
true, the eastern part of the later province of Cappadocia was in his time
Cilician. [CAPPADOCIA] Cilicia still had its native kings in the time of this
Darius; for a Carian, Pixodarus, the son of Mausolus, was married to a daughter
of the Cilician king Syennesis. (Hdt. 5.118.) Cilicia was one of the subject
states which contributed to form a navy for the Persians, and it supplied 100
ships for the great expedition of Xerxes, which were under the command of a
Cilician, Syennesis, the son of Oromedon. (Hdt. 7.91, 98.) A king still called
Syennesis was the husband of queen Epyaxa, who made herself a partisan of the
younger Cyrus, when he was on his road through Cilicia to attack his brother
Artaxerxes, and contrived to reconcile her husband to him. (Xen. Anab. 1.2. 26)
The mythi of the Greeks connected the history of the people of Western Asia with
Cilicia [CILICES]; and they had stores of early settlements by their own nation
on these shores. Amphilochus, the son of Amphiaraus, settled Posideium on the
borders of the Cilicians and the Syrians (Hdt. 3.91). According to another
story, Amphilochus, and Mopsus, the son of Apollo, came from Troy and founded
Mallus; and in Strabo's time their tombs were pointed out at Magarsa, near the
Pyramus. But the Greeks do not appear to have settled in Cilicia, if we look to
historical evidence, before the time of Alexander, except in a few places on the
coast. Soli is said to have been colonised by Achaei and Rhodians from Lindus.
In the time of Xenophon (B.C. 401) the Cilices still appear as a distinct
people. It was not till after the time of Alexander that the Greeks got a firm
footing in the country, and, under Greek civilisation, Tarsus became one of the
great schools of the ancient world. The name of Seleuceia on the Calycadnus, of
Antiocheia ad Cragum, and Arsinoe, on the coast of the Trachea, and other Greek
names, indicate the connection of Cilicia with the Greek kings of Syria and
Egypt. The later Roman occupation of the country is indicated by the names
Pompeiopolis, Claudiopolis, Trajanopolis, and others. The native Cilicians
probably disappeared from the plain country, or were mingled first with Greeks
and other foreigners; but they maintained themselves in the mountains, even to
Cicero's time, under the name of Eleutherocilices. Cicero, who was governor of
Cilicia, describes them as a fierce and warlike race, and he took their strong
town Pindenissus. (Cic. Att. 5.2. 0) Strabo says that the Amanus, which lies
above Cilicia on the east, was always governed by several kings or chiefs, who
had strong places; and in his time, a man of mark was set over all of them, and
called King by the Romans for his merits. His name was Tarcondimotus, a genuine
free Cilician, no doubt.
Diodotus, surnamed Tryphon, made the stronghold Coracesium his head-quarters at
the time that he caused Syria to revolt from the kings, as Strabo expresses it.
Antiochus, the son of Demetrius, in B.C. 139 compelled Tryphon to seek refuge in
a fort, where he killed himself. This Tryphon, adds Strabo, was the cause of the
Cilicians commencing their piratical practices, and the feebleness of the kings
who succeeded one another in the government of Syria and Cilicia. The Cilicians
were encouraged to man-stealing by the great demand for slaves among the Romans
after the destruction of Carthage and Corinth, and they found a ready sale at
Delos for all the slaves that they took there. Pirates, pretending to be
slave-dealers, soon started up, and did great mischief in these seas. The Romans
were too remote to care about what was going on along the coast of Asia, though
they knew that these disorders were owing to the weak government of the
descendants of Seleucus Nicator. But it was at last necessary for the Romans to
make war on the pirates, for their own safety, for even the shores of Italy and
the neighbourhood of Rome were not safe against these marauders. (Cic. pro Leg.
Manil. ch. 1. 1, &c.; Plut. Pomp. 100.24, &c.) During the war with Mithridates
the pirates sided with the king, and when the Romans took them in hand they had
to deal with a most formidable enemy. In B.C. 103, M. Antonius had Cilicia as
his �provincia,� that is, according to the proper sense of that word, for the
sphere of his command as proprietor. This was the beginning of the war against
the pirates. Also in B.C. 92, L. Sulla had Cilicia for his �provincia;� but it
is not correct to infer that Cilicia was then organised as a Province. In B.C.
80 and 79, Cn. Dolabella had Cilicia as his �provincia.� (Cic. Verr. act. 1.17.)
It does not appear that he had under him any part of Cilicia, properly so
called; and it has been observed, that all the crimes of Verres aud Dolabella,
which Cicero mentions, were committed in Lycia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Phrygia.
But, as he had a province in Asia Minor, and it was called Cilicia, he might, we
must suppose, have gone into Cilicia, if he would or could. In B.C. 78--75, P.
Servilius Isauricus was sent against the pirates in these seas. He took several
places in Lycia and Pamphylia, and Corycus in Cilicia (Eutrop. 6.3); but he did
not enter the Level Cilicia, which was held by Tigranes till B.C. 69, and
perhaps even to B.C. 66. Yet, some writers state that Isauricus conquered
Cilicia. (Vell. 2.19.) Cn. Pompeius, who was appointed (B.C. 67) to command in
the war against the pirates, brought Cilicia Trachea under Roman dominion; and,
after the surrender of Tigranes, he took from him the Level Cilicia, with other
of his acquisitions. The province called Cilicia was now fully organised, and it
comprised six parts: Cilicia Campestris, Cilicia Aspera, Pamphylia, Pisidia,
Isauria, and Lycaonia; with the greatest part of Phrygia, comprehending the
Conventus of Laodicea, Apamea, and Synnada. In B.C. 58 the island of Cyprus was
added, which the Romans had taken from the king of Egypt. This was the extent of
the Roman province of Cilicia when Cicero was proconsul of Cilicia, B.C. 51--50.
It was divided, after Roman fashion, into eight Conventus or Fora: the Conventus
of Tarsus, which city was the residence of the governor; the Forum of Iconium
for Lycaonia; the Forum Isauricum, conjectured to have been at Philornelium; the
Forum Pamphylium, the place of which is unknown; the Forum Cibyraticum [CIBYRA],
at Laodicea, on the Lycus; the Forum of Apamea; the Forum of Synnada; and
Cyprus.
A change was made shortly after this time and probably by the Dictator Caesar
B.C. 47. (Bell. Alex. 66). The Forum or Conventus of Cibyra was attached to the
province of Asia, together with the greater part of Pisidia, and also Pamphylia,
and as it seems, the Conventus of Apamea and Synnada. M. Antonius (B.C. 36) gave
Cyprus and Cilicia Aspera to Cleopatra, and eastern Phrygia with Lycaonia,
Isauria, and Pisidia, to Amyntas king of Galatia. Augustus reduced the province
of Cilicia still further. Cyprus was made a separate province; and Pamphylia
with Isauria and Pisidia, after the [1.622] death of Amyntas, was also made a
separate province. Lycaonia was attached to the province of Galatia, which was
established after Amyntas' death; and thus Cilicia was reduced to the original
parts Campestris and Aspera. According to Roman fashion however (Strab. p. 671)
the mountainous parts, which were not easy for a governor to manage, were left
to the native princes. There were three of these native dynasties. One was that
of Olbe, in the mountains between Soli and Cyinda; perhaps the Olbasa of
Ptolemy. This was a priestly dynasty, which traced its descent from Ajax, a son
of Teucer; and hence the rulers were generally called Ajax and Teucer. In B.C.
41, through the favour of M. Antonius, Polemo had the supreme power, who called
himself on his coins M. Antonius Polemo, and had the title of chief priest of
the Cennati, dynast of the sacred city of the Olbeis and Lalasseis. The name
Cennati appears on coins of Diocaesarea, which is called the Metropolis of the
Cennati. The Lalasseis are mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy. As late as the reign
of the emperor Claudius, there is mentioned a Polemo, king of Cilicia. Cilicia
Aspera, which M. Antonius had given to Cleopatra, and which Archelaus afterwards
held (Strab. p. 671), was given by Augustus after the death of Amyntas (B.C. 25)
to Archelaus of Cappadocia. He had all the Aspera, except Seleuceia, and he
resided in the island Elaeussa, near the mouth of the Lamus, which was called
Sebaste in honour of Augustus. And here he had a palace. There is no island here
now; �but there is a little peninsula opposite the town, covered with ruins, and
connected with the beach by a low isthmus of drift sand; from whence it may be
concluded that this peninsula was once the island Elaeussa, and that the isthmus
has been of recent formation.� (Beaufort, Karamania, p. 252.) It seems not
unlikely that the family of Archelaus remained in possession of Cilicia Aspera,
even after the death of Archelaus, A.D. 17, when Cappadocia was made a Roman
province. Vespasian finally attached Cilicia Aspera to the province.
In the Amanus there was a King Tarcondimotus, who has been already mentioned. He
assisted Pompeius in the battle at Pharsalus, but he was pardoned by Caesar. The
king lost his life at the battle of Actium (D. C. 1. 14). Plutarch (Plut. Ant.
61) calls him Tarcondemus, King of Upper Cilicia. His eldest son Philopator,
which is a pure Greek name, was deprived of his father's kingdom; and the
younger, Tarcondimotus II., did not obtain possession of it until B.C. 20. His
successor Philopator II. died A.D. 17.
Under Augustus, Cilicia was an imperial province, administered by a Legatus
Aug., with the title of Propraetor. In Caracalla's time the governor was named
Consularis. In the period after Constantine, Cilicia was divided into three
parts: Cilicia Prima, the chief town Tarsus, under a Consularis; Cilicia Secunda,
chief town Anazarbus, under a Praeses; and Isauria, originally Cilicia Aspera,
chief town Seleuceia, under a Praeses.
Six free cities under Roman dominion are mentioned in Cilicia: Tarsus, which was
both Libera et Immunis; Anazarbus, called also Caesarea, which had the title of
Metropolis, from the time of Caracalla; Corycus; Mopsus or Mopsuestia; Seleuceia,
on the Calycadnus, which was taken from under the administration of Archelaus by
Augustus, and declared free; and Aegae. Selinus, afterwards Trajanopolis, was
probably a Roman colony. (Becker, Handbuch der R�m. Alter., continued by
Marquardt.) - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography,
William Smith, LLD, Ed.
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Ancient Questions
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Bible Study Questions
- What does biblical archaeologist said about hieroglyphics?
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