Tarsus
Tarsus is a historically significant city located in the Cilicia region of southeastern Asia Minor, near the river Cydnus. It has a rich heritage, with various legends attributing its founding to notable figures such as Heracles and local Assyrian kings. Throughout its history, Tarsus experienced periods of autonomy, particularly during the Persian Empire, and later became an important center under Alexander the Great. The city changed hands several times, being contested by the Ptolemies and Seleucids before undergoing Roman influence, during which it was known as Juliopolis and later as Antoninoupolis.
In antiquity, Tarsus was famed for its philosophical and rhetorical schools and was the birthplace of St. Paul, a significant figure in Christianity. The city was also known for its vibrant economy, including a flourishing perfume industry. Tarsus served as the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia and was noted for its local mint, producing a diverse range of coins that celebrated its rich cultural heritage. While many ancient structures have not survived, Tarsus is home to remnants like the "Frozen Stone" and various artifacts displayed in local museums, reflecting its storied past.
Subject Terms
Tarsus
Tarsos, later Antiochia on the Cydnus, Juliopolis, Antoninoupolis (see also below)
The most important city of Cilicia (southeastern Asia Minor), in its eastern, `Smooth’ region (Pedias, Campestris), within the alluvial plain of the river Cydnus (Tarsus Çayı), at the mouth of which, some four miles distant, lay the port of Tarsus, Rhegnia, now covered by a eucalyptus forest planted to drain the swampland of the silted river estuary. Tarsus later claimed Heracles, Perseus and Triptolemus (together with Argives) as its founders, while other traditions assigned its foundation to the Assyrian kings Ashurbanipal or Sennacherib (705–680 BC), telling of a Greek landing party repulsed by the Assyrians.
Under the Persian empire Tarsus enjoyed autonomy under its own rulers (who were known as Synnesis), issuing coins before 400 with the city name but Persian designs. During the fourth century the names of Persian satraps appear—in addition to a temple of the god Anu, and a scene of a lion attacking a bull beside the city walls—until Tarsus was captured by Alexander the Great (333), becoming one of his major mints. After his death, its possession was disputed between the Ptolemies and Seleucids, whose monarch Antiochus I Soter (293/2–261) or Antiochus II Theos (261–246) renamed the place Antiochia on the Cydnus, though it soon reverted to its original name. A coin of Demetrius II (129–125) depicts a shrine of Sandan.
Following further vicissitudes, Tarsus was occupied by Pompey the Great during his campaign against the pirates (67), though during his subsequent civil war against Julius Caesar (49–48) it sided with the latter, temporarily assuming the name of Juliopolis. In 41 Cleopatra VII of Egypt was summoned to the city by Antony, and made her regal progress up the Cydnus for their historic meeting, described by Plutarch and Shakespeare. Although at that time Tarsus was the center of famous philosophical and rhetorical schools, its inhabitants, according to Strabo, had a tendency to emigrate. Shortly after the beginning of the Christian era it was the birthplace of Saul (later St. Paul), whose family belonged to the local Jewish (Pharisee) community. His father was a tentmaker; Pliny the Elder and Athenaeus also refer to perfume industries in the city.
In AD 72 it became the capital of a new Roman province of Cilicia (separated from Syria). Dio Chrysostom (c 40-after 112) refers to a boundary dispute with Mallus (Kızıltahta), and rebukes the Tarsians for their aggressive, litigious spirit. In 260 their city was temporarily captured by Spates, a general of the Sassanian Persian King Sapor (Shapur) I. In 276 the armies of the rival emperors Florian and Probus confronted each other outside its walls, but Florian's troops murdered him before a battle could be fought. Maximinus II Daia succumbed to an illness there in 313. In the later empire the province of which Tarsus served as capital was Cilicia Prima, comprising the western part of the plain. Tarsian linen is mentioned in third- and fourth-century documents.
Until the time of Gallienus (253–68) the local mint produced an immensely varied coinage, including a number of silver issues. Honoring a succession of emperors—in fierce competition with other cities that had begun to compete with its rank—Tarsus described itself on these pieces as Commodiane, Severiane, Antoniniane (or Antoninoupolis), Macriniane and Alexandriane, and as `the first, the greatest and most beautiful’ and `the free city presiding over the three provinces.’ The same series records the `free’ Cilician Assembly (koinon, eleutherion koinoboulion), and Ciliciarchs who served as its presidents. Other coins bear witness to a variety of local festivals—including the Games held to celebrate Septimius Severus' victory over Pescennius Niger (194)—and illustrate a wide range of mythological scenes, with special relation to the city's traditional founders. A temple of Hadrian's youthful friend Antinous, described as the New Dionysus (Neos Iakchos), also appears, and under Caracalla (211–17) an elaborately ornamented gateway is depicted. The only certain ancient monument still surviving in the city is a concrete podium known as the `Frozen Stone,’ but numerous local finds are exhibited in Adana museum.