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Bible Encyclopedias
Cilicia
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Cilicia, the south-eastern part of Asia Minor, bounded on the W. by Pamphylia; separated on the N. from Cappadocia by the Taurus range, and on the E. by Amanus from Syria; and having the gulf of Issus (Iskenderoon) and the Cilician Sea () on the South. By the ancients the eastern part was called Cilicia Proper, or the level Cilicia; and the western, the rough, or mountainous. The former was well-watered, and abounded in various kinds of grain and fruits. The chief towns in this division were Issus, at the south-eastern extremity, celebrated for the victory of Alexander over Darius Codomanus (B.C. 333), and not far from the passes of Amanus; Solæ, originally a colony of Argives and Rhodians; and Tarsus, the birth-place of the Apostle Paul [TARSUS]. Cilicia Trachea furnished an inexhaustible supply of cedars and firs for ship-building; it was also noted for a species of goat, of whose skins cloaks and tents were manufactured. Its breed of horses was so superior, that 360 (one for each day of the year) formed part of the annual tribute to the king of Persia. The neighborhood of Corycus produced large quantities of saffron. Though partially subjected to the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Syrians, and Romans, the Eleuthero (or free) Cilicians, as the inhabitants of the mountainous districts were called, were governed by their own kings, till the time of Vespasian. The sea-coast was for a long time occupied by pirates, who carried on the appropriate vocation of slave-merchants, and found ample encouragement for that nefarious traffic among the opulent Romans; but at last their depredations became so formidable, that Pompey was invested with extraordinary powers for their suppression, which he accomplished in forty days. He settled the surviving freebooters at Solae which he rebuilt and named Pompeiopolis. Cicero was proconsul of Cilicia (A.U.C. 702), and gained some successes over the mountaineers of Amanus, for which he was rewarded with a triumph. Many Jews were settled in Cilicia ().
According to the modern Turkish divisions of Asia Minor, Cilicia Proper belongs to the Pashalic of Adana; and Cilicia Trachea to the Liwah of Itchil in the Mousselimlik of Cyprus.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Cilicia'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/c/cilicia.html.
