One of the largest cities in Cilicia during Roman times, it was the city of Paul's birth (Acts 22:3). Situated about 16km inland from the sea on the banks of the Cydnus, it boasted a fine harbour of great commercial value.
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Tarsus was an ancient city, already mentioned in Hittite sources in the 20th Cent BC. It used to be thought that the city should be identified with biblical Tarshish (Gen 10:4); a view now abandoned. It was colonized early by Greeks from Iona, making it a frontier city of Greek influences in the East. Conquered in turn by the Assyrians, Persians, and Alexander the Great, it came under the control of the Seleucids for two centuries, when it was renamed Antioch-on-the-Cydnus. It was conquered by Pompey in 67 BC, who made it the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia.
Tarsus was important enough to warrant a visit by Julius Ceasar in 47 BC. Mark Antony, who was given charge of the eastern provinces made this city his home; it was here that Cleopatra lured Antony into partnership with here. Under Augustus the city was exempted from imperial taxes, and during the 1st Cent AD, reached its height of properity, and became a major centre of culture and learning, on par with if not exceeding Athens and Alexandria. It was indeed "no mean city," as Paul put it (Acts 21:39).
Though born here, Paul seemed to have been brought up in Jerusalem; he says, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers" (Acts 22:3). It has been suggested, though not conclusively, that Paul's trade as a "tent-maker" had to do with a kind of felt cloth—called Cilicium—made from the wool of a shaggy black goat for which Cilicia was (still is) famous.
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