[88]. We can see no reason for supposing Tarsus the “Tarshish” of the Bible. It did not export the kind of produce entrusted to the “ships of Tarshish,” while the notices of it in the Bible (Gen. x. 4; 1 Chron. i. 7; Psalm lxxiv.; Isaiah lxvi. 19), imply a town or territory in the far west, whence, only, some of these products (as tin), so far as we know, were then obtainable. Hence we find the Phœnicians sailing thither in “long ships” (Ezek. xxvii. 12, xxviii. 13; Jerem. x. 9); while the Roman writers, as Ovid (Met. xiv. 416), Silius Italicus (iii. 399), and Claudian (Epist. iii. v. 14), evidently use the name Tartessus as synonymous with “West.” On the whole, it is most likely that Tartessus in Spain (considered loosely as a district rather than as a town) represents the Biblical Tarshish, and that “ships of Tarshish” is a term equivalent with “Indiamen.”
[89]. A fine specimen of this coin (one of Antiochus VIII., king of Syria) was in the cabinet of the late General C. R. Fox. It was found, in 1848, in a leaden box, between Adana and Tarsus, some twenty feet under the surface of the ground. It has been engraved by Mr. Vaux, in his “Nineveh and Persepolis,” 4th ed. 1856, p. 62. As its type—the so-called tomb of Sardanapalus—is found on other coins of Tarsus, as late as the time of Gordian, it is certain this myth maintained its hold on the popular mind for a long period. The story of the pageant of Cleopatra (Plut. Vit. Antonii) shows that the Cydnus must, in those days, have been navigable up to Tarsus, some eight or nine miles from the sea.
Supporting the cause of Cæsar, the great Julius himself paid Tarsus a visit, when the Tarsians changed the name of their city to Juliopolis. Augustus made it a “libera civitas.” Hence, St. Paul, her most illustrious son, spoke truly, when he said it was “no mean city,” and urged with equal truth and justice that he was “free-born,” while his judge had only obtained this right “at a great price.” The fact is, its position on the immediate confines of Syria and of Mesopotamia was of the highest importance to the Romans in their conflict with the Parthians and Persians. It still retains its old name, slightly modified into Tarsous, and is still the chief city of this part of Karamania.
Tarsus[[90]] was famous in early days for a remarkable class of coins, known as Satrap-money. Among these are coins of Tiribazus, Pharnabazus, Syennesis, and of other rulers, between B.C. 410 and B.C. 370. A description of a coin of Pharnabazus will show their general character. On the obverse of this silver piece is a bearded and helmeted head, possibly the mythological type of Bellerophon or Perseus, either of which would be appropriate to the Græco-Asiatic population of Cilicia, and the name of Pharnabazus in Phœnician letters. On the reverse, is a seated representation of the Jupiter of Tarsus, with the legend, Baal-Tarz, evidently the Zeus Tersios of the Greeks, recorded on another coin as ΔΙΟΣ ΤΑΡΣΕΩΝ, “Of the Jupiter of the Tarsians.” The Duc de Luynes attributed this coin to the famous Pharnabazus (B.C. 413-374), who, originally Satrap of the N.W. district of Asia Minor, is memorable for the steady resistance he made to the Greeks, while the ruler of Lydia, Tissaphernes, on the other hand, accepted Lacedæmonian gold. If so, this coin must have been struck when Pharnabazus had given (B.C. 397, 8) the command of the Persian fleet to the Athenian Conon, as Tarsus was then the centre of the operations against Cyprus. Another extremely rare coin of Pharnabazus, with his name in Greek, was struck at Lampsacus in Mysia, perhaps, for the payment of the Greek mercenaries of Artaxerxes.
[90]. Strabo has noted the studious habits of the Tarsians; no other city, not even Athens and Alexandria, surpassing it in the number and character of its schools. He adds, moreover, that the learned seldom remained in the city, but, like St. Paul, migrated elsewhere to complete their studies.
The towns along the coast of Cilicia have been very carefully studied by Captain Beaufort, who has identified many of them. The first of these, passing from W. to E., was Coracesium, a place historically interesting as having been held for a long time by Diodotus Tryphon, who, having revolted from Antiochus, set the first example of active defiance to the Seleucidæ; Coracesium was, also, the last place where the pirates made a united resistance to the forces of Pompey.[[91]] The whole story of these freebooters is very interesting. It is clear that their successes were mainly due to two things; first, the peculiar fitness of their ports along the seashore of Cilicia for prolonged resistance, with the high range of Taurus to fall back on if over-pressed; and, secondly, to the internecine squabbles of the kings of Cyprus, Egypt, and Syria with themselves and with the Romans, which made it, from time to time, the interest of each party to wink at their worst deeds. The Sacred Island of Delos was their chief western entrepôt; the increasing luxury of the Romans at the same time giving ample encouragement to their traffic in slaves.
[91]. Anchiale, which Colonel Leake thought the fort of Tarsus, like that city, claimed Sardanapalus as its founder. The legend was that Sardanapalus, the son of Anakyndaraxes, erected, in one day, the cities of Anchiale and Tarsus. No one, nowadays, accepts the verses given by Strabo, relating to this Sardanapalus and his deeds, as genuine, and Aristotle says the sentiments in them are fitter for the grave of an ox than for the tomb of a king (Cic. Tusc. Disput. v. 35). An early writer, Amyntas, records what recent research has shown to be probably the truth, viz. that Sardanapalus was buried at Nineveh.
The promontory of Alaya, identified by Captain Beaufort with Coracesium, rises, he says, abruptly “from a low, sandy isthmus which is separated from the mountains by a broad plain; two of its sides are cliffs of great height, and absolutely perpendicular, indeed the eastern side, on which the town is placed, is so steep that the houses seem to rest on each other.” Other places along this coast eastwards are, Laertes (the birthplace of Diogenes Laertius), ἐπὶ λόφου μαστοειδοῦς, “on a hill, in form like a woman’s breast,” and Selinus, a river and a town (now Selinty), the first of which is mentioned by Strabo, and the second by Livy. Its later name of Trajanopolis it owed to the sudden death there of the Emperor Trajan (A.D. 117), but, at a later period, the old name was revived in connection with an episcopal church (Hierocles). Beaufort speaks of its magnificent cliffs—“On the highest point of these,” he says, “are the ruins of a castle which commands the ascent of the hill in every direction, and looks perpendicularly down on the sea.” He notices also several other large structures, and, among these, a mausoleum (perhaps that of Trajan), an agora, a theatre, and an aqueduct. The supposed mausoleum, 70 feet long and 50 feet wide, is constructed of large well-cut blocks of stone and contains only one vault. Cyprus, distant sixty-five miles, can be clearly seen from this headland.
The next important seaport was Anemurium (now Anamur), in the neighbourhood of which Beaufort discovered a perfect city of tombs. “These tombs,” says he, “are small buildings detached from each other and mostly of the same size, though varying in their proportions; the roofs are arched, and the exterior of the walls is dashed with a composition of plaster and small particles of burnt red brick. Each tomb consists of two chambers: the inner one is subdivided into cells or receptacles for the bodies, and the outer apartment is supplied with small recesses and shelves, as if for the purpose of depositing the funereal offerings, or the urns that contained the ashes. The castle strongly resembles some of the ancient castles of Great Britain. Its keep or citadel is placed on a small rocky eminence, and commands two open courts.... The extreme dimensions are about 800 feet by 300 feet.”
Celenderis (now Chelindreh) was noted in ancient history as the place which Piso, the enemy of Germanicus, attempted to take (Tacit. An. xi. 80), and appears, also, in the Ecclesiastical annals, as one of the episcopal towns of Isauria. As the nearest point of communication with Cyprus, it is still occupied by a small population. There are some remains of a fortress which Tacitus describes as of great strength; while many arched vaults, sepulchres and sarkophagi may be seen on the spot. All along this part of the coast of Cilicia the presence of the Crusaders is clearly shown in the names of existing places, as, for instance, in Cavalière and Provençal Island; indeed, Vertot records that, during the settlement of the Christian knights at Rhodes, they took possession of several islands and castles along the shores of Asia Minor. Another place, some eight or nine miles inland, Selefkeh, the ancient Seleuceia ad Calycadnum, is also specially noticed by De Jauna in his History of Armenia, as given by the king of Armenia to the knights of Rhodes for their services. This town, which owed its real or supposed origin to Seleukus Nicator, was famous for its schools of literature and philosophy: Athenæus and Xenarchus, two well-known Peripatetics, having been born there. Seleucia was still in existence in the time of Ammianus, and the ecclesiastical historians, Socrates and Sozomen, speak of Councils having been held here.