TARSUS, or TARSOS or TARSEUS

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA. TARSUS tar'-sus

(Tarsos, ethnic Tarseus) :

1. Situation

2. Foundation Legends

3. Tarsus under Oriental Power

4. Tarsus under Greek Sway

5. Tarsus in the Roman Empire

6. The University

7. The Tarsian Constitution

8. Paul of Tarsus

9. Later History

LITERATURE

1.
Situation: The chief city of Cilicia, the southeastern portion of Asia Minor. It lay
on both banks of the river Cydnus, in the midst of a fertile alluvial plain, some
10 miles from the seacoast. About 6 miles below the city the river broadened
out into a considerable lake called Rhegma (Strabo xiv.672), which afforded a
safe anchorage and was in great part fringed with quays and dockyards. The
river itself, which flowed southward from the Taurus Mountains with a clear
and swift stream, was navigable to light craft, and Cleopatra, when she visited
Antony at Tarsus in 38 BC, was able to sail in her richly decorated barge into
the very heart of the city (Plut. Ant. 26). The silting-up of the river's mouth
seems to have resulted in frequent floods, against which the emperor Justinian
(527-65 AD) attempted to provide by cutting a new channel, starting a short
distance North of the city, to divert the surplus water into a watercourse which
lay to the East of Tarsus. Gradually, however, the original bed was allowed to
become choked, and now the Cydnus flows wholly through Justinian's channel
and passes to the East of the modern town. Two miles North of Tarsus the
plain gives way to low, undulating hills, which extend to the foothills of Taurus,
the great mountain chain lying some 30 miles North of the city, which divides
Cilicia from Lycaonia and Cappadocia. The actual frontier-line seems to have
varied at different periods, but the natural boundary lies at the Cilician Gates,
a narrow gorge which Tarsian enterprise and engineering skill had widened so
as to make it a wagon road, the chief highway of communication and trade
between Cilicia and the interior of Asia Minor and one of the most decisive
factors in Anatolian history. Eastward from Tarsus ran an important road
crossing the Sarus at Adana and the Pyramus at Mopsuestia; there it divided,
one branch running southeastward by way of Issus to Antioch on the Orontes,
while another turned slightly northward to Castabala, and thence ran due East
to the passage of the Euphrates at Zeugma. Thus the fertility of its soil, the
safety and convenience of its harbor and the command of the main line of
communication between Anatolia and Syria or Mesopotamia combined to
promote the greatness of Tarsus, though its position was neither a healthful or
a strong one and the town had no acropolis.

2.
Foundation Legends: Of the foundation of the city various traditions were
current in antiquity, and it is impossible to arrive any certain conclusion, for
such foundation legends often reflected the sympathies and wishes of a city's
later population rather than the historic facts of its origin. At Anchiale, about
12 miles Southeast of Tarsus, was a monument commonly known as the tomb
of Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, bearing an inscription "in Assyrian letters"
stating that that monarch "built Anchiale and Tarsus in a single day" (Strabo
xiv. 672; Arrian Anab. ii.5). The statement of Alexander Polyhistor, preserved
by Eusebius (Chron. i, p. 27, ed Schoene), that Sennacherib, king of Nineveh
(705-681 BC), rounded the city, also ascribes to it an Assyrian origin. On the
other hand, the Greeks had their own traditions, claiming Tarsus as a Greek or
semi-Gr foundation. Strabo says that it owed its rise to the Argives who with
Triptolemus wandered in search of Io (xiv.673), while others spoke of Heracles
or Perseus as the founder. It must be admitted that these tales, taken by
themselves, give us little aid.

3.
Tarsus under Oriental Power: Ramsay believes that Tarsus existed from time
immemorial as a native Cilician settlement, to which was added, at some early
date unknown to us, a body of Ionians, which migrated from the western coast
of Asia Minor under the auspices and direction of the oracle of Clarian Apollo
near Colophon. The earliest historical record of the town is found on the Black
Obelisk of Shalmaneser, about 850 BC, where it figures among the places
captured by that king. It is thus proved that Tarsus already existed at that
remote date. For many centuries it remained an oriental rather than a Hellenic
city, and its history is almost a blank. After the fall of the Assyrian empire,
Cilicia may have regained its independence, at least partially, but it
subsequently became a province of the Persian empire, paying to the Great
King an annual tribute of 260 white horses and 500 talents of silver (Herodotus
iii.90) and contributing considerable fleets, when required, to the Persian navy.
From time to time we hear of rulers named Syennesis, who appear to have
been vassal princes in a greater or less degree of dependence upon the
oriental empires. Two clear glimpses of the city are afforded us, thanks to the
passage through it of Hellenic troops engaged upon eastern expeditions.
Xenophon (Anab. i.2, 21 ff) tells how, in 40l BC, Cyrus the Younger entered
Cilicia on his famous march against his brother Artaxerxes, and how some of
his Greek mercenaries plundered Tarsus, which is described as a great and
prosperous city, in which was the palace of King Syennesis. The king made an
agreement with Cyrus, who, after a delay of 20 days, caused by the refusal of
his troops to march farther, set out from Tarsus for the Euphrates. Again, in
333 BC, Alexander the Great passed through the Cilician Gates on his way to
Issus, where he met and routed the Persian army under Darius III. Arsames,
the satrap of Cilicia, failed to post a sufficient force at the pass, the garrison
fled without resistance and Alexander thus entered the province without
striking a blow. The Persians thereupon set fire to Tarsus, but the timely
arrival of the Macedonian advance guard under Parmenio saved the city from
destruction. A bath in the cold waters of the Cydnus which Alexander took
while heated with his rapid advance brought on a fever which all but cost him
his life (Arrian Anab. ii.4; Q. Curtius Hist. Alex. iii.4 f) For two centuries Tarsus
had been the capital of a Persian satrapy, subject to oriental rather than to
Hellenic influence, though there was probably a Hellenic element in its
population, and its trade brought it into touch with the Greeks. The Cilician
coins struck at Tarsus confirm this view. Down to Alexander's conquest, they
ordinarily bear Aramaic legends, and many of them show the effigy of Baal
Tarz, the Lord of Tarsus; yet, these coins are clearly influenced by Greek types
and workmanship.

4.
Tarsus under Greek Sway: Alexander's overthrow of the Persian power brought
about a strong Hellenic reaction in Southeastern Asia Minor and must have
strengthened the Greek element in Tarsus, but more than a century and a half
were to elapse before the city attained that civic autonomy which was the ideal
and the boast of the Greek polis. After Alexander's death in 323 BC his vast
empire was soon dismembered by the rivalries and wars of his powerful
generals. Cilicia ultimately fell under the rule of the Seleucid kings of Syria,
whose capital was Antioch on the Orontes. Though Greeks, they inherited
certain features of the old Persian policy and methods of rule; Cilicia was
probably governed by a satrap, and there was no development within it of free
city life. Early in the 2nd century, however, came a change. Antiochus III,
defeated by the Romans in the battle of Magnesia (190 BC), was forced to
evacuate most of his possessions in Asia Minor. Cilicia thus became a frontier
province and gained greatly in importance. The outcome was the
reorganization of Tarsus as an autonomous city with a coinage of its own,
which took place under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164), probably in 171 BC.
It is at this time that Tarsus is first mentioned in the Bible, unless we are to
accept the disputed identification with TARSHISH (which see). In 2 Macc 4:30 f
we read that, about 171 "it came to pass that they of Tarsus and Mallus made
insurrection, because they were to be given as a present to Antiochis, the
king's concubine. The king therefore came to Cilicia in all haste to settle
matters." That this settlement took the form of a compromise and the grant to
Tarsus of at least a municipal independence we may infer from the fact that
Tarsus struck its own coins from this reign onward. At first they bear the name
of Antioch on the Cydnus, but from the death of Antiochus this new appellation
falls into disuse and the old name reasserts itself. But it is almost certain that,
in accordance with Seleucid policy, this reorganization was accompanied by the
enlargement of the citizen body, the new citizens in this case consisting
probably of Jews and Argive Greeks. From this time Tarsus is a city of Hellenic
constitution, and its coins no longer bear Aramaic but Greek legends. Yet it
must be remembered that there was still a large, perhaps a preponderating,
native and oriental element in the population, while the coin types in many
cases point to the continued popularity of non-Hellenic cults.

5. Tarsus in the Roman Empire: About 104 BC part of Cilicia became a Hem
province, and after the Mithridatic Wars, during which Tarsus fell temporarily
into the hands of Tigranes of Armenia, Pompey the Great reorganized the
eastern portion of the Hem Empire (64-63 BC), and Tarsus became the capital
of a new and enlarged province, administered by Hem governors who usually
held office for a single year. Thus we find Cicero in command of Cilicia from the
summer of 51 BC to the summer of the following year, and though he
expressly mentions Tarsus only rarely in his extant letters of this period (e.g.
Ad Art. v.20,3; Ad Faro. ii.17,1), yet there is reason to believe that he resided
there during part of his year of office. Julius Caesar passed through the city in
47 BC on his march from Egypt to Pontus, and was enthusiastically received.
In his honor the name Tarsus was changed to Juliopolis, but this proved no
more lasting than Antioch on the Cydnus had been. Cassius temporarily
overawed it and imposed on it a crushing fine, but, after the overthrow of the
republican cause at Philippi and the assignment of the East to Antony's
administration, Tarsus received the position of an independent and duty-free
state (civitas libera et immunis) and became for some time Antony's place of
residence. This privileged status was confirmed by Augustus after the victory
of Actium had made him sole master of the Roman Empire (31 BC). It did not
by itself bestow Roman citizenship on the Tarsinas, but doubtless there were
many natives of the city to whom Pompey, Caesar, Antony and Augustus
granted that honor for themselves and, as a consequence, for their
descendants.

6.
The University: It is under the rule of Augustus that our knowledge of Tarsus
first becomes fairly full and precise, Strabo, writing about 19 AD, tells us
(xiv.673 ff) of the enthusiasm of its inhabitants for learning, and especially for
philosophy. In this respect, he says, Tarsus surpasses Athens and Alexandria
and every other university town. It was characterized by the fact that the
student body was composed almost entirely of natives, who, after finishing
their course, usually went abroad to complete their education and in most
cases did not return home, whereas in most universities the students were to a
large extent foreigners, and the natives showed no great love of learning.
Alexandria, however, formed an exception, attracting a large number of
foreign students and also sending out many of its younger citizens to other
centers. In fact, adds Strabo, Rome is full of Tarsians and Alexandrians.
Among the famous men who learned or taught at Tarsus, we hear of the Stoics
Antipater, Archedemus, Nestor, Athenodorus surnamed Cordylion, the friend
and companion of the younger Marcus Cato, and his more famous namesake
(called Canaanites after the village of his birth), who was the tutor and
confidant of Augustus, and who subsequently reformed the Tarsian
constitution. Other philosophers of Tarsus were Nestor, a representative of the
Academy, and tutor of Marcellus, Augustus' nephew and destined successor,
and of Tiberius, Plutiades and Diogenes; the latter was also famous as an
improvisatore, and indeed the Tarsians in general were famed for their ease
and fluency in impromptu speaking. Artemidorus and Diodorus the
grammarians and Dionysides the tragic poet, a member of the group of seven
writers known as "the Pleiad," complete Strabo's list of eminent Tarsians. A
less attractive view of the life in Tarsus is given by Philostratus in his biography
of Apollonius of Tyana, who went there to study in the early part of Tiberius'
reign (14-37 AD). So disgusted was he by the insolence of the citizens, their
love of pleasure and their extravagance in dress, that he shook the dust of
Tarsus off his feet and went to Aegae to pursue his studies in a more congenial
atmosphere (Vit. Apollon. i.7). But Strabo's testimony is that of a
contemporary and an accurate historian and must outweigh that of
Philostratus, whose work is largely tinged with romance and belongs to the
early years of the 3rd century AD.

7.
The Tarsian Constitution: Strabo also tells us something of an important
constitutional reform carried out in Tarsus under the Emperor Augustus,
probably about 15-10 BC. Athenodorus Canaanites, the Stoic, returned to his
city as an old man, after some 30 years spent at Rome, armed with authority
from the emperor to reform abuses in its civic life. He found the constitution a
democracy, swayed and preyed upon by a corrupt clique headed by a certain
Boethus, "bad poet and bad citizen," who owed his position partly to his ready
and persuasive tongue, partly to the favor of Antony, whom he had pleased by
a poem composed to celebrate the victory of Philippi. Athenodorus sought at
first to mend matters by argument and persuasion, but, finding Boethus and
his party obdurate, he at length exercised his extraordinary powers, banished
the offenders and remodeled the constitution, probably in a timocratic mold,
restricting the full citizenship to those possessed of a considerable property
qualification. On his death, his place as head of the state was taken for a while
by the academic philosopher Nestor (Strabo xiv.674 f). Next to Strabo's
account our most valuable source of information regarding Tarsus is to be
found in the two orations of Dio Chrysostom addressed to the Tarsians about
110 AD (Orat. xxxiii, xxxiv; see Jour. Hell. Studies, XXIV, 58 ff). Though
admitting that the city was an Argive colony, he emphasized its non-Hellenic
character, and, while criticizing much in its institutions and manners, found but
a single feature to commend, the strictness with which the Tarsian women
were veiled whenever they appeared in public.

8.
Paul of Tarsus: Such was Tarsus, in which Paul was born (Ac 22:3) and of
which he was a citizen (Ac 9:11; 21:39). Its ancient traditions and its present
greatness explain and justify the pride with which he claimed to be "a citizen of
no mean city" (Ac 21:39). It is probable that his forefathers had been among
the Jews settled at Tarsus by Antiochus Epiphanes, who, without sacrificing
nationality or religion, became citizens of a community organized after the
Greek model. On what occasion and for what service Roman civitas had been
conferred on one of Paul's ancestors we cannot say; this only we know, that
before his birth his father had possessed the coveted privilege (Ac 22:28). It is
a fascinating, but an elusive, quest to trace in Paul's life and writings the
influence of his Tarsian ancestry, birth and early life. Jerome, it is true, claims
that many Pauline words and phrases were characteristic of Cilicia, and some
modern scholars profess to find traces, in the apostle's rhetoric and in his
attitude toward pagan religion and secular learning, of Tarsian influence. But
such speculations are likely to be misleading, and it is perhaps best to admit
that, save in the trade learned by Paul, which was characteristic of his
birthplace, we cannot with any precision gauge the effects of his early
surroundings. At the same time it is certain that the character of his native
city, its strong oriental element, its Greek constitution and speech, its position
in the Roman Empire, its devotion to learning, must have made an impression
upon one who, uniting Jewish nationality with membership of a Greek state
and Roman citizenship, was to be the great interpreter to the Greco-Roman
world of a religion which sprang from the soil of Judaism. How long Paul
remained at Tarsus before beginning his studies in Jerusalem we cannot say.
His own declaration that he was "born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in
this city" (Ac 22:3) seems to show that his training at Jerusalem began at an
early age, and is inconsistent with the supposition that he was one of those
Tarsian students who, after studying at their native university, completed their
education abroad. During his first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion, plots
were formed against his life, and he was induced to return to Tarsus (Ac 9:30),
where, according to Ramsay's chronology, he remained for some 8 years.
Thither Barnabas went to seek him when he felt the need of a helper in dealing
with the new problems involved in the growth of the Antiochene church and
the admission into it of Gentiles in considerable numbers (Ac 11:25). Tarsus is
not again mentioned in the New Testament, but Paul doubtless revisited it on
his second missionary journey, when he "went through Syria and Cilicia" (Ac
15:41), and traveled thence by way of the Cilician Gates into Lycaonia, and
again at the beginning of his third journey when, after some time spent at
Antioch, "he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in
order" (Ac 18:23).

9.
Later History: This is not the place to discuss in detail the later history of
Tarsus, many passages of which are obscure and difficult. It remained a focus
of imperial loyalty, as is indicated by the names Hadriane, Commodiane,
Severiane and others, which appear, isolated or conjoined, upon its coins,
together with the title of metropolis and such epithets as "first," "greatest,"
"fairest." Indeed it was chiefly in the matter of such distinctions that it carried
on a keen, and sometimes bitter, rivalry, first with Mallus and Adana, its
neighbors in the western plain, and later with Anazarbus, the chief town of
Eastern Cilicia. But Tarsus remained the capital of the district, which during the
1st century of the empire was united with Syria in a single imperial province,
and when Cilicia was made a separate province Tarsus, as a matter of course,
became its metropolis and the center of the provincial Caesar-worship, and, at
a later date, the capital of "the three eparchiae,"Cilicia, Isauria and Lycaonia.
Toward the close of the 4th century Cilicia was divided into two, and Tarsus
became the capital of Cilicia Prima only. Soon after the middle of the 7th
century it was captured by the Arabs, and for the next three centuries was
occupied by them as their northwestern capital and base of operations against
the Anatolian plateau and the Byzantine empire. In 965 it was recaptured,
together with the rest of Cilicia, by the emperor Nicephorus Phocas, but toward
the close of the following century it fell into the hands of the Turks and
afterward of the Crusaders. It was subsequently ruled by Armenian princes as
part of the kingdom of Lesser Armenia, and then by the Memluk sultans of
Egypt, from whom it was finally wrested by the Ottoman Turks early in the
16th century. The modern town, which still bears the ancient name in the
slightly modified form Tersous, has a very mixed population, numbering about
25,000, and considerable trade, but suffers from its unhealthful situation and
the proximity of large marshy tracts. Few traces of its ancient greatness
survive, the most considerable of them being the vast substructure of a Greco-
Roman temple, known locally as the tomb of Sardanapalus (R. Koldewey in C.
Robert, Aus der Anomia, 178 ff).

LITERATURE. The best account of Tarsus will be found in W. M. Ramsay, The

Cities of Paul (London, 1907), 85-244; the same writer's articles on "Cilicia,
Tarsus and the Great Taurus Pass" in the Geographical Journal, 1903, 357 ff,
and on "Tarsus" in HDB should also be consulted, as well as H. Bohlig, Die
Geisteskultur yon Tarsos im augusteischen Zeitalter (Gottingen, 1913). For
inscriptions see LeBas-Waddington, Voyage archeologique, III, numbers 1476
ff; Inscr. Graec. ad res Roman. pertinetes, III, 876 ff. For coins, B. V. Head,
Historia Numorum2, 729 ff; G. F. Hill, British Museum Catalogue of Coins:
Lycaonia, Isauria and Cilicia, lxxvi ff, 162 ff. M. N.
THE NUTTALL ENCYCLOPAEDIA (1907) Tarsus a city of great antiquity and
interest, the ancient capital of Cilicia, now in the province of Adana, in Turkey
in Asia, on the Cydnus, 12 m. above its entrance into the Mediterranean;
legend ascribes its foundation to Sennacherib in 690 B.C.; in Roman times was
a famous centre of wealth and culture, rivalling Athens and Alexandria;
associated with the meeting of Antony and Cleopatra and the deaths of the
emperors Tacitus and Maximinus; here St. Paul was born and notable Stoic
philosophers; in the hands of the Turk has decayed into a squalid residence of
merchants busy with the export of corn, cotton, wool, hides, &c. In winter the
population rises to 30,000.

EASTON'S 1897 BIBLE DICTIONARY: Tarsus the chief city of Cilicia. It was
distinguished for its wealth and for its schools of learning, in which it rivalled,
nay, excelled even Athens and Alexandria, and hence was spoken of as "no
mean city." It was the native place of the Apostle Paul (Acts 21:39). It stood
on the banks of the river Cydnus, about 12 miles north of the Mediterranean.
It is said to have been founded by Sardanapalus, king of Assyria. It is now a
filthy, ruinous Turkish town, called Tersous.

Possible images of Tarsus

Possible images of Tarsus