CILICIA. – A vast region at the south-eastern corner of Asia Minor. The long chain of the Taurus, with its high peak Bulgar Dağ (3,500 m.), separates it to the north from Isauria, Lycaonia and Cappadocia; Mount Amanus (1,700 m.) to the east from Commagene and Syria; the Mediterranean Sea delimits it to the south and west from Pamphylia.
The boundaries of Cilicia fluctuated during its history, but were always fixed to the north by the Anti-Taurus at the Cilician Gates pass (Gülek Boğaz, 1,000 m.); to the west by the important watercourse which the ancients called the Melas (modern Manavgat Çay [Pliny, Nat. Hist., V, 93]); to the east by the Syrian Gates (Belan pass, 670 m.) on Mount Amanus.
Geologically, Cilicia was divided into two districts: Plain Cilicia (Cilicia Campestris), which extended eastward between the Taurus range and the sea as far as Mount Amanus and westward to the city of Soli (famous for the ungrammatical speech of its inhabitants, whence the term “solecisms”); and Rough Cilicia (Cilicia Aspera), which extended westward from Soli to Pamphylia. Poor in watercourses, only the Calycadnus (= Gök Su), where Frederick Barbarossa met his death, forms the most important basin, crossing the region from north-west to south-east and rich in varied and luxuriant vegetation. The name of Cilicia appears in Egyptian documents in the form of Hik and in Assyrian records as Hilakku.
Cilicia was subject to the Assyrians, the Hittites and the Persians, who organized it as the fifth satrapy (Herodotus, I, 74; III, 90). According to the same author (I, 74), the kings of the Cilician states were called Syennesis (it is unknown whether this was a proper name or a common title).
The region was renowned for horse-breeding, and Solomon imported many from Coa (eastern Cilicia) and Musri (1 Kings 10:28). The Greeks had colonies on the coast, but Hellenization, begun after Alexander the Great’s conquest, intensified under his successors, whose struggles led the country to depend alternately on one power or another, but chiefly on the Seleucids of Syria. In 103 BC it became a Roman sphere of influence, and Mark Antony was charged with suppressing piracy. The generals Metellus, Sulla, Servilius Vatia—who were granted the surname Isauricus—and finally Pompey succeeded in driving the pirates from their strongholds. Cicero was one of the first administrators of the new province, serving as proconsul in 50–51 BC. Augustus united it with the province of Syria.
Numerous Jewish colonies settled in Cilicia at the time of Antiochus (Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Iudaicae, XII, 3, 4). Cilician mercenaries are recorded in the bodyguard of Alexander Jannaeus (ibid., XIII, 13, 5; Bellum Iudaicum, I, 4, 3); Jews from Cilicia took part in the dispute of Stephen in Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). During Roman rule, the most notable event was the birth in Tarsus, the principal city (Acts 21:39), of St Paul, who practiced the common trade of the region, namely that of “tent-maker”; coarse and thick goat-hair fabrics were indeed made there, known as cilicia. The Apostle preached the Gospel in Cilicia after his first journey to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:21). The churches of Cilicia were composed not only of Jews but also of Gentile Christians, to whom the decree of the Council of Jerusalem was sent (Acts 15:23). After parting from Barnabas, Paul, together with Silas, passed through the Syrian Gates into Cilicia to strengthen the churches (Acts 15:41) and then, by climbing the Taurus through the Cilician Gates, went on to Lycaonia (Acts 15:41). He again traversed the Cilician Sea on his journey from Caesarea to Rome (Acts 27:5).