Editing Cilicia (section)

=== Roman and Byzantine periods ===
{{Main|Cilicia (Roman province)|Cibyrrhaeot Theme}}
[[File:Asia Minor in the 2nd century AD - general map - Roman provinces under Trajan - bleached - English legend.jpg|thumb|200px|The Roman provinces of Asia Minor under Trajan, including Cilicia.]]

'''Cilicia Trachea''' became the haunt of [[Cilician pirates|pirates]], who were subdued by [[Pompey]] in 67 BC following a [[Battle of Korakesion]] (modern [[Alanya]]), and Tarsus was made the capital of the [[Roman province]] of Cilicia. '''Cilicia Pedias''' became Roman territory in 103 BC first conquered by [[Marcus Antonius Orator]] in his campaign against pirates, with [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]] acting as its first governor, foiling an invasion of [[Mithridates II of Parthia|Mithridates]], and the whole was organized by [[Pompey]], 64 BC, into a province which, for a short time, extended to and included part of [[Phrygia]].<ref name=EB1911 />
[[File:Anazarbus klikya city south gate.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A Roman-period triumphal arch at [[Anazarbus]], later converted into the city's south gate]]

In 51 BC, the [[Parthian Empire]] was able to take advantage of the weakness of the Roman Republic to invade Cilicia ({{langx|xpr|{{script|Prti|𐭊𐭉𐭋𐭊𐭉𐭀}}}}).{{sfn|Weiskopf|1991}}

It was reorganized by [[Julius Caesar]], 47 BC, and about 27 BC became part of the province Syria-Cilicia Phoenice. At first, the western district was left independent under native kings or priest-dynasts, and a small kingdom, under [[Tarcondimotus I]], was left in the east;<ref>WRIGHT, N.L. 2012: "The house of Tarkondimotos: a late Hellenistic dynasty between Rome and the East." Anatolian Studies 62: 69-88.</ref><ref name=EB1911 /> but these were finally united to the province by [[Vespasian]], AD 72.<ref>''A Dictionary of the Roman Empire''. By Matthew Bunson. {{ISBN|0-19-510233-9}}. See page 90.</ref><ref name=EB1911 /> Containing 47 known cities, it had been deemed important enough to be governed by a [[proconsul]].<ref name=edwards>{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Robert W., "Isauria" |title=Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, eds., G.W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, & Oleg Grabar |date=1999 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-674-51173-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lateantiquitygui00bowe/page/377 377] |url=https://archive.org/details/lateantiquitygui00bowe/page/377}}</ref>

In 259 or 250, the Persian [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] king of kings [[Shapur I]] defeated the Roman Emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]], whose army included Cilician soldiers. After Valerian's defeat, the Sasanian forces burnt and sacked several cities in Syria, Cilicia ({{langx|pal|{{script|Phli|𐭪𐭫𐭪𐭩𐭠𐭩}}}}) and Cappadocia.{{sfn|Weiskopf|1991}}

Under Emperor Diocletian's [[Tetrarchy]] (c.&nbsp;297), Cilicia was governed by a ''[[consularis]]''; with Isauria and the Syrian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Libyan provinces, formed the [[Diocesis Orientis]]<ref name=EB1911 /> (in the late 4th century the African component was split off as [[Diocese of Egypt (Late Antiquity)|Diocese of Egypt]]), part of the [[praetorian prefecture of the East|pretorian prefecture also called ''Oriens'']] ('the East', also including the dioceses of [[Diocese of Asia|Asiana]] and [[Diocese of Pontus|Pontica]], both in Anatolia, and [[Thraciae]] in the Balkans), the rich bulk of the eastern [[Roman Empire]]. After the division of the Roman Empire, Cilicia became part of the eastern Roman Empire, the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Cilicia was one of the most important regions of the [[Classical antiquity|classical world]] and can be considered as the birthplace of [[Christianity]].<ref name=Ancient>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Cilicia_Campestris/ |title=Cilicia Campestris |first=Joshua J. |last=Mark |encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |access-date=21 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="WorldHistory">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Cilicia/ |title=History of Cilicia |publisher=World History Encyclopedia |access-date=20 January 2022}}</ref>

Roman Cilicia exported the goats-hair cloth, ''Cilicium'', which was used to make tents.<ref name=EB1911 /> Tarsus was also the birthplace of the early [[Christian missionary]] and author [[Paul of Tarsus|St. Paul]], likely writer of 13 of the 27 books included in the [[New Testament]].

Cilicia had numerous Christian communities and is mentioned six times in the [[Book of Acts]] and once in the [[Epistle to the Galatians]] (1:21).<ref name="edwards3">{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Robert W., "Architecture: Cilician" |title=The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney |date=2016 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-8028-9016-0 |pages=106–108}}</ref> After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, Cilicia was included in the territories of the patriarchate of Antioch.<ref name=edwards /> The region was divided into two civil and ecclesiastical provinces: ''Cilicia Prima'', with a [[metropolis (religious jurisdiction)|metropolitan diocese]] at [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] and [[suffragan diocese]]s for [[Pompeiopolis]], [[Elaiussa Sebaste|Sebaste]], [[Augusta (Cilicia)|Augusta]], [[Corycus]], [[Adana]], [[Mallus (city)|Mallus]] and [[Zephyrium]]; and ''Cilicia Secunda'', with a metropolitan diocese at [[Anazarbus]] and suffragan dioceses for Mopsuestia, [[Aigai (Aeolian)|Aegae]], [[Epiphania, Cilicia|Epiphania]], [[Irenopolis, Cilicia|Irenopolis]], [[Flavias]], [[Diocese of Castabala|Castabala]], [[Iskenderun|Alexandria]], [[Citidiopolis]] and [[Arsuz|Rhosus]]. Bishops from the various dioceses of Cilicia were well represented at the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 and at the later ecumenical councils.<ref>Le Quien, ''Oriens Christianus'', ii. 869–908</ref>

After the division of the Roman Empire, Cilicia became part of the eastern Roman Empire, the [[Byzantine Empire]].