In the absence of positive proof, we may acquiesce in the statement of Strabo (iii, 148) that the river Bsetis (now the Guadalquivir) was formerly called Tartessus, that the city Tartessus was situated between the two arms by which the river flowed into the sea, and that the adjoining country was callett Tartessis. But there Avere two other cities which some deem to have been Tartessus; one, (Jadir, or (iadira (Cadiz) (Sallust, Fixigm. lib. ii; Pliny, [list. Nat. iv, 30; and Avienus, Bescripf. Orb. Terr. p. 614); and the other, Carteia, in the Bay of Gibraltar (Strabo, iii, 151; Ptolemy, ii,4; Pliny, iii, 3; Mela, ii, 0). Of the three, Carteia, which has found a learned supporter at the present day (Ersch and Gru- ber, Enci/dop. s. v.), seems to have the weakest claims, for, in the earliest (ireck prose work extant, Tartessus is placed beyond the Columns of Hercules (Herodotus, iv, 152); and in a still earlier fragment of Stesichorus (Strabo, iii, 14H) mention is made of the rictr Tartes- sus, whereas there is no stream near Carteia ( = E1 Koccadillo) which de- serves to be called more than a rivu- let. Strictly speaking, the same ob- jection would apply to Gadir; but, for poetical uses, the Guadalquivir, which is only twenty miles distant, would be sufficiently near. It was, perhaps, in reference to the claim of (iadir that Cicero, in a letter to At- ticus (vii, 3), jocoselv calls Balbus a native of that town, "Tartessium is- tum tuum." But Tartessius was like- wise used by poets to express the ex- treme west where the sun set (Ovid, Metam. xiv, 416; Silius Italicus, x, 358; comp. id. iii, 399). See Smith, Diet, of Class. Georj. s. v. " Tartes- sus." See, in addition to the works cited by Bochart and Winer, iit sup., the Journ. of Sac. Lit. Oct. 1851, p. 226 sq.
5. (A. Y. "beryl.") A precious
stone, so called as brought from Tarshish, as Ophir is also put fur the gold brought thence (Exod. xxviii, '2(»; xxxix, lo; Ezek. i, 16; x, 9; xxviii, 13; Cant, v, 14; Dan. X, 6). The Sept., followed by .Josephus. makes it the "chrysolite," i.e. the topaz of the moderns, which is still found in Sijain: so Braun, De Vestitu iSucei-d. ii, 17. Others supi)ose it to be "amber;" but this does not agree with the passages in Exodus, which make the Tarshish to iiave been one of the engraved stones of the bigh-priest's breastplate. See Bicinu
Tar'su.s (lapaoc), the chief town of Cilicia, "no mean city" in other respects, but illustrious to all time as the birthplace and early residence of the apostle Paul (Acts ix, 11 ; xxi, 39;" xxii, 3). The only other passages in which the name occurs are Acts ix, 30 and xi, 25, which give the limits of that residence in his native town which succeeded the first visit to Jerusa- lem after his conversion, and preceded his active min- isterial work at Antioch and elsewhere (comp. xxii, 21 and (ial. i, 21). It was during this period, no doubt, that he planted the Gospel there, and it has never since entirely died out. There is little doubt that Paul was there also at the beginning of his second and third mis- sionary journeys (xv, 41 ; xviii, 23). See Paul.
Tarsus was situated in a wide and fertile plain on the banks of the Cydniis, the waters of which are fa- mous for the dangerous fever caught by Alexander when bathing, and for the meeting of Antony and Cleo- patra. The river flowed through it and divided it into two parts. Hence it is sometimes by Greek writers called Tapaoi in the plural, perhaps not without some reference to a fancied resemblance in the form of the two divisions of the city to the wings of a bird. This part of Cilicia was intersected in Konian times by good roads, especially one crossing the Taurus northward by the "Cilician Gates" to the neighborhood of Lystra and Iconium, the other joining Tarsus with Antioch and passing eastward by the "Amanian" and "Syrian Gates."
Tarsus was founded by Sardanapalns, king of Assyria. The Greeks, however, claimed a share in its coloniza- tion ; and Strabo (xiv, 673) has preserved an ancient legend of certain Argives having arrived there with Triptolemus in search of lo. It appears first in authen- tic history in Xenophon's time, when it was a city of some considerable consequence {Anab.\, 2, 23). It was occupied by Cyrus and his troops for twentj' days and given up to phnuler. After Alexander's conquests had swept this way (Q. Curt, iii, 5) and the Seleucid king- dom was established at Antioch, Tarsus usually belong- ed to that kingdom, though for a time it was under the Ptolemies. In the civil wars of Rome it took Csesar's side, and on the occasion of a visit from him had its name changed to Jidiopolis (Caesar, BtU. A lex. 66 ; Dion
Map of the Coast of Tarsus.
TARSUS
221
TARSUS
Taisus.
Cass, xlvii, 2G). Augustus made Tarsus free (Appian, Bell. Civ. V, 7). This seems to have implied the privi- lege (if being governed by its own laws and magistrates, with freedom from tribute: but did not confer the. jus coloniarum nor the jus civitdtis ; and it was not, there- fore, as usually supposed, on this account that Paul en- joyed the privilege of Roman citizenship. Tarsus, in- deed, eventually did become a Roman colony, which gave to the inhabitants this privilege; but this was not till long after the time of Raul (Deyling, OhservdU Sacr. iii, 391 sq.). See Citizenship; Colony. We thus tiud that the Roman tribune at Jerusalem ordered Raid to be scourged, thougli he knew that he was a native of Tarsus, but desisted on learning that he was a Ro- man citizen (Acts ix, 11; xxi, 89; xxii, 24, 27). We ought to note, on the other hand, the circumstances in the social state of Tarsus, which had, or may be con- ceived to have had, an intluence on the apostle's train- ing and character. It was renowned as a place of education under the early Roman emperors. Strabo compares it in this respect to Athens and Alexandria, giving, as regards the zeal for learning shown by the residents, the preference to Tarsus (xiv, (57.S). Some distinguished names adorn its annals; among others, Athenodorus, the tutor of Augustus, and Nestor, the tu- tor of ^Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus; Artemidorus and Diodorus, celebrated grammarians, and Dionysides, a tragic writer. Tarsus, also, was a place of much com- merce, and Rasil describes it as a point of union for Syrians, Cilicians, Isaurians, and Cappadocians (A)). Eu- seb. Sainos. Kpisc.). Owing to its commercial advan-