an ancient kingdom of Asia, lying between the 36th and 40th degree of north latitude: bounded on the east by Syria, or rather by Mount Amanus, which separates it from that kingdom; by Pamphylia on the west; by Isauria, Cappadocia, and Armenia Minor, on the north; and by the Mediterranean sea on the south. It is surrounded by steep and craggy mountains, chiefly Taurus and Amanus, that it may be defended by a handful of resolute men against a numerous army, there being but three narrow passes leading into it, commonly called Pylae Ciliciae, or the gates of Cilicia; one on the side of Cappadocia,

called the Païs of Mount Taurus; and the other two called the Païs of Mount Amanus, and the Païs of Syria. The whole country was divided by the ancients into Cilicia Aspera, and Cilicia Campestris; the former called by the Greeks Trachaea or Stony, from its abounding fo with stones; and to this day the whole province is called by the Turks, Tas Wileieth, or the Stony Province.

According to Josephus, Cilicia was first peopled by Tarshish the son of Javan, and his descendants, whence the whole country was named Tarshish. The ancient inhabitants were in process of time driven out by a colony of Phoenicians, who under the conduct of Cilix, first settled in the island of Cyprus, and from thence passed into the country which, from their leader, they called Cilicia. Afterwards several other colonies from different nations settled in this kingdom, particularly from Syria and Greece; whence the Cilicians in some places used the Greek tongue, in others the Syriac; but the former greatly corrupted by the Persian, the predominant language of the country being a dialect of that tongue. We find no mention of the kings of Cilicia after their settlement in that country, till the time of Cyrus, to whom they voluntarily submitted, continuing subject to the Persians till the overthrow of that empire; but governed to the time of Artaxerxes Mnemon, by kings of their own nation. After the downfall of the Persian empire, Cilicia became a province of that of Macedon; and, on the death of Alexander, fell to the share of Seleucus, and continued under his descendants till it was reduced to a Roman province by Pompey. As a proconsular province, it was first governed by Appius Claudius Pulcher, and after him by Cicero, who reduced several strong holds on Mount Amanus, in which some Cilicians had fortified themselves, and held out against his predecessor. It was on this occasion that the division, formerly mentioned, into Trachaea and Campestris, took place. The latter became a Roman province; but the former was governed by kings appointed by the Romans, till the reign of Vespasian, when the family of Tracondenatus being extinct, this part also made a province of the empire, and the whole divided into Cilicia Prima, Cilicia Secunda, and Isauria; the first took in all Cilicia Campestris, the second the coast of Cilicia Trachaea, and the last the inland parts of the same division. It is now a province of Asiatic Turkey; and is called Caramania, having been the last province of the Caramanian kingdom which held out against the Ottoman race.

That part of Cilicia called by the ancients Cilicia Campestris, was, if we believe Ammianus Marcellinus, one of the most fruitful countries of Asia; but the western part equally barren, though famous, even to this day, for an excellent breed of horses, of which 600 are yearly sent to Constantinople for the special use of the Grand Signior. The air in the inland parts is reckoned wholesome; but that on the sea-coast very dangerous, especially to strangers.

The rivers of any note are the Pyramus, which rises on the north side of Mount Taurus, and empties itself into the Mediterranean between Issus and Magarafus; and the Cydnus, which springs from the Antitaurus, passes through Tarbus, and discharges itself into the Mediterranean. This last is famous for the rapidity of its stream, and the coldness of its waters, which proved very dangerous to Alexander the Great.

The Cilicians, if we believe the Greek and Roman historians, were a rough unpolished race of people, unfair in their dealings, cruel, and liars even to a proverb. In the Roman times they became greatly addicted to piracy. They first began, in the time of the Mithridatic war, to infest the neighbouring provinces along with the Pamphylians; and, being emboldened with success, they soon ventured as far as the coasts of Greece and Italy, where they took a vast number of slaves, whom they sold to the Cypriots and the kings of Egypt and Syria. They were, however, at last defeated and entirely suppressed by Pompey the Great. See (History of) Rome.

CILICIUM Terra, in the natural history of the ancients, a bituminous substance, improperly called an earth, which, by boiling, became tough like bird-lime, and was used instead of that substance to cover the stocks of the vines for preserving them from the worms. It probably served in this office in a sort of double capacity, driving away these animals by its nauseous smell, and entangling them if they chanced to get amongst it.