South of the Taurus Mountains lies the fertile plain of Cilicia ( Kilikya )known today as Çukurova. The main entrances to the plain from the central highland were either down the Calycadnus (Gôksu) River or through the Cilician Gates, a narrow rock pass on the Cydnus (Tarsus Su-yu) River through which many armies including Alexander’s have filed.
One of the district’s main exports in Roman times was “cilicum”, the goats’-hair cloth from which ients were made. Towns and cities included Claudiopolis (Mut), Seleucia (Silifke), Anemurium (Ana-mur), Tarsus, Danunas (Adana), and Alexandretta (is-kenderun).
Cilicia,