I Appeal To Caesar!

Endnotes for Chapter 2, Meeting the Nazarene Information about Tarsus, Saul’s Birthplace. Tarsus, was an ancient Roman city of major importance, the capital of the province of Cilicia. Located in the NE corner of the Mediterranean Sea, Tarsus was the significant presence of Rome in that sector of the world. From Tarsus’ port the Roman fleet purged the Mediterranean Sea of the scourge of pirates, allowing trade and commerce to prosper. A significant Jewish colony developed in Tarsus under the special blessing and invitation of Rome. Paul’s parents may have emigrated from Judea; apparently, they were an influential part of a colony of Diaspora Jews that settled there with the promise of free citizenship. Paul later boasted of having been born in the city that granted him free Roman citizenship. These jagged, towering Tarus mountains on the north were like a wall of sentinels, ever watchful of the city’s welfare, protecting the city’s back flank— yet retreating from the Mediterranean Sea in the south far enough to form the fruitful Cilician Plain where the city of Tarsus stood. This strategic location controlled the narrow pass between the mountains and the sea; later in life Saul (i.e., Paul) would hike through that narrow pass (called the Cilician Gates, see endnote ) on his missionary journeys. The total environment, therefore, was one of bigness, openness, and success — and this undoubtedly affected young Saul’s outlook greatly, helping him later become a citizen of the world! Consider for a moment the city itself and its environs. Considered a seaport, the city Tarsus was actually ten miles inland from the Sea, literally a fortified city on the river Cydnus. The melting snows of the great surrounding mountains supplied a rushing river, and that river gave access to the sea. This protected location discouraged pillaging pirates or invaders from coming upriver to the port itself, yet provided excellent facilities for trade, commerce, and protection. The ample harbor, dredged from the river, was ideal for sea-going ships and traders. The port and the verdant plain beside it were highly developed and fostered financial growth and prosperity. The production of cereals, grapes, and flax flourished, flax being a major factor in the city’s thriving linen industry.