[Sidenote: Cilicia.]
[Sidenote: Character of its inhabitants.]

On the opposite side of Asia Minor, that is, on the southern shore,
there was a wild and mountainous region called Cilicia. The great chain
of mountains called Taurus approaches here very near to the sea, and the
steep conformations of the land, which, in the interior, produce lofty
ranges and summits, and dark valleys and ravines, form, along the line
of the shore, capes and promontories, bounded by precipitous sides, and
with deep bays and harbors between them. The people of Cilicia were
accordingly half sailors, half mountaineers. They built swift galleys,
and made excursions in great force over the Mediterranean Sea for
conquest and plunder. They would capture single ships, and sometimes
even whole fleets of merchantmen. They were even strong enough on many
occasions to land and take possession of a harbor and a town, and hold
it, often, for a considerable time, against all the efforts of the
neighboring powers to dislodge them. In case, however, their enemies
became at any time too strong for them, they would retreat to their
harbors, which were so defended by the fortresses which guarded them,
and by the desperate bravery of the garrisons, that the pursuers
generally did not dare to attempt to force their way in; and if, in any
case, a town or a port was taken, the indomitable savages would continue
their retreat to the fastnesses of the mountains, where it was utterly
useless to attempt to follow them.

[Sidenote: The Cilicians wanting in poets and historians.]
[Sidenote: Robbers and pirates.]

But with all their prowess and skill as naval combatants, and their
hardihood as mountaineers, the Cilicians lacked one thing which is very