Description
Kilikia, in the southwest corner of Asia Minor, was one of the most fertile plains in the region and, as such, was strategically vital to the Achaemenid Empire who, under Cyrus the Great, conquered Kilikia in 540BC. The province remained an Achaemenid satrapy, exercising a degree of independence from Persia in exchange for its ultimate loyalty. Kilikia's strategic importance lay not just in its fertile plains, but in the great highway that ran through the centre of its lands, descending from the Anatolian plateau and through the narrow mountain passes known as the Cilician Gates to Syria and Persia beyond. In many ways, it could be said that Kilikia was the Persian gateway to Asia Minor; it was certainly defended fiercely. Ultimately the Kilikians sided with Cyrus the Younger when revolting against their Persian masters, only to be put down by Artaxerxes.
