Tarsus

, now Tara o , a town of Cilicia, on the Cydnus, founded by Trip tole mus and a colony of Argives, or, as others say, by Sardana pal us, or by Perseus. Tarsus was celebrated for the great men it produced. It was once the rival of Alexandria and Athens in literature and the study of the polite arts. The people of Tarsus wished to ingratiate themselves into the favour of Julius Cæsar by giving the name of Juliopolis to their city, but it was soon lost. Lucan , bk. 3 , li. 225 .— Mela , bk. 1 , ch. 13 .— Strabo , bk. 14 .