kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Kingdom of Cilicia

600 BCE – 401 BCE (approx.) · capital Tarsus

Cilicia, a vassal kingdom of the Syennesis dynasty at Tarsus that kept its own kings under Persia until 401 BCE.

Origins

After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, local rulers in the Cilician plain and Rough Cilicia formed a kingdom with Tarsus as its capital, drawing on the lands of Que and Hilakku. Babylonian records call part of it Pirindu, and Neriglissar of the Chaldean Empire fought its king Appuashu in 557 BCE.

Rule and society

Its kings bore the title or name Syennesis. One Syennesis mediated, with a Babylonian envoy, the peace between Lydia and the Median Empire after the eclipse battle of 585 BCE. Under the Achaemenid Empire the kingdom kept its own rulers, paid tribute in silver and white horses and supplied ships to the Persian fleet.

Decline and legacy

In 401 BCE Syennesis and his wife Epyaxa supported Cyrus the Younger in his revolt. After its failure the Persians abolished the kingship and turned Cilicia into an ordinary satrapy.

Lineage

Hilakku 800 BCE – 600 BCEKingdom of Cilicia

Connections (1)

More states of Anatolia and the Levant →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Cilicia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cilicia
MLA
“Kingdom of Cilicia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cilicia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Cilicia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cilicia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Cilicia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cilicia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻