Selinus (Cilicia)

Archaeological site in Turkey Map of the ancient Trajanopolis from an Admiralty Chart of 1812 Selinus or Selinous (Ancient Greek: Σελινούς, romanized: Selinoús; Latin: Selinus; Neo-Babylonian Akkadian: 𒌷𒊓𒀠𒇻𒉌𒂊, romanized: Sallunê) was a port-town on the west coast of Rough Cilicia and later of Isauria, at the mouth of a small river of the same name, now called Musa Çay. It is located west of the modern city of Gazipaşa in Turkey. History In 557 BC, the Neo-Babylonian king Neriglissar captured Sallunê, that is Selinus, during his campaign against the kingdom of Pirindu. Before returning to Babylon, Neriglissar started fires from the pass of Sallunê to the border of Lydia. Roman period Selinus is memorable in history as the place in which Emperor Trajan is said by some authors to have died in 117 AD. After that event, the place for a time bore the name of Trajanopolis or Traianopolis (Τραϊανούπολις), but its bishops afterwards are called bishops of Selinus. Basil of Seleucia describes the place as reduced to a state of insignificance in his time though it had once been a great commercial town. The site Selinus was situated on a precipitous