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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Curtisimo, post: 24662417, member: 83845&quot;]I completely agree. Extremely interesting. Trying to interpret the original meaning behind coin designs is one of my favorite avenues of numismatic research. I have a very speculative theory on this.</p><p><br /></p><p>I suspect that the walls of Tarus may have been largely or entirely a Persian sponsored building project. If you consider the history of Tarsus before Mazaios this theory might make more sense.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 401 BC Cyrus began his campaign to attack his brother for control of the Persian throne. His army forced their way through the Cilicia Gates which were guarded by King Syennesis of Cilicia. Syennesis‘s capital was Tarsus. Xenophon describes Tarsus as follows:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>“<i>Descending through this plain country, he advanced four stages--twenty-five parasangs--to Tarsus, a large and prosperous city of Cilicia. Here stood the palace of Syennesis, the king of the country; and through the middle of the city flows a river called the Cydnus, two hundred feet broad. They found that the city had been deserted by its inhabitants, who had betaken themselves, with Syennesis, to a strong place on the hills.</i>” - Xenophon</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Notice that Xenophon notes the palace and other aspects of the city but does not mention walls. Further, the fact that the inhabitants of the city fled in mass to the hills may suggest that the city either did not have walls or that the walls were inadequate to the defense of the city.</p><p><br /></p><p>It’s not clear what happened to Syennesis after the civil war but it must not have been good because the quasi-independence of Cilicia was ended and a Persian satrap was placed at Tarsus after 400 BC. Therefore, the walls shown on the coins may have been evidence of a relatively recent Persian sponsored building program to bring the defenses of the city up the level needed for the seat of Persian power in the region.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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