place
Cilicia
The province of southern Asia Minor, organised in the 90s BC and reorganised by Pompey after the pirate war (67 BC); in 51–50 BC Cicero's own province. Already named in In Verrem 2.1, it became the chief setting of his Ad Familiares of that pair of years.
Reading notes
- Ad Atticum 5.20 §1 Could I turn Cilicia into Aetolia or Macedonia?
Cicero pleads that the obscurity of his enemies was not his fault: he could not transform his backwater province into theatres of famous warfare like Aetolia or Macedonia. The named lands stand for campaigns that won real glory.
- Ad Familiares 5.19 §1 in the province
Rufus is L. Mescinius Rufus, who had served as Cicero's quaestor in Cilicia (51-50 BC); the quaestor-imperator tie was among the most respected bonds in Roman public life. Cicero contrasts that official service with the freer goodwill Rufus now offers.
- Ad Familiares 13.12 §1 Cilicia
The province of southern Asia Minor where Cicero served as proconsul from summer 51 to summer 50 BC.
- Ad Familiares 13.12 §1 Cilicia
The southeastern province of Asia Minor where Cicero served as proconsul, summer 51 to summer 50 BC.