Reluctance
Cicero was, in plain terms, extremely vexed to be announced as governor of Cilicia (southern Turkey) in 51 BCE. This was for a multitude of reasons but it mainly stems from a few key factors, namely that of impending civil war between Caesar and Pompey (which Cicero wished to perhaps mediate between the two), that of Cicero being a professional lawyer and wishing to tend to big legal cases (which Cilicia could not present for him) and to a lesser extent family matters, such as his daughter Tullia requiring a new husband and Cicero being unable to pick the suitor if he was in the provinces. This meant that, in his letters to his trusted friend Atticus, Cicero clearly showed his annoyance by saying things such as 'my talents are wasted on Cilicia', and 'I long for Rome'. However Cicero, the dutiful public servant he was, went to Cilicia, leaving during late April 51 and arriving in early May. He took a rather 'as the crow flies route', going overland and sea to Brundisium, Then onto Athens through Greece, going through the various Greek islands to Laodicea, then to Tarsus.
(A map of Cilicia during Cicero's governorship)
Staff
It is important to note that the men who the governor was assisted by were chosen by him, and not always appointed or elected. This means that commonly the younger family members of the governor were selected because it was good experience, but this is not the case with Cicero and his staff choices were all competent, (at least the ones he chose were, several were already left over by the previous governor Appius).
The men Cicero chose to have with him are not all known, but rather handily the main positions are. The 2 legates (commanders of the army) were Pomptinus, chosen for his astute military service, and Anneius, with unknown reasons for his selection. In addition there were 2 other legates serving with Cicero (although the province only had 2 legions so it is likely these men were more military advisers rather than actual army commanders. The first choice was Cicero's brother Quintus, and to an observer this may seem like blatant nepotism but there were legitimate reasons for selecting Quintus. Firstly he had served as the governor of neighbouring Asia, and done so efficiently (however he did not excel), and secondly Quintus had served with Ceasar in the Gallic wars, having become quite the strategist and soldier during his lifetime. Still the fervent anti-Ciceronians may say that this is nepotism and goes against all Cicero stood for in preserving Rome's values, fun fact: yes, but who really cares. There is a fourth legate who for the life of me I can not find the name of. It may be the questor of Cilicia already in province, Mescinius, but Cicero calls him in no uncertain terms an idiot, so it is unlikely to have been him. Alas there were 4 legates, only 2 legions for them to lead, but all military advisers, and all sensible picks for legate. Then there was the various retinues of aforementioned friends and family members. Pomptinus brought a certain Volusius, but it is uncertain whether they were related, and Cicero brought his freedman Tiro, who would be his secretary and adviser for the magistrate.
(Cilicia in relation to the middle east and Parthia)
Army
Note that I have titled this section 'army' not military, because although Cilicia has a large coast, Cicero never created a navy. It would be pertinent to discuss basic Roman army structure for viewers general knowledge.
Legionary - a roman citizen soldier, professional like modern armies typically serving around 16 years or more.
Centurion - an NCO (non commissioned officer) in charge of a century of 80 men
Auxiliary - a soldier not a citizen of Rome who still wishes to fight for them and on completion of service will receive citizenship for him and his sons
Tribune - an officer in command of 500 men, usually the son of a senator
Legate or Legatus - The highest professional rank in the army, commanding 5,000 men, usually of senatorial status
Legion - 5,000 men
Cohort - 500 men
Century - 80 men (called 'century' which references 100, because the other 20 men were slaves and servants who attended the 80 soldiers)
The Cilician army was, at a first glance small, and undermanned, however many chroniclers and historians of the ancient world have done a typical sin in that many of them overlooked the finer points, simply labelling Cicero's army as, 2 legions and some auxiliaries. These 2 legions and some auxiliary cohorts made around 12,000 men on paper, but were dangerously undermanned (apparently at half strength). When Cicero arrived in province he ordered volunteers to be found and soon his legions were a full strength again.
Another problem was that under the savagery of the previous governors term, an unscrupulous man called Appius, 5 cohorts, or 2,500 men, had mutinied and no longer had any officers; largely because the officers had come down with a nasty case of the deads. They were encamped close to Cicero at Philomelium and so the brave man thrust himself into the mutineers camp, and convinced them to rejoin his army. Only joking, Cicero sent his legate Anneius to risk death at the hands of the legionaries. Anneius did convince them (probably with coin) and soon the ex-mutinous soldiers returned to the main camp at Iconium. This meant Cicero's army was concentrated and back to full strength but it would not be enough to stop the Parthians (who were at war with Rome and had recently killed 30,000 Roman troops at Carrhae).
Cicero remedied this by calling to the client King Deiotaras of Galatia who, with his Kingship firmly in Rome's hands, sent '30 squadrons of infantry armed in the Roman style and 2,000 horse'. These infantryman were most likely divided into cohorts, and we are told they were at 400 men each. This means that within weeks Cicero had turned his army of 2 under strength legions of around 5,000 men, into a force of 28,000 men. This was no small army and was virtually the same size as Crassus had at Carrhae which he convinced , stole and outright bribed to join his army, (if a few thousand smaller for Cicero). Cicero mentions that his 'Galatian, Pisidian and Lycian auxiliaries' made up the best forces in his army.
Cicero's horsemen caught some Parthians off guard near the Syrian border and defeated them (although this was probably a foraging party of Prince Pacorus, who was besieging Antioch in Syria). Cicero, and his army, received large victories against the mountain bandits and pirates of Cilicia (famed for being unbeatable as they just ran into the hills whenever someone came to stop them), first at Amanus, the besieging them in Pindenissum, where he wrote to Atticus saying he was enjoying the works of archers, cavalry and siege works (probably because it involved a keen mind for logistics and strategy). Cicero was hailed 'imperator' by his men (a serious honour which entitled Cicero to a triumph when back in Rome). After this Cicero gave his brother Quintus overall command of the army and set them to rest in the towns with which he had just taken, so as to pacify them.
(Senior Roman officers, and a standard bearer who for some reason is a dwarf apparently)
Demographics of Cilicia
Cilicia is mainly mountains, with little flat land along the coast. Cyprus was also in the province of Cilicia but the story is similar, mountains with flat land at the coast. Cilicia's economy mainly came from trade, being a crossroad into Asia and Greece from Syria, but there was also a significant animal husbandry sector, with Cilician goat fur fetching high prices Republic wise. A rare form of saffron was also collected from Cilicia, which was worth many times its cost.
Cilicia was formed of Greeks, mainly in the coastal cities such as Tarsus (which was the province capitol but not where Cicero's residence was, this was at Laodicea in the west), with a very small number of Romans (mainly the legionaries, bankers and merchants) who also lived in the cities. The native Cilicians, Phrygians, Lycians and Cypriots formed the vast majority of the population however, and this is likely why Cicero was quick to let them run their own legal affairs.
Administration
The previous governor of Cilicia, Appius, was an unprincipled man who sought to line his own pockets and gain fame, at the expense of the Cilicians. He did this in multiple ways, forcing extra taxes on the Cilicians (which was illegal for all governors except the Prefect of Egypt), taking bribes, and extorting the state. This last one was subtle and wisespread among Roman governors but the general principle is that the Roman state would pay for the governors food expenses all year for him and his retinue, and any surplus was supposed to go back to the treasury, but commonly people like Appius charged the state for non-existent food and pocketed the rest.
The main problems in Cilicia when Cicero arrived was that the majority of provincial residents (Cilicians who were not Roman citizens), were massively in debt to a few individuals (mainly Romans and Greeks) and that the rate of interest was gargantuan, reaching 48% in some cases. This meant nobody wanted to pay their debts as they would be penniless. To counter this Cicero created an edict (order from the governor) that all interest was not capped at 12%, (which was crazy low back then) and set for payment far in the future, but if the debt still was not paid by then; Cicero conceded that the old extortionate price was then fair to use. This saw an immediate increase in payments of the loans and all Cilicians were happy. Cicero commented that 'all think they are my best friend'.
To further aid economic growth in the province, Cicero forbade multiple things which were precedent to happen. Firstly he banned 'gifts' (bribes), and the gifting of land and property to Cicero. The grain money that Cicero was entitled to he gave to the people and covered his expenses himself.
On a legal point in his administration Cicero allowed the natives to stand trial in their native courts and allowed their senates to sit. This meant that a Greek would sit trial in a Greek court via Greek law, and a Cilician a Cilician court. This significantly improved morale in the province as the corruption of Romans like Appius was not impossible for the provincials.
After these simple remedies Cicero was approached by crowds wherever he went, cheering his name and wishing to supplicate him.
A further problem of both legal and economic standing was that the Greek local administrators had been getting hands on with the public purse of Cilicia, stealing large amounts of money. Cicero used not soldiers, but a scribe to deal with them. Sending letters of praise and encouragement which had the effect of all stolen money being returned by the end of his magistracy.
During the end of his governorship Cilicia suffered a famine (as it grew sparse food), and Cicero pleaded with the wealthy Greeks and Romans to share their grain with the people, which they did, and so mas-scale death was avoided.
The law was also upheld, specifically on Cyrprus, when a 'praefectus' of the last governor, called Scaptius (with a formation of cavalry), was blockading the Cypriot senate house as they were not complying with the old extortionate tax rates (which he had a small vested interest in with his businesses). Cicero thus recalled him, took the cavalry and ruled he was in the wrong. Instead Volusius was sent to deal with the Cypriots legal cases, which he did well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Cicero's governorship of Cilicia was filled with exemplary behaviour, good fiscal policy, and a successful military campaign; with this being accentuated when considering Cicero did not even want the job anyway.
Thank you for reading and I hope you learnt something new, if you wish for me to write about a specific topic please leave a comment and I'll take a look - Max Scourfield
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