Tarsus = "a flat basket"

 1) a major city in Cilicia and the birthplace and early home of Paul.
    #Ac 9:11; 21:39; 22:3. Even in the flourishing period of Greek
    history it was an important city. In the Roman civil wars, it
    sided with Caesar and on the occasion of a visit from him its name
    changed to Juliopolis. Augustus made it a free city. Its was
    renowned as a place of education under the early Roman emperors.
    Strabo compares it in this respect to Athens and Alexandria.
    Tarsus also was a place of much commerce. It was situated in a
    wild and fertile plain on the banks of the Cydnus. No ruins of any
    importance remain.