Tarsus (tär'sus). A town of Cilicia, the birthplace of the apostle Paul. Acts 9:11; Acts 21:39; Acts 22:3. Augustus made it a "free city." It 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 hanks of the Cydnus. No ruins of any importance remain.