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Cilicia, located on the southeastern coast of Anatolia, from the time of Cyrus the Great to the Macedonian conquest in 333 BC, was part of the Achaemenid state administrated by local dynasts (called Syennesis) and subsequently, by satraps. The satrapy played a strategic role as a mustering point and recruiting area for the Persian army. Minting activity in Cilicia began around the middle of the 5th century, intensifying over the 4th century BC. There were several active mints in this period. The pattern of Cilicia's coinage was quite complicated. It consisted of civic issues, coins minted by the local elites, as well as by satraps and Achaemenid generals. At the same time, some of the civic issues were minted anonymously by the above-mentioned figures. The coinage of the period is characterized by a specific iconography, the use of the Aramaic and Greek alphabet in the legends, and a fixed system of denominations.
