A titular see of Cilicia Prima, suffragan of Tarsus. The city is famous for a whole series of battles fought there at different periods. The first was the victory of Alexander over Darius in 333 B.C., next that of Septimius Severus over Pescennius Niger, in A.D. 194, that of Heraclius over Chosroes in A.D. 622, finally that of the Sultan of Egypt, Bibars, over the Armenian King Hetoum in August, 1266. So many combats were fought at Issus because in its vicinity was the famous defile leading along the seashore from Cilicia to Syria, the "Gates of Syria", or highway from Asia Minor into the Syrian Orient. Issus is not mentioned in the "Notitiæ Episcopatuum" of the Patriarchate of Antioch, to which Cilicia belonged (Echos d'Orient, X, 94, 145), and it is not known in what manner it became a titular see of the Latin Church. Its ruins are situated near Ayaz.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online