Soloi (Latin form: Soli, later Pompeiopolis) was a port city in Cilicia near today's Viranşehir, a district of the Turkish city of Mersin.
Soloi, first mentioned by Xenophon, was supposedly founded on Rhodes by Greek colonists from Argos and Lindos. At the time of Alexander the Great, however, the inhabitants were loyal to the Achaemenids. Alexander who conquered the city in October 333 BC. So left a garrison behind and imposed a tribute of 200 talents on Soloi. The city had to provide hostages and was slated for destruction, an order that Alexander withdrew. In Soloi, Alexander held a celebration of his recovery from the almost fatal bath in Cydnos and offered sacrifices to Asklepios.
After Soloi 83 B.C. Destroyed by Tigranes II around 1000 BC, it was refounded by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus as Pompeiopolis and populated with the survivors of the pirate war. In late antiquity, Pompeiopolis was the seat of a bishop.
Few remains of ancient Soloi have survived, including the docks and pillars of a colonnaded street. A theater seen by travelers at the beginning of the 19th century is no longer visible.
Source: Wikipedia
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