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ANTIOCH

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 131 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ANTIOCH . There were sixteen cities known to have been founded under this name by Hellenistic monarchs; and at least twelve others were renamed Antioch. But by far the most famous and important in the See also:

list was 'AvrtOXeta it Eai Aa¢vn (mod. See also:Antakia), situated on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Orontes, about 20 M. from the See also:sea and its See also:port, See also:Seleucia of Pieria (Suedia). Founded as a See also:Greek See also:city in 300 B.C. by Seleucus Nicator, as soon as hehad assured his grip upon western See also:Asia by the victory of Ipsus (301), it was destined to See also:rival See also:Alexandria in See also:Egypt as the See also:chief city of the nearer See also:East, and to be the See also:cradle of See also:gentile See also:Christianity. The See also:geographical See also:character of the See also:district See also:north and north-east of the See also:elbow of Orontes makes it the natural centre of See also:Syria, so See also:long as that See also:country is held by a western See also:power; and only See also:Asiatic,' and especially Arab, dynasties have neglected it for the See also:oasis of See also:Damascus. The two easiest routes from the Mediterraneati, lying through the Orontes See also:gorge and the Beilan Pass, converge in the See also:plain of the Antioch See also:Lake (Baliik Geul or El See also:Bahr) and are met there by (i) the road from the Amanic See also:Gates (Baghche Pass) and western Commagene, which descends the valley of the Kara Su, (2) the roads from eastern Commagene and the Euphratean crossings at See also:Samosata (Samsat) and See also:Apamea Zeugma (See also:Birejik), which descend the valleys of the Afrin and the Kuwaik, and (3) the road from the Euphratean See also:ford at See also:Thapsacus, which skirts the fringe of the Syrian See also:steppe. Travellers by all these roads must proceed See also:south by the single route of the Orontes valley. See also:Alexander is said to have camped on the site of Antioch, and dedicated an See also:altar to See also:Zeus Bottiaeus, which See also:lay in the north-See also:west of the future city. But the first western See also:sovereign practically to recognize the importance of the district was Antigonus, who began to build a city, Antigonia, on the Kara Su a few See also:miles north of the situation of Antioch; but, on his defeat, he left it to serve as a See also:quarry for his rival Seleucus. The latter is said to have appealed to augury to determine the exact site of his projected See also:foundation; but less fantastic considerations went far to See also:settle it. To build south of the See also:river, and on and under the last east See also:spur of Casius, was to have See also:security against invasion from the north, and command of the abundant See also:waters of the See also:mountain.

One torrent, the Onopniktes (" donkey-drowner "), flowed through the new city, and many other streams came down a few miles west into the beautiful suburb of See also:

Daphne. The site appears not to have been found wholly uninhabited. A See also:settlement; Meroe, boasting a See also:shrine of Anait, called by the Greeks the " See also:Persian See also:Artemis," had long been located there, and was ultimately included in the eastern suburbs of the new city; and there seems to have been a See also:village on the spur (Mt. Silpius), of which we hear in See also:late authors under the name lo, or Iopolis. This name was always adduced as See also:evidence by Antiochenes (e.g. See also:Libanius) anxious to affiliate themselves to the See also:Attic Ionians—an anxiety which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the city's coins. At any See also:rate, Io may have been a small See also:early See also:colony of trading Greeks (Javan). See also:John See also:Malalas mentions also a village, Bottia, in the plain by the river. The See also:original city of Seleucus was laid out in See also:imitation of the " gridiron " See also:plan of Alexandria by the architect, Xenarius. Libanius describes the first See also:building and arrangement of this city (i. p. 300. 17).

The citadel was on Mt. Silpius and the city lay mainly on the See also:

low ground to the north, fringing the river. Two See also:great colonnaded streets intersected in the centre. Shortly afterwards a second See also:quarter was laid out, probably on the east and by See also:Antiochus I., which, from an expression of See also:Strabo, appears to have been the native, as contrasted with the Greek, See also:town. It was enclosed by a See also:wall of its own. In the Orontes, north of the city, lay a large See also:island, and on this Seleucus II. Callinicus began a third walled " city," which was finished by Antiochus III. A See also:fourth and last quarter was added by Antiochus IV. Epiphanes (175–164 B.C.); and thenceforth Antioch was known as Tetrapolis. From west to east the whole was about 4 M. in See also:diameter and little less from north to south, this See also:area including many large gardens. Of its See also:population the Greek See also:period we know nothing. In the 4th See also:century A.D. it was about 200,000 according to See also:Chrysostom, who probably did not reckon slaves.

About 4 m. west and beyond the suburb, See also:

Heraclea, lay . the See also:paradise of Daphne, a See also:park of See also:woods and waters, in the midst of which See also:rose a great See also:temple to the Pythian See also:Apollo, founded by Seleucus I. and enriched with a cult-statue of the See also:god, as Musagetes, by See also:Bryaxis. A See also:companion See also:sanctuary of See also:Hecate was constructed underground by See also:Diocletian. The beauty and the lax morals of Daphne were celebrated all over the western See also:world; and indeed Antioch as a whole shared in both these titles to fame. Its amenities awoke both the See also:enthusiasm and the scorn 9f many writers of antiquity. Antioch became the See also:capital and See also:court-city of the western Seleucid See also:empire under Antiochus I., its counterpart in the east being Seleucia-on-See also:Tigris; but its See also:paramount importance See also:dates from the See also:battle of See also:Ancyra (240 B.C.), which shifted the Seleucid centre of gravity from Asia See also:Minor, and led indirectly to the rise of See also:Pergamum. Thenceforward the Seleucids resided at Antioch and treated it as their capital See also:par excellence. We know little of it in the Greek period, apart from Syria (q.v.), all our See also:information coming from authors of the late See also:Roman See also:time. Among its great Greek buildings we hear only of the See also:theatre, of which substructures still remain on the flank of Silpius, and of the royal See also:palace, probably situated on the island. It enjoyed a great reputation for letters and the arts (See also:Cicero See also:pro Archia, 3); but the only names of distinction in these pursuits during the Seleucid period, that have come down to us, are Apollophanes, the Stoic, and one See also:Phoebus, a writer on dreams. The See also:mass of the population seems to have been only superficially Hellenic, and to have spoken Aramaic in non-See also:official See also:life. The nicknames which they gave to their later See also:kings were Aramaic; and, except Apollo and Daphne, the great divinities of north, Syria seem to have remained essentially native, such as the " Persian Artemis " of Meroe and See also:Atargatis of See also:Hierapolis Bambyce. We may infer, from its epithet, " See also:Golden," that the See also:external See also:appearance of Antioch was magnificent; but the city needed See also:constant restoration owing to the seismic disturbances to which the district has always been peculiarly liable.

The first great See also:

earthquake is said by the native chronicler John Malalas, who tells us most that we know of the city, to have occurred in 148 B.C., and to have done immense damage. The inhabitants were turbulent, fickle and notoriously dissolute. In the many dissensions of the Seleucid See also:house they took violent See also:part, and frequently rose in See also:rebellion, for example against Alexander Balas in 147 B.C., and See also:Demetrius II. in 129. The latter, enlisting a See also:body of See also:Jews, punished his capital with See also:fire and See also:sword. In the last struggles of the Seleucid house, Antioch turned definitely against its feeble rulers, invited See also:Tigranes of See also:Armenia to occupy the city in 83, tried to unseat Antiochus XIII. in 65, and petitioned See also:Rome against his restoration in the following See also:year. Its wish prevailed, and it passed with Syria to the Roman See also:Republic in 64 B.C., but remained a civitas libera. The See also:Romans both See also:felt and expressed boundless contempt for the hybrid Antiochenes; but their emperors favoured the city from the first, seeing in it a more suitable capital for the eastern part of the empire than Alexandria could ever be, thanks to the isolated position of Egypt. To a certain extent they tried to make it an eastern Rome. See also:Caesar visited it in 47 B.C., and See also:con-firmed its freedom. A great temple to See also:Jupiter Capitolinus rose on Silpius, probably at the instance of Octavian, whose cause the city had espoused. A See also:forum of Roman type was laid out. Tiberius built two long colonnades on the south towards Silpius.

See also:

Agrippa and Tiberius enlarged the theatre, and See also:Trajan finished their See also:work. See also:Antoninus See also:Pius paved the great east to west artery with See also:granite. A See also:circus, other colonnades and great See also:numbers of See also:baths were built, and new aqueducts to See also:supply them See also:bore the names of Caesars, the finest being the work of See also:Hadrian. The Roman client, See also:King See also:Herod, erected a long See also:stoa on the east, and Agrippa encouraged the growth of a new suburb south of this. Under the empire we chiefly hear of the earthquakes which shook Antioch. One, in A.D. 37, caused the See also:emperor Caligula to send two senators to See also:report on the See also:condition of the city. Another followed in the next reign; and in 115, during Trajan's sojourn in the See also:place with his See also:army of See also:Parthia, the whole site was convulsed, the landscape altered, and the emperor himself forced to take shelter in the circus for several days. He and his successor restored the city; but in 526, after minor shocks, the calamity returned in a terrible See also:form, and thousands of lives were lost, largely those of Christians gathered to a great See also:church See also:assembly. We hear also of especially terrific earthquakes on the 29th of See also:November 528 and the 31st of See also:October 588.131 At Antioch Germanicus died in A.D. 19, and his body was burnt in the forum. See also:Titus set up the See also:Cherubim, captured from the Jewish temple, over one of the gates.

See also:

Commodus had Olympic See also:games celebrated at Antioch, and in A.D. 266 the town was suddenly raided by the Persians, who slew many in the theatre. In 387 there was a great See also:sedition caused by a new tax levied by See also:order of See also:Theodosius, and the city was punished by the loss of its See also:metropolitan status. See also:Zeno, who renamed it Theopolis, restored many of its public buildings just before the great earthquake of 526, whose destructive work was completed by the Persian See also:Chosroes twelve years later. Justinian made an effort to revive it, and See also:Procopius describes his repairing of the walls; but its See also:glory was past. The chief See also:interest of Antioch under the empire lies in its relation to Christianity. Evangelized perhaps by See also:Peter, according to the tradition upon which the Antiochene patriarchate still rests its claim for primacy (cf. Acts xi.), and certainly by See also:Barnabas and See also:Saul, its converts were the first to be called " Christians." They multiplied exceedingly, and by the time of Theodosius were reckoned by Chrysostom at about 1oo,00o souls. Between 252 and 300 A.D. ten assemblies of the church were held at Antioch and it became the See also:residence of the See also:patriarch of Asia.. When See also:Julian visited the place in 362 the impudent population railed at him for his favour to Jewish and See also:pagan See also:rites, and to revenge itself for the closing of its great church of See also:Constantine, burned down the temple of Apollo in Daphne. The emperor's rough and severe habits and his rigid See also:administration prompted Antiochene lampoons, to which he replied in the curious satiric apologia, still extant, which he called Misopogon. His successor, See also:Valens, who endowed Antioch with a new forum having a statue of Valentinian on a central See also:column, reopened the great church, which stood till the See also:sack of Chosroes in 538.

Antioch gave its name to a certain school of See also:

Christian thought, distinguished by literal See also:interpretation of the Scriptures and insistence on the human limitations of Jesus. Diodorus of See also:Tarsus and See also:Theodore of Mopsuestia were the leaders of this school. The principallocal See also:saint was See also:Simeon Stylites, who performed his See also:penance on a See also:hill some 40 M. east. His body was brought to the city and buried in a building erected under the emperor See also:Leo. In A.D. 635, during the reign of See also:Heraclius, Antioch passed into Saracen hands, and decayed apace for more than 300 years; but in 969 it was recovered for See also:Byzantium by See also:Michael Burza and Peter the See also:Eunuch. In 1084 the Seljuk See also:Turks captured it but held it only fourteen years, yielding place to the crusaders, who besieged it for nine months, enduring frightful sufferings. Being at last betrayed, it was given to See also:Bohemund, See also:prince of See also:Tarentum, and it remained the capital of a Latin principality for nearly two centuries. It See also:fell at last to the See also:Egyptian, Bibars, in 1268, after a great destruction and slaughter, from which it never revived. Little remains now of the See also:ancient city, except See also:colossal ruins of aqueducts and part of the Roman walls, which are used as quarries for See also:modern Antakia; but no scientific examination of the site has been made. A statue in the Vatican and a See also:silver statuette in the See also:British Museum perpetuate the type of its great effigy of the civic See also:Fortune of Antioch—a majestic seated figure, with Orontes as a youth issuing from under her feet.

End of Article: ANTIOCH

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