Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one ofAlexander the Great's generals, as one of the tetrapoleis ofSeleucis of Syria. Seleucus encouragedGreeks from all over theMediterranean to settle in the city.[2] The city's location offered geographical, military, and economic benefits to its occupants; Antioch was heavily involved in thespice trade and lay within close reach of theSilk Road and theRoyal Road. The city was the capital of the Seleucid Empire from 240 BC until 63 BC, when the Romans took control, making it the capital of theprovince of Syria and later ofCoele Syria. During the late Hellenistic and RomanPrincipate periods, Antioch's population may have reached a peak of over 500,000 inhabitants (most generally estimate between 200,000 and 250,000),[4] making the city the third largest in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria and one of the most important cities in theeastern Mediterranean. From the early 4th century, Antioch was the seat of thecomes Orientis, head of theDiocese of the East. The Romans provided the city with walls that encompassed almost 450 hectares (1,100 acres).
The city was the main center ofHellenistic Judaism at the end of theSecond Temple period. As one of the cities of thepentarchy, Antioch was called "the cradle ofChristianity" as a result of its longevity and the pivotal role that it played in the emergence ofearly Christianity.[5] The ChristianNew Testament asserts that the name "Christian" first emerged in Antioch.[6] The city declined to relative insignificance during theMiddle Ages due to warfare, repeated earthquakes, and a change in trade routes.
the roads from eastern Commagene and the Euphratean crossings at Samosata (nowSamsat) andApamea Zeugma (Birejik), which descend the valleys of the Afrin and theQueiq; and
the road from the Euphratean ford atThapsacus, which skirts the fringe of the Syrian steppe. A single route proceeds south in the Orontes valley.[7]
A settlement called "Meroe" pre-dated Antioch. A shrine of the goddessAnat, called byHerodotus the "PersianArtemis", was located there. The site was included in the eastern suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur ofMount Silpius namedIo, orIopolis. This name was adduced as evidence by Antiochenes (e.g.Libanius) eager to affiliate themselves to the AtticIonians—an eagerness which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the city's coins. Io may have been a small early colony of trading Greeks (Javan). 5th century chroniclerJohn Malalas mentions an archaic village,Bottia, in the plain by the river.[7][better source needed]
Alexander the Great is said to have camped on the site of Antioch and dedicated an altar toZeus Bottiaeus; it lay in the northwest of the future city.[7] This account is found only in the writings of Libanius, a 4th-century orator from Antioch,[8] and may be legend intended to enhance Antioch's status.[9]
After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his generals, theDiadochi, divided up the territory he had conquered. After theBattle of Ipsos in 301 BC,Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four "sister cities" in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch, a city named in honor of his fatherAntiochus;[10] according to theSuda, it might be named after his sonAntiochus.[11] He is reputed to have built 16 cities dubbed Antioch.[12] Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means. An eagle, the bird of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site to which the eagle carried the offering. Seleucus did this on the 22nd day of the month ofArtemísios in the 12th year of his reign, equivalent to May 300 BC.[13] Antioch soon rose aboveSeleucia Pieria to become the Syrian capital.
Mosaic of Eros standing on the wings of two Psyches and whipping them on inHatay Archaeology Museum
The original city of Seleucus was laid out in imitation of thegrid plan ofAlexandria by the architectXenarius.[14][15]Libanius describes the first building and arrangement of this city (i. p. 300. 17). The citadel was on Mount Silpius, and the city lay mainly on the low ground to the north, fringing the river. Two great colonnaded streets intersected in the centre. A second walled area to the east was added byAntiochus I Soter.[7] North of the city,Seleucus II Callinicus built a third walled area on an island within the Orontes. A fourth and last quarter was added byAntiochus IV Epiphanes; thenceforth Antioch was known asTetrapolis. From west to east the whole was about 6 kilometres (4 miles) in diameter and a little less from north to south. This area included many large gardens.[7]
The city was populated by a mix of local settlers that Athenians brought from nearbyAntigonia,Macedonians, and Jews (who were given full status from the beginning). According to ancient tradition, Antioch was settled by 5,500 Athenians and Macedonians, together with an unknown number of native Syrians. This number probably refers to free adult citizens, so that the total number of free Greek settlers including women and children was probably between 17,000 and 25,000.[16][9]
About 6 kilometres (4 miles) west and beyond the suburb Heraclea lay the paradise ofDaphne, a park of woods and waters, in the midst of which rose a great temple to the Pythian Apollo, also founded by Seleucus I and enriched with a cult-statue of the god, as Musagetes, byBryaxis. A companion sanctuary ofHecate was constructed underground byDiocletian. The beauty and the lax morals of Daphne were celebrated all over the ancient world; and indeed Antioch as a whole shared in both these titles to fame.[17]
Antioch became the capital and court-city of the western Seleucid Empire under Antiochus I, its counterpart in the east beingSeleucia; but its paramount importance dates from theBattle of Ancyra (240 BC), which shifted the Seleucid centre of gravity from Anatolia and led indirectly to the rise ofPergamon.[18]
The Seleucids reigned from Antioch. We know little of it in theHellenistic period, apart from Syria, all our information coming from authors of the late Roman time. Among its great Greek buildings we hear only of the theatre, of which substructures still remain on the flank of Silpius, and of the royal palace, probably situated on the island. It enjoyed a reputation for being "a populous city, full of most erudite men and rich in the most liberal studies",[19] 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 Phoebus, a writer on dreams. The nicknames which they gave to their later kings wereAramaic; and, exceptApollo and Daphne, the great divinities of north Syria seem to have remained essentially native, such as the "Persian Artemis" of Meroe andAtargatis ofHierapolis Bambyce.[18]
The epithet "Golden" suggests that the external appearance of Antioch was impressive, but the city needed constant restoration owing to theseismic disturbances to which the district has always been subjected. The first great earthquake in recorded history was related by the native chroniclerJohn Malalas. It occurred in 148 BC and did immense damage.[18][20]
Local politics were turbulent. In the many dissensions of the Seleucid house the population took sides, and frequently rose in rebellion, for example againstAlexander Balas in 147 BC, andDemetrius II Nicator in 129 BC. The latter, enlisting a body of Jews, punished his capital with fire and sword. In the last struggles of the Seleucid house, Antioch turned against its feeble rulers, invitedTigranes the Great to occupy the city in 83 BC, tried to unseatAntiochus XIII Asiaticus in 65 BC, and petitioned Rome against his restoration in the following year. Antioch's wish prevailed, and it passed with Syria to theRoman Republic in 64 BC, but remained acivitas libera.[18]
The Roman emperors favored the city, seeing it as a more suitable capital for the eastern part of the empire than Alexandria could be, because of the isolated position of Egypt. To a certain extent they tried to make it an eastern Rome.Julius Caesar visited it in 47 BC and confirmed its freedom. A great temple toJupiter Capitolinus rose on Silpius, probably at the insistence ofOctavian, whose cause the city had espoused. ARoman forum was laid out.Tiberius built two longcolonnades on the south towards Silpius.[18]
Strabo, writing in the reign ofAugustus and the first years of Tiberius, states that Antioch is not much smaller than Seleucia and Alexandria; Alexandria had been said byDiodorus Siculus in the mid-1st century BC to have 300,000 free inhabitants, which would mean that Antioch was about this size in Strabo's time.[16]
Agrippa and Tiberius enlarged the theatre, andTrajan finished their work.Antoninus Pius paved the great east to west artery with granite. Other colonnades and great numbers ofbaths were built, andaqueducts to supply them bore the names of caesars, the finest being the work ofHadrian. The Roman client King Herod (most likelyHerod the Great), erected a longstoa on the east, andMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa encouraged the growth of a new suburb south of this.[18]
One of the most famous Roman additions to the city was itshippodrome, theCircus of Antioch. Thischariot racing venue was probably built in the reign of Augustus, when the city had more than half a million inhabitants; it was modelled on theCircus Maximus inRome and othercircus buildings throughout the empire. Measuring more than 490 metres (1,610 feet) long and 30 metres (98 feet) wide,[21] the circus could house up to 80,000 spectators.[22] The most important building though was the Imperial Palace.[23] It housed the Roman emperor on occasion and may have originally been the Seleucid palace. According to Libanius, at his time the palace won in any comparison of its size and was unsurpassed in beauty.[23]
Zarmanochegas (Zarmarus) a monk of theSramana tradition of India, according to Strabo andDio Cassius, metNicholas of Damascus in Antioch around 13 AD as part of a mission to Augustus.[24][25] At AntiochGermanicus died in 19 AD, and his body was burnt in the forum.[18] An earthquake that shook Antioch in 37 causedCaligula to send two senators to report on the condition of the city. Another quake followed in the next reign.[18]Titus visited Antioch in the spring of 71, where he encountered a crowd demanding the expulsion of Jews from the city.[26] He refused, explaining that their countryhad been destroyed, and no other place would accept them.[26][27] The crowd then sought to revoke the Jews' political privileges by asking Titus to remove the bronze tablets inscribed with their rights, but Titus declined once more.[26][27]
In 115, during Trajan's travel there during hiswar against Parthia, the whole site wasconvulsed by a huge earthquake. The landscape altered, and Trajan was forced to take shelter in the circus for several days.[18] He and his successor restored the city, but the population was reduced to less than 400,000 inhabitants, and many sections of the city were abandoned.
Commodus hadOlympic games celebrated at Antioch.[18] In 256 the city was suddenly raided by thePersians underShapur I, and many of the people were slain in the theatre. The city was burned, and some 100,000 inhabitants were killed while the rest were deported to Shapur's newly built city ofGundeshapur.[18] It was recaptured byValerian the following year.
Antioch was a chief center ofearly Christianity during Roman times,[28] and converts there were the first people to be called Christians.[29] The city had a large population of Jewish origin in a quarter called theKerateion, and so attracted the earliest missionaries.[30] Among these wasSaint Peter, according to the tradition upon which thePatriarchate of Antioch[31] still rests its claim for primacy.[32] This is not to be confused withAntioch in Pisidia, to whichBarnabas andPaul later travelled.[33]
John Chrysostom writes that whenIgnatius of Antioch was bishop in the city, thedêmos, probably meaning the number of free adult men and women without counting children and slaves, numbered 200,000.[16] In a letter written in 363, Libanius says the city contains 150,000anthrôpoi (plural of anthropos, human, a word which would ordinarily mean all human beings of any age, sex, or social status) seemingly indicating a decline in the population since the first century.[16][35] Chrysostom also says in one of his homilies on theGospel of Matthew, which were delivered between 386 and 393, that in his own time there were 100,000 Christians in Antioch, a figure which may refer to orthodox Christians who belonged to theGreat Church as opposed to members of other groups such asArians andApollinarians, or to all Christians of any persuasion.[16]
A bronze coin from Antioch depicting theemperor Julian. Note the pointed beard.
When the emperorJulian visited in 362 on a detour to theSasanian Empire, he had high hopes for Antioch, regarding it as a rival to the imperial capital ofConstantinople. Antioch had a mixed pagan and Christian population, whichAmmianus Marcellinus implies lived quite harmoniously together. However, Julian's visit began ominously as it coincided with a lament forAdonis, the doomed lover ofAphrodite. Thus, Ammianus wrote, the emperor and his soldiers entered the city not to the sound of cheers but to wailing and screaming.
After being advised that the bones of 3rd-century martyred bishopBabylas were suppressing the oracle of Apollo at Daphne,[36] he made a public-relations mistake in ordering the removal of the bones from the vicinity of the temple. The result was a massive Christian procession. Shortly after that, when the temple was destroyed by fire, Julian suspected the Christians and ordered stricter investigations than usual. He also shut up Constantine's Great Church, before the investigations proved that the fire was the result of an accident.[37][38]
Julian found much else to criticize about the Antiochenes; he had wanted the empire's cities to be more self-managing, as they had been some200 years before, but Antioch'scity councilmen showed themselves unwilling to shore up a local food shortage with their own resources, so dependent were they on the emperor. Ammianus wrote that the councilmen shirked their duties by bribing unwitting men in the marketplace to do the job for them. Further, Julian was surprised and dismayed when at the city's annual feast of Apollo the only Antiochene present was an old priest clutching a goose, showing the decay of paganism in the town.
Ammianus writes that the Antiochenes hated Julian in turn for worsening the food shortage with the burden of hisbilleted troops. His enthusiasm for large scale animal sacrifice meant that the soldiers were often to be found gorged on sacrificial meat, making a drunken nuisance of themselves on the streets while Antioch's hungry citizens looked on in disgust. The Christian Antiochenes and Julian's paganGallic soldiers also never quite saw eye to eye. Even to those who kept the old religion, Julian's brand of paganism was distasteful, being very much unique to himself, with little support outside the most educatedNeoplatonist circles. Julian gained no admiration for his personal involvement in the sacrifices, only the nicknameaxeman, wrote Ammianus. The emperor's high-handed, severe methods and his rigid administration prompted Antiochenelampoons about, among other things, Julian's unfashionablypointed beard.[39]
Julian's successorValens endowed Antioch with a new forum, including a statue of his brother and co-emperorValentinian I on a central column, and reopened the great church of Constantine, which stood until the Persian sack in 538, byKhosrow.[18]
In 387 there was a great sedition caused by a tax levied by order ofTheodosius I, and the city was punished by the loss of its metropolitan status.[18] Theodosius placed Antioch under Constantinople's rule when he divided the Roman Empire.John Malalas, a chronicler writing in the 6th century, describes a theater in the city's suburb ofDaphne that was built on the ruins of a synagogue. The theater had an inscription stating it was constructed "from the spoils ofJudaea".[26][40] He also mentions a gate ofcherubs in the city, which Titus constructed using the spoils of theSecond Temple.[40]
In 490 or 491 CE, violent anti-Jewish riots broke out in Antioch. The events are recorded in theChronicle of John Malalas, but the surviving accounts belong to two divergent narrative traditions that have long perplexed historians. The fullest Greek manuscript (Baroccianus Graecus 182) describes a violent outbreak in which the city's Green faction indiscriminately massacred local Jews; in this version, EmperorZeno rebuked the Greens, not in defense of the Jews, but lamenting that they had only burned corpses rather than living Jews. A different tradition, preserved in later Slavonic versions and in excerpts compiled underConstantine VII Porphyrogenitus, distinguishes two phases: an initial clash in the hippodrome between the Blues and Greens, followed months later by a Green-ledpogrom against Antioch's Jews, who were reportedly allied with the rival Blue faction. According to this account, many were killed, the Asabiniani synagogue was destroyed, and Jewish graves were desecrated.[41]
The Peutinger Map showing Antioch, Alexandria and Seleucia in the 4th century
Antioch and its port,Seleucia Pieria, were severely damaged by anearthquake in 526. Seleucia Pieria, which was already fighting a losing battle against continual silting, never recovered.[42] Asecond earthquake affected Antioch in 528.[43]Justinian I renamed AntiochTheopolis ("City of God") and restored many of its public buildings, but the destructive work was completed in 540 Khosrow I, who deported the population to a newly built city in Persian Mesopotamia,Weh Antiok Khosrow. Antioch lost as many as 300,000 people. Justinian I made an effort to revive it, andProcopius describes his repairing of the walls; but its glory was past.[18] Another earthquake in 588 destroyed the Domus Aureus of Constantine, whereafter thechurch of Cassian became the most important church of Antioch.[44][45]
Antioch gave its name to acertain school of Christian thought, distinguished by literal interpretation of the Scriptures and insistence on the human limitations ofJesus.Diodorus of Tarsus andTheodore of Mopsuestia were the leaders of this school. The principal local saint wasSimeon Stylites, who lived an extremelyascetic life atop a pillar for 40 years some 65 kilometres (40 miles)east of Antioch. His body was brought to the city and buried in a building erected under the emperorLeo.[18] During the Byzantine era, great bathhouses were built in Byzantine centers such as Constantinople and Antioch.[46]
In 637, during the reign of Heraclius, Antioch was conquered byAbu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah of theRashidun Caliphate during theBattle of the Iron Bridge, marking the beginning of Islamic influence in the region. The city became known in Arabic asأنطاكيةAnṭākiyah. Under theUmayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD), Antioch served as a significant military and administrative center. The Umayyads fortified the city, utilizing it as a base for operations in the region. The city remained an important urban center, with its multicultural population including Christians, Muslims, and Jews living together, although there were periods of tension and conflict.[47] However, since theUmayyad dynasty was unable to penetrate theAnatolian Plateau, Antioch found itself on the frontline of the conflicts between two hostile empires during the next 350 years, so that the city went into a precipitous decline. During theAbbasid period (750–969 AD), Antioch continued to thrive as a hub of commerce and culture. Under the Abbasids, closer relations were developed with Byzantium, but it was not until theFatimids opened up the Mediterranean for shipping from the end of the 10th century that the affairs of western Europe and the Near East began to interact once again. The Abbasids placed a strong emphasis on trade, which facilitated economic prosperity in Antioch. The city became known for its diverse markets, contributing to the flow of goods and ideas between the Islamic world and the Byzantine Empire.[48]
Theramparts of Antioch climbing Mons Silpius during the Crusades (lower left on the map,above left)
The decline of Arab rule in Antioch began in the late 9th century with increasing pressure from the Byzantine forces. The city changed hands several times during theByzantine-Arab wars, Before finally in 969, under the Byzantine EmperorNikephoros II Phokas, the city wascaptured after a siege by the Byzantine generalMichael Bourtzes and thestratopedarchesPeter. It soon became the seat of adoux, the civil governor of the homonymoustheme, but also the seat of the somewhat more importantDomestic of the Schools of the Orient, the supreme military commander of the imperial forces on the eastern frontier. Sometimes both offices were held by the same person, usually military officers such asNikephoros Ouranos, orPhilaretos Brachamios, who managed to retain the integrity of the eastern borderline after the Seljuk conquest of Anatolia. The size of the Melkite community increased during that time due to immigration from Christians from Fatimid Egypt but also other parts of the Near East, and Christians remained the dominant population up to the Crusades.[44]
As the empire disintegrated rapidly before theKomnenian restoration,Dux of Antioch &Domestic of the Schools of the EastPhilaretos Brachamios held the city untilSuleiman ibn Qutalmish, theemir of Rum, captured it from him in 1084.[49] Two years later, Suleiman was killed fighting againstTutush, the brother of theSeljuk Sultan, who annexed the city into theSeljuk Empire.[50]Yagisiyan was appointed governor. He became increasingly independent within the tumultuous years following Malik-Shah's death in 1092.
The Crusaders'siege of Antioch conquered the city in June 1098 after a siege lasting eight months on their way to Jerusalem. At this time, the bulk of far eastern trade traveled through Egypt, but in the second half of the 12th centuryNur ed-Din and laterSaladin brought order to Muslim Syria, opening up long-distance trade routes, including to Antioch and on to its new port,St Symeon, which had replaced Seleucia Pieria. However, the Mongol conquests of the 13th century altered the main trade routes from the far east, as they encouraged merchants to take the overland route through Mongol territory to the Black Sea, reducing the prosperity of Antioch.[51] Surrounding the city were a number of Greek, Syrian, Georgian, Armenian, and Latin monasteries.[52]
In 1100,Tancred became theregent of Antioch after his uncle and predecessorBohemond I of Antioch was taken prisoner from 1100 to 1103 byGazi Gümüshtigin of theDanishmends at theBattle of Melitene. Tancred expanded the territory of Antioch by conqueringByzantine Cilicia,Tarsus, andAdana in 1101. In 1107 Bohemond, enraged by an earlier defeat, renamed Tancred as the regent of Antioch so he could sail for Europe with the intent of gaining support for an attack against the Greeks.[53][54]
Bohemond laid siege toDyrrachium but capitulated in September 1108 and was forced to accede to a peace accord, theTreaty of Devol which stipulated that Bohemond was to hold Antioch for the remainder of his life as the emperor's subject and the Greek patriarch was to be restored to power in the city. However, Tancred refused to honor the treaty in which Bohemond swore an oath, and it is not until 1156 that it truly became avassal state of the Byzantine Empire.[55][56] Six months after the treaty Bohemond died, and Tancred remained regent of Antioch until his death during a typhoid epidemic in 1112.
Antioch was again ruled by a regency, firstly being Baldwin II, after his daughter and Bohemond II's wife,Alice of Antioch attempted to block Baldwin from entering Antioch, but failed when Antiochene nobles such asFulk of Jerusalem (Alice's brother-in-law) opened up the gates for representatives of Baldwin II. Alice was then expelled from Antioch. With the death of Baldwin in 1131, Alice briefly took control of Antioch and allied herself withPons of Tripoli andJoscelin II of Edessa in an attempt to prevent Fulk from marching north in 1132; however, this attempt failed. In 1133 the king choseRaymond of Poitiers as a groom forConstance of Antioch, daughter ofBohemund II of Antioch and Alice.[59] The marriage took place in 1136 between the 21-year-old Raymond and the 9-year-old Constance.
Immediately after assuming control, Raymond was involved in conflicts with the Byzantine EmperorJohn II Comnenus who had come south to recoverCilicia from Leo of Armenia, and to reassert his rights over Antioch. The engagement lasted until 1137 when John arrived with an army before the walls of Antioch. Although thebasileus did not enter the city, his banner was raised atop the citade,l and Raymond was compelled to do homage. Raymond agreed with the emperor that if he was capable of capturingAleppo,Shaizar, andHoms, he would exchange Antioch for them.[60] John went on to attack Aleppo with the aid of Antioch and Edessa, and failed to capture it, with theFranks withdrawing their support when he moved on to capture Shaizar. John returned to Antioch ahead of his army and entered Antioch, only to be forced to leave whenJoscelin II, Count of Edessa rallied the citizens to oust him.[60] After thefall of Edessa in 1144, many Syriac Orthodox Christians came into the city, spreading the veneration of Mor Barsauma among the local population which resulted in the building of a church to the saint in 1156.[61]
Nur ad-Din Zangi attacked Antioch in both 1147 and 1148 and succeeded during the second venture in occupying most of the territory east of the Orontes but failed to capture Antioch itself.Louis VII of France arrived in Antioch on March 19, 1148, where he was welcomed by the uncle of his spouseEleanor of Aquitaine, Raymond of Poitiers. Louis refused to help Antioch defend against the Turks and to lead an expedition against Aleppo, and instead decided to finish his pilgrimage to Jerusalem rather than focus on the military aspect of the Crusades.[62]
With Raymond dead andBohemond III only five years of age, the principality came under the control of Constance; however, real control lay withAimery of Limoges. In 1153, Constance choseRaynald of Châtillon and married him in secret without consulting her first cousin and liege lord, Baldwin III, and neither Baldwin nor Aimery of Limoges approved of her choice.[63] In 1156 Raynald claimed that the Byzantine emperorManuel I Comnenus had reneged on his promises to pay Raynald a sum of money, and would later attack Cyprus.[64] This caused Manuel to raise an army to Syria. Raynald then surrendered, the emperor insisted on the installation of a Greek Patriarch and the surrender of the citadel in Antioch. The following spring, Manuel made a triumphant entry into the city and established himself as the unquestionedsuzerain of Antioch.
In 1160 Raynald was captured by Muslims and held captive for 16 years. With Raynald disposed, the patriarch Aimery became the regent, chosen by Baldwin III. To further consolidate his own claim over Antioch, Manuel choseMaria of Antioch (daughter of Constance and Raymond) as his bride. Antioch remained in crisis until 1163 when Constance asked the Armenia to help maintain her rule, as a result the citizens of Antioch exiled her and installed her son Bohemond III and now brother-in-law to the emperor, as regent.[65]
One year later, Nur ad-Din Zangi captured Bohemond III but was soon released; however,Harem, Syria, which Raynald had recaptured in 1158, was lost again and the frontier of Antioch was permanently placed west of the Orontes.[66][67]
While travelling on crusade, EmperorFrederick Barbarossa drowned in the riverSaleph. His son,Frederick VI, then led the remnant of the Crusader army south towards Antioch.[68] Subsequently, he arranged for his father's remains to be buried in the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Antioch.[69] Throughout the Third Crusade, Antioch remained neutral; however, with the end of the Third Crusade (1192), they were included in theTreaty of Ramla between Richard and Saladin.[70][71][72][73]
Henry II, Count of Champagne travelled toLesser Armenia and managed to persuade Leo that in exchange for Antioch, renouncing its overlordship to Lesser Armenia and to release Bohemond, who died in 1201. With the death of Bohemond III there followed a 15-year struggle for power of Antioch, between Tripoli and Lesser Armenia. According to the rules ofprimogeniture Leo's great nephew Raymond-Roupen was the rightful heir of Antioch, and Leo's position was supported by the pope. On the other hand, however, the city commune of Antioch supportedBohemond IV of Antioch, on the grounds that he was the closest blood relative to the last ruling prince, Bohemond III. In 1207 Bohemond IV installed a Greek patriarch in Antioch, despite theEast–West Schism, under the help of Aleppo, Bohemond IV drove Leo out of Antioch.[74][75]
The calling of theFifth Crusade strengthened the support of Ayyubid Sultanal-Adil I who supported Raymond-Roupen's claims in Antioch. In 1216 Leo installed Raymond-Roupen as prince of Antioch, ending all military aspect of the struggle between Tripoli and Lesser Armenia, but the citizens again revolted against Raymond-Roupen inc. 1219 and Bohemond of Tripoli was recognised as prince. From 1233 onwards Antioch declined and appeared rarely in records for 30 years, and in 1254 the altercations of the past between Antioch and Armenia were laid to rest whenBohemond VI of Antioch married the then 17‑year‑oldSibylla of Armenia, and Bohemond VI became a vassal of the Armenian kingdom. Effectively, the Armenian kings ruled Antioch while the prince of Antioch resided in Tripoli. The Armenians drew up a treaty with the Mongols, who were now ravaging Muslim lands, and under protection they extended their territory into the lands of theSeljuq dynasty in the north and the Aleppo territory to the south. Antioch was part of this Armeno-Mongol alliance. Bohemond VI managed to retake Lattakieh and reestablished the land bridge between Antioch and Tripoli, while the Mongols insisted he install the Greek patriarch there rather than a Latin one as the Mongols wanted to strengthen ties to the Orthodox Byzantines.[76][77]
In 1268, Baibars besieged Antioch, capturing the city on May 18. Baibars promised to spare the lives of the inhabitants, but broke his promise and razed the city, killing or enslaving nearly the entire population upon their surrender.[78] Antioch's ruler, Prince Bohemond VI was then left with no territories except the County of Tripoli. Without any southern fortifications and with Antioch isolated it could not withstand the resurgent Muslim forces, and with the fall of the city, the remainder of northern Syria eventually capitulated, ending the Latin presence in Syria.[79] The Mamluk armies killed or enslaved every Christian in Antioch.[80] In 1355 it still had a considerable population, but by 1432 there were only about 300 inhabited houses within its walls, mostly occupied byTurcomans.[81]
Antioch was incorporated into theOttoman Empire with the conquest of Syria in 1516. It formed a sub-province (sancak) or tax collectorship (muhassıllık) of the province of Aleppo (Aleppo Eyalet). Beginning in the mid-18th century, the district witnessed an influx ofAlawite settlers coming from theLatakia area.[82] The famous Barker family of British consuls had a summer home in Suwaydiyya (today'sSamandağ), at the mouth of the Orontes River, in the 19th century. Between 1831 and 1840, Antioch was the military headquarters ofIbrahim Pasha of Egypt during the Egyptian occupation of Syria, and served as a model site for the modernizing reforms he wished to institute.[83]
TheTýkhē (Fortune) of Antioch, Galleria dei Candelabri, theVatican Museums
Few traces of the once great Roman city are visible today aside from the massive fortification walls that snake up the mountains to the east of the modern city, several aqueducts, and theChurch of St Peter (St Peter's Cave Church, Cave-Church of St. Peter), said to be a meeting place of an early Christian community.[84] The majority of the Roman city lies buried beneath deep sediments from the Orontes River, or has been obscured by recent construction.
Between 1932 and 1939, archaeological excavations of Antioch were undertaken under the direction of the "Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and Its Vicinity", which was made up of representatives from theLouvre Museum, theBaltimore Museum of Art, theWorcester Art Museum,Princeton University,Wellesley College, and later (1936) also theFogg Art Museum atHarvard University and its affiliateDumbarton Oaks. The excavation team failed to find the major buildings they hoped to unearth, includingConstantine's Great Octagonal Church or the imperial palace. However, a great accomplishment of the expedition was the discovery of high-quality Roman mosaics from villas and baths in Antioch, Daphne and Seleucia Pieria.
The principal excavations by Princeton University in March 1932 recovered nearly 300 mosaics. Many of these mosaics were originally displayed as floor mosaics in private homes during the second through sixth centuries AD, while others were displayed in baths and other public buildings. The majority of theAntioch mosaics are from the fourth and fifth centuries, Antioch's golden age, though others from earlier times have survived as well.[85] The mosaics depict a variety of images including animals, plants, and mythological beings, as well as scenes from the daily lives of people living in the area at the time. Each mosaic is bordered by intricate designs and contains bold, vibrant colors.[86] One mosaic includes a border that depicts a walk from Antioch to Daphne, showing many ancient buildings along the way. The mosaics are now displayed in theHatay Archaeology Museum inAntakya. A collection of mosaics on both secular and sacred subjects which were once in churches, private homes, and other public spaces now hang in thePrinceton University Art Museum[87] and museums of other sponsoring institutions. The non-Islamic coins from the excavations were published byDorothy B. Waage.[88]
A statue in theVatican and a number of figurines and statuettes perpetuate the type of its great patron goddess and civic symbol, theTyche (Fortune) of Antioch – a majestic seated figure, crowned with the ramparts of Antioch's walls and holding wheat stalks in her right hand, with the river Orontes as a youth swimming under her feet. According toWilliam Robertson Smith the Tyche of Antioch was originally a young virgin sacrificed at the time of the founding of the city to ensure its continued prosperity and good fortune.[89]
The northern edge of Antakya has been growing rapidly over recent years, and this construction has begun to expose large portions of the ancient city, which are frequently bulldozed and rarely protected by the local museum. In April 2016, archaeologists discovered a Greek mosaic showing a skeleton lying down with a wine pitcher and loaf of bread alongside a text that reads: "Be cheerful, enjoy your life", it is reportedly from the 3rd century BC. Described as the "reckless skeleton" or "skeleton mosaic", the mosaic is once thought to have belonged in the dining room of an upper-class home.[90][91]
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^"The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The city was the cradle of the church." — "Antioch,"Encyclopaedia Biblica, Vol. I, p. 186 (p. 125 of 612 inonline .pdf file).
^Edwards, Robert W. (2017). "Antioch (Seleukia Pieria)". In Finney, Paul Corby (ed.).The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 73–74.ISBN978-0-8028-3811-7.
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^Byzantine Religious Culture: Studies in Honor of Alice-Mary Talbot,Alice-Mary Maffry Talbot, Denis Sullivan, Elizabeth A. Fisher, Stratis Papaioannou, p. 281
^A short history of Antioch, 300 B.C.–A.D. 1268 (1921)
^Riley-Smith, Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades
^Jean Richard, The Crusades: c. 1071 – c. 1291, pp 423–426
^"Ghazan resumed his plans against Egypt in 1297: the Franco-Mongol cooperation had thus survived, in spite of the loss of Acre by the Franks, and the conversion of the Persian Mongols to Islam. It was to remain one of the political factors of the policy of the Crusades, until the peace treaty with the Mumluks, which was only signed in 1322 by the khan Abu Said", Jean Richard, p. 468
^Michaud,The History of the Crusades, Vol. 3, p. 18; availablein full at Internet Archive. In a footnote Michaud claims reliance on "the chronicle of Ibn Ferat" (Michaud, Vol. 3, p. 22) for much of the information he has concerning theMussulmans.
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^Downey, Glanville (1938). "Personifications of Abstract Ideas in the Antioch Mosaics".Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.6:349–363.doi:10.2307/283184.JSTOR283184.
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