Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/159

 ANTIOCHEIA. of Inrds frvn Uw smniiiit of Motmt Caaos. An CBgie cvxied a fngment of the flesh of the sacrifice to a poiflt oo the sea-shore, a little to the north of the moQtfa of the Qrontes; and there Sdeaceia was hoilL Soon after, an eagle decided in the same maoner that the metropolis of Seleacns was not to be Antipooia, bf carrjing the flesh to the hill Sil- pas. Between this hill and the river the cit j of Antioch w«s fbonded in the spring of the year 300 B. c., the 12th of the era of the sislencidAe. This kigcnd is often repneoited on ooms of Antioch by an e^gie, which aometimea carries the thigh of a victim. On ByuDj ooins (as that engraved below) we see a ma, wUdi is often oombined with a star, thus indi- cating the vernal sign of the xodiac, nnder which the dtj was foonded, and reminding ts at the same time of the asstiulopoAl propoisities of the people of Antioch. (See Eckhel, J)eacr^tio Numamm AnHO' cUm Syriae, Vienna, 1786 ; Vaiiknt, Sdeuci- JenpR Inqterium, tivt Eistoria Reffum Syriae, ad Jdem mmmMmatun tuoommodaia. Paris, 1681.) The cxij of Selencns was built in the plain (^i^ rp «f<«(8x ToS ovAtfrof, Mai. ip. 200) between ue river and tbe hill, and at some distance from the litter, to aToid the danger to be apprehended from tbe tonents. Xenaens was the architect who raised the Wills, which skirted the- river (m the north, and dU not reach so &r as the base of the hill on the south. This was only the eariiest part of the city^. Thiee ether parts were subsequently added, each ■nroQZided bj its own wall: so that Antioch be- cme, as Strabo says (L c), a TeCnqM/w. The £nt inhabitants (as indeed a great part of the ciateriak) were hrooght from Antigonia. Besides these, the natives of the surrounding district were ncerred in the new city; and Seleucus raiBed the JfVi to the same political privileges with the Greeks. (Jflaeph. Antiq. xiL 31, c Ap. iL 4.) Thus a second city was ibnnedcontignoas to the first It is probable tbait tbe Jews had a separate quarter, as at Alex- aodreia. The citizens were divided mto 18 tribes, d^txibaled locallj. There was an assembly of the peofile (9fif»os, Liban. p. 32 1 ), which used to meet in the theatre, even In the time oif Vespasian and Titus. frac BuL iL 80; Joseph. B. J, vii. 5. § 2, 3. SJ) At a later period we read of a senate of two handred. (JnL MUopog. p. 367.) The character of the ttih»Ki»mn»ji (jf Ajitioch maj be easily de- The climate made them effeminate and A high Gre^ civilisation was mixed aith varioos Oxkntal dements, and especially with the sQperttitkna of Chaldaean astrology, to which Chrywrtom oomplsins that even the Christians of his dav ware addicted. The lore of firivolons amuse- became a passion in the contests of the Hippo- Oa these occasions, and on many others, the violoit feelings of the people broke out into open fmf'ttmm. and caomi even bloodshed. Another fault iboaU be mentinnwl as a marked characterisric of Antioch. Her citizens were singulariy addicted to ridkole and seorrilons wit, and the invmtion of "L'^m n mit Jalian, who was himself a sufierer from this caose, aaid that Antioch contained more bnf- ins thaa eidaens. ApoUonins of Tyana was treated in the same way; anl the Antlochians provoked their own destmction by ridiculing the Persians in the inrasion of Chosroes. (Procop. B. P. ii. 8.) To the same cause nrast be referred the origin of the name ** Christian,*' which first came into exist- CBoe in this city. {Acts, zi 26; X«/e, ^. of St. Potl, v«L L p. 13a See page 146.) ANTIOCHEIA. U3 There is no doubt that the city built bj Seleucus was on a regular and magnificent plan; but we possess no details. Some temples and other build- ings were due to his son Antiocbus Soter. Seleucus Callinicus built the New CUy (t^v k^, Liban. pp. 309, 356; t^v Kolyny, Evag. Eitt. EccL ii. 12) on the island, according to Strabo (Z. c), though Libanius assigns it to Antiocbus the Great, who brought settlers from Greece during his war with the Romans (about 190 b. c). To this writer, and to Evagrius, who describes what it suffered in the earthquake under Leo the Great, we owe a particular account of this part of the city. It was on an isUnd (see below) which was joined to the old city by five bridges. Hence Polybius (v. 69) and Pliny (v. 21. 8. 18) rightly speak of the Orontes as flow- ing through Antioch. The arrangement of the streets was simple and symmetrical. At their in- tersection was a fourfold arch (TWropyZton). The magnificent Palace was on the north side, close upon the river, and commanded a prospect of the suburbs and the open country. Passing by Seleucus Philopator, of whose public works nothing is known, we come to the eighth of the Seleucidae, Antiocbus Epiphanes. He was notoriously fond of building; and, by adding a fourth city to Antioch, he com- pleted the Tetrapolis. (Strab. /. c.) The city of Epiphanes was between the old wall and Mount Silpius; and the new wall enclosed the citadel with many of the clifft. (Procop. de Aedf, L c.) This monarch erected a senate-house (jSovXcirr^ptoy), and a temple for the worship of Jupiter Capitolinus, which is described by Livy as magnificent with gold (Liv. xli. 20) ; but bis great work was a vast street with double colonnades, which ran from east to west for four miles through the whole length of the dty, and was perfectly level, though the ground originally was rugged and uneven. Other streets crossed it at right angles, to the river on one side, and the groves and gardens of the hill on the other. At the intersection of the principal street was the Omphalus, with a statue of Apollo; and where this street touched the river was the Nymphaeum (Nvn^xuoy, Kvag. iTu^ JEcc/. Z. c; Tpiwyupov, Mai. p. 244). The position of the Omphalus is shown to have been opposite the ravine Paimenius, by some allttsions in the reign of Tiberius. No great change appears to have been made in the city during the interval be- tween Epiphanes and Tigranes. When Tigranes was compelled to evacuate Syria, Antioch was re- stored by Lucullus to Antiocbus Philopator (Asiati- cus), who was a mere puppet of the Romans. He built, near Mount Silpius, a Museum^ like that m Alexandreia; and to this period belongs the literary eminence of Antioch, which is alluded to by Cicero in his speech for Archias. (Cic pro Arch. 3, 4.) At the beginning of the Roman period, it is pro- bable that Antioch covered the full extent of ground which it occupied till the time of Justinian. In magnitude it was not much mferior to Paris (C. 0. MfiUer, Antiq. Antioch.; see below), and the num- ber and splendour of the public buildings were very great; for the Seleudd kings and queens (Mai. p. 312) had vied with each other in embellishing their metropolis. But it received still further embellish- ment from a kmg series of Roman emperorB. In B. c. 64, when Syria was reduced to a province, Pompey gave to Antioch the privilege of autonomy. The same privilege was renewed by Julius Caesar in a public edict (b. c. 47), and it was retained till Antoninus Pius made it a cohma. The era of