After the Battle of Ipsus.
The city was divided into 4 quarters, each of which was surrounded by a separate wall, and together they were surrounded by an even higher and fortified wall. Located at the crossroads of caravan routes, Antioch controlled trade between East and West. During its heyday, more than 500 thousand people lived in the city.
Under Byzantine rule
In the 4th-7th centuries, Antioch was part of Byzantium. During the second half of the 4th century, Antioch acquired the role of the largest cultural and intellectual center of the Roman-Byzantine East. The rhetorical school of Libanius flourished here, one of whose students was St. John Chrysostom. The largest late Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus was connected by origin with Antioch. Having visited Antioch before the Persian campaign, Emperor Julian became convinced of the futility of efforts to revive traditional paganism. The author of the “Chronography” from the Creation of the World to Justinian, John Malala (VI century), also lived and worked here. There was an intense municipal life in the city, local “circus parties” competed, and horse shows and other shows continued to be held. Majestic Christian churches were erected here, including the “Great Church,” consecrated in 341, as well as the Church of St. Thekla, the martyrium of the martyr Babyla, etc. In the suburban area of Daphne, numerous villas of wealthy citizens were built, decorated with magnificent mosaics. The Greek-speaking population, which had a municipal organization, predominated, but Syrians also lived in the city. In early Byzantine times, destructive natural disasters often occurred in the city. natural disasters(528, etc.). Victim of strong earthquake the city in the 6th century was on a short time conquered and destroyed by Iranian Shah Khusrow I Anushirvan. Justinian I restored Antioch. At the beginning of the 7th century. During the Byzantine-Iranian wars, the Persians also captured the city. In 637 Antioch was on long time captured by Muslim Arabs.
As part of the caliphate
Modernity
Currently, Antioch is the city of Antakya, the center of the Turkish Vilayet of Hatay (since 1516).
see also
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Notes
Literature
- Smbat Sparapet. Chronicle / Transl. from ancient Armenian; preface and note. A. G. Galstyan. Yerevan: Hayastan, 1974.
- Brun S.P.. Romans and Franks in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia in the 11th-13th centuries. M.: Maska, 2015. Volume I-II.
- Stepanenko V. P. // Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Sverdlovsk, 1975. Issue. 12. pp. 86-103.
- Stepanenko V. P.// Ancient antiquity and the Middle Ages. 1995. Vol. 27. pp. 58-62.
- Bouchier Ed. S. . 1921.
- Downey G. . Princeton University Press, 1961.
- Downey G. Ancient Antioch. Norman, 1963.
- Liebeschuetz J. H. W. G. Antioch: City and Imperial Administration in the Later Roman Empire. Oxf., 1972.
- Wallace-Hadrill D.S. . 1982.
- Cribiore R. The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.
- Kurbatov G. L. Main problems internal development Byzantine city: (Antioch in the 4th century). L., 1971.
- Antioch-on-the-Orontes: The Excavations. L.; Princeton, 1934-1972. Vol. 1-5.
Links
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
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Passage characterizing Antioch
- Ax, don't talk! Last winter she infiltrated here and said such nasty things, such nasty things to the Count about all of us, especially Sophie - I cannot repeat it - that the Count became ill and did not want to see us for two weeks. At this time, I know that he wrote this vile, vile paper; but I thought that this paper meant nothing.– Nous y voila, [That’s the point.] why didn’t you tell me anything before?
– In the mosaic briefcase that he keeps under his pillow. “Now I know,” said the princess without answering. - Yes, if there is a sin behind me, big sin“, then this is hatred for this scoundrel,” the princess almost shouted, completely changed. - And why is she rubbing herself in here? But I will tell her everything, everything. The time will come!
While such conversations took place in the reception room and in the princess's rooms, the carriage with Pierre (who was sent for) and with Anna Mikhailovna (who found it necessary to go with him) drove into the courtyard of Count Bezukhy. When the wheels of the carriage sounded softly on the straw spread under the windows, Anna Mikhailovna, turning to her companion with comforting words, was convinced that he was sleeping in the corner of the carriage, and woke him up. Having woken up, Pierre followed Anna Mikhailovna out of the carriage and then only thought about the meeting with his dying father that awaited him. He noticed that they drove up not to the front entrance, but to the back entrance. While he was getting off the step, two people in bourgeois clothes hurriedly ran away from the entrance into the shadow of the wall. Pausing, Pierre saw several more similar people in the shadows of the house on both sides. But neither Anna Mikhailovna, nor the footman, nor the coachman, who could not help but see these people, paid no attention to them. Therefore, this is so necessary, Pierre decided to himself and followed Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna walked with hasty steps up the dimly lit narrow stone staircase, calling Pierre, who was lagging behind her, who, although he did not understand why he had to go to the count at all, and even less why he had to go up the back stairs, but , judging by the confidence and haste of Anna Mikhailovna, he decided to himself that this was necessary. Halfway up the stairs, they were almost knocked down by some people with buckets, who, clattering with their boots, ran towards them. These people pressed against the wall to let Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna through, and did not show the slightest surprise at the sight of them.
– Are there half princesses here? – Anna Mikhailovna asked one of them...
“Here,” answered the footman to the brave ones, in a loud voice, as if now everything was already possible - the door to the left, mother.
“Maybe the count didn’t call me,” Pierre said as he walked out onto the platform, “I would have gone to my place.”
Anna Mikhailovna stopped to catch up with Pierre.
- Ah, mon ami! - she said with the same gesture as in the morning with her son, touching his hand: - croyez, que je souffre autant, que vous, mais soyez homme. [Believe me, I suffer no less than you, but be a man.]
- Right, I'll go? - asked Pierre, looking affectionately through his glasses at Anna Mikhailovna.
- Ah, mon ami, oubliez les torts qu"on a pu avoir envers vous, pensez que c"est votre pere... peut etre a l"agonie. - She sighed. - Je vous ai tout de suite aime comme mon fils. Fiez vous a moi, Pierre. [Forget, my friend, what was wronged against you. Remember that this is your father... Maybe in agony. I immediately loved you like a son. Trust me, Pierre. I will not forget your interests.]
Pierre did not understand anything; again it seemed to him even more strongly that all this should be so, and he obediently followed Anna Mikhailovna, who was already opening the door.
The door opened into the front and back. An old servant of the princesses sat in the corner and knitted a stocking. Pierre had never been to this half, did not even imagine the existence of such chambers. Anna Mikhailovna asked the girl who was ahead of them, with a decanter on a tray (calling her sweet and darling) about the health of the princesses and dragged Pierre further along the stone corridor. From the corridor, the first door to the left led to the princesses' living rooms. The maid, with the decanter, in a hurry (as everything was done in a hurry at that moment in this house) did not close the door, and Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna, passing by, involuntarily looked into the room where the eldest princess and Prince Vasily. Seeing those passing by, Prince Vasily made an impatient movement and leaned back; The princess jumped up and with a desperate gesture slammed the door with all her might, closing it.
This gesture was so unlike the princess’s usual calmness, the fear expressed on Prince Vasily’s face was so uncharacteristic of his importance that Pierre stopped, questioningly, through his glasses, looked at his leader.
Anna Mikhailovna did not express surprise, she only smiled slightly and sighed, as if showing that she had expected all this.
“Soyez homme, mon ami, c"est moi qui veillerai a vos interets, [Be a man, my friend, I will look after your interests.] - she said in response to his gaze and walked even faster down the corridor.
Pierre did not understand what the matter was, and even less what veiller a vos interets meant, [to look after your interests,] but he understood that all this should be so. They walked through the corridor into a dimly lit hall adjacent to the count's reception room. It was one of those cold and luxurious rooms that Pierre knew from the front porch. But even in this room, in the middle, there was an empty bathtub and water was spilled on the carpet. A servant and a clerk with a censer came out to meet them on tiptoe, not paying attention to them. They entered a reception room familiar to Pierre with two Italian windows leading out into winter Garden, with a large bust and a full-length portrait of Catherine. All the same people, in almost the same positions, sat whispering in the waiting room. Everyone fell silent and looked back at Anna Mikhailovna who had entered, with her tear-stained, pale face, and at the fat, big Pierre, who, with his head down, obediently followed her.
Anna Mikhailovna's face expressed the consciousness that the decisive moment had arrived; She, with the manner of a businesslike St. Petersburg lady, entered the room, not letting Pierre go, even bolder than in the morning. She felt that since she was leading the one whom the dying man wanted to see, her reception was guaranteed. A quick glance Having looked at everyone who was in the room, and noticing the count's confessor, she, not only bending over, but suddenly becoming smaller in stature, swam up to the confessor at a shallow amble and respectfully accepted the blessing of one, then another clergyman.
“Thank God we made it,” she said. clergyman, - all of us, my family, were so afraid. This young man is the count’s son,” she added more quietly. - A terrible moment!
Having uttered these words, she approached the doctor.
“Cher docteur,” she told him, “ce jeune homme est le fils du comte... y a t il de l"espoir? [This young man is the son of a count... Is there hope?]
The doctor is silent fast movement raised his eyes and shoulders. Anna Mikhailovna raised her shoulders and eyes with exactly the same movement, almost closing them, sighed and walked away from the doctor to Pierre. She turned especially respectfully and tenderly sadly to Pierre.
“Ayez confiance en Sa misericorde, [Trust in His mercy,”] she told him, showing him a sofa to sit down to wait for her, she silently walked towards the door that everyone was looking at, and following the barely audible sound of this door, disappeared behind it.
Pierre, having decided to obey his leader in everything, went to the sofa that she showed him. As soon as Anna Mikhailovna disappeared, he noticed that the glances of everyone in the room turned to him with more than curiosity and sympathy. He noticed that everyone was whispering, pointing at him with their eyes, as if with fear and even servility. He was shown respect that had never been shown before: a lady unknown to him, who was speaking with the clergy, stood up from her seat and invited him to sit down, the adjutant picked up the glove that Pierre had dropped and handed it to him; the doctors fell silent respectfully as he passed them, and stood aside to give him room. Pierre wanted to sit in another place first, so as not to embarrass the lady; he wanted to lift his glove himself and go around the doctors, who were not standing in the road at all; but he suddenly felt that this would be indecent, he felt that this night he was a person who was obliged to perform some terrible ritual expected by everyone, and that therefore he had to accept services from everyone. He silently accepted the glove from the adjutant, sat down in the lady's place, putting his big hands on symmetrically exposed knees, in a naive pose Egyptian statue, and decided to himself that all this was exactly how it should be and that this evening, in order not to get lost and not to do anything stupid, he should not act according to his own considerations, but must submit himself completely to the will of those who guided him.
Less than two minutes had passed when Prince Vasily, in his caftan with three stars, majestically, holding his head high, entered the room. He seemed thinner since the morning; his eyes were larger than usual when he looked around the room and saw Pierre. He walked up to him, took his hand (which he had never done before) and pulled it down, as if he wanted to test whether it was holding firmly.
- Courage, courage, mon ami. Il a demande a vous voir. C"est bien... [Don't be discouraged, don't be discouraged, my friend. He wanted to see you. That's good...] - and he wanted to go.
But Pierre considered it necessary to ask:
- How is your health…
He hesitated, not knowing whether it was proper to call a dying man a count; he was ashamed to call him father.
– Il a eu encore un coup, il y a une demi heure. There was another blow. Courage, mon ami... [Half an hour ago he had another stroke. Don't be discouraged, my friend...]
Pierre was in such a state of confusion of thought that when he heard the word “blow,” he imagined the blow of some body. He looked at Prince Vasily, perplexed, and only then realized that a blow was a disease. Prince Vasily said a few words to Lorren as he walked and walked through the door on tiptoe. He could not walk on tiptoes and awkwardly bounced his whole body. The eldest princess followed him, then the clergy and clerks passed, and people (servants) also walked through the door. Movement was heard behind this door, and finally, with the same pale, but firm face in the performance of duty, Anna Mikhailovna ran out and, touching Pierre’s hand, said:
– La bonte divine est inepuisable. C"est la ceremonie de l"extreme onction qui va commencer. Venez. [God's mercy is inexhaustible. The unction will begin now. Let's go.]
Pierre walked through the door, stepping on the soft carpet, and noticed that both the adjutant and unknown lady, and some other servants - everyone followed him, as if now there was no need to ask permission to enter this room.
Pierre knew well this large room, divided by columns and an arch, all upholstered in Persian carpets. The part of the room behind the columns, where on one side stood a high mahogany bed under silk curtains, and on the other a huge icon case with images, was red and brightly lit, as churches are lit during evening services. Under the illuminated vestments of the icon case stood a long Voltairean armchair, and on the armchair, covered at the top with snow-white, apparently uncrumpled, pillows, covered to the waist with a bright green blanket, lay the majestic figure of his father, Count Bezukhy, familiar to Pierre, with the same gray mane of hair, reminiscent of a lion, above wide forehead and with the same characteristically noble large wrinkles on the beautiful red yellow face. He lay directly under the images; both of his thick, large hands were pulled out from under the blanket and lay on him. IN right hand, lying palm down, between the large and index fingers a wax candle was inserted, which an old servant, bending over from behind a chair, held in it. Above the chair stood the clergy in their majestic shining robes, with long hair, with lit candles in their hands, and slowly solemnly served. A little behind them stood two younger princesses, with a scarf in their hands and near their eyes, and in front of them was the eldest, Katish, with an angry and decisive look, never taking her eyes off the icons for a moment, as if she was telling everyone that she was not responsible for herself if will look back. Anna Mikhailovna, with meek sadness and forgiveness on her face, and the unknown lady stood at the door. Prince Vasily stood on the other side of the door, close to the armchair, behind a carved velvet chair, which he turned back to himself, and, leaning his elbow on it left hand with a candle, crossed himself with his right hand, each time raising his eyes upward when he put his fingers to his forehead. His face expressed calm piety and devotion to the will of God. “If you don’t understand these feelings, then so much the worse for you,” his face seemed to say.
We will begin with Syrian Antioch, which was considered the third most important city of the Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It was the first center of Christianity outside Palestine and the starting point of Paul's missionary travels. This city was located 300 miles north of Jerusalem, where the Lebanese Mountains and the Asia Minor Taurus meet. Antioch was founded around 300 BC. on the banks of the Orontes about twenty miles from the sea. Thanks to its port, called Seleucia, it maintained constant communication with the west, while it was visited by trade caravans from all over the Middle East. In the 4th century A.D. her male population amounted to 150-200 thousand; we have the right to assume that in Paul's time it was no less. The city was famous for its schools of philosophy, medicine and rhetoric, library and various kinds public entertainment establishments: theaters, amphitheatres, stadiums and baths. Like other Hellenistic cities, the city was divided in two by a wide, colonnaded street. This is the only ancient city known to us that had a regular system of street lighting.
In Daphne, located nearby, there was a sanctuary of the god Apollo, famous for its wickedness. The people of Antioch also gained a reputation for being crude wits and inventors of nicknames, and it is no coincidence that the name “Christians” was coined here (Acts 11:26). And it was this pagan city, overwhelmed by passions, that became the main center of Christianity outside Palestine. Doctor Luke is traditionally considered a native of this city. It is quite possible that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Antioch.
Archaeological excavations Antioch and its port Seleucia were produced in 1931-1939. Perhaps the most important discovery was the discovery of hundreds of floor mosaics, which provided a lot of valuable information about the art and even about the pagan religious cults of the late Roman and Byzantine periods. In the city and its suburbs, the remains of more than twenty ancient churches dating back to the period no earlier than the 4th century were found. There once existed a large Jewish colony in Antioch, with which it was somehow connected a large number of"God-fearing" Greeks. Perhaps it was from them that the majority of new Christian converts came. Nevertheless, researchers were unable to find any traces of a Jewish colony, except for a marble fragment with part of a seven-branched candlestick (an exception in this sense is the 6th century inscription, which may reproduce a passage from the Bible).
The most famous discovery made in these places is the so-called “Antioch Cup”. This find was announced in 1916. It is a simple silver bowl, the outer frame of which is decorated with images grapevine and figures of Christ and the apostles. It has been claimed that this is the Holy Grail, the cup that Jesus had at the Last Supper, with the figures in the outer frame being assumed to be first-century portraits. However, thanks to the works of a number of scientists, it was established that this cup was most likely made in the 4th or 5th century and had nothing to do with the Last Supper. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that this is one of the most remarkable examples of ancient Christian art [
What kind of city is frozen in my eyes?
What kind of city is burning me with fire?
City of Antioch on many hills.
City of Antioch - have you heard about it...
Anarion "Antioch"
The great ancient Antioch - modern Antakya - lies on the green hills at the foot of Mount Habib Nejar (ancient Silphium). This is one of the most important historical cities Turkey: one of the most influential schools of theology was born in Antioch, the first in the world appeared here Christian church, and the very name “Christianity” came from here, the city was the capital of one of powerful states Crusaders.
Antioch was founded in the 4th century BC by the diadochos of Alexander the Great, Seleucus Nicator. Conveniently located in the fertile valley of the Orontes River, the city immediately began to develop rapidly and gain importance as a center of trade, which was conducted through the neighboring sea port Seleucia Pieria (present-day Cevlik). The Great Silk Road passed through Antioch, as well as trade caravans from Tarsus, Aleppo, Damascus, Babylon and others. major cities antiquity.
During Roman times, Antioch became one of the most big cities Mediterranean and was famous for its wealth. The main street was paved with marble, there were many fountains, theaters, beautiful villas and mansions, and almost every house had running water.
Antioch was a liberal and tolerant city, and therefore, at the beginning of the 1st century, many Christians, fleeing persecution, arrived here. Antioch became the main center of the Christian faith. The Apostle Peter was baptized here and set off on his missionary journeys from here.
It was in Antioch, after the sermons of St. Paul and Barnabas, that the world's first community of converted pagans was formed, and it was in this city that they first called themselves “Christians.”
In the first centuries of our era, ten Ecumenical Councils were held in Antioch, the residence of the patriarch was here, and one of the two main early Christian schools of theology was born. 
The prosperity of Antioch was abruptly interrupted in the first half of the 6th century. First, a monstrous earthquake in 526 almost razed the city to the ground, and in 538 the city was destroyed and burned Persian king Khosrow I, while driving its inhabitants into slavery.
The city partially recovered under the great Byzantine Emperor Justinian I; beautiful palaces and temples were erected, but without their former pomp and splendor. And in 637, Antioch was conquered by the famous Arab commander Khalid ibn al-Walid and annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate for the next three hundred years.
The city became a border fortress, which Byzantine Empire constantly tried to fight back. In 969 they finally succeeded. Byzantine rule lasted another hundred years, and then the city was captured by the Seljuks of the Rum Sultanate for fourteen years. 
Antioch received its second birth during Crusades, after the creation of the powerful Principality of Antioch.
A 25,000-strong army, led by three commanders Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemond of Tarentum and Raymond of Toulouse, entered the Orontes Valley and in October 1097 began one of the most epic sieges of the Middle Ages. Antioch was reliably protected by impregnable high and strong walls, so long that the Crusader army could block only a quarter of its perimeter.
The siege of Antioch took eight months, during which many events worthy of a novel happened - famine, conflict of interests between commanders, a break with byzantine emperor, battles with the troops of the Emir of Aleppo, assistance with materials for siege weapons from English fleet, negotiations with the envoys of the Fatimid Caliphate (unsuccessful, since the ruler of Cairo offered to give Syria to the crusaders in exchange for non-aggression on Palestine, which was main goal all trips). 
As a result, the city was taken by cunning. The Mosul emir Kerboga sent a huge army to help the Seljuks, three times larger than the Christian army, so it was decided to storm the city before its arrival. The chronicles say that Bohemond of Tarentum bribed the Antiochian gunsmith, the Armenian Firuz, to let the soldiers into the tower via a ladder.
The crusaders who burst into the city carried out a real massacre there, and the Armenians who rebelled against the Seljuks killed the ruler of the city and presented his head to Bohemond of Tarentum.
Two days later, Kerboga's army approached captured Antioch and surrounded the city. The crusaders, lacking provisions, could not withstand a long siege and therefore it was decided to fight. According to legend, two weeks before the battle, the “Holy Lance” of Longinus was discovered in the Temple of St. Peter - the same one with which in the Bible a Roman soldier pierced the body of Jesus Christ on the cross. Subsequently, it turned out that the story with the spear was a psychological trick by a Marseille monk named Pierre Barthelemy, but it caused the necessary effect. 
In the ensuing battle, the 25,000-strong Crusader army, burning with religious zeal, literally crushed the 75,000-strong Muslim army. The Seljuk troops scattered in panic, and Emir Kerbogha fled back to Mosul. The siege of Antioch quickly became legendary in Europe, songs and poems were written about it.
Well, the city itself became the capital of the most important Christian principality in the history of the Crusades for the next 150 years. Its first prince was the same cunning Bohemond of Tarentum.
Under the Crusaders, Antioch regained its title as an influential center of theology, as well as shopping center. The city's population increased again, fueled by settlers from French Normandy and Southern Italy, as well as Orthodox Greeks and Armenians moving from Muslim lands. 
By the 13th century, Crusader power in the Levant had weakened. The Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate was gaining power in the region and in 1268 Antioch fell to Sultan Baybars. The entire Christian population of the city was killed, and the capital of the principality was destroyed.
Throughout the entire period of the Mamluk and Ottoman rule Antioch never recovered, becoming a small provincial town and losing the title of economic center of the region to Iskenderun.
The third revival of Antioch occurred during the period of French rule. As a result of the First World War, Hatay and Syria were ceded to France. In the Orontes Valley through Antioch was carried out Railway and the city became transport hub between Anatolia and the Middle East.
In fact modern city Antioch-Antakya at this time was laid out and built from scratch, while maintaining particles on its new streets architectural heritage its great ancient history. 
And about modern Antakya and its attractions will be written in the next article.
We will start with Syrian Antioch, which was considered the third most important city of the Empire after Rome and Alexandria. It was the first center of Christianity outside Palestine and the starting point of Paul's missionary travels. This city was located 300 miles north of Jerusalem, where the Lebanese Mountains and the Asia Minor Taurus meet. Antioch was founded around 300 BC. on the banks of the Orontes about twenty miles from the sea. Thanks to its port, called Seleucia, it maintained constant communication with the west, while it was visited by trade caravans from all over the Middle East. In the 4th century A.D. its male population was 150-200 thousand; we have the right to assume that in Paul's time it was no less. The city was famous for its schools of philosophy, medicine and rhetoric, a library and various kinds of public entertainment institutions: theaters, amphitheaters, stadiums and baths. Like other Hellenistic cities, the city was divided in two by a wide, colonnaded street. This is the only ancient city known to us that had a regular system of street lighting.
In Daphne, located nearby, there was a sanctuary of the god Apollo, famous for its wickedness. The people of Antioch also gained a reputation for being crude wits and inventors of nicknames, and it is no coincidence that the name “Christians” was coined here (Acts 11:26). And it was this pagan city, overwhelmed by passions, that became the main center of Christianity outside Palestine. Doctor Luke is traditionally considered a native of this city. It is quite possible that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Antioch.
Archaeological excavations of Antioch and its port of Seleucia were carried out in 1931-1939. Perhaps the most important discovery was the discovery of hundreds of floor mosaics, which provided much valuable information about the art and even pagan religious cults of the late Roman and Byzantine periods. In the city and its suburbs, the remains of more than twenty ancient churches dating back to the period no earlier than the 4th century were found. There was once a large Jewish colony in Antioch, with which a large number of “God-fearing” Greeks were in one way or another connected. Perhaps it was from them that most new Christian converts came. Nevertheless, researchers were unable to find any traces of a Jewish colony, except for a marble fragment with part of a seven-branched candlestick (an exception in this sense is the 6th century inscription, which may reproduce a passage from the Bible).
The most famous discovery made in these places is the so-called “Antioch Cup”. This find was announced in 1916. It is a simple silver bowl, the outer frame of which is decorated with images of a vine and figures of Christ and the apostles. It has been claimed that this is the Holy Grail, the cup that Jesus had at the Last Supper, with the figures in the outer frame being assumed to be first-century portraits. However, thanks to the work of a number of scientists, it was established that this cup was most likely made in the 4th or 5th century and had nothing to do with the Last Supper. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that this is one of the most remarkable examples of ancient Christian art
36°12′ N. w. 36°09′ E. d. HGIO
Antioch on the map of Turkey
Of the 16 ancient cities called Antioch(from the name Antiochus) best known Antioch-on-Orontes(ancient Greek Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου , Antioch-on-Daphne, other Greek Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ , Antioch the Great, other Greek Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη ) in ancient Syria (modern Antakya, in the territory of modern Turkey). The word "Antioch" without specification refers to this particular city. One of the centers of Christianity, it was here that the disciples of Christ were first given the name “Christians” (Acts).
Antioch in antiquity
Antioch was one of the capitals of the Seleucid state. Founded by Seleucus I Nicator on the left bank of the Orontes River (currently called Asi) around 300 BC. e. , during the Wars of the Diadochi, after the Battle of Ipsus.
The city was divided into 4 quarters, each of which was surrounded by a separate wall, and together they were surrounded by an even higher and fortified wall. Located at the crossroads of caravan routes, Antioch controlled trade between East and West. During its heyday, more than 500 thousand people lived in the city.
According to the New Testament, the followers of Christ first began to be called Christians in Antioch (Acts). Antioch later came to be called the cradle of Christian theology, and the Antiochian School of Theology is associated with it. Preacher John Chrysostom was born here and began his ministry. In Antioch was the center of one of the four oldest autocephalous churches - the Antiochian Church (after the decline of the city administrative center patriarchy was transferred to Damascus). Evangelist Luke, according to legends preserved by some ancient church writers (Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome of Stridon, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigaben, etc.), was born in Antioch [ ] .
Under Byzantine rule
In the 4th-7th centuries, Antioch was part of Byzantium. During the second half of the 4th century, Antioch acquired the role of the largest cultural and intellectual center of the Roman-Byzantine East. The rhetorical school of Libanius flourished here, one of whose students was St. John Chrysostom. The largest late Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus was connected by origin with Antioch. Having visited Antioch before the Persian campaign, Emperor Julian became convinced of the futility of efforts to revive traditional paganism. The author of the “Chronography” from the Creation of the World to Justinian, John Malala (VI century), also lived and worked here. There was an intense municipal life in the city, local “circus parties” competed, and horse shows and other shows continued to be held. Majestic Christian churches were erected here, including the “Great Church,” consecrated in 341, as well as the Church of St. Thekla, the martyrium of the martyr Babyla, etc. In the suburban area of Daphne, numerous villas of wealthy citizens were built, decorated with magnificent mosaics. The Greek-speaking population, which had a municipal organization, predominated, but Syrians also lived in the city. In early Byzantine times, destructive natural disasters often occurred in the city (528, etc.). Damaged by a strong earthquake, the city was briefly conquered and destroyed by the Iranian Shah Khosrow I Anushirvan in the 6th century. Justinian I restored Antioch. At the beginning of the 7th century. During the Byzantine-Iranian wars, the Persians also captured the city. In 637, Antioch was captured by Muslim Arabs for a long time.
As part of the caliphate
During the period of Arab, Byzantine and Frankish rule, cathedral Antioch had the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, also known as the "Church of Cassian" or "Al-Qusian". The cathedral was the place of enthronement and burial of the Antiochian patriarchs and Franco-Norman princes, the repository of the main Antiochian relics (the pulpit and chains of the Apostle Peter, the rod of St. John Chrysostom, part of the head of John the Baptist), the center of the patriarchate, the patriarchal school and the patriarchal hospital. Another revered temple was round church Holy Mother of God, erected by Justinian I the Great in the 6th century. This church was so revered that even the Seljuk Turks (in 1084-1098) did not touch its utensils and decoration. Thus, the Church of the Mother of God of Justinian was the only Antioch temple that appeared before the crusaders in its original, Byzantine splendor. All the churches were destroyed by the Mamluks during the sack of the city in May 1268.
After the crushing defeat of the Byzantine army at Manzikert in 1071, Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes was forced to give Antioch to the Seljuk Turks in exchange for freedom. However, the Byzantine garrison and governor remained in the city. In 1076 the city came under the rule of Filaret Varazhnuni. On December 12, 1084, the city was captured by the Rum Sultan Suleiman ibn Kutlumysh (the city's citadel surrendered a month later). Antioch then came under the rule of Melik Shah, who appointed his governor there.
Principality of Antioch
Walls of Antioch during the Crusaders
After a long siege, the Crusaders took Antioch in 1098; but they did not transfer the city to Byzantium, but founded their own state here - the Principality of Antioch, which existed until 1268. Became Prince of Antioch