Antioch on the Orontes

Antioch on the Orontes
Author: Jørgen Christensen-Ernst
Publisher: Hamilton Books
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2012-11-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0761858644

Two thousand years ago, Antioch on the Orontes River was the third most important city in the Roman Empire. Today, it is a small Turkish town of 200,000 inhabitants whose visitors may find it difficult to imagine this place at its peak. This book is a biography of Antioch — or Antakiyye of the Arabs, or Antakya of the Turks. It is a description of its youth under the Seleucid Dynasty, its adolescence under the Romans, the Byzantines, and the Norman Crusaders, and its long decline under the Marmelukes and the Ottomans. Antioch on the Orontes will also guide the reader through modern-day Antioch, highlighting significant historical sites. The book contains an introduction to theological developments in Antioch that have influenced Christendom and covers the many religions represented in the city today.

Ancient Antioch

Ancient Antioch
Author: Andrea U. De Giorgi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2016-05-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 131654625X

From late fourth century BC Seleucid enclave to capital of the Roman east, Antioch on the Orontes was one of the greatest cities of antiquity and served as a hinge between east and west. This book draws on a century of archaeological fieldwork to offer a new narrative of Antioch's origins and growth, as well as its resilience, civic pride, and economic opportunism. Situating the urban nucleus in the context of the rural landscape, this book integrates hitherto divorced cultural basins, including the Amuq Valley and the Massif Calcaire. It also brings into focus the archaeological data, thus proposing a concrete interpretative framework that, grounded in the monuments of Antioch, enables the reader to move beyond text-based reconstructions of the city's history. Finally, it considers the interaction between the environment and the people of the city who shaped this region and forged a distinct identity within the broader Greco-Roman world.