ANTIOCH
267
ANTIOCH
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the Diocletian perse- cution, A.D. 312 (Ne- ander, Allgemeine Ge- schichte, i, 3, p. 1237 ; Gieseler, Lehrbuch, i, 272; Lardner, Credi- bility, pt. ii, ch.55, 58). Libaniua (born A.D. 314), the rhetorician, the friend and pane- gyrist of the Emperor Julian, was a native of Antioch (Lardner, Testimonies of Ancient Heathens, ch. 49 ; Gib- bon, Decline and Fall, etc. ch. 24). It had likewise the less equiv- ocal honor of being the birthplace of his il- lustrious pupil, John Chrysostom, born A. D. 347, died A.D. 407 perfect equality with the other inhabitants (Josephus, | (Lardner, Credibility, pt. ii, ch. 118 ; Neander, Allge-
Plan of ancient Antioch in Syria
Ant. xii, 3, 1). These privileges were continued to them by Vespasian and Titus — an instance (Josephus remarks) of the equity and generosity- of the Romans, who, in opposition to the wishes of the Alexandrians and Antiocheans, protected the Jews, notwithstanding the provocations they had received from them in their wars (Apion, ii, 4). They were also allowed to have an archon or ethnarch of their own (Josephus, War, vii, 3, 3). Antioch is called libera bj' Pliny (Hist. Nat. v, 18), having obtained from Pompey the privilege of being governed by its own laws (see Smith, Diet, of Class. Geogr. s. v.).
The Christian faith was introduced at an early pe- riod into Antioch, and with great success (Acts xi, 19, 21, 24). The name uCkristi.ans'', was here first applied to its professors (Acts xi, 26). No city, after Jerusa- lem, is so intimatety connected with the history of the apostolic Church. One of the seven deacons or almoners appointed at Jerusalem was Nicolas, a pros- elyte of Antioch (Acts vi, 5). The Christians who were dispersed from Jerusalem at the death of Ste- phen preached the Gospel at Antioch (xi, 19). It was from Jerusalem that Agabus and the other proph- ets who foretold the famine came to Antioch (xi, 27, 28); and Barnabas and Saul were consequently sent on a mission of charity from the latter city to the for- mer (xi, 30; xii, 25). It was from Jerusalem, again, that the Judaizers came who disturbed the Church at Antioch (xv, 1) ; and it was at Antioch that Paul re- buked Peter for conduct into which he had been be- trayed through the influence of emissaries from Je- rusalem (Gal. ii, 11, 12). Antioch soon became a cen- tral point for the diffusion of Christianity among the Gentiles, and maintained for several centuries a high rank in the Christian world (see Semler, Initia societa- tis I 'Arist. Antiochice, Hal. 1767). A controversy which arose between certain Jewish believers from Jerusa- lem and the Gentile converts at Antioch respecting the permanent obligation of the rite of circumcision was the occasion of the first apostolic council or con- vention (Acts xv). Antioch was the scene of the early labors of the Apostle Paul, and the place whence he set forth on his first missionary labors (Acts xi, 26 ; xiii, 2). Ignatius was the second bishop or overseer of the Church, for about forty years, till his martyr- dom in A.D. 107. In the third and following centu- ries a number of councils were held at Antioch [see Antioch, Councils of], and in the course of the fourth century a new theological school was formed there, which thence derived the name School of An- tioch. See Antioch, School of. Two of its most distinguished teachers were the presbyters Dorotheus and Lucian, the latter of whom suffered martyrdom in
meine Geschichte, ii, 3, p. 1440-1456; Hug, Aniiockia, Berl. 1863). On the further history of the Church of Antioch, see Antioch, Patriarchate of.
Antioch was founded, B.C. 300, by Seleucus Nica- tor, with circumstances of considerable displaj', which were afterward embellished by fable. The situation was well chosen, both for military and commercial purposes. Antioch grew under the successive Seleu- cid kings till it became a city of great extent and of remarkable beauty. Some of the most magnificent buildings were on the island. One feature, which seems to have been characteristic of the great Syrian cities — a vast street with colonnades, intersecting the whole from end to end — was added by Antiochus Epi- phanes. Some lively notices of the Antioch of this pe- riod, and of its relation to Jewish history, are supplied by the books of Maccabees (see especially 1 Mace, iii, 37 ; xi, 13 ; 2 Mace, iv, 7-9 ; v, 21 ; xi, 36). The earlj- emperors raised there some large and important structures, such as aqueducts, amphitheatres, and baths. Herod the Great contributed a road and a col- onnade (Josephus, Ant. xvi, 5, 3; War, i, 21, 11). In A.D. 260 Sapor, the Persian king, surprised and pillaged it, and multitudes of the inhabitants were slain or sold as slaves. It has been frequently brought to the verge of utter ruin by earthquakes (A.D. 340, 394, 396, 458, 526, 528) ; by that of A.D. 526 no less than 250,000 persons were destroyed, the population being swelled by an influx of strangers to the festival of the Ascension. The Emperor Justinian gave forty- five centenaries of gold ($900,000) to restore the city. Scarcely had it resumed its ancient splendor (A.D. 540) when it was again taken and delivered to the flames by Chosroes. In A.D. 658 it was captured by the Saracens. Its " safety was ransomed with 300,000 pieces of gold, but the throne of the successors of Al- exander, the seat of the Roman government in the East, which had been decorated hj Cresar with the ti- tles of free, and holy, and inviolate, was degraded un- der the yoke of the caliphs to the secondary rank of a provincial town" (Gibbon, li). In A.D. 975 it was retaken by Nicephoras Phocas. In A.D. 1080 the son of the governor Philaretus betrayed it into the hands of Soliman. Seventeen years after the Duke of Nor- mandy entered it at the head of 300,000 crusaders ; but, as the citadel still held out, the victors were in their turn besieged by a fresh host under Kerboga and twenty-eight emirs, which at last gave way to their desperate valor (Gibbon, lviii). In A.D. 1268 Anti- och was occupied and ruined by Boadocbar or Bibars, sultan of Egypt and Syria ; this first seat of the Chris- tian name being depopulated by the slaughter of 17,<miii persons, and the captivity of 1*00,000. About the mid-