ANTIOCH, the ancient capital of the Greek kings of Syria, was the most magnificent of the 16 cities of that name built by Seleucus Nicator. Its situation was admirably chosen. The river Orontes, issuing from the mountains of Lebanon, flows n. as far as the 36th parallel of lat., and then s.w. into the Levant. On the left bank of the river, after it has taken this last direction, and at a distance of 20 in. from the sea, lay the famous city, in the midst of a fertile and beautiful plain, 10 m. long by 5 broad. By its harbor, Seleuceia, it had communication with all the maritime cities of the west, while it become, on the other hand, an emporium for the merchandise of the east; far behind it lay the vast Syrian desert, across which traveled the caravans from Mesopo tamia and Arabia. On the north, the plain of A. is bounded by the mountain-chain of Amanus, connected with the south-eastern extremity of Mt. Taurus; and on the s., which is more rocky, by the broken declivities of mount Casius, from which the ancient town was distant less than 2 miles. In early times, a part of the city stood upon an island, which has now disappeared. The rest was built partly on the plain, and partly on the rugged ascent towards mount Casius. The slopes above the city were covered with vineyards, while the banks of the river displayed, as they do even at the present day, a gorgtous profusion of eastern fruit-trees. The ancients called it "A. the beau, tiful," "the crown of the east," etc. It was a favorite residence of the Seleucid princes and of the wealthy Romans, and was famed throughout the whole world for the abun dance of its conveniences and the splendor of its luxury. It received from Strabo the name of Tctrapoli.v, on account of three new sites having been successively built upon, and each surrounded with a wall: Its public edifices were magnificent. The principal were—the palace; the senate-house; the temple of Jupiter, burnished with gold; the theater, amphitheater, and Caesarium, besides an aqueduct, a public promenade, and innumerable baths. At the beginning of the Roman empire, it was as large as Paris,
and for many generations after, continued to receive numerous embellishments from the emperors. Nor did its glory fade immediately after the founding of Constantinople, for though it then ceased to be the first city of the east, it rose into new dignity as a Chris tian city. Ten councils were held in it. Churches sprang up exhibiting a new style of architecture, which soon became prevalent; and even Constantine himself spent a con siderable time here, adorning it, and strengthening its harbor, Seleuceia. The Antioch cnes themselves, however, brought about the ruin of their beautiful city. They were famous, above all other people in ancient times, for their biting and scurrilous wit, and for their ingenuity in devising nicknames; and when the Persians, under Chosroes, invaded Syria in 538 A.D., the Antiochenes could not refrain from jesting at them. The Persians took ample revenge by the total destruction of the city, which, however, was rebuilt by Justinian. The next important event in its history was its conquest by the Saracens in the 7th century. In the Oth c. it was recovered by the Greeks under Nice phorus Phocas, but in 1084 it again fell into the hands of the 3Iohammedans. The cru saders besieged and took it on the 3d of June, 1098. At the close of the 13th c., the sultan of Egypt seized it: since then it has undergone a variety of vicissitudes, and at present forms a portion of Syria, in the eyalet of Aleppo. Its modern name is Antakieh. It exhibits almost no traces of its former grandeur, except the ruins of the walls built by Justinian, and of the fortress erected by the crusaders. Its manufactures are few and unimportant. In 1872 A. was mostly destroyed by an earthquake, and the pop., which was then estimated at about 17,000, was in consequence greatly reduced.