Antioch on the Orontes

(Modern Antakya, in Turkey). Chief city of Byzantine Syria (q.v.) and one of the great cities of the eastern Mediterranean (q.v.) until its sack by the Persians (q.v.) in 540. It was a cultural, religious, and administrative center, seat of one of the great eastern patriarchs (q.v.), resplendent with magnificent public architecture and impressive fortifications. Ammianus Marcellinus and Libanios (qq.v.) came from Antioch. The theological school was renowned. It was also a military base from which military expeditions against the Persians (q.v.) originated. The emperor Julian (q.v.) spent much of his reign there, preparing for his Persian campaign while railing against its pleasure-seeking citizenry. The Arabs (q.v.) seized it in 637. The First Crusade (q.v.) conquered it in 1098, after which it became a bone of contention between its Latin rulers and Byzantium (qq.v.), beginning with Bohemund (q.v.). At various times its technical submission to Byzantium was gained, e.g., Raymond of Poitiers (q.v.) submitted the city to John II (q.v.) in 1137. The Mamluks (q.v.) sacked it in 1268.