Antiochia

Antiochia may refer to any of several Hellenistic cities in the Near East which were founded or rebuilt by the several rulers named Antiochus during the Seleucid Empire.

Variants

• Antiochus (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 97, 149, 263.)
• Antiochus (Pliny.vi.18)
• Antiochia (Pliny.vi.30, Pliny.vi.39)

• Antiocheia
• Antiochea
• Antiokheia
• Antiochus
• Antioch

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Antari = Antiochia (Pliny.vi.30)
• Antas = Antiochia (Pliny.vi.30)
• Antawat = Antiochia (Pliny.vi.30)

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Antari = Antiochus (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 97, 149, 263.)
• Antas = Antiochus (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 97, 149, 263.)
• Antawat = Antiochus (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 97, 149, 263.)

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Adiabene.... The kingdom of the Persians, by which we now understand that of Parthia, is elevated upon the Caucasian chain between two seas, the Persian and the Hyrcanian. To the Greater Armenia, which in the front slopes towards Commagene, is joined Sophene, which lies upon the descent¹ on both sides thereof, and next to it is Adiabene, the most advanced frontier of Assyria; a part of which is Arbelitis,² He alludes to the town of Arbela, where, as it is generally said, the army of Darius was defeated by Alexander the Great; by which engagement the conflict was terminated. It was the fact, however, that Darius left his baggage and treasures at Arbela, while the battle really took place near the village of Gaugamela, about twenty miles to the north-west of Arbela. This place still retains its name of Arbil, where Alexander conquered Darius, and which joins up to Syria. The whole of this country was called Mygdonia by the Macedonians, on account of the resemblance it bore to Mygdonia³ in Europe. Its cities are Alexandria,⁴ and Antiochia, also called Nisibis⁵; this last place is distant from Artaxata seven hundred and fifty miles. There was also in former times Ninus⁶, a most renowned city, on the banks of the Tigris, with an aspect towards the west. Adjoining the other front of Greater Armenia, which runs down towards the Caspian Sea, we find Atropatene⁷, which is separated from Otene, a region of Armenia, by the river Araxes; Gazæ⁸ is its chief city, distant from Artaxata four hundred and fifty miles, and the same from Ecbatana in Media, to which country Atropatene belongs.

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1 35 See c. 10.

2 He alludes to the town of Arbela, where, as it is generally said, the army of Darius was defeated by Alexander the Great; by which engagement the conflict was terminated. It was the fact, however, that Darius left his baggage and treasures at Arbela, while the battle really took place near the village of Gaugamela, about twenty miles to the north-west of Arbela. This place still retains its name of Arbil.

3 A district in the east of Macedonia, bordering on the Thermaic gulf and the Chalcidic peninsula.

4 Nothing is known of this place. Hardouin suggests that it may have been built on the spot where Alexander defeated Darius.

5 Also known as Antiochia Mygdoniæ, the capital of Mygdonia. Its ruins are still to be seen near a place called Nisibin. It stood on the river Mygdonius, now the Nahral Huali.

6 Or Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian monarchy, destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians about B.C. 606.

7 There is great difficulty in ascertaining, from the accounts given by the ancient writers, the exact limits of this district, but it is supposed to have included a considerable portion of the province now known by the name of Azerbaijan. It derived its name from Atropates or Atropes, who was governor of this district under the last Darius.

8 Most probably the place now known as Gazæa, the royal residence of the Parthian kings, and, as its name would imply, their treasure city. Colonel Rawlinson thinks that this place underwent many changes of name according to the rulers who successively occupied it; among other names, it appears to have borne that of Ecbatana.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Nations situated around the Hyrcanian Sea....Next comes the district of Margiane,⁵ so remarkable for its sunny climate. It is the only spot in all these regions that produces the vine, being shut in on every side by verdant and refreshing hills. This district is fifteen hundred stadia in circumference, but is rendered remarkably difficult of access by sandy deserts, which extend a distance of one hundred and twenty miles: it lies opposite to the country of Parthia, and in it Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. This place having been destroyed by the barbarians, Antiochus,⁶ the son of Seleucus, rebuilt it on the same site as a Syrian city.⁷ For, seeing that it was watered by the Margus,⁸ which passes through it, and is afterwards divided into a number of streams for the irrigation of the district of Zothale, he restored it, but preferred giving it the name of Antiochia.⁹

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5 This district occupied the southern part of modern Khiva, the southwestern part of Bokhara, and the north-eastern part of Khorassan. This province of the ancient Persian empire received its name from the river Margus, now the Moorghab. It first became known to the Greeks by the expeditions of Alexander and Antiochus I.

6 Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus Nicator.

7 The meaning of this, which has caused great diversity of opinion among the Commentators, seems to be, that on rebuilding it, he preferred giving it a name borne by several cities in Syria, and given to them in honour of kings of that country. To this he appears to have been prompted by a supposed resemblance which its site on the Margus bore to that of Antiochia on the Orontes.

8 The modern Moorghab; it loses itself in the sands of Khiva.

9 Its remains are supposed to be those of an ancient city, still to be seen at a spot called Merv, on the river Moorghab.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Mesopotamia.... The whole of Mesopotamia formerly belonged to the Assyrians, being covered with nothing but villages, with the exception of Babylonia¹ and Ninus.² The Macedonians formed these communities into cities, being prompted thereto by the extraordinary fertility of the soil.

Besides the cities already mentioned, it contains those of Seleucia³, Laodicea⁴, Artemita⁵; and in Arabia, the peoples known as the Orei⁶ and the Mardani, besides Antiochia⁷, founded by Nicanor, the governor of Mesopotamia, and called Arabis.

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1 The great seat of empire of the Babylonio-Chaldæan kingdom. It either occupied the site, it is supposed, or stood in the immediate vicinity of the tower of Babel. In the reign of Labynedus, Nabonnetus, or Bel- shazzar, it was taken by Cyrus. In the reign of Augustus, a small part only of Babylon was still inhabited, the remainder of the space within the walls being under cultivation. The ruins of Babylon are found to commence a little south of the village of Mohawill, eight miles north of Hillah.

2 Nineveh. See c. 16 of the present Book.

3 On the left bank of the Euphrates, opposite to the ford of Zeugma; a fortress of considerable importance.

4 Its site is unknown. Dupinet confounds it with the place of this name mentioned in the last Chapter, calling them by the name of Lor.

5 Pliny is wrong in placing Artemita in Mesopotamia. It was a city of Babylonia, in the district of Apolloniatis. The modern Sherbán is supposed to occupy its site.

6 Burnouf, having found the name of these people, as he supposes, in a cuneiform inscription, written "Ayura," would have them to be called Aroei. The Orei are also mentioned in B. v. c. 20.

7 This Antioch does not appear to have been identified.

In modern Turkey

• Antioch (Antiochia ad Orontem, Syrian Antiochia or Great Antiochia), modern Antakya

• Principality of Antiochia, a Crusader state centered on it

• Nisibis or Antiochia Mygdonia, in ancient Mesopotamia, now Nusaybin, Mardin Province

• Antioch of Pisidia (also Antiochia in Phrygia), near modern Yalvaç, Isparta Province

• Aydın, also known as Antiochia, Tralles or Tralleis, modern Aydın, Turkey

• Alabanda or Antiochia of the Chrysaorians, Caria, modern Doğanyurt (formerly Araphisar), Aydin Province

• Antioch on the Maeander (Antiochia ad Mæandrum), in Caria, formerly Pythopolis, ruins near Kuyucak, Aydin Province

• Antiochia (Lydia), precise location unknown

• Samosata or Antiochia in Commagene, now Samsat, Adıyaman Province

• Cebrene or Antiochia in Troad, Kevrin or Kebrene, now in Canakkale Province, Turkey

• Edessa, Mesopotamia or Antiochia on the Callirhoe, former capital of Osroene, later named Justinopolis and Edessa, now Şanlıurfa

• Tarsus (city), Antiochia on the Cydnus, or Tarsos, Mersin Province

• Antiochia Lamotis (Antiochia in Isauria), now near Erdemli, Mersin Province

• Antiochia ad Cragum (Antiochetta, Antiocheta, or Latin: Antiochia Parva), now Güney, Antalya Province

• Antiochia ad Euphratem, submerged site in Gaziantep Province

• Antiochia ad Pyramum, ruins near Karataş, Adana Province

• Adana (Antiochia in Cilicia), now Adana, Adana Province

• Antiochia ad Taurum, in Cilicia later in Commagene, probably now Gaziantep (less probably, Aleppo, Syria)

• Antiochia Paraliou, location unknown but some identify it with Antiochia ad Cragum; probably in Turkey

• Antiochia in Mesopotamia, also Antiochia in Arabia and Antiochia Arabis, and Constantia, now near Viranşehir, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey

In modern Iran

• Nahavand or Antiochia in Persis, also Antiochia in Media and Antiochia of Chosroes, later Laodicea in Media, now Nahavand

• Bushehr, previously also “Antiochia in Persis”

In modern Iraq

• Charax (Tigris) or Antiochia in Susiana, later Charax, near the confluence of the Tigris and the Choaspes rivers

• Antiochia in Sittacene, in ancient Sittacene, between the Tigris and Tornadotus

In modern Israel

• Hippos, Antiochia Hippos or Antiochia ad Hippum, in the Decapolis

• Antiochia Ptolemais, now Acre, Israel or Akko

In modern Jordan

• Umm Qais or Antiochia Semiramis, also called Gadara, now Umm Qais

In modern Syria

• Antiochia in Pieria, now Arwad

In modern Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

• Antiochia in Margiana, now Merv, Turkmenistan

• Antiochia in Scythia, on the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) river, now probably in Uzbekistan

In Colombia

• The Antioquia Department of Colombia is considered to have been named either after the well-known Antioch or after a less well-known city of that name.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions ....The whole of Mesopotamia formerly belonged to the Assyrians, being covered with nothing but villages, with the exception of Babylonia¹ and Ninus.² The Macedonians formed these communities into cities, being prompted thereto by the extraordinary fertility of the soil.

Besides the cities already mentioned, it contains those of Seleucia³, Laodicea⁴, Artemita⁵; and in Arabia, the peoples known as the Orei⁶ and the Mardani, besides Antiochia⁷, founded by Nicanor, the governor of Mesopotamia, and called Arabis.

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1 The great seat of empire of the Babylonio-Chaldæan kingdom. It either occupied the site, it is supposed, or stood in the immediate vicinity of the tower of Babel. In the reign of Labynedus, Nabonnetus, or Bel- shazzar, it was taken by Cyrus. In the reign of Augustus, a small part only of Babylon was still inhabited, the remainder of the space within the walls being under cultivation. The ruins of Babylon are found to commence a little south of the village of Mohawill, eight miles north of Hillah.

2 Nineveh. See c. 16 of the present Book.

3 On the left bank of the Euphrates, opposite to the ford of Zeugma; a fortress of considerable importance.

4 Its site is unknown. Dupinet confounds it with the place of this name mentioned in the last Chapter, calling them by the name of Lor.

5 Pliny is wrong in placing Artemita in Mesopotamia. It was a city of Babylonia, in the district of Apolloniatis. The modern Sherbán is supposed to occupy its site.

6 Burnouf, having found the name of these people, as he supposes, in a cuneiform inscription, written "Ayura," would have them to be called Aroei. The Orei are also mentioned in B. v. c. 20.

7 This Antioch does not appear to have been identified.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Tigris....Between these peoples and Mesene is Sittacene, which is also called Arbelitis²⁴ and Palæstine. Its city of Sittace²⁵ is of Greek origin; this and Sabdata²⁶ lie to the east, and on the west is Antiochia²⁷, between the two rivers Tigris and Tornadotus²⁸, as also Apamea²⁹, to which Antiochus³⁰ gave this name, being that of his mother. The Tigris surrounds this city, which is also traversed by the waters of the Archoüs.

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24 From Arbela, in Assyria, which bordered on it.

25 A great and populous city of Babylonia, near the Tigris, but not on it, and eight parasangs within the Median wall. The site is that probably now called Eski Baghdad, and marked by a ruin called the Tower of Nimrod. Parisot cautions against confounding it with a place of a similar name, mentioned by Pliny in B. xii. c. 17, a mistake into which, he says, Hardouin has fallen.

26 Now called Felongia, according to Parisot. Hardouin considers it the same as the Sambana of Diodorus Siculus, which Parisot looks upon as the same as Ambar, to the north of Felongia.

27 Of this Antiochia nothing appears to be known. By some it has been supposed to be the same with Apollonia, the chief town of the district of Apolloniatis, to the south of the district of Arbela.

28 Also called the Physcus, the modern Ordoneh, an eastern tributary of the Tigris in Lower Assyria. The town of Opis stood at its junction with the Tigris.

29 D'Anville supposes that this Apamea was at the point where the Dijeil, now dry, branched off from the Tigris, which bifurcation he places near Samurrah. Lynch, however, has shown that the Dijeil branched off near Jibbarah, a little north of 34° North lat., and thinks that the Dijeil once swept the end of the Median wall, and flowed between it and Jebbarah. Possibly this is the Apamea mentioned by Pliny in c. 27.

30 The son of Seleucus Nicator.

See also

• Antioch