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A BRIEF HISTORY – The birth of Antiochene-Hellenism
The Founding of Antioch:
The site of Antioch was chosen by Seleukos through ancient Greek ritual means.
The Founding of Antioch:
The site of Antioch was chosen by Seleukos through ancient Greek ritual means.
An eagle, the bird of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site to which the eagle carried the offering. Seleukos did this on the 22nd day of the month of Artemisios in the twelfth year of his reign (equivalent to May 300 BC).
The original city was laid out in imitation of the grid plan of Alexandria by the architect Xenarius. The citadel was on Mt. Silpius and the city lay mainly on the low ground to the north, fringing the river.
According to local tradition, there were three established Greek settlements in the area of the future site of Antioch; Iopolis, Herakleia near the site of Daphne, and Kasiotis at the acropolis on Mount Silpius.
The initial ethnic Greek inhabitants of Antioch are listed as Athenians, Macedonians, Cretans, Cypriots, Argives, Heraclids, and the inhabitants of Antigonia.
At its founding, the city is estimated to have had between 17,000 and 25,000 ethnic Greek inhabitants.
At its founding, the city is estimated to have had between 17,000 and 25,000 ethnic Greek inhabitants.
By the end of the Hellenistic period, Antioch’s population is estimated to have been over 500,000 inhabitants, making it the third largest city in the world after Rome and Alexandria.
Mount Kasios and Antiochene-Hellenism:
A limestone mountain located on the modern Syrian-Turkish border near the mouth of the Orontes River, 10 kilometers north of Posideium (modern Ras al-Bassit).
A limestone mountain located on the modern Syrian-Turkish border near the mouth of the Orontes River, 10 kilometers north of Posideium (modern Ras al-Bassit).
Mount Kasios marks the natural boundary between Laodicea and Seleucia in antiquity. Regarded as a sacred place since the Late Bronze Age, it was the “Mount Olympus” of the Near East, and home to Zeus Kasios, “Zeus of Mount Kasios”.
Seleukos I Nicator sought the advice of Zeus in locating his foundation, a Seleuceia (one of many) on the coast at Mt. Kasios. Coins struck there as late as the first century A.D., still show the city's emblem, the thunderbolt, sometimes placed upon the cushion of a throne.
In spring 363 A.D., the last Ethniko Hellene Emperor, Julian, scaled the mountain, where he had an epiphanic vision of Zeus Kasios, according to his friend and correspondent Libanius. Besides worshiping Zeus Kasios, Antiochenes also worshiped Zeus Bottiaeus.
According to Strabo, the Antiochenes held an annual festival on Mount Kasios in honor of the hero Triptolemus.
