Antioch on the Orontes

Editor's Note

An ancient city on the banks of the Orontes River, whose ruins lie within modern Antakya. Founded in the late 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, a general of Alexander the Great, it served as capital of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire and remained important under Rome and Byzantium. Known as the 'cradle of Christianity' for its role in the faith's emergence, the New Testament states the name 'Christian' was first used here. A metropolis of perhaps half a million at its peak, it declined in the Middle Ages through warfare, frequent earthquakes and shifting trade routes.