Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient Greek city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the modern city of Antakya and lends the modern city its name. Antioch was founded near the end of the fourth century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals; the city's geographical and economic location benefited its occupants such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, the Royal Road. It rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East; the city was the capital of the Seleucid Empire until 63 B. C. when the Romans took control. From the early 4th century the city was the seat of the Count of the Orient, head of the regional administration of sixteen provinces, it was the main center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Antioch was one of the most important cities in the eastern Mediterranean of Rome's dominions, it covered 1,100 acres within the walls of which one quarter was mountain, leaving 750 acres about one-fifth the area of Rome within the Aurelian Walls.
Antioch was called "the cradle of Christianity" as a result of its longevity and the pivotal role that it played in the emergence of both Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. The Christian New Testament asserts, it was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, its residents were known as Antiochenes. The city was a metropolis of a quarter million people during Augustan times, but it declined to relative insignificance during the Middle Ages because of warfare, repeated earthquakes, a change in trade routes, which no longer passed through Antioch from the far east following the Mongol invasions and conquests. Two routes from the Mediterranean, lying through the Orontes gorge and the Beilan Pass, converge in the plain of the Antioch Lake and are met there by the road from the Amanian Gate and western Commagene, which descends the valley of the Karasu River to the Afrin River, the roads from eastern Commagene and the Euphratean crossings at Samosata and Apamea Zeugma, which descend the valleys of the Afrin and the Quweiq rivers, the road from the Euphratean ford at Thapsacus, which skirts the fringe of the Syrian steppe.
A single route proceeds south in the Orontes valley. The settlement called Meroe pre-dated Antioch. A shrine of the Semitic goddess Anat, called by Herodotus the "Persian Artemis", was located here; this site was included in the eastern suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur of Mount Silpius named Iopolis; this name was always adduced as evidence by Antiochenes anxious to affiliate themselves to the Attic Ionians—an eagerness, illustrated by the Athenian types used on the city's coins. Io may have been a small early colony of trading Greeks. John Malalas mentions an archaic village, Bottia, in the plain by the river. Alexander the Great is said to have camped on the site of Antioch, dedicated an altar to Zeus Bottiaeus; this account is found only in the writings of Libanius, a 4th-century orator from Antioch, may be legend intended to enhance Antioch's status. But the story is not unlikely in itself. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his generals divided up the territory. After the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, he proceeded to found four "sister cities" in northwestern Syria, one of, Antioch, a city named in honor of his father Antiochus.
He is reputed to have built sixteen Antiochs. Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through 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. Seleucus did this on the 22nd day of the month of Artemisios in the twelfth year of his reign. Antioch soon rose above Seleucia Pieria to become the Syrian capital; the original city of Seleucus was laid out in imitation of the grid plan of Alexandria by the architect Xenarius. Libanius describes the first arrangement of this city; the citadel was on Mt. Silpius and the city lay on the low ground to the north, fringing the river. Two great colonnaded streets intersected in the centre. Shortly afterwards a second quarter was laid out on the east and by Antiochus I, from an expression of Strabo, appears to have been the native, as contrasted with the Greek, town, it was enclosed by a wall of its own. In the Orontes, north of the city, lay a large island, on this Seleucus II Callinicus began a third walled "city", finished by Antiochus III.
A fourth and last quarter was added by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. From west to east the whole was about 6 kilometres in diameter and a little less from north to south; this area included many large gardens. The new city was populated by a mix of local settlers that Athenians brought from the nearby city of Antigonia and Jews; the total free population of Antioch at its foundation has been estimated at between 17,000 and 25,000, not including slaves and native settlers. During the late Hellenistic period and Early Roman period, Antioch's population reached its peak of over 500,000 inhabitants and was the third largest city in the Empire after Rome and Alexandria. In the second half o
Diodotus I
Diodotus I Soter was Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Seleucid rule soon after the death of Antiochus II in c. 255 or 246 BC, wrested independence for his territory, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. He died in 239 BC; this event is recorded by Prol. 41. 4, 5, where he is called Theodotus. The name is related to the title Soter he uses for himself, his power seems to have extended over the neighbouring provinces. Diodotus was a contemporary, a neighbour, an ally of Andragoras, the satrap of Parthia, who at about the same time proclaimed independence from the Seleucid Empire. Diodotus wrested independence for his territory after the death of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II Theos, embroiled in a war against Ptolemaic Egypt: Diodotus, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria and proclaimed himself king; the new kingdom urbanized and considered as one of the richest of the Orient, was to further grow in power and engage into territorial expansion to the east and the west: The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana, but of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander...
Their cities were Bactra, Darapsa, several others. Among these was Eucratidia, named after its ruler; the newly declared King married a daughter, born c. 266 BC, of Antiochus II Theos and wife Laodice I and had two children: Diodotus II and a daughter, born c. 250 BC, who married Euthydemus I. Arsaces, the chieftain of the nomadic tribe of the Parni, fled before him into Parthia and there defeated and killed Andragoras, the former satrap and self-proclaimed king of Parthia, became the founder of the Parthian Empire; as a result, the Greco-Bactrians were cut off from direct contacts with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a reduced rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed; when Seleucus II in 239 BC attempted to subjugate the rebels in the east, it appears he and Diodotus united together against the Parthians. Soon afterwards Diodotus died and was succeeded by his son Diodotus II, who concluded a peace with the Parthians and allied himself with Arsaces in his fight against Seleucus II: Soon after, relieved by the death of Theodotus, Arsaces made peace and concluded an alliance with his son by the name of Theodotus.
Of Diodotus I we possess gold and bronze coins, some of which are struck in the name of Antiochus. As the power of the Seleucids was weak and continually attacked by Ptolemy II, the eastern provinces and their Greek cities were exposed to the invasion of the nomadic barbarians and threatened with destruction. Diodotus Soter appears on coins struck in his memory by the Graeco-Bactrian kings Agathocles and Antimachus. Cf. AV Sallet, Die Nachfolger Alexanders d. Gr. in Baktrien und Indien. Coins of Diodotus
Henry Liddell
Henry George Liddell was dean of Christ Church, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, headmaster of Westminster School, author of A History of Rome, co-author of the monumental work A Greek–English Lexicon, known as "Liddell and Scott", still used by students of Greek. Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for Henry Liddell's daughter Alice. Liddell received his education at Oxford, he gained a double first degree in 1833 became a college tutor, was ordained in 1838. Liddell was Headmaster of Westminster School from 1846 to 1855. Meanwhile, his life work, the great lexicon, which he and Robert Scott began as early as 1834, had made good progress, the first edition of Liddell and Scott's Lexicon appeared in 1843, it became the standard Greek–English dictionary, with the 8th edition published in 1897. As Headmaster of Westminster Liddell enjoyed a period of great success, followed by trouble due to the outbreak of fever and cholera in the school. In 1855 he accepted the deanery of Oxford.
In the same year he brought out his History of Ancient Rome and took a active part in the first Oxford University Commission. His tall figure, fine presence and aristocratic mien were for many years associated with all, characteristic of Oxford life. Coming just at the transition period when the "old Christ Church," which Pusey strove so hard to preserve, was becoming broader and more liberal, it was chiefly due to Liddell that necessary changes were effected with the minimum of friction. In 1859 Liddell welcomed the Prince of Wales when he matriculated at Christ Church, being the first holder of that title who had matriculated since Henry V. While Liddell was Dean of Christ Church, he arranged for the building of a new choir school and classrooms for the staff and pupils of Christ Church Cathedral School on its present site. Before the school was housed within Christ Church itself. In July 1846, Liddell married Lorina Reeve, with whom he had nine children including Alice Liddell of Lewis Carroll fame.
In conjunction with Sir Henry Acland, Liddell did much to encourage the study of art at Oxford, his taste and judgment gained him the admiration and friendship of Ruskin. In 1891, owing to advancing years, he resigned the deanery; the last years of his life were spent at Ascot, where he died on 18 January 1898. Two roads in Ascot, Liddell Way and Carroll Crescent honour the relationship between Henry Liddell and Lewis Carroll. Liddell was an Oxford "character" in years, he figures in contemporary undergraduate doggerel: I am the Dean, this Mrs Liddell. She plays first, I, second fiddle, she is the Broad, I am the High – We are the University. The Victorian journalist, George W. E. Russell, conveys something of Liddell's image: The Vice-Chancellor who matriculated me was the majestic Liddell, with his six feet of stately height draped in scarlet, his'argent aureole' of white hair, his three silver maces borne before him, always helped me to understand what Sydney Smith meant when he said, of some nonsensical proposition, that no power on earth and except the Dean of Christ Church, should induce him to believe it.
Henry George Liddell was the author of A Greek-English Dictionary Based on the German Work of Francis Passow, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1843, numerous editions of the same, including abridgments for student use, written with Robert Scott. A History of Rome from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire, Vols. I & II, London: John Murray, 1855 Life of Julius Caesar, New York: Sheldon & Co. 1860, excerpted from the Roman history. The Student's Rome: A History of Rome from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire, London: John Murray, 1865, excerpted from the Roman history and revised, his father was Henry Liddell, Rector of Easington, the younger son of Sir Henry Liddell, 5th Baronet and the former Elizabeth Steele. His father's elder brother, Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet, was raised to the Peerage as Baron Ravensworth in 1821, his mother was a daughter of Thomas Lyon and the former Mary Wren. On 2 July 1846, Henry married Lorina Reeve, they were parents of ten children: Edward Harry Liddell.
Lorina Charlotte'Ina' Liddell. James Arthur Charles Liddell. Alice Pleasance Liddell, for whom the story of the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was told. Edith Mary Liddell. Rhoda Caroline Anne Liddell. Albert Edward Arthur Liddell. Violet Constance Liddell. Sir Frederick Francis Liddell: First Parliamentary Counsel and Ecclesiastical Commissioner. Lionel Charles Liddell. Lewis Carroll Alice Liddell Media related to Henry George Liddell at Wikimedia Commons A genealogical profile from thePeerage.com Two portraits, National Portrait Gallery
Basileus
Basileus is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is most understood to mean "king" or "emperor"; the title was used by sovereigns and other persons of authority in ancient Greece, the Byzantine emperors, the kings of modern Greece. The feminine forms are basileia, basilissa, or the archaic basilinna, meaning "queen" or "empress"; the etymology of basileus is unclear. The Mycenaean form was *gʷasileus, denoting some sort of court official or local chieftain, but not an actual king, its hypothetical earlier Proto-Greek form would be *gʷatileus. Most linguists assume that it is a non-Greek word, adopted by Bronze Age Greeks from a pre-existing linguistic Pre-Greek substrate of the Eastern Mediterranean. Schindler argues for an inner-Greek innovation of the -eus inflection type from Indo-European material rather than a Mediterranean loan; the first written instance of this word is found on the baked clay tablets discovered in excavations of Mycenaean palaces destroyed by fire.
The tablets are dated from the 15th century BC to the 11th century BC and are inscribed with the Linear B script, deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952 and corresponds to a early form of Greek. The word basileus is written as qa-si-re-u and its original meaning was "chieftain". Here the initial letter q- represents the PIE labiovelar consonant */gʷ/, transformed in Greek into /b/. Linear B uses the same glyph for /l/ and /r/, now uniformly written with a Latin "r" by convention. Linear B only depicts syllables of single vowel or consonant-vowel form, therefore the final -s is dropped altogether; the word can be contrasted with wanax, another word used more for "king" and meaning "High King" or "overlord". With the collapse of Mycenaean society, the position of wanax ceases to be mentioned, the basileis appear the topmost potentates in Greek society. In the works of Homer wanax appears, in the form ánax in descriptions of Zeus and of few human monarchs, most notably Agamemnon. Otherwise the term survived exclusively as a component in compound personal names and is still in use in Modern Greek in the description of the anáktoron/anáktora, i.e. of the royal palace.
The latter is the same word as wa-na-ka-te-ro, wanákteros, "of the wanax/king" or "belonging to the wanax/king", used in Linear B tablets to refer to various craftsmen serving the king, to things belonging or offered to the king. Most of the Greek leaders in Homer's works are described as basileís, conventionally rendered in English as "kings". However, a more accurate translation may be "princes" or "chieftains", which would better reflect conditions in Greek society in Homer's time, the roles ascribed to Homer's characters. Agamemnon tries to give orders to Achilles among many others, while another basileus serves as his charioteer, his will, however, is not to be automatically obeyed. In Homer the wanax is expected to rule over the other basileis by consensus rather than by coercion, why Achilles proudly and furiously rebels when he perceives that Agamemnon is unjustly bossing him around. A study by Robert Drews has demonstrated that at the apex of Geometric and Archaic Greek society, basileus does not automatically translate to "king".
In a number of places authority was exercised by a college of basileis drawn from a particular clan or group, the office had term limits. However, basileus could be applied to the hereditary leaders of "tribal" states, like those of the Arcadians and the Messenians, in which cases the term approximated the meaning of "king". According to pseudo-Archytas's treatise "On justice and law", quoted by Giorgio Agamben in State of Exception, Basileus is more adequately translated into "Sovereign" than into "king"; the reason for this is that it designates more the person of king than the office of king: the power of magistrates derives from their social functions or offices, whereas the sovereign derives his power from himself. Sovereigns have auctoritas. Pseudo-Archytas aimed at creating a theory of sovereignty enfranchised from laws, being itself the only source of legitimacy, he goes so far as qualifying the Basileus as nomos empsykhos, or "living law", the origin, according to Agamben, of the modern Führerprinzip and of Carl Schmitt's theories on dictatorship.
In classical times all Greek states had abolished the hereditary royal office in favor of democratic or oligarchic rule. Some exceptions existed, namely the two hereditary Kings of Sparta, the Kings of Syracuse, the Kings of Cyrene, the Kings of Macedon and of the Molossians in Epirus and Kings of Arcadian Orchomenus; the Greeks used the term to refer to various kings of "barbaric" tribes in Thrace and Illyria, as well as to the Achaemenid kings of Persia. The Persian king was referred to as Megas Basileus or Basileus Basileōn, a translation of the Persian title xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām, or "the king". There was a cult of Zeus Basileus at Lebadeia. Aristotle distinguished the basileus, constrained by law, from
Attalus I
Attalus I, surnamed Soter ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis, first as dynast as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the first cousin once removed and the adoptive son of Eumenes I, whom he succeeded, was the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king in 238 BC, he was the son of his wife Antiochis. Attalus won an important victory over the Galatians, newly arrived Celtic tribes from Thrace, who had been, for more than a generation and exacting tribute throughout most of Asia Minor without any serious check; this victory, celebrated by the triumphal monument at Pergamon and the liberation from the Gallic "terror" which it represented, earned for Attalus the name of "Soter", the title of "king". A courageous and capable general and loyal ally of Rome, he played a significant role in the first and second Macedonian Wars, waged against Philip V of Macedon, he conducted numerous naval operations, harassing Macedonian interests throughout the Aegean, winning honors, collecting spoils, gaining for Pergamon possession of the Greek islands of Aegina during the first war, Andros during the second, twice narrowly escaping capture at the hands of Philip.
Attalus was a protector of the Greek cities of Anatolia and viewed himself as the champion of Greeks against barbarians. During his reign he established Pergamon as a considerable power in the Greek East, he died in 197 BC, shortly before the end of the second war, at the age of 72, having suffered an apparent stroke while addressing a Boeotian war council some months before. He and his wife were admired for their rearing of their four sons, he was succeeded as king by his son Eumenes II. Little is known about Attalus' early life, he was born a Greek, the son of Attalus, Antiochis. The elder Attalus was the son of a brother of both Philetaerus, the founder of the Attalid dynasty, Eumenes, the father of Eumenes I, Philetaerus' successor. Attalus was a young child when his father died, sometime before 241 BC, after which he was adopted by Eumenes I, the incumbent dynast. Attalus' mother, was related to the Seleucid royal family with her marriage to Attalus' father arranged by Philetaerus to solidify his power.
This would be consistent with the conjecture that Attalus' father had been Philetaerus' heir designate, but was succeeded by Eumenes, since Attalus I was too young when his father died. According to the 2nd century AD Greek writer Pausanias, "the greatest of his achievements" was the defeat of the "Gauls". Pausanias was referring to the Galatians, immigrant Celts from Thrace, who had settled in Galatia in central Asia Minor, whom the Romans and Greeks called Gauls, associating them with the Celts of what is now France and northern Italy. Since the time of Philetaerus, the first Attalid ruler, the Galatians had posed a problem for Pergamon, indeed for all of Asia Minor, by exacting tributes to avoid war or other repercussions. Eumenes I had, along with other rulers, dealt with the Galatians by paying these tributes. Attalus however refused being the first such ruler to do so; as a consequence, the Galatians set out to attack Pergamon. Attalus met them near the sources of the river Caïcus and won a decisive victory, after which, following the example of Antiochus I, Attalus took the name of Soter, which means "savior", claimed the title of king.
The victory brought Attalus legendary fame. A story arose, related by Pausanias, of an oracle who had foretold these events a generation earlier: Then verily, having crossed the narrow strait of the Hellespont, The devastating host of the Gauls shall pipe. For right soon the son of Cronos Shall raise a helper, the dear son of a bull reared by Zeus Who on all the Gauls shall bring a day of destruction. Pausanias adds that by "son of a bull" the oracle "meant Attalus, king of Pergamon, styled bull-horned". On the acropolis of Pergamon was erected a triumphal monument, which included the famous sculpture the Dying Gaul, commemorating this battle. Several years after the first victory over the Gauls, Pergamon was again attacked by the Gauls together with their ally Antiochus Hierax, the younger brother of Seleucus II Callinicus, ruler of Seleucid Asia Minor from his capital at Sardis. Attalus defeated the Gauls and Antiochus at the battle of Aphrodisium and again at a second battle in the east. Subsequent battles were fought and won against Antiochus alone: in Hellespontine Phrygia, where Antiochus was seeking refuge with his father-in law, Ziaelas the king of Bithynia.
As a result of these victories, Attalus gained control over all of Seleucid Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains. He was able to hold on to these gains in the face of repeated attempts by Seleucus III Ceraunus, eldest son and successor of Seleucus II, to recover the lost territory, culminating in Seleucus III himself crossing the Taurus, only to be assassinated by members of his army in 223 BC. Achaeus, who had accompanied Seleucus III, assumed control of the army, he was offered and refused the kingship in favor of Seleucus III's younger brother Antiochus III the Great, who made Achaeus governor of Seleucid Asia Minor north of the Taurus
Thrace
Thrace is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split between Bulgaria and Turkey, bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south and the Black Sea to the east. It comprises northeastern Greece and the European part of Turkey; the word Thrace was established by the Greeks for referring to the Thracian tribes, from ancient Greek Thrake, descending from Thrāix. It referred to the Thracians, an ancient Indo-European people inhabiting Southeast Europe; the name Europe first referred to Thrace proper, prior to the term vastly extending to refer to its modern concept. The region could have been named after the principal river there, Hebros from the Indo-European arg "white river", According to an alternative theory, Hebros means "goat" in Thracian. In Turkey, it is referred to as Rumeli, Land of the Romans, owing to this region being the last part of the Eastern Roman Empire, conquered by the Ottoman Empire. In terms of ancient Greek mythology the name appears to derive from the heroine and sorceress Thrace, the daughter of Oceanus and Parthenope, sister of Europa.
The historical boundaries of Thrace have varied. The ancient Greeks employed the term "Thrace" to refer to all of the territory which lay north of Thessaly inhabited by the Thracians, a region which "had no definite boundaries" and to which other regions were added. In one ancient Greek source, the Earth is divided into "Asia, Libya and Thracia"; as the Greeks gained knowledge of world geography, "Thrace" came to designate the area bordered by the Danube on the north, by the Euxine Sea on the east, by northern Macedonia in the south and by Illyria to the west. This coincided with the Thracian Odrysian kingdom, whose borders varied over time. After the Macedonian conquest, this region's former border with Macedonia was shifted from the Struma River to the Mesta River; this usage lasted until the Roman conquest. Henceforth, Thrace referred only to the tract of land covering the same extent of space as the modern geographical region. In its early period, the Roman province of Thrace was of this extent, but after the administrative reforms of the late 3rd century, Thracia's much reduced territory became the six small provinces which constituted the Diocese of Thrace.
The medieval Byzantine theme of Thrace contained only. The largest cities of Thrace are: Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Komotini, Xanthi, Istanbul, Çorlu, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ. Most of the Bulgarian and Greek population are Orthodox Christians, while most of the Turkish inhabitants of Thrace are Sunni Muslims. Ancient Greek mythology provides the Thracians with a mythical ancestor Thrax, the son of the war-god Ares, said to reside in Thrace; the Thracians appear in Homer's Iliad as Trojan allies, led by Peiros. In the Iliad, another Thracian king, makes an appearance. Cisseus, father-in-law to the Trojan elder Antenor, is given as a Thracian king. Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, stretched from the River Axios in the west to the Hellespont and Black Sea in the east; the Catalogue of Ships mentions three separate contingents from Thrace: Thracians led by Acamas and Peiros, from Aenus. Ancient Thrace was home to numerous other tribes, such as the Edones, Bisaltae and Bistones in addition to the tribe that Homer calls the “Thracians”.
Greek mythology is replete with Thracian kings, including Diomedes, Lycurgus, Tegyrius, Polymnestor and Oeagrus. Thrace is mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses, in the episode of Philomela and Tereus: Tereus, the King of Thrace, lusts after his sister-in-law, Philomela, he kidnaps her, holds her captive, rapes her, cuts out her tongue. Philomela manages to get free, however, she and her sister, plot to get revenge, by killing her son Itys and serving him to his father for dinner. At the end of the myth, all three turn into birds – Procne into a swallow, Philomela into a nightingale, Tereus into a hoopoe; the indigenous population of Thrace was a people called the Thracians, divided into numerous tribal groups. The region was controlled by the Persian Empire at its greatest extent, Thracian soldiers were known to be used in the Persian armies. On, Thracian troops were known to accompany neighboring ruler Alexander the Great when he crossed the Hellespont which abuts Thrace, during the invasion of the Persian Empire itself.
The Thracians did not describe themselves by name. Divided into separate tribes, the Thracians did not form any lasting political organizations until the founding of the Odrysian state in the 4th century BC. Like Illyrians, the locally ruled Thracian tribes of the mountainous regions maintained a warrior tradition, while the tribes based in the plains were purportedly more peaceable. Discovered funeral mounds in Bulgaria suggest that Thracian kings did rule regions of Thrace with distinct Thracian national identity. During this period, a subculture of celibate ascetics called the Ctistae lived in Thrace, where they served as philosophers and prophets. Sections of Thrace in the south star
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Seleucid Dynasty". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.