Editing Aleppo (section)

=== Classical antiquity (Beroea) ===
[[File:TabulaPeutingeriana-berya.jpg|thumb|Beroea as it is shown in [[Tabula Peutingeriana]]]]
[[File:Brad Northern Basilica.jpg|thumb|The ruins of the [[Maronite]] basilica in [[Barad, Syria|Barad]]]]
[[Alexander the Great]] took over the city in 333 BC. [[Seleucus Nicator]] established a [[Hellenic Republic|Hellenic]] settlement in the site between 301 and 286 BC. He called it ''Beroea'' (Βέροια), after [[Veria|Beroea]] in [[Macedon]]; it is sometimes spelled as Beroia. Beroea is mentioned in [[1 Maccabees|1 Macc.]] 9:4.

Northern Syria was the center of gravity of the Hellenistic world and Greek culture in the [[Seleucid Empire]]. As did other Greek cities of the Seleucid kingdom, Beroea probably enjoyed a measure of local autonomy, with a local civic assembly or ''[[Boule (ancient Greece)|boulē]]'' composed of free Hellenes.<ref name="Phenix, Robert R. 2008">Phenix, Robert R. (2008) ''The sermons on Joseph of [[Balai of Qenneshrin]]''</ref>

Beroea remained under Seleucid rule until 88 BC when Syria was conquered by the [[Armenian people|Armenian]] king [[Tigranes the Great]] and Beroea became part of the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Savory |first=R. M. |title=Safavid Persia |date=1977 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-islam/safavid-persia/E475A272F197D060EC9C4696C5E99CEF |work=The Cambridge History of Islam: Volume undefined: The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War |pages=394–429 |editor-last=Lambton |editor-first=Ann K. S. |series=The Cambridge History of Islam |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29135-4 |access-date=2021-11-26 |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=Bernard |editor3-last=Holt |editor3-first=P. M. |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619103559/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-islam/safavid-persia/E475A272F197D060EC9C4696C5E99CEF |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] victory over Tigranes, Syria was handed over to [[Pompey]] in 64 BC, at which time they became a [[Roman Syria|Roman province]]. Rome's presence afforded relative stability in northern Syria for over three centuries. Although the province was administered by a [[legatus|legate]] from Rome, Rome did not impose its administrative organization on the Greek-speaking ruling class or [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] speaking populace.<ref name="Phenix, Robert R. 2008"/>

The Roman era saw an increase in the population of northern Syria that accelerated under the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] well into the 5th century. In [[Late Antiquity]], Beroea was the second largest Syrian city after [[Antioch]], the capital of [[Roman Syria]] and the third largest city in the Roman world. Archaeological evidence indicates a high population density for settlements between Antioch and Beroea right up to the 6th century. This agrarian landscape still holds the remains of large estate houses and churches such as the [[Church of Saint Simeon Stylites]].<ref name="Phenix, Robert R. 2008"/>