Editing Antioch (section)

===Roman rule before Constantine===
[[File:Ancient Roman road of Tall Aqibrin.jpg|thumb|250px|Ancient [[Roman road]] located in [[Syria]] which connected Antioch and [[Chalcis, Syria|Chalcis]].]]
[[File:Argenteus-Constantius I-antioch RIC 033a.jpg|thumb|250px|This [[argenteus]] was struck in the Antioch mint, under [[Constantius Chlorus]].]]
[[File:Domitian Tetradrachm 1.jpg|alt=Domitian Tetradrachm from Antioch Mint|thumb|250x250px|Rare Domitian Tetradrachm struck in the Antioch Mint. Only 23 known examples. Note the realist portrait, typical of the Antioch Mint.]]
[[File:Amazonomachy Antioch Louvre Ma3457.jpg|thumb|A Greek rider seizes a mounted [[Amazons|Amazonian warrior]] (armed with a double-headed axe) by her [[Phrygian cap]]; [[Roman mosaic]] emblema (marble and limestone), 2nd half of the 4th century AD; from Daphne, a suburb of [[Antioch-on-the-Orontes]] (now [[Antakya]] in [[Turkey]])]]
The Roman emperors favored the city from the first moments, seeing it as a more suitable capital for the eastern part of the empire than Alexandria could be, because of the isolated position of Egypt. To a certain extent they tried to make it an eastern Rome. [[Julius Caesar]] visited it in 47&nbsp;BC, and confirmed its freedom. A great temple to [[Jupiter Capitolinus]] rose on Silpius, probably at the insistence of [[Augustus|Octavian]], whose cause the city had espoused. A [[Forum (Roman)|forum]] of Roman type was laid out. [[Tiberius]] built two long [[colonnade]]s on the south towards Silpius.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}}

[[Strabo]], writing in the reign of [[Augustus]] and the first years of Tiberius, states that Antioch is not much smaller than Seleucia and Alexandria; Alexandria had been said by [[Diodorus Siculus]] in the mid-first century BC to have 300,000 free inhabitants, which would mean that Antioch was about this size in Strabo's time.<ref name="AncientAntiochPop"/>

[[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] and Tiberius enlarged the theatre, and [[Trajan]] finished their work. [[Antoninus Pius]] paved the great east to west artery with granite. [[Circus of Antioch|A circus]], other colonnades and great numbers of baths were built, and new [[aqueduct (Roman)|aqueducts]] to supply them bore the names of Caesars, the finest being the work of [[Hadrian]]. The Roman client, King Herod (most likely the great builder [[Herod the Great]]), erected a long ''[[stoa]]'' on the east, and [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa]] ({{circa|63}}–12&nbsp;BC) encouraged the growth of a new suburb south of this.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}}<!---whatever Herod needs linking (my strong guess is [[Herod the Great]], what other Herod had this power?, also the Agrippa time period is right)--->

One of the most famous Roman additions to the city was its [[hippodrome]], the '''Circus of Antioch'''. This [[chariot racing]] venue was probably built in the reign of Augustus, when the city had more than half a million inhabitants; it was modelled on the [[Circus Maximus]] in [[Rome]] and other [[circus (building)|circus buildings]] throughout the empire. Measuring more than {{convert|490|m|abbr=off}} in length and {{convert|30|m|abbr=off}} of width,<ref name="Humphrey1986">{{cite book|first=John|last=Humphrey|title=Roman Circuses: Arenas for Charioteers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=couetXBQO9AC&pg=PA446|access-date=25 August 2012|year=1986|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04921-5|pages=446–}}</ref> the Circus could house up to 80,000 spectators.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} The most important building though was the '''Imperial Palace'''.<ref name="Antiochepedia" /> It housed the roman emperor on occasion and may have originally been the seleucid palace. According to [[Libanius]], at his time the palace won in any comparison of its size and was unsurpassed in beauty.<ref name="Antiochepedia">{{cite web |title=Antiochepedia |url=https://libaniusredux.blogspot.com/2008/03/imperial-palace.html |website=Antiochepedia|date=18 March 2008 }}</ref>

[[Zarmanochegas]] (Zarmarus) a monk of the [[Sramana]] tradition of India, according to [[Strabo]] and [[Dio Cassius]], met [[Nicholas of Damascus]] in Antioch around 13&nbsp;AD as part of a Mission to [[Augustus]].<ref>Strabo, 15.7.73 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng2:15.1.73].</ref><ref>[[Dio Cassius]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/54*.html#9 liv, 9].</ref> At Antioch [[Germanicus]] died in 19&nbsp;AD, and his body was burnt in the forum.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}}

An earthquake that shook Antioch in AD 37 caused the emperor [[Caligula]] to send two senators to report on the condition of the city. Another quake followed in the next reign.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}}

[[Titus]] visited Antioch in the spring of 71 AD, where he encountered a crowd demanding the expulsion of Jews from the city.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=Smallwood |first=E. Mary |title=The Diaspora A.D. 66–70 and After |date=1976 |work=The Jews under Roman Rule from Pompey to Diocletian |pages=363–364 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004502048/B9789004502048_s022.xml |access-date=2025-01-04 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004502048_022 |isbn=978-90-04-50204-8}}</ref> He refused, explaining that their country [[First Jewish–Roman War|had been destroyed]], and no other place would accept them.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Andrade |first=Nathanael J. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/syrian-identity-in-the-grecoroman-world/8B66EF5D1CDAF92B8E453B2281E7D88A |title=Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01205-9 |series=Greek Culture in the Roman World |location=Cambridge |pages=115 |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511997808}}</ref> The crowd then sought to revoke the Jews' political privileges by asking Titus to remove the bronze tablets inscribed with their rights, but Titus declined once more.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

In 115 AD, during [[Trajan]]'s travel there during his war against Parthia, the whole site was [[115 Antioch earthquake|convulsed by a huge earthquake]]. The landscape altered, and the emperor himself was forced to take shelter in the circus for several days.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}} He and his successor restored the city, but the population was reduced to less than 400,000 inhabitants and many sections of the city were abandoned.

[[Commodus]] (r. 177–192 AD) had [[Olympic games]] celebrated at Antioch.{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}}

[[File:The Antioch Chalice, first half of 6th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Antioch chalice|Antioch Chalice]], first half of 6th century, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]
In 256 AD, the town was suddenly raided by the [[Sasanian Empire|Persians]] under [[Shapur I]], and many of the people were slain in the theatre. The city was burned and some 100,000 inhabitants were killed while the rest were deported to Shapur's newly built city of [[Gundeshapur]].{{sfn|Rockwell|1911|p=131}} It was recaptured by the Roman emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] the following year.