Culture and Society in Later Roman Antioch

Antioch was the fourth great city of the Roman world, and yet it is often written off as a "lost ancient city." Founded in 300BC by Seleucus I as part of his plan to colonize Syria with Greeks, the city had from its inception been home to Greeks, Macedonians, Syrians, Egyptians and many others. From the early 60s BC, when Syria was established as a Roman province, the physical appearance, culture and institutions of the city underwent a process of Romanization. Antioch became an important religious center with both strong pagan traditions and a large Jewish community, and it was soon home to one of the oldest Christian communities and the seat of a patriarch. This collection of papers brings together a broad range of new research and new material on Antioch in the late Roman period (the 2nd to the 7th centuries AD), from the writings of the orator Libanius and the preacher John Chrysostom to the extensive mosaics found in the city and its suburbs. The authors consider the lively issues of identity and ethnicity in this truly multi-cultural and multi-religious city, the effects of Romanization and Christianization on the city and surrounding region, and the central place of the city in the Roman world.