AXTIOCH THE GLORIOUS 



91 



walk in summer and a dry and sheltered 

 way during the winter storms. Between 

 the inner rows of columns was a broad 

 highway for chariots and horsemen. It 

 has been estimated that if these columns 

 were the same distance from each other 

 as those still standing in the street of 

 Palmyra, there would have been 6,800 

 in all. 



This street was lined with magnificent 

 public buildings, temples, shrines, and 

 palaces of the nobles. 



Imagine, then, this grand highway. 

 with its long vista of granite, marble, and 

 porphyry columns, its covered promenade 

 rich in statues and carvings, its marble 

 pavements, its beautiful Grecian archi- 

 tecture, and. terminating all, the golden 

 decorations of the western gate blazing 

 in the light of the setting sun. 



A STREET OF GAY THRONGS AND BRILLIANT 

 PROCESSIONS 



Fill this street with its busy throngs of 

 men and women : Here a religious pro- 

 cession, the priests clad in the many- 

 colored vestments of their office, the 

 animal for sacrifice decked with wreaths 

 and garlands of flowers, and the company 

 of singers chanting the solemn proces- 

 sional ; there a gay throng of revelers in 

 wedding procession, escorting the bridal 

 pair to the beautiful Xymphaeum. near 

 the river side, a great circular, dome- 

 covered building, rich in columns and 

 statues, and with cool, plashing foun- 

 tains — an institution with special accom- 

 modations for the celebration of nuptials ; 

 or, again, down the great street there 

 might come some victorious general, re- 

 turning in triumph from his foreign cam- 

 paign — slaves, soldiers, sovereigns, all 

 following his triumphal car. Thus came 

 the great Caesar himself, while the city 

 resounded again and again to cries of 

 loyalty and adoration. 



Up and down this street have passed 

 not only the stately religious procession, 

 the happy bridal party, the triumphant 

 conqueror, and the magnificent array of 

 the glorious king, but also there has 

 rushed the mob, wild with fury and 

 drunk with the passion of plunder and 

 massacre. O great street of Antioch. 

 what scenes of splendor, pleasure, and 

 of horror have been enacted on those 

 marble pavements from gate to gate, and 



have woven their web in and out among 

 that forest of columns ! 



-Many other streets crossed the great 

 street, always at right angles, and at 

 every intersectibn arches were erected, 

 called "tetrapyli." 



About the middle of the city another 

 broad street, also colonnaded, extended 

 from the river to the mountain. In this 

 street, near the river, was located the 

 Xymphaeum, mentioned previously, and 

 where it crossed the great street was 

 created the "Omphalos." 



This altar was the center of the city 

 and was devised in imitation of that at 

 Delphi, which had been erected by the 

 ancient Greeks, supposing Delphi to be 

 the center of the world. Here was a 

 sitting statue of Apollo, the patron god 

 of the Seleucids. 



Outside the eastern gate for a distance 

 of two miles King Herod of the Jews 

 built a continuation of the great street.- 



Herod's street also had rows of col- 

 umns and was paved with marble. It 

 traversed the portion of the city known 

 as Herod's Suburb. 



From the western or Daphne Gate, a 

 great highway extended for some six or 

 eight miles through the suburb of Hera- 

 clea to the noted Grove of Daphne. This 

 road skirted the low foothills. At fre- 

 quent intervals there were fountains, and 

 on both sides were the magnificent villas 

 of the nobility of Antioch. 



AXTIOCH HAD ITS GAY WHITE WAY 



"At night the streets were brilliantly 

 illumined by lights rivaling the light of 

 day. This was one of the splendors of 

 the city. The Antiochaeans turned night 

 into day. not looking for security, but 

 pleasure. Night became a part of day. 

 and the most beautiful part. Especially 

 were the baths and the approaches thereto 

 illumined." From this description one 

 might imagine himself reading of our 

 twentieth century Gay White Way, with 

 its myriad electric lights. 



An abundance of splendid water con- 

 tributed to the joy and pleasures of the 

 Seleucid capital. Xot only was there 

 the river Orontes, but great aqueducts 

 brought a copious supply of clear, pure 

 water from the mountains. Two large 

 aqueducts entered the city from the east 



