ANTIOCH. 
iM 
cus planted a grove, and in tlie middle of it built a tem¬ 
ple which he confecrated to Apollo and Diana, making the 
whole an afylum. To this place the inhabitants of An¬ 
tioch reforted for their pleafures and divedions ; whereby 
it became at latt fo infamous, that “ to live after the man¬ 
ner of Daphne” was ufed as a proverb to exprefs the mod 
voluptuous and diilblute life. Here Lucius Vents, the 
colleague of M. Aurelius, chofe to take up his relidence, 
inbead of marching againd the Parthians; while his ge¬ 
neral Canius forbad by proclamation any of his foldiers to 
enter or even go near the place. In fliort, fo remarkable 
was Daphne of old, that tire metropolis itfelf was diftin- 
guillied by it, and called Antioch near Daphne. 
Though Antioch continued to be, as Piiny calls it, the 
queen of the Eab, for near 1600 years; yet fcarce any city 
hath undergone fuch calamities, both from the attacks of 
its enemies, and its vifitation by earthquakes. — The firlt 
difader that befel the Antiochians happened about 145 
years before Clirift. Being very much difaffefted to the 
perfon and government of Demetrius their king, they were 
continually railing tumults-and feditions; infonutch that 
he found himfelf at lad obliged to folicit aflidance from 
the.Jews; and was furnifhed by Jonathan, one of the 
Maccabees, with 3000 men; by which reinforcement, be¬ 
lieving himfelf diffidently drong to reduce the mutineers 
by force, he ordered them immediately to deliver up their 
arms. This unexpected order caufed a great uproar in 
the city. The inhabitants ran to arms, and inveded the 
king’s palace, to the number of 120,000, with a defign to 
put him to dfeath. All the Jews hadened to his relief, 
fell upon the rebels, killed 100,000 of them, and fet fire 
to the city. On the dedrudtion of the Syrian empire by 
the Romans, Antioch fubmitted to them as well as the 
other cities of that kingdom, and continued for along time 
under their dominion. About the year 115, in the reign 
of the emperor Trajan, it was almod entirely ruined by 
one of the mod dreadful earthquakes mentioned in hidory. 
Trajan himfelf happened to be there, juft returned from 
an expedition againd the Parthians; fo that the city was 
full of troops, and drangers had come from all quarters, 
either out of .curiodty, or upon bufinefs and embaflies : 
the calamity was therefore felt almod in every province of 
the Roman empire. The earthquake was preceded by 
violent thunder, unufual winds, and a dreadful noife 
under ground. The block was fo terrible, that num¬ 
bers of houfes were overturned, and others tolled to and 
fro like a fhip at fea. Thofe who happened to be in their 
houfes were for the mod part buried under their ruins : 
thofe who were walking in the dreets or in the.Iquares, 
were, by the violence of the (hock, dalhed againd each 
other, and mod of them either killed or maimed. This 
earthquake continued, with fome final 1 intermiffion, for 
many days and nights; fo that vaft numbers perifhed. 
The mod violent diock, according to St. Ignatius, was on 
a Sunday, December 23. By this Trajan was much hurt, 
but efcaped through a window. Dio Cabius fays, that 
mount Lifon, which dood at a finall didance from the ci¬ 
ty, bowed its head and threatened to fall down upon it ; 
that other mountains fell; that new rivers appeared, and 
others that had flowed before forfook their courfe and va- 
nidied. When the earthquake ceafed, a woman was heard 
crying under the ruins ; which being immediately remo¬ 
ved, The was found with a living child in her arms. Search 
was made for others; but none was found alive except 
one child, which continued fucking its dead mother. 
No doubt, Trajan, who was an eye witnefs of this ca¬ 
lamity, contributed largely towards the re-eftablifhment 
of Antioch in its ancient fplendour. Its good fortune, 
however, did not continue long; for in 155, it was almod 
entirely dedroyed by fire ; it was again relieved by Anto¬ 
ninus Pius. In 176 or 177, the Inhabitants having (ided 
With Caliius, the Roman general who had revolted 
from M. Aurelius, that emperor publiflied a fevere edict 
againfi them, deprived them of all their privileges, 
1 npprelled their public affemblies, and took from them 
3 
the fliows and fpeftacles to which they were fa much ad¬ 
dicted : but, his anger being appeafed, he redored them to 
their former fplendour, and even condefcended to vifit 
their city. In 194, having fided with Niger againd Seve- 
vus, the latter again deprived them of their privileges, and 
fubjefted Antioch as a mere village to Laodicea; he howe¬ 
ver pardoned them the next year, at the intreaties of his 
elded ion, then a child. 
When the Roman empire began to decline, Antioch 
became a bone of contention, betw een them and the eadern 
nations ; and accordingly, on the breaking out of a Perfian 
war, it was continually liable to fuft'er. In 242, it was taken 
and plundered by Sapor; and, though he was defeated by 
Gordian, it underwent the fame misfortune in the time of 
Valerian, about 18 years after ; and, on the defeat and cap¬ 
tivity of Valerian, being taken by the Perfian monarch a 
third time, he not only plundered it, but levelled the pub¬ 
lic buildings with the ground. The Perfians, however, 
being foon driven out, the city continued free from any re¬ 
markable calamity, till the divifion of the Roman empire 
by Condantine in 331. It was then afflicted with fo griev¬ 
ous a famine, that a bulhel of wheat was lold for 400 pie¬ 
ces of diver. During this didrefs, Condantine fent to the 
bidiop 30,000 budiels of corn; belides an incredible quan¬ 
tity of all kinds of provifions, to be didributed among the 
eccleliadics, widow's, orphans, &c. In the year 347, Con¬ 
dantine II. caufed an harbour to be made at Scleucia, for 
the conveniency of Antioch. This was effected at an im- 
menfe expence, the mouth of the Orontes being full of 
fands and rocks. When the emperor Julian fet out on his 
expedition againd the Perfians, he made a long day at An¬ 
tioch; the Roman provinces being then afflicted with a 
famine, which raged more violently at Antioch than in 
other places. Under a midaken view of remedying this 
evil, Julian fixed the prices of corn to a certain dandard, 
by which means the famine was dill increafed, the mer¬ 
chants conveying their corn privately to other places, fo that 
this metropolis was reduced to a mod deplorable fituation. 
In 381, in the reign of Theodofius the Great, Antioch was 
again vifited by famine, accompanied with a grievous 
plague. The latter foon ceafed : but, the famine dill 
continuing, the bilhop, Libanius, applied to Icarius, count 
of the Ead, requeding him to relieve the poor, who flock¬ 
ed from all parts to the metropolis, and were«£aily perifh- 
ing in the dreets; but to this Icarius gave no other an- 
fwer, than that they were abhorred and judly punilhed by 
the gods. This inhuman treatment railed great difturb- 
ance.s; which, however, were terminated without blood- 
died. In 3S7, Theodofius finding his exchequer quite 
drained, and being obliged to be at an extraordinary ex¬ 
pence in celebrating the fifth year of the reign of his fon 
Arcadius, and the tenth of his own, an extraordinary tax 
was laid upon the whole empire. Mod of the cities fub¬ 
mitted willingly, but the people of Antioch, complaining 
of it as an unreafonable oppredion, crowded to the forum ; 
and would have torn the governor in pieces, had not the 
guard kept back the enraged multitude till he made his 
efcape. Upon this, they broke fome of the emperor’s ba¬ 
ttles, and dragged others through the city, uttering the 
mod abufive expredions againd him. They were, how¬ 
ever, difperfed by a body of archers, who, by wounding 
only two of the rabble, brack terror into the red. The 
governor proceeded againd the offenders with the utmod 
cruelty ; expofing fome to wild beads in the theatre, and 
burning others alive. Theodofius, on hearing of this tu¬ 
mult, was fo much enraged, that he commanded the city to 
be dedroyed, and the inhabitants to be pat to the fword 
without diftinCtion. O11 this occafion, St. Chyrofodom 
and the hermits, who were very numerous in the neigh¬ 
bourhood, exerted all their eloquence in behalf of the 
unhappy people, and, being joined by Flavianus, they ob¬ 
tained a general pardon, and the city w-as redored to its 
former privileges. 
In the year 458, Antioch was again almod dedroyed by an 
earthquake, which happened on the 14th of September; 
• fcarcely 
