tinoos_ (1891); _Antinous, A Romance
of Ancient Rome_, from the German of A. Hausrath, by M. Saftord (New
York, 1882); Ebers, _Der Kaiser_ (1881).

ANTIOCH. There were sixteen cities known to have been founded under this
name by Hellenistic monarchs; and at least twelve others were renamed
Antioch. But by far the most famous and important in the list was
[Greek: Antiocheia e epi Daphnae] (mod. _Antakia_), situated on the left
bank of the Orontes, about 20 m. from the sea and its port, Seleucia of
Pieria (_Suedia_). Founded as a Greek city in 300 B.C. by Seleucus
Nicator, as soon as he had assured his grip upon western Asia by the
victory of Ipsus (301), it was destined to rival Alexandria in Egypt as
the chief city of the nearer East, and to be the cradle of gentile
Christianity. The geographical character of the district north and
north-east of the elbow of Orontes makes it the natural centre of Syria,
so long as that country is held by a western power; and only Asiatic,
and especially Arab, dynasties have neglected it for the oasis of
Damascus. The two easiest routes from the Mediterranean, lying through
the Orontes gorge and the Beilan Pass, converge in the plain of the
Antioch Lake (_Baluk Geut_ or _El Bahr_) and are met there by (1) the
road from the Amanic Gates (Baghche Pass) and western Commagene, which
descends the valley of the Kara Su, (2) the roads from eastern Commagene
and the Euphratean crossings at Samosata (Samsat) and Apamea Zeugma
(Birejik), which descend the valleys of the Afrin and the Kuwaik, and
(3) the road from the Euphratean ford at Thapsacus, which skirts the
fringe of the Syrian steppe. Travellers by all these roads must proceed
south by the single route of the Orontes valley. Alexander is said to
have camped on the site of Antioch, and dedicated an altar to Zeus
Bottiaeus, which lay in the north-west of the future city. But the first
western sovereign practically to recognize the importance of the
district was Antigonus, who began to build a city, Antigonia, on the
Kara Su a few miles north of the situation of Antioch; but, on his
defeat, he left it to serve as a quarry for his rival Seleucus. The
latter is said to have appealed to augury to determine the exact site of
his projected foundation; but less fantastic considerations went far to
settle it. To build south of the river, and on and under the last east
spur of Casius, was to have security against invasion from the north,
and