ABSTRACT
Perhaps nothing demonstrates more thoroughly the essential shallowness of 'Roman' cities than the rapidity by which their Greek names reverted to the older Semitic ones on the Arab conquest in the seventh century. Philadelphia reverted to Amman, Scythopolis to Beit Shan, Epiphania to Hama, Beroea to Aleppo, Hierapolis to Mambij, to name just a few. Virtually the only places which retained their Greek names were those which were wholly Macedonian in foundation in the first place, such as Antioch (Antakya) or Laodicaea (Lattaqiya). The only other exceptions, surprisingly, were some of the cities of Palestine: N eopolis remained as N ablus instead of reverting to Shechem, Sebaste remained Sabastiya instead of Samaria, for example. Even Jerusalem retained its Roman name of Aelia, as Arabic Iliya, until the Middle Ages. Elsewhere, the Greek names were swept away
Origins
Seleucus' choice fell on Seleucia-ad-Pieria, founded within a year after his victory over Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 Be. It was located on the north Syrian coast, appropriately sited with a view to the Macedonians' all-important life-line to the Mediterranean. In April 300, a month after its foundation, Seleucus founded another city in Seleucia's agricultural hinterland some thirty kilometres upstream on the Orontes, naming it after his father Antiochus (Figure 23, Plate 32). Antioch, however, was not the first Hellenistic foundation in that locality: in 307 Be Antigonus had founded his own city, Antigoneia, several kilometres north of the site of the future Antioch.s Seleucus' foundation of Antioch, therefore, was both to proclaim his victory over and obliterate the memory of his rival. Thus, out of chaos on one hand and spite on the other, Antioch was born.
