Conclusion

Summary

The history of Antioch is that of a Greek polis, founded on non-Greek soil, which absorbed much from its new environment. It was as a polis that Antioch played its destined role, and it was through the various stages of its development as a city – Hellenistic, East Roman, Byzantine, pagan, and then Christian – that Antioch achieved its characteristic stamp and made its own special contribution to the history of civilization.

—Glanville Downey¹

At the end of the introduction to his seminal history of Antioch, Glanville Downey recites the city’s noteworthy attributes.² It was a cultural center for Greek civilization, even though a diverse population inhabited its walls. It was a center of political power and administration for the Seleucids and the Romans and rival to any of the other great cities of the Mediterranean. It served as a military center for campaigns, especially those directed further east. It acted as an ecclesiastical center for the Christian Church. It was strategically located along commercial routes.