Ancient Syria
Ancient Syria, a region characterized by its fertile land between the eastern Mediterranean and the northern Arabian desert, has a rich history marked by the influence of various great powers. Initially, it was home to significant independent local states like the Phoenician cities of Byblus, Tyre, and Sidon. In 539 BC, Syria became a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, referred to as "Beyond the River." The conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC led to a division of the territory between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires, establishing cities like Antioch. Over the centuries, Syria fluctuated between periods of autonomy and foreign dominance, including notable conflicts with the Romans, who eventually made it a province around 64/63 BC. The region thrived culturally and economically, showcasing luxurious cities and a vibrant trade network. However, Syria's stability was challenged by revolts and invasions, particularly during the Sassanian Persian incursions. Despite these challenges, figures like Odenathus of Palmyra emerged, asserting local authority until the eventual Roman reconquest. Ancient Syria's diverse history reflects the interplay of culture, power, and resistance that shaped its legacy.
Subject Terms
Ancient Syria
In ancient times—although definitions fluctuated—this was the designation of the whole fertile strip between the eastern Mediterranean coast and the desert of northern Arabia (with which the borders of the modern state of Syria do not coincide)
After an important previous history of many millennia, involving dependence on successive great powers—punctuated by the rise, from time to time, of independent local states (especially the Phoenician cities [Byblus, Tyre, Sidon] and Damascus), and the presence in the early first millennium BC of Greek trading-stations (Al Mina, Posidium [Ras-el-Bassit])—Syria became a satrapy of the Achaemenid (Persian) empire c 539 BC, under the name of `Beyond the River’ (that is to say the Euphrates, in distinction from `Syria Between the Rivers,’ which was Mesopotamia; the terms `Syria’ and `Assyria’ are sometimes confused).
Alexander the Great conquered the country from the Persians in 332. After his death, following the battle of Ipsus (301), it was partitioned between Seleucus I Nicator in the north (Syria Seleucis) and Ptolemy I Soter in the south (Coele Syria, `Hollow’ Syria, a term properly applied to the territory between Mounts Libanus [Lebanon] and Anti-Libanus, but widely extended), with the boundary between these two regions on the river Eleutherus (Nahr el-Kelb). The Seleucids founded many cities and military colonies, including their capital Antioch by Daphne (Antakya), whereas the Ptolemies, while respecting existing local autonomies, imported the bureaucratic arrangements of Egypt.
This division remained substantially unchanged for a century, in spite of three wars. In 217 Antiochus III the Great was decisively defeated by Ptolemy IV Philopator at Raphia (Rafah), but in 200 he won a victory over Ptolemy V Epiphanes at Panium (Panias, Banyas) and annexed his Syrian possessions. Later his position as a Mediterranean leader was undermined by defeat in a war against the Romans (190–188). Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–163) stimulated Hellenization and civic autonomy; but his attempt to Hellenize Judaea caused an insurrection followed by secession.
After his death, Seleucid Syria disintegrated further, as not only Judaea, but also Ituraea, Nabataean Arabia, and Commagene increasingly asserted their independence. In 83 Tigranes I of Armenia occupied the country until his defeat by Pompey the Great, who made Syria into a Roman province with supervisory powers over city-states and client kingdoms (64/63). The Parthians invaded Syria in 40, but were repelled by Antony's general Publius Ventidius in the two following years. Antony gave Cleopatra VII large parts of the country, which returned, however, to Roman control after Antony's defeat by Octavian (the future Augustus) in 31/30. During the early Principate the province stretched northeast to the upper Euphrates, included Smooth Cilicia of the Plain (Pedias, Campestris) until AD 73, and gradually absorbed the various local client states. Trajan's father Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, during his governorship (73/4–76/77), played a leading part in reorganizing the province. Its cities, led by Antioch, were magnificent, luxurious and cultured, deriving great prosperity from natural products, local industries and caravan trading.
In 175 the Roman governor Avidius Cassius led a three-month revolt against Marcus Aurelius, whom he may have mistakenly believed to be dead. After suppressing Pescennius Niger, another governor who had made a bid for the purple (193–95), Septimius Severus divided the province into two, Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice. His influential wife, Julia Domna, was a Syrian, and in 218 her sister Julia Maesa led a successful revolt against Macrinus, setting her grandson Elagabalus, high priest of Emesa (Homs), on the throne; he was succeeded by his cousin Severus Alexander (222–35). Jotapianus, related to the former royal house of Commagene, rebelled against Philip the Arab in 248/9. During a chaotic period of Sassanian Persian invasions the Emesan high priest Uranius Antoninus asserted his freedom from Valerian's control (253/4). From 260 to 267 Odenathus, a nobleman of Palmyra, was entrusted by Gallienus with a virtually independent command in the eastern provinces. His widow Zenobia and her son Vaballathus Athenodorus assumed the purple c 270; but they were crushed by Aurelian three years later.