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.