Laodicea in Syria


Laodicea was a port city and important colonia of the Roman Empire in ancient Syria, near the modern city of Latakia. It was also called Laodicea in Syria, Laodicea-by-the-Sea or Laodicea ad Mare.
Laodicea was founded in the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, the king and founder of the Seleucid Empire, in honor of his mother, Laodice. Laodicea later became part of the Roman Empire. During the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, it served as the capital of Roman Syria. From 528 to 636 AD, it was the capital of the Byzantine province of Theodorias, until its siege and conquest by the Rashidun Caliphate.

History

Early settlement

The Phoenician city of Ramitha was located in the coastal area where the modern port of Latakia is, known to the Greeks as Leukê Aktê or "white coast".

Hellenistic period

Laodicea got its name when was first founded in the fourth century BC under the rule of the Seleucid Empire: it was named by Seleucus I Nicator in honor of his mother, Laodice.
In 174 BC, an inscription was placed in the city, which has only survived through a Roman-era copy. It records how a family appealed to local authorities for protection when someone wished to place a statue inside their private sanctuary dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis.

Roman period

The Roman Pompey the Great conquered the city from the Armenian king Tigranes the Great along with all of Syria in 64 BCE and later Julius Caesar declared the city "free polis". Some Roman merchants moved to live in the city under Augustus, but the city was always culturally "Greek" influenced.
The Romans made a "Pharum" at the port, that was renowned as one of the best of Ancient Levant; then created a Roman road from southern Anatolia toward Berytus and Damascus, that greatly improved the commerce through the port of Laodicea.
The city enjoyed a huge economic prosperity thanks to the wine produced in the hills around the port and exported to all the empire. The city was famous because of the textile products. Herod, king of Judaea, constructed an aqueduct for the city. Laodicea minted coins from an early Roman date, but the most famous are from Severian times.
A sizable Jewish population lived in Laodicea during the first century AD. During the First Jewish–Roman War, Legio VI Ferrata was stationed in the city, which served as its winter quarters, before being joined to a larger army assembled to quell the rebellion in neighboring Judaea.
In 194 AD, during the reign of Severan dynasty, a third century imperial dynasty of Rome, the emperor Septimius Severus gave the title "Metropolis" to the city, and allowed the Ius Italicum to Laodicea, that was later called a "Roman Colonia". Under Septimius Severus the city was fortified and was made for a few years the capital of Roman Syria: in this period Laodicea grew to be a city of nearly 40,000 inhabitants and had even an hippodrome.

Byzantine period

Christianity was the main religion in the city after Constantine I and there were many bishops of Laodicea who participated in ecumenical councils, mainly during Byzantine times. The heretic Apollinarius was bishop of Laodicea in the 4th century, when the city was fully Christian but with a few remaining Jews.
An earthquake damaged the city in 494 AD and successively Justinian I made Laodicea the capital of the Byzantine province of "Theodorias" in the early sixth century. Laodicea remained its capital for more than a century until the Arab conquest.

Bishops of Laodicea

Saint Paul visited Laodicea and converted the first Christians in the city. Slowly the bishops of Laodicea grew in importance but were always under the Patriarch of Antioch. The most important bishops were: