In 307 B.C., Antigonus I founded a city inland from present-day Antioch, naming it Antigoneia after himself. A year later, Seleucus I Nicator refounded the settlement after defeating Antigonus I and renamed it Antioch in honor of his father, Antiochus. Antioch lies on both banks of the Orontes River, with two additional settlement areas added later. The Greek historian Strabo thus referred to Antioch as a “Tetrapolis,” meaning a four-city complex. In 83 B.C., it was captured by the Armenian king Tigranes, and in 64 B.C., Pompey conquered it. From then on, Antioch was part of the Roman Empire and enjoyed the status of a privileged free city.
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Over the following centuries, Antioch had a tumultuous history. In 115 A.D., a devastating earthquake struck the city while Emperor Trajan was there. In 260 A.D., the Persian king Shapur I briefly took control of Antioch, but it was soon reclaimed by the Romans. After Emperor Constantine recognized the Christian Church in 313 A.D., Antioch became the seat of a metropolitan bishop, later rising to the status of a patriarchate.
In 526 and 528 A.D., further earthquakes destroyed large parts of the city, and in 540 A.D., it was once again taken by the Persians under Khosrow I. The Romans regained control under Emperor Justinian, who rebuilt the city. After subsequent conquests by the Persians in 611 A.D. and recapture by Emperor Heraclius in 628 A.D., Antioch fell to the Arabs in 638 A.D. It was briefly reconquered by Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phokas in 969 A.D., but from 1084 onwards, the Seljuks ruled the city.
During the Crusades, Bohemund of Taranto captured Antioch in 1098, and it remained the capital of the Principality of Antioch until 1268.
The Emergence of the Christian Community
Between 35 and 40 A.D., Hellenistic Christians who had been expelled from Jerusalem founded the first Christian community in Antioch (see Acts 6:1-6, Acts 8:1, Acts 11:19-26).
Barnabas appears to have been the leading figure in this community. The Antiochene community was active in missionary work from the start, initially targeting the large Jewish diaspora in the city. However, it soon expanded beyond the bounds of Judaism to form a community composed of both former pagans and diaspora Jews.
After his calling as an apostle, Paul joined the Antiochene community. Together with Barnabas, they conducted missionary work in Cyprus and Asia Minor (southern Galatia).
In 48 A.D., the so-called Apostolic Council took place in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1-10, Acts 15). Representatives from the Antiochene and Jerusalem churches agreed that faith in Christ and baptism in His name—not circumcision—were sufficient for full membership in the Christian community, which saw itself as the people of God. This allowed the Antiochene church to officially continue its mission to the Gentiles without requiring circumcision. At the same time, early Christianity began to separate from the legal and religious framework of Judaism.
However, conflicts arose within the Antiochene community over the coexistence of Jews and non-Jews. One particularly contentious issue was the question of Jewish dietary laws: To what extent should the entire community, including Gentile Christians, observe the Jewish dietary laws that Jewish Christians felt bound to follow? Should Gentile Christians even adopt Jewish traditions themselves? These questions threatened to divide the community.
Paul took a firm stance against these laws, believing that Gentile Christians should not be bound by Jewish dietary regulations. This conflict eventually led to Paul leaving the city. From then on, Paul no longer served as a missionary for the Antiochene church but acted as an independent apostle.
Peter, however, maintained the connection between Jerusalem and the now more Jewish-Christian-influenced Antioch. The claim that Peter was the first bishop of Antioch, as first asserted by Jerome, is a myth.
- At that time, there were no bishops yet.
- Peter never led the community; the only known leader from this period is Barnabas.
Development of the Antiochene Church
Bishop Ignatius of Antioch, who is traditionally believed to have been martyred in Rome around 112 A.D., wrote several letters to the Antiochene community while being transported to the imperial capital. These letters are an important source for understanding the theology of early second-century Antioch, which shows a strong connection to Pauline traditions.
The Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea records a list of the first bishops of Antioch:
- Euodius
- Ignatius
- Heros
- Cornelius
- Eros
- Theophilus
- Maximus
According to Jerome, Theophilus is the seventh bishop because Jerome begins the list with Peter. However, these lists are largely constructed retrospectively and hold little historical value.
After Ignatius, Theophilus is the next prominent theologian from Antioch, whose writings have been preserved. He died between 180 and 191 A.D., and his three books, Ad Autolycum, are apologetic writings addressed to a fictional figure named Autolycus.
The next historical record of the Antiochene church comes during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius, during which Bishop Babylas of Antioch was martyred. Another notable figure in the church’s history is Paul of Samosata, who served as bishop from 261 to 270 A.D. Although Paul was later condemned as a heretic, no writings of his survive, and thus the accusations against him cannot be fully verified. Paul was likely from Samosata, the capital of the Kingdom of Commagene, and may have belonged to the upper class. Ancient sources claim he came from humble beginnings but later amassed wealth, possibly through his role as a state official.
Paul of Samosata was deposed by two synods but refused to vacate the main church in Antioch. Only after the church leadership appealed to the pagan Emperor Aurelian was Paul finally expelled. These events likely occurred in 272, after Aurelian recaptured Antioch. Queen Zenobia of Palmyra had previously conquered Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor to establish an independent kingdom, and Paul of Samosata was rumored to be one of her advisors. However, it is unclear whether this is true. Either Paul aligned himself with the new ruling power during Palmyra’s occupation of Antioch, or this was a slander to discredit him before Aurelian.
At the turn of the third to the fourth century, Antioch became a significant center of theological scholarship. Antiochene theologians were less speculative than their Alexandrian counterparts or later Nicenes, focusing instead on biblical exegesis. They were notably restrained in their use of allegorical interpretation, as practiced by Origen. A key figure of Antiochene theology is Theodore of Mopsuestia. Likewise, Presbyter Lucian (died 312 during the Diocletian persecution), who worked on revising the Septuagint, is a typical representative of Antiochene theology.
Famous Figures
John Chrysostom (*349 in Antioch; †407 in Constantinople) is a well-known figure from Antioch. He was a close friend of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Before becoming a presbyter in Antioch in 386, John lived an ascetic life in the mountains outside the city. John Chrysostom became a celebrated preacher, with 17 treatises and more than 700 sermons attributed to him. Many of these sermons date from his time in Antioch and are valuable sources on the life of the city, including the relationships between Christians, pagans, and Jews, as well as political issues.
John’s popularity reached the court of Constantinople. In 398, under false pretenses, John was summoned to the imperial capital and, against his will, was appointed bishop of Constantinople. There, John tried to promote his ideals of simple, ascetic clerical life, advocating against luxury and excess, which earned him many enemies. His poor handling of ecclesiastical conflicts eventually led to his deposition in 403 and his exile to Cappadocia, where he died in 407.
Libanius and Julian the Apostate
In the fourth century, Antioch witnessed a pagan reaction against the spread of Christianity. The most notable figure in this movement was Libanius (*314 †393), a native of Antioch from a patrician family. Libanius studied rhetoric and became a successful rhetoric professor, teaching in Athens, Constantinople, Nicomedia, and from 354 onwards, in Antioch. As a representative of pagan religiosity, Libanius firmly opposed Christianity.
Between 362 and 363, Emperor Julian the Apostate stayed in Antioch to prepare for his Persian campaign. Libanius was one of Julian’s closest advisors and friends. It is therefore not surprising that Julian tried to revive many old pagan cults during his time in Antioch.
Post-Chalcedon Developments
After the Council of Chalcedon, monophysite (anti-Chalcedonian) communities began to form in the hinterlands of Antioch. At the same time, monasticism played an important role in the region. Simeon Stylites the Younger settled in the mountains near Antioch and founded a monastery that became a pilgrimage site.