1 Antioch was founded about 300 BC by Seleukos I Nikator, the founder of the Seleukid Dynasty, and it became the principal capital of the Seleukid Empire. The city was named after a family name Antiochos, passed from his father to his son (Antiochos I Soter). There were a number of other cities by the same name and this Antioch was known as Antioch-on-the-Orontes (i.e. the Orontes River, along which it was located).

2 Le Rider, Antioche de Syrie sous les Séleucides, p. 223

3 Antioch on the Persian Gulf (also known as Antioch on the Erythrean Sea or as Antioch in Charakene) was allegedly founded by Alexander the Great under the name of Alexandria and later, having been destroyed by floods, was refunded and renamed presumably by Antiochos IV. The opening of a mint here by Antiochos IV may be explained as a measure intended to revive and stimulate trade along the important sea route between India and the district at the mouth of the great Mesopotamian rivers. The Seleukid mint was in operation from Antiochos IV to Demetrios II’s first reign. (Mørkholm, The Seleucid Mint at Antiochia on the Persian Gulf, p. 44; Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 686 - Antiocheia-on-the-Erythraian-See)

The city was located probably between the mouths of the Tigris and Eulaeus (Karun River) near the Persian Gulf, probably south of modern Basra. It is best known under its later name, Charax Spasinou (the name means “Palisade of Hyspaosines” or “Rampart of Hyspaosines”; alternative spelling Charax Spasinu or Charax Pasinu or Charax Spasini), which was given to it by Hyspaosines (alternative spelling Spasines or Pasines), the son of a local Arab ruler named Sagdodonacus, during the 120’s BC. It become the capital of the small kingdom of Characene, from which the kingdom took its name. It was a major commercial site in the Parthian and later periods. (Hopkins, Parthian Mints - Charax (Charax Spasini); Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography - Charax, Charax Spasinu, Eulaeus)

A lot of our knowledge about this city is based on Pliny the Elder (The Natural History, 6.31): Charax is a city situate at the furthest extremity of the Arabian Gulf, at which begins the more prominent portion of Arabia Felix: it is built on an artificial elevation, having the Tigris on the right, and the Eulaus on the left, and lies on a piece of ground three miles in extent, just between the confluence of those streams. It was first founded by Alexander the Great, with colonists from the royal city of Durine, which was then destroyed, and such of his soldiers as were invalided and left behind. By his order it was to be called Alexandria, and a borough called Pella, from his native place, was to be peopled solely by Macedonians; the city, however, was destroyed by inundations of the rivers. Antiochus, the fifth king of Syria, afterwards rebuilt this place and called it by his own name; and on its being again destroyed, Pasines, the son of Saggonadacus, and king of the neighbouring Arabians, whom Juba has incorrectly described as a satrap of king Antiochus, restored it, and raised embankments for its protection, calling it after himself. These embankments extended in length a distance of nearly three miles, in breadth a little less. It stood at first at a distance of ten stadia from the shore, and even had a harbour of its own. But according to Juba, it is fifty miles from the sea; and at the present day, the ambassadors from Arabia, and our own merchants who have visited the place, say that it stands at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from the sea-shore. Indeed, in no part of the world have alluvial deposits been formed more rapidly by the rivers, and to a greater extent than here; and it is only a matter of surprise that the tides, which run to a considerable distance beyond this city, do not carry them back again. At this place was born Dionysius, the most recent author of a description of the world; he was sent by the late emperor Augustus to gather all necessary information in the East, when his eldest son was about to set out for Armenia to take the command against the Parthians and Arabians.

4 Mørkholm, Seleucid Mint, p. 42

5 The omphalos (“navel” in Greek) was a sacred stone at Delphi. It was supposed to mark the center of the earth. Similar stones were erected in several areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.16.3: What is called the Omphalus by the Delphians is made of white marble, and is said by the Delphians to be the center of all the earth.

6 Houghton, Lorber and Hoover, SC II, Vol. 1, p. 68

7Tainia was a light fabric ribbon or band tied around the head or body.

8 The city was one of the four cities of the Tetrapolis of Seleukis (Seleukeia in Pieria, Antioch, Apameia and Laodikeia). It was founded by Seleukos I and named after his mother.

Strabo, Geography, 16.2.4: Seleucis is the best of the above-mentioned portions of Syria. It is called and is a Tetrapolis, and derives its name from the four distinguished cities which it contains; for there are more than four cities, but the four largest are Antioch Epidaphne (Antioch near Daphne. i.e. Antioch on the Orontes), Seleuceia in Pieria (Seleukeia in Pieria), Apameia (Apameia on the Axios), and Laodiceia (Laodikeia by the Sea). They were called Sisters from the concord which existed between them. They were founded by Seleucus Nicator (Seleukos I). The largest bore the name of his father (Antioch), and the strongest his own (Seleukeia). Of the others, Apameia had its name from his wife Apama, and Laodiceia from his mother (Laodike).

Strabo, Geography, 16.2.9: Then follows Laodiceia (Laodikeia by the Sea), situated on the sea; it is a very well-built city, with a good harbour; the territory, besides its fertility in other respects, abounds with wine, of which the greatest part is exported to Alexandreia. The whole mountain overhanging the city is planted almost to its summit with vines. The summit of the mountain is at a great distance from Laodiceia, sloping gently and by degrees upwards from the city; but it rises perpendicularly over Apameia (Apameia on the Axios).

9 Houghton, Lorber and Hoover, SC II, Vol. 1, p. 75

10 According to Houghton, Lorber and Hoover, SC II, Vol. 1, p. 93, these coins and related issues (SC II, 1483-1486) were perhaps the products of a second workshop at Ake-Ptolemais, but more likely this series was issued by a different mint in southern Koile Syria (aspects of the fabric recall the practice of Askalon).

For information about Ake-Ptolemais, see footnote 16.

11 Nisibis was the chief town of the district called Mygdonia in northern Mesopotamia (now Nusaybin, Mardin Province, southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border). Probably under Antiochus IV, the city temporarily received the dynastic name of Antioch in Mygdonia. Nisibis stood by the side of the river Mygdonius, astride important routes both from the east to west (from Arbela or Seleukeia on the Tigris to Edessa or Harran) and from the north to south (from Armenia to the Mesopotamian plain). Russell, Nisibis as the background to the Life of Ephrem the Syrian, paragraph 12, mentions Pigulevskaja’s hypothesis (N. Pigulevskaja, Les villes de l’état Iranien aux époques Parthe et Sassanide, Contribution à l’histoire sociale de la basse antiquité. Paris, Mouton & Co, 1963; Russell refers to p. 51) that the Greek name for the region or valley in which Nisibis lies, “Mygdonia”, comes from the Syriac word magda’ = “fruit”, which suggests very good fertility of the area. (Russell, Nisibis as the background to the Life of Ephrem the Syrian; Head, Historia Numorum, A Manual of Greek Numismatics, Nisibis)

12 One one of the oldest and most important Phoenician cities.

13 The city was founded in 312 BC by Seleukos I Nikator at the confluence of the Tigris River and a major canal from the Euphrates. Seleukeia on the Tigris was one of the great Hellenistic cities and a very important trading centre.

Appian, Syriake 58, tolds the following legend about how the city was established: ... They say, also, that when the Magians were ordered to indicate the propitious day and hour for beginning the foundations of Seleucia-on-the-Tigris they falsified as to the hour because they did not want to have such a stronghold built against themselves. While the king (Seleukos I Nikator) was waiting in his tent for the appointed hour, and the army, in readiness to begin the work, stood quietly till Seleucus should give the signal, suddenly, at the true hour of destiny, they seemed to hear a voice ordering them on. So they sprang to their work with such alacrity that the heralds who tried to stop them were not able to do so. When the work was brought to an end Seleucus, being troubled in his mind, again made inquiry of the Magians concerning his city, and they, having first secured a promise of impunity, replied, “That which is fated, o king, whether it be for better or worse, neither man nor city can change, for there is a fate for cities as well as for men. It pleases the gods that this city shall endure for ages, because it was begun on the hour on which it was begun. We feared lest it should be a stronghold against ourselves, and falsified the appointed time. Destiny is stronger than crafty Magians or an unsuspecting king. For that reason the deity announced the more propitious hour to the army. It is permitted you to know these things so surely that you need not suspect us of deception still, for you were presiding over the army yourself, as king, and you had yourself ordered them to wait; but the army, ever obedient to you in facing danger and toil, could not now be restrained, even when you gave them the order to stop, but sprang to their work, not a part of them merely, but all together, and their officers with them, thinking that the order had been given. In fact it had been given. That was the reason why not even you could hold them back. What can be stronger in human affairs than a king, unless it be a god, who overcame your intention and supplanted us in giving you directions about the city; for the god is in hostility to us and to all the people round about? What can our resources avail hereafter with a more powerful race settled along side of us? This city of yours has had a fortunate beginning, it will be great and enduring. We beg that you will confirm your pardon of our fault which we committed from fear of the loss of our own prosperity.” The king was pleased with what the Magians said and pardoned them. This is what I have heard about Seleucia.

14 A type of headdress recorded as either tall and crownlike and associated with Hera, or shorter and associated with priestesses or Demeter figures. In archaic art, all great goddesses may wear the polos, however.

15 An ancient city in Cilicia. According to Strabo (Geography, 14.5.16), it was founded by mythical heroes Amphilochos and Mopsos after their return from the Trojan War. The city is also mentioned by Arrian (Anabasis, 2.5) in connection with Alexander the Great, and by Pausanias (Description of Greece, 1.34.3) in connection with an oracle of Amphilochos. According to 2 Maccabees (4.30-31), Antiochos IV gave Mallos and Tarsos to his mistress, Antiochis. As a result, the inhabitants of both cities revolted and Antiochos IV personally had put down the revolt.

Strabo, Geography, 14.5.16: After the Cydnus River one comes to the Pyramus River, which flows from Cataonia, a river which I have mentioned before. According to Artemidorus, the distance thence to Soli in a straight voyage is five hundred stadia. Near by, also, is Mallus (Mallos), situated on a height, founded by Amphilochus and Mopsus, the latter the son of Apollo and Manto, concerning whom many myths are told. And indeed I, too, have mentioned them in my account of Calchas and of the quarrel between Calchas and Mopsus about their powers of divination. For some writers transfer this quarrel, Sophocles, for example, to Cilicia, which he, following the custom of tragic poets, calls Pamphylia, just as he calls Lycia “Caria” and Troy and Lydia “Phrygia.” And Sophocles, among others, tells us that Calchas died there. But, according to the myth, the contest concerned, not only the power of divination, but also the sovereignty; for they say that Mopsus and Amphilochus went from Troy and founded Mallus, and that Amphilochus then went away to Argos, and, being dissatisfied with affairs there, returned to Mallus, but that, being excluded from a share in the government there, he fought a duel with Mopsus, and that both fell in the duel and were buried in places that were not in sight of one another. And today their tombs are to be seen in the neighborhood of Magarsa near the Pyramus River. This was the birthplace of Crates the grammarian, of whom Panaetius is said to have been a pupil.

Arrian, Anabasis, 2.5: Thence he (Alexander the Great) marched to Mallus (Mallos), where he rendered to Amphilochus the sacrificial honours due to a hero. He also arrested those who were creating a sedition among the citizens, and thus put a stop to it. He remitted the tribute which they were paying to King Darius (Dareios III), because the Mallotes were a colony of the Argives, and he himself claimed to have sprung from Argos, being one of the descendants of Heracles.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.34.3: The Athenians too have an altar to Amphilochus in the city (Oropus, a city between Boeotia and Attica), and there is at Mallus (Mallos) in Cilicia an oracle of his which is the most trustworthy of my day.

2 Maccabees, 4.30-31: While such was the state of affairs, it happened that the people of Tarsus (Tarsos) and of Mallus (Mallos) revolted because their cities had been given as a present to Antiochis, the king’s (Antiochos IV’s) concubine. So the king went hastily to settle the trouble, leaving Andronicus, a man of high rank, to act as his deputy.

16 Ake-Ptolemais (also Akko, Acco, Accho, Acre, Saint-Jean d’Acre) was an important Phoenician port. The name Ake (Akko, Acco) means hot sand. Its history is very old and the city is mentioned in Egyptian texts from the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. It originally belonged to the Phoenicians. When the Israelites came to the land of Canaan, in the 13th century BC, the area of Ake was assigned to the tribe of Asher, but the Israelites were never able to occupy it. Ake afterwards passed into the hands of the Babylonians, and from them to the Persians. After the death of Alexander the Great, it passed to the Ptolemaic Empire. In about 260 BC, its original name was changed to Ptolemais, probably in honor of Ptolemy II. The city was under Seleukid rule from 200 BC, after the battle of Panion (the defeat of Ptolemy V by Antiochos III). From the time of Antiochos IV, it bore the additional name of Antioch. The quasi-municipal coins from the 2nd century BC bear the inscription ‘ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΔΙ’, i.e. “Antioch in Ptolemais” (Antiochos IV probably founded a colony there named after himself). Seleukid royal coins were minted there from Seleukos IV to Antiochos IX (except of Antiochos VII). The city was captured by Alexander Jannaeus in 104/3 BC. See, e.g., Head, Historia Numorum, Ptolemais-Ace; Houghton, CSE, Ake-Ptolemais (p. 77); Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Ace.

17 See also Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer, p. 50 - Laodike (15), for more information about Laodike IV.