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The excavations here (begun in 1930 and continuing
annually since 1965) have only partially revealed the secrets of the
city, as yet. A casual passer-by would be quite unaware of the extent of
work to date. From the road even the scanty patches of wheat that
battles against the thistles on these chalky slopes is enough to hide
what has been uncovered of a city which used to contain up to 120,000
inhabitants.
Originally known by the name of Pharnake , it was renamed Pella after
Alexander the Great victory at the battle of Issos in 333 B.C., in
memory of his father's village in Macedonia. Several wars later,
following Seleucus's victory over Ipsus in the year 301, the town was
renamed Apamea in 300/299 B.C. after a Persian princess married to
Seleucus . Ever since, the name Apamea has survived the ravages of time
throughout the centuries.
It is interesting to pause a moment to consider the historical origins
of some of the name of Syria's major towns. Antioch owes its name to
Seleucus's father. Laodicea (now Lattakia) is named after his mother,
Apamea after his wife, and finally, Seleucia after himself. Whilst these
names may suggest a cult of the family, they also highlight the desire
to Hellenize the conquered lands.
Apamea has seven kilometers of ramparts around it. The city's
water-tanks were filled by an aqueduct 120 kilometers long. The theatre
- with a facade of 139 meters - is one of the largest known. The
Seleucide kept a reserve of five hundred elephants here, as well as a
breeding stud of thirty thousand mares and three hundred stallions....
A crossroads for the East, Apamea received many distinguished visitors.
Cleopatra came here on her return from a visit to the Euphrates,
accompanying Anthony who was campaigning there against Armenia; Septimius
Severus arrived in 179, when he was legate of the 4th Scythian Legion
and later, in 215, the Emperor Caracalla called here on his way home
from a journey to Egypt. In the 4th century Apamea was still conscious
of a pagan past, of the glory that her school of philosophers had
brought to the city, and that despite the vigor of her bishops who were
well known even in distant Constantinople. somewhat later the city
became a center of Monophysisum, the doctrine denying the duality of the
nature of Christ, which shook the Eastern episcopate to its foundations
and led to the establishment of the Syriac-speaking Jacobite Church.
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