brm_1004322 - ANTIOCHIA Demi-follis ou demi-nummus

ANTIOCHIA

(4th century)

Antioch was founded in 300 BC by Seleucus I. It is the capital of the Seleucid kingdom before becoming that of the Roman province of Syria. Syria was annexed by Pompey in 64 BC. Under the Empire, Antioch was one of the most populated cities, with 200,000 to 300,000 inhabitants. A major metropolis of the Roman East, it was also a city threatened by invasions. Parthians then Sassanids threaten or seize the city. It was very early Christianized, like Alexandria. The city, cosmopolitan, is the end point of all the caravans from the East. At the beginning of the 4th century, it successively passed into the hands of Diocletian, Galerius, Maximin II, Licinius I and finally Constantine I..