who is the city attorney of antioch

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Smith previously did work for the city of San Leandro

Thomas Smith has been appointed the first African-American city Attorney in Antioch on Feb.5, 2019. (Judith Prieve/Staff)

What is the name of the settlement in Antioch?

The settlement called Meroe pre-dated Antioch. A shrine of the Semitic goddess Anat, called by Herodotus the " Persian Artemis ", was located here. This site was included in the eastern suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur of Mount Silpius named Io, or Iopolis. This name was always adduced as evidence by Antiochenes ( e.g. Libanius) anxious to affiliate themselves to the Attic Ionians —an eagerness which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the city's coins. Io may have been a small early colony of trading Greeks ( Javan ). John Malalas also mentions an archaic village, Bottia, in the plain by the river.

What was the importance of Antioch?

Antioch was founded near the end of the fourth century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great 's generals. The city's geographical, military, and economic location benefited its occupants , particularly such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, and the Royal Road. It eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East. The city was the capital of the Seleucid Empire until 63 BC, when the Romans took control, making it the seat of the governor of the province of Syria. From the early fourth century, the city was the seat of the Count of the Orient, head of the regional administration of sixteen provinces. It was also the main center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Antioch was one of the most important cities in the eastern Mediterranean half of the Roman Empire. It covered almost 1,100 acres (4.5 km 2) within the walls of which one quarter was mountain, leaving 750 acres (3.0 km 2) about one-fifth the area of Rome within the Aurelian Walls.

Why is Antioch called Golden?

The epithet "Golden" suggests that the external appearance of Antioch was impressive, but the city needed constant restoration owing to the seismic disturbances to which the district has always been subjected. The first great earthquake in recorded history was related by the native chronicler John Malalas.

When was Antioch conquered?

Byzantine recapture of Antioch in 969. The ramparts of Antioch climbing Mons Silpius during the Crusades (lower left on the map, above left) In 637, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, Antioch was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate during the Battle of the Iron Bridge.

Where is Antioch buried?

Antioch on the Orontes ( / ˈænti.ɒk /; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou; also Syrian Antioch) was an ancient Greek city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the current city of Antakya, Turkey, to which the ancient city lends its name.

How many people lived in Antioch in the Middle Ages?

The city may have had up to 250,000 people during Augustan times, but it declined to relative insignificance during the Middle Ages because of warfare, repeated earthquakes, and a change in trade routes, which no longer passed through Antioch from the far east following the Mongol invasions and conquests .

What was the emperor's hope for Antioch?

When the emperor Julian visited in 362 on a detour to Persia, he had high hopes for Antioch, regarding it as a rival to the imperial capital of Constantinople. Antioch had a mixed pagan and Christian population, which Ammianus Marcellinus implies lived quite harmoniously together. However Julian's visit began ominously as it coincided with a lament for Adonis, the doomed lover of Aphrodite. Thus, Ammianus wrote, the emperor and his soldiers entered the city not to the sound of cheers but to wailing and screaming.