RUM, THE GREEK PEOPLE OF SYRIA AND THE LEVANT

From  the  early  days of history, the Greeks have asserted themselves as one  of   the most adventurous peoples.  Even from before the first millenium  BCE, they  set off from their homeland in modern day Greece, to explore and settle across all of the known world. Over the next centuries, they would leave their cultural  impact throughout the world,  from the coast of Spain up until India. Many of those Greeks that settled foreign lands were lost to history- however, there still exist many communities outside of the modern Greek world that still maintain   their roots and their Greek identity.  One such  case is that of the Rum, the Greek inhabitants of present-day Lebanon and Syria. These distinctly Greek people have been forgotten by the Western world, and their plight  throughout history, and   especially during the Syrian civil war, has gone unnoticed.

A Brief Historical Overview

The history of the Greeks in the Levant begins very early, from the 8th century BCE, when settlers from Euobeia founded present- day  Al-Mina. However, large   scale migration of Greeks into the region did not start until Alexander’s  conquest of  the  Persian empire,  at which  point Syria and the Levant became parts of the  Greek Kingdom of  the Seleucids. Throughout the next centuries, many settlers   from mainland Greece arrived in this region, and  many of  the indigenous  inhabitants were quickly Hellenized and adopted  the Greek culture. By the time of the  Roman conquests, Greek had become the lingua franca of  the region, and Greek was the dominant culture. This was also one of  the first regions to be christianized, with most of  the inhabitants adopting Christianity, and Syria was   one of the core regions of Christianity before the spread of Islam.

Culture and Demographics

It is important to note here the origin of the name Rum. It comes from the days when all of the Greek world was conquered by the Romans. When the Roman Empire was split into a Latin West and Greek East, the Greeks of the Eastern Roman Empire, subsequently termed Byzantine Empire by historians, continued to call themselves Romioi (Ρωμιοί, i.e. Romans).When the Ottomans conquered the  Eastern Roman  Empire, they adopted the word Rum, meaning Roman, to refer   to  all their Christian subjects. In mainland Greece, this characterization   gradually fell out of use  to the characterization Greek, however in the Levant and Syria the term persisted and continues to be used by the Christian Greeks in the area. Most Rum belong to the Greek Orthodox denomination, though in 1724 a   part of them formed the Greek Catholic Melkite denomination. These Christian denominations have only minor differences, and they both use Koine Greek as   their liturgical language, and are baptized with Greek names. This contrasts them to the other Christian people of Syria and the Levant, that is the Roman Catholic Maronites, the Oriental Orthodox Armenians, and the

Syriac Christian Assyrians. The adherence of the Rum to the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic church has preserved their Greek heritage throughout centuries of foreign rule .There is little information on the numbers of the Rum, but an estimation based on statistical data from 2011 gives about 4.3 million Greek Orthodox and 1.5 million Greek Catholic Rum. Of those, 1.3 million live in Syria, 0.8 million live in Lebanon, while the rest have scattered all over the world.

Present Situation

Ever since the start of the Syrian civil war, the Rum, along with the rest of the Christians of Syria, have been  persecuted relentlessly. Operation Antioch, an  independent group of activists who aim to raise awareness on the plight of the Rum, states in an interview on Al Masdar News that the Rum “have undergone a genocide in the hands of islamist terrorists ,funded and supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as Western allies.” In their words, “The continuing war in Syria has destroyed our people. Ever since the  conflict started, we have been characterized as friendly to the regime and infidels by the islamists, and we have been targeted for extermination by terrorist organizations such as FSA, Al-Nusra,   and Daesh. Many Rum villages in Syria have been abandoned by our brothers who are forced to flee, afraid for their lives. 

Our religious leaders have been   abducted  and murdered, our churches desecrated and destroyed. Even the cultural sites of our ancestors, dated to the time of the Greeks, have been targeted for destruction. Those of us with the courage to stay are forced to live in constant fear. Forced to live under inhuman conditions, without food or water, our people are forced to rely on humanitarian support from the government of Syria and International Organizations. Our only refuge is the region of  Wadi  al-Nasara, as  our people are becoming the victim of a coordinated persecution against all   Syrian Rums, Assyrians,  Aramaians, and Armenians. For us, our own existence is at stake.”

According to TheGreek Observer, when these events started, thousands of Greek Christians hurried to the Greek Consulate authorities and applied for the Greek citizenship- however, those applications remained unanswered as the Greek embassy in Damascus had to cease operations in 2012 due to security concerns. The Rum priest, Father  Antonios Malouf, in an event for Syria in Greece  in   2019,  stated in perfectly fluent  Greek:  “The  Christians  in  Syria lived without  discrimination, equal among equals…Unfortunately this spiritual and social development stopped abruptly, because of the war…the Christian population decreased from 22% to just 1%. Christians are refugees in the whole world…Rockets keep falling on the houses of those that stayed and on the schools of their children…They don’t want to leave their homeland. In the beginning of the war they were told  that ships  were waiting for them at  the port  to save them, as   was said  in the destruction of Smyrna. The jihadists attack cities and towns, destroy monuments and cultural sites…An entire village on the border with Lebanon was massacred and the dead bodies were thrown into a well until it was filled. Those that stayed and were beheaded constitute the new martyrs of the Church,  those   that  didn’t  betray  their  faith. 

Everyone talks  about refugees, but who talks of the Christians of Syria?”Those same people that are persecuted  are  not very  different  from modern-day  Greeks. Even though they lost their Greek language in the 16th century, the Rum continue to adhere to Greek Orthodoxy and Greek Catholicism, and use Greek as their liturgical language. Their churches and  monasteries  are Greek, built during the Byzantine times. They are baptized with Greek names. They uphold Greek traditions. And most importantly, they feel Greek. It is important that the rest of the Greeks and the world realize who they are and what they are going through and raise awareness of the  crisis  they are facing, so these ancient  people, that have withstood so many wars and conquests, will not perish.

SOURCE  Ilias MeletopoulosStudent, National Technical University of Athens, Anthony Kriezis, Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

RAQQA ~ A CITY FOUNDED BY SELEUCUS

Raqqa (Arabic: الرقة‎ ar-Raqqah), also called Raqa, Rakka and ar-Raqqah, is a city in Syria located on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about 160 kilometres east of Aleppo. It is located 40 kilometres east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of isil between 2014 and 2017 under abu bakr al-baghdadi. Raqqa is one of largest cities in Syria.

The modern city traces its history to the Hellenistic period, with the foundation of the city of Nikephorion (Ancient Greek: Νικηφόριον, Latinized as Nicephorion or Nicephorium) by the Seleucid King Seleucus I Nicator (reigned 301–281 BCE). His successor, Seleucus II Callinicus (r. 246–225 BCE), enlarged the city and renamed it after himself as Kallinikos (Καλλίνικος, Latinized as Callinicum). Isidore of Charax, in the Parthian Stations, writes that it was a Greek city, founded by Alexander the Great.

In Roman times, it was part of the Roman province of Osrhoene, but it had declined by the 4th century. Rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Leo I (r. 457–474 CE) in 466, it was named Leontopolis (in Greek Λεοντόπολις or "city of Leon") after him, but the name Kallinikos prevailed. The city played an important role in the Byzantine Empire's relation with Sasanid Persia and the wars fought between the two empires. By treaty, the city was recognized as one of the few official cross-border trading posts between the two empires, along with Nisibis and Artaxata.

The town was near the site of a battle in 531 CE between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanid Empire, when the latter tried to invade the Byzantine territories, surprisingly via arid regions in Syria, in order to turn the tide of the Iberian War. The Persians won the battle, but the casualties on both sides were high. In 542 CE, the city was destroyed by the Persian Emperor Khusrau I (r. 531–579), who razed its fortifications and deported its population to Persia, but it was subsequently rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). In 580, during another war with Persia, the future Emperor Maurice scored a victory over the Persians near the city during his retreat from an abortive expedition to capture Ctesiphon.

Source: Wikipedia

THE SELEUCID EMPIRE

The Seleucid Empire was the Persian Kingdom of the Macedonian dynasty of the Seleucids, whose rule began with the collapse of Alexander's empire and faded away between Roman and Parthian growth of power in the 1st century BCE.

The Seleucid Empire began when Seleucos I, one of Alexander the Great's former favorite companions, was given the satrapy of Babylon in the second division of the empire in 321 BCE. He first ruled it briefly until 315 BCE, when he was forced to flee to Egypt under pressure of Antigonos. There he prepared his revenge with the help of Ptolemy, and succeeded to retake Babylon after the battle of Gaza in 305 BCE. He also inherited the Asian part of Antigonos' vast empire after its final fall at the battle of Ipsos in 301 BCE. Having secured the eastern part of Antigonos' kingdom, Seleucos managed to reconquer most of Alexander's empire, defeating Lysimachos and Demetrios. He was, however, murdered in 281 BCE on the eve of his success by the man he supported on the Egyptian throne, Ptolemy Keraunos.

After the death of Seleucos, things became worse for his successors. During the successive reigns of Antiochos I, Antiochos II, Seleucos II and Seleucos III, the empire struggled, due to rebellions of Bythinia, Pergammum, Bactria and Parthia, and the first indecisive Syrian wars against the Ptolemies. Internal struggles began during this time, which continued until the empire's end. The Seleucids also had to fight the Galatians who devastated Anatolia, and also against rebellious elements at all levels.

It is this disorganized and problematic empire which 18- year-old Antiochos III inherited in 223 BCE. Over the next 25 years he subdued most of the rebellious states in a great tour de force: He made his anabasis (difficult retreat) in the east, successfully fighting Parthians and Bactrians, made a profitable treaty with the Indian ruler Sophagasenos and confirmed his superiority on rebellious subjects. He also made an expedition against the Gerrhaeans of the East Arabian coast in 204 BCE and defeated the Ptolemies twice- something which allowed him to take control of the highly valued Koile Syria near 198 BCE.

Regrettably, he also led a war against Rome in the wake of his expansion in Anatolia, and despite the wise advice of the Carthaginian Hannibal Barca, which he decided not to follow, he was defeated at the Battle of Magnesia ad Sipylum in 190 BCE. The consequences of the disastrous peace treaty which followed led the kingdom into ruin, and Antiochos III died in 187 BCE during a campaign in the East.

Antiochus VIII Grypos
Antiochos III's death marked the end of the Seleucid Empire as a great power. The kingdom fell once more into dynastic struggles, and the eastern provinces were gradually lost due to rebellions and Parthian expansion. Much worse was the Roman interference in the Empire, largely influencing the dynastic quarrels and foreign policy, such as in 168 BCE when the Romans forced Antiochos IV to withdraw from the only successful Seleucid campaign in Egypt. The wild intrigues which characterized the last decades of the Seleucid Empire were ended by the invasion of the Armenian king Tigranes II in 83 BCE. Even if after Tigranes some rulers of Syria claimed to be Seleucid kings, they were no more than Roman vassals.

The Seleucid legacy in Asia was strong, because Hellenism was established in Asia during two centuries of Seleucid rule. The method of dating years in Asia, for example, was called the Seleucid Era, beginning at the return of Seleucos I to Babylon in 311 BCE, which was continued to be used as late as the 6th century CE. In fact, the Seleucid legacy lasted throughout Roman, Parthian and Sassanid dominion until the Arabian invasions of the 7th century CE introduced Islam.

SOURCE : Ancient History Encyclopedia

DECAPOLIS ~ HELLENISM IN ANCIENT JUDEA AND PALESTINE

In c.333 BCE, the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great defeated his opponent Darius III Codomannus at Issus. The main consequence of his victory was that all land west of the river Euphrates, already part of a gradually intensifying trade network surrounding the eastern Mediterranean, become increasingly exposed to Greek civilization. However, Hellenism could also meet with resistance. The Maccabaean Revolt in Judaea is the best-known example, although it did not prevent the rise of two Hellenistic dynasties (the Hasmonaeans and the Herodians). The Nabataean Arabs, who lived in the south of modern Jordan, were more efficient. In c.312 BCE, they managed to survive two attacks by Greek armies, and in 64-62, when the Roman general Pompey the Great reorganized the Near East, they managed to stay outside the Roman system: recognized as allies, they retained some independence.

Raphana ( identified with the site of Abila )

Damascus

Yet, west of the Euphrates, the spread of Hellenism was an irreversible process, and the most remarkable form of expression was urbanism. The descendants of Alexander's generals, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, founded many cities.


When Pompey reorganized the Near East and made an end to the Seleucid Empire, he also awarded some kind of independence to a group of Hellenized cities, which was called the Decapolis. They were not as independent as the Nabataeans, but were not a province either, although they had to deal with an official, a prefect, who was responsible to the governor of Syria. The date on the coins of these towns was based on an era that started in 64/63, but in other aspects, they had almost nothing in common: the Decapolis appears not to have been a league of cities with institutions of its own. Urban autonomy was left intact, and the non-demanding nature of its membership can also be deduced from the fact that the number of members varied.


Writing in c. 75 CE, Pliny the Elder offers a list of precisely ten member cities. He visited the land during the Jewish Revolt (66-70), so he knows what he's talking about: 

Next to Judaea is the Decapolis, which is so named after the number of its cities, but not all authorities agree about their names. Most writers, however, agree that Damascus is one of the ten. This town is on the banks of the river Chrysorroös, which is eagerly used to irrigate its meadows; the cities of Philadelphia and Rhaphana are in the direction of Arabia; Scythopolis - which Father Liber (Dionysus) used to call Nysa, after he had buried his nurse on this place - owes, its present name from a Scythian colony that was once established there; Gadara, on the banks of the river Hieromix; Hippo; Dion; Pella, rich with its waters; and finally Galasa and Canatha. 

-Pliny the Elder, Natural History 

Gerasa 

"Galasa" is better known as Gerasa. Other cities that have been reckoned among the Decapolis are Abila and Capitolias. Writing a century later, Ptolemy names no less than eighteen cities.note
Most of these cities were new foundations, others were ancient towns with new names. For example, the capital of the Ammonites was renamed Philadelphia, and although there were many new monuments, it retained older characteristics.

Pella

City of Hippos 

Philadelphia ( modern-day Amman )

 Yet, whatever their origins, the cities shared an important sentimental tie: they were Greek towns, not Jewish or Nabataean. During the Jewish War, they were loyal supporters of Rome. Their Greekness was shown with elaborate foundation myths, like Scythopolis' claim to have been founded by Dionysus. This Greekness, on the other hand, did not exclude the possibility of religious syncretism. Ancient Semitic deities could survive under new names; for instance, yahweh could be renamed Dionysos or Zeus - much to the horror of pious Jews of course.

Scythopolis 

Capitolias 

Canatha 

If there had been any political significance to the lose confederation, it was finally abandoned in 106 CE, when the Roman emperor Trajan annexed Nabataea. The provinces were reorganized, and the towns of the Decapolis were divided: some became part of Judaea, others of Nabataea, still others were added to Syria. Yet, there may have remained shared cultural activities, sentiments, and ties, and the name did not immediately vanish, as we can deduce from the use of the word "Decapolis" by Ptolemy.


SOURCE:  Livius

ATHENA AL-LAT ~ THE GREEK WARRIOR GODDESS OF PALMYRA

The Temple of Al-Lat was an ancient temple located in Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the goddess Al-Lat, who became identified with the  Greek Goddess Athena ,especially in the 2nd century CE. This temple hosted originally a shrine with the goddess Al-Lat, seated between two lions. In the 2nd century CE, the worship of the native goddess blended with the worship of Athena, and a statue of the Greek Goddess was placed in the temple along with the previous one.

The statue of Athena- a fine sample of Greek sculpture. 

Athena had already been one of the most well-known Goddesses of the Greek Pantheon. Her presence in coins minted by Alexander the Great and the Greek leaders who followed after him, signifies the importance of the Warrior Maiden in the Hellenistic world. 
The statue is made from Pentelic marble and it seems to have been imported by Greece- in fact, the technique points to the circle of the famous sculptor Pheidias and it really stands out as a purely Greek work of art. 

Local people were more than comfortable to identify their goddess Al-Lat with the Greek armed warrior Goddess Athena.  Moreover, merchants and travellers who passed through Palmyra have left their testimony of the worship of Athena; numerous Greek inscriptions found in Palmyra refer to the Greek Goddess by name, or by the title of 'The Great Goddess'. An interesting event that points out the importance of Athena Al- Lat is that the Palmyrene emperor Vaballathus, whose name is the Latinized form of the theophoric name Wahballāt ("Gift of Al-Lat"), changed his name to its Greek form- Athenodorus ( 'Gift of Athena' ). 

Another important feature of Athena, which made Her worship popular is the gorgoneion- the face of Medusa which is depicted on the aegis of the Goddess. It was widely used as protection against evil in the Hellenistic times and beyond. Similar statues of Athena have been found in different areas of Syria. 

The temple of Athena Al-Lat in 2004.

The temple of  Athena Al-Lat was closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, in a campaign made by Maternus Cynegius,between 25 May 385 to 19 March 388. The altar of the temple was destroyed and the cult statue of the Goddess was decapitated and had the center of its face crushed. Votive gifts of Roman Bronze coins from c. 364–375 and 376–386 illustrate that the sanctuary was still in use at the time of its destruction. In contrast to other temples in Palmyra, the temple of Al-Lat was not converted to a church, but left to decay.

The Athena Al-Lat appears even in modern currency, such as in this Syrian 5-pound banknote. 

The statue of Athena was restored after its discovery in 1975 and was kept at the Palmyra Museum. However, it was once again  brutally vandalized- this time by members of ISIS, who caused serious damage to Palmyra Museum artifacts and the city of Palmyra itself in 2015. 

ANCIENT GREEK CITIES IN MESOPOTAMIA

 Mesopotamia is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, in modern days roughly corresponding to most of Iraq, Kuwait, the eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish–Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.

The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BCE) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.

The regional toponym Mesopotamia  comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος (meso) "middle" and ποταμός (potamos) "river" and translates to "(Land) between two/the rivers". It is used throughout the Greek Septuagint (c. 250 BCE) to translate the Hebrew and Aramaic equivalent Naharaim. An even earlier Greek usage of the name Mesopotamia is evident from The Anabasis of Alexander, which was written in the late 2nd century CE, but specifically refers to sources from the time of Alexander the Great. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria.
The map above shows cities in Mesopotamia,  based on Ptolemy's coordinates.

SOURCE: Wikipedia