ANTONIA. - A fortress that stood in Jerusalem on the eastern hill, to the north-east of the Temple, at the foot of the rock of Bezetha. Its purpose was to protect the most vulnerable side of the city, the northern side, while the other three sides were protected by natural valleys (the Kidron to the east, Gehenna to the south, and el-Meise to the west).
Originally it was the "Tower of Hananel," existing in the time of Jer. 31, 38 (cf. Neh. 3, 1; 12, 39, and Zech. 14, 10). Later restored by the Hasmonean prince John Hyrcanus I (35-104 BC) (Flavius Josephus, *Antiquitates Judaicae*, XVIII, 4, 3), it was simply called Bira, "fortress" (Aramaized as Birta, and by Flavius Josephus Hellenized as Baris: *Antiquitates Judaicae*, XIII, 11, 2; *Bellum Judaicum*, I, 5, 4, etc.). Herod the Great rebuilt it with extraordinary power and splendor, naming it after his patron Marcus Antonius (*Antiquitates Judaicae*, XV, 2, 4). Its grandeur, already known to us from the description of Flavius Josephus (*Bellum Judaicum*, V, 5, 8), has been confirmed by excavations in that area directed by Fr. Vincent in 1931-32.
In AD 70, Titus captured and destroyed it (*Bellum Judaicum*, II, 17, 7). On the relationship of the Antonia with Pilate’s praetorium, see Pretorio.
Gaetano M. Perrella