ANTONIA. - Fortress that arose in Jerusalem, on the eastern hill, northeast of the Temple, at the foot of the Bezeta rock. Its purpose was to protect the most vulnerable side of the city, the northern one, while the other three sides were protected by natural valleys (Kidron to the east, Gehenna to the south, el-Meise to the west).

It was originally 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 (135-104) John Hyrcanus I (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XVIII, 4, 3), it was called simply Bira, "fortress" (Aramaized as Birtà, and Hellenized by Flavius Josephus as Baris: Antiq. Iud., XIII, 11, 2; Bell. Iud., I, 5, 4, etc.). Herod the Great rebuilt it with extraordinary strength and splendor, and named it after his patron Mark Antony (Antiq. Iud., XV, 2, 4). Its grandeur, already known to us from the description of Flavius Josephus (Bell. Iud., V, 5, 8), has been confirmed by the excavations directed in that area by Fr. Vincent in 1931-32.

In 70 A.D., Titus captured and destroyed it (Flavius Josephus, Bell. Iud., II, 17, 7). On the relations of the Antonia with the praetorium of Pilate, v. PRETORIO.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: L. H. Vincent, L'A. et le Prétaire, in Rev. Bibl., 42 (1932), pp. 83-114; id., Antoine du Prétaire, ibid., 46 (1937), pp. 563-70; M. Burrows, The Fortress A. and the Praetorium, in The Biblical Archaeologist, 1 (1938), pp. 17-19.

Gaetano M. Perrella

@incollection{ec1_antonia, author = {Perrella, Gaetano Maria}, title = {Antonia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {1521}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/antonia} }

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