SELEUCIA. - A maritime city of Syria, mentioned twice in the Bible (1 Macc. 11:8; Acts 13:4); the most important among the various cities of this name. From the nearby mountain it was also called S. Pieria. Founded by Seleucus Nicator on the site where Antigonia already stood, at the mouth of the Orontes, it was occupied by Ptolemy III, but retaken by Antiochus III. Given the need for maritime communications for Antioch, the capital of Syria, the efficiency of S.'s port was maintained by means of important excavation and canalization works, despite the numerous sediments deposited by the river Orontes.

According to Pausanias (VIII, 29), a Roman emperor (perhaps Trajan) made the Orontes navigable as far as Antioch. Even for late periods, as in the time of Diocletian and Constantius II, the carrying out of harbor works is documented. The various invasions and other causes that brought about the decline of Antioch acted even more rapidly upon the ancient maritime center.

It is mentioned only incidentally in Acts 13:4. It is reasonable to suppose that from the first evangelization of Antioch (ibid. 11:1 ff.) Christianity was successfully preached in S. as well.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: Ruge, Seleukia, in Pauly-Wissowa, 2nd series, II, cols. 1184-1200; R. Paribeni, s. v. in Enc. Ital., XXXI, pp. 319-20.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec11_seleucia, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Seleucia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {268--269}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/seleucia} }

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