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History of Latakia


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Ancient settlement and founding

The location of Latakia, the Ras Ziyarah promontory,has a long history of occupation. The Phoenician city of Ramitha was located here, known to the Greeks as Leukê Aktê, "white headland". Ramitha dates at least to the second millennium BC and was a part of the kingdom of Ugarit a short distance north. As Ugarit declined at the end of the second millennium BC, the better natural harbor facilities at Ramitha increased its importance.The settlement became part of the Assyrian Empire, later falling to the Persians, who incorporated it into their fifth satrapy, Abar-Nahara, beyond the river. It was taken by Alexander the Great in 333 BC following his victory at the Battle of Issus over the Persian army led by Darius III, beginning the era of Hellenism in Syria.

 After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Northern Syria fell under the control of Seleucus I Nicator. He founded the city of Laodicea on the site, one of five cities named after his mother, Laodice. Laodicea became a main center of Greek culture and one of the new satrapal headquarters. It was the main harbor for Apamea, linked with a road across the Alawi mountains. Laodicaea became a major port, second only to Seleucia Pieria.It formed a tetrapolis, with Antioch, Seleucia Pieria and Apamea, linking the four main cities of Seleucid Syria into a union known as the Syrian tetrapolis.

 It is a city most beautifully built, has a good harbour, and has territory which, besides its other good crops, abounds in wine. Now this city furnishes the most of the wine to the Alexandreians, since the whole of the mountain that lies above the city and is possessed by it is covered with vines almost as far as the summits. And while the summits are at a considerable distance from Laodicea, sloping up gently and gradually from it, they tower above Apameia, extending up to a perpendicular height.

 Roman rule

 In 64 BC,
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