{"id":87456,"date":"2025-08-11T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T10:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=87456"},"modified":"2025-08-08T17:26:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T21:26:59","slug":"antiochs-silent-guardians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/biblical-sites-places\/biblical-archaeology-sites\/antiochs-silent-guardians\/","title":{"rendered":"Antioch\u2019s Silent Guardians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John Chrysostom on a gold medallion inlayed with enamel (10th\u201311th century). Photo in public domain, via Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

When a massive earthquake<\/a> struck Antakya, Turkey, in 2023 (see Going, Going, Gone: Devastation in Antakya<\/em><\/a>), this was, sadly, far from the first time. A long history of devastating earthquakes\u2014along with thick alluvial deposits from the Orontes River\u2014explains why so little of the ancient Greco-Roman city, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, survives and why neither the imperial residence nor the Great Church, begun under Constantine the Great, has been found. a<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Antioch\u2019s architectural glories are nevertheless preserved in the writings of some illustrious local figures, such as John Chrysostom (c. 349\u2013407 CE)\u2014a popular preacher and, later, a short-lived bishop of Constantinople. Unlike his teacher Libanius, who spoke of the wonders of the city, John tended to discourse on less famous, more everyday aspects of the physical spaces of Antioch: its marketplaces and alleyways, its homes, synagogues, and churches. But the one space that he repeatedly mentions as truly glorious is not what we might expect. These were the cemeteries, the burial places of the celebrated martyrs of Antioch, including Babylas, Ignatius, and Thecla<\/a>, but also many anonymous saints slain for their Christian faith.<\/p>\n

John very often spoke about Antioch\u2019s cemeteries collectively\u2014as a ring, a wreath, a fortification, or a pasture that encircled the city. In his imagination, there was a continuous space outside the city walls that formed an integral part of the city. Seeking to cultivate a distinctly Christian imagination among his audience, John re-envisioned the burial places that surrounded the city, transforming the cemeteries, which included graves of martyrs, from a cause for mourning into a cause for joy. In contrast to some in the Latin West who were just beginning to relocate the relics of martyrs into cities, John attempted to make the cemetery into a different sort of space altogether: The cemetery was where the kingdom of heaven met the earth, where martyrs were already living the resurrection life, the life of the angels.<\/p>\n

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FREE ebook: Island Jewels: Understanding Ancient Cyprus and Crete<\/strong>. Read the fascinating history of these mythical Mediterranean islands.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t