Seleucia

Seleucia on the Tigris functioned as an early Seleucid capital city.

Seleucia in Syria functioned as the sea-port of Antioch and lay near the mouth of the Orontes. Paul and his companions sailed from this port on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:4). This city was built by Seleucus Nicator, the "king of Syria." It is said of him that "few princes have ever lived with so great a passion for the building of cities. He is reputed to have built in all nine Seleucias, sixteen Antiochs, and six Laodiceas." Seleucia became a city of great importance, and was made a "free city" by Pompey. It is now a small village, called el-Kalusi.

Partly based on an article from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. The original article expressed a nineteenth-century Christian viewpoint, and may not reflect modern opinions or recent discoveries in scholarship. Please help the Wikipedia by bringing this article up to date.