Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "CHALKIS Ancient city SYRIA".
A city of Syria, in a fruitful plain, near the termination of the river Chalus; the chief city of the district of Chalcidice, which lay to the east of the Orontes.
Chalcis Ad Belum. Pliny (v. 23. § 19) speaks of a city of this name
in the district Chalcidene, which he describes as the most fertile of all Syria.
The Chalcis, Chalkis of Strabo (xvi. p. 753), was a city and district subject
to Ptolemy, son of Mennaeus, who held besides the city of Heliopolis (Baalbec),
the plain of Marsyas, and the mountain region of Ituraea. Josephus expressly describes
it as under Mount Lebanon (Antiq. xiv. 7. § 4, B. J. i. 9. § 2). It has
been confounded with the Chalcis S. of Aleppo, but the statement of Josephus (comp.
Antiq. xiv. 3. § 2; Reland, Palaest. p. 315) shows that its
position must be sought for elsewhere. Ptolemy was succeeded by his son the first
Lysanias; whose possessions after his murder by Antony were farmed by Zenodorus.
(Joseph. Antiq. xv. 10. § 1, B. J. i. 20. § 4.) In A.D. 41 Claudius bestowed
Chalcis on Herod, a brother of the elder Herod Agrippa. On his death in A.D. 48
his kingdom went to his nephew, the younger Herod Agrippa (B. J. ii.
12. § 1). He held it four years, and was then transferred with the title of king
to the provinces of Batanaea, Trachonitis, Abilene, and others (Antiq.
xx. 7. § 1). Afterwards Aristobulus, son of Herod, king of Chaletis, obtained
his father's kingdom which had been taken from his cousin Agrippa II., and in
A.D. 73 was still dynast of the district (B. J. vii. 7. § 1). During
the reign of Domitian it appears to have become incorporated in the Roman province,
and the city to have received the additional name of Flavia. (Eckhel, vol. iii.
p. 263; Marquardt, Handbuch der Rom. Alter. p. 181; Noris. de
Epoch. Syro.-Mac. (c. ix. § 3.)
The town of Chaletis was therefore situated somewhere in the Bukaa,
probably S. of Baalbec. The valley has not yet been examined with reference
to the site of this city. It has been suggested that its position may be at or
near Zahle, in the neighbourhood of which at the village of Heusn
Nieha, are some remarkable remains (comp. Chesney, Exped. Euphrat.
vol. i. p. 472). Or perhaps at Majdel Anjar, where Abu-l-feda (Tab.
Syr. p. 20) speaks of great ruins of hewn stones. (Robinson, Biblioth.
Sacr. vol. v. p. 90).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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