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166-804: Syria was invaded by Greek king Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. and Antioch was founded by one of his generals, Seleucus I Nicator . Syria was annexed by the Roman Republic in 64 B.C., by Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War. Christianity spread in the region and dominated by the fourth century. Throughout the Middle Ages, Byzantine Greeks self-identified as Romaioi or Romioi (Greek: Ῥωμαῖοι, Ρωμιοί, meaning "Romans") and Graikoi (Γραικοί, meaning "Greeks"). Linguistically, they spoke Byzantine or Medieval Greek, known as "Romaic," which

332-699: A Christian girl by a Muslim barber's apprentice. One of the Largest communities of Greek Catholic Melkites live in South America , In 2010, the Eparchy of Nossa Senhora do Paraiso em São Paulo in Brazil had 443,000 members; the Apostolic Exarchate of Argentina has 310,700 members; Venezuela has 26,600 people members and Mexico 4,700. In North America Catholic Melkites total 60,000, and

498-486: A Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury. On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days. Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months. During his stay, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes I and spread to the rest of the city. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for

664-440: A centre of civilization." The writing of historian Heinz Halm attempts to dispel "those distorted and hostile accounts, stating that the anti-Fatimid tradition tried to make a real monster of this caliph", while P.J. Vatikiotis writes that, "[al-Hakim's] persecution of Christians and Jews and the legislation enacted for that purpose between 1004 and 1020 seem to have been a policy with a justifiable purpose." Al-Hakim maintained

830-446: A classical hero in the mould of Achilles , featuring prominently in the historical and mythical traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His military achievements and unprecedented enduring successes in battle made him the measure against which many later military leaders would compare themselves, and his tactics remain a significant subject of study in military academies worldwide. Legends of Alexander's exploits coalesced into

996-477: A classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira , which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile. Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy , Hephaistion , and Cassander . Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as

1162-561: A fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000 drawn from Macedon and various Greek city states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace , Paionia , and Illyria . He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy. After an initial victory against Persian forces at

1328-681: A keen interest in the organization and operation of the Fatimid Ismaili da'wa (preaching) centred in Cairo. Under his reign it was systematically intensified outside the Fatimid dominions, especially in Iraq and Persia . In Iraq, the da'is now concentrated their efforts on a number of local amirs and influential tribal chiefs with whose support they aimed to uproot the Abbasids . Foremost among

1494-648: A memo to British Ambassador Stratford Canning , in Constantinople. The Greek Revolutionaries landed in Beirut , but were thwarted by a local Mufti and a hastily arranged defense force. Although initially repelled, the Greeks did manage to hold on to a small portion of the city near the seashore in an area inhabited by local Rûm. During which they appealed to the Rûm "to rise up and join them", and even sent an invitation to

1660-563: A new ally, in the person of the Kutama leader Jaysh ibn Samsam, governor of Tripoli , whom Ibn Falah dismissed and replaced with his own brother. Jaysh and Barjawan gathered a following of other dissatisfied Berber leaders, and launched an uprising in Cairo in October 997. Ibn Ammar was forced to flee, and Barjawan replaced him as wāsiṭa . During his predominance, Barjawan managed to balance

1826-698: A prophecy. During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria , which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death. Control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy I (son of Lagos), the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305–30 BC) after the death of Alexander. Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Achaemenid Assyria in Upper Mesopotamia (now northern Iraq ) and defeated Darius again at

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1992-405: A relative of his mother, and by Lysimachus of Acarnania . Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre , ride, fight, and hunt. When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen talents . The horse refused to be mounted, and Philip ordered it away. Alexander, however, detecting

2158-603: A result of poisoning by Olympias. News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. When news of the revolts reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though advised to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered 3,000 Macedonian cavalry and rode south towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa , and ordered his men to ride over Mount Ossa. When

2324-615: A usurper and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern Tajikistan . The campaign took Alexander through Media , Parthia , Aria (West Afghanistan), Drangiana , Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan), Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan), and Scythia . In 329 BC, Spitamenes , who held an undefined position in

2490-650: Is a central figure in the history of the Druze religious sect, whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018. Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad is considered the founder of the Druze and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts, he proclaimed that God had become human and taken the form of man, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. According to the religious scholar Nissim Dana, al-Hakim's relationship with other monotheistic religions can be divided into three separate stages. From 996 to 1006 when most of

2656-838: Is about 450,000 and in South America is about 130,000 just in Brazil, mostly in São Paulo . The Catholic Melkite community exist in Australia, with 53,700 members. In Australia and New Zealand the Greek Orthodox Melkites number about 43,500—or according to the Prime Minister's estimate in 2007–123,000 members. In Europe, there are about 40,000 people. The designation "Greek" refers to the use of Koine Greek in liturgy , not to ethnicity; most Antiochian Greek Christians identify themselves as Arabs. During

2822-687: Is located in Epirus . The founders of Nea Selefkia were refugees from Silifke in Cilicia. By the dawn of the 20th century, the Syro-Lebanese Christians of Egypt were considered a powerful and cosmopolitan community that played an important role in both Egypt's economy and culture. The community in Egypt counted more than 100,000 members at the turn of the 20th century: civil servants, hairdressers, cobblers, drivers, engineers, dentists, doctors, shopkeepers, painters. Their aggregate wealth

2988-404: Is preferable to sleep", which followed fajr prayer , be stopped – he saw it as a Sunni addition. In its place he ordered that ḥayyi ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal "come to the best of deeds" should be said after the summons was made. He further forbade the use of two prayers – Salāt at-Tarāwih and Salāt ad-Duha as they were believed to have been formulated by Sunni sages. In 1004 al-Hakim decreed that

3154-616: Is situated between the Hellenistic (Koine) and modern phases of the language. Byzantines perceived themselves as the descendants of Classical Greeks, the political heirs of imperial Rome, and followers of the Apostles. Thus, their sense of "Romanity" was different from that of their contemporaries in the West. "Romaic" was the name of the vulgar Greek language, as opposed to "Hellenic" which was its literary or doctrinal form. The homeland of

3320-403: Is to what extent his conduct can be explained as rationally motivated and conditioned by the circumstances rather than as the inscrutable workings of an insane mind." The claim that al-Hakim was mad and the version of events around him is disputed as mere propaganda by some scholars, such as Willi Frischaue, who states: "His enemies called him the 'Mad Caliph' but he enhanced Cairo's reputation as

3486-480: The Battle of Gaugamela . Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela . Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two. Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamadan ) while Alexander captured Babylon . Babylonian astronomical diaries say that "the king of the world, Alexander" sent his scouts with a message to the people of Babylon before entering

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3652-677: The Battle of the Granicus , Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis ; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. Miletus , held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. Further south, at Halicarnassus , in Caria , Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale siege , eventually forcing his opponents,

3818-478: The Fatimid palace . The name majalis al-hikma is still used by the Druze, Nizari and Taiyabi Ismailis as the name of the building in which their religious assembly and worship is carried, often abbreviated as Majlis (session). He would allow women to attend the house of knowledge to study so they could teach other women and their children, learning a wide range of subjects from Islam to philosophy . Al-Hakim

3984-561: The First Crusade era, most of them were referred to as Syriacs ethnically and Greeks only in regard to religious affinity: only the inhabitants of Antioch city were thought to be Greek ethnically. However, some sources label them with a Greek identity. According to Greek historian Pavlos Karolidis writing in 1908, they are a mixture of ancient Greek settlers and particularly Macedonians , Roman -era Greeks, and Byzantine Greeks ("Rûm"), as well as indigenous Levantines . Karolidis

4150-633: The Hatay Province , a significant number of Antiochian Greek Christians have migrated to Istanbul . They now live in Antioch , Mersin , İskenderun , the villages of Altınözü and Tokaçlı , a string of villages in Samandağ , and the seaside town of Arsuz . A case of intercommunal violence with Turkish Muslims in Altınözü was reported in 2005. The events were allegedly sparked by sexual harassment of

4316-643: The League of Corinth , and used his authority to launch the pan-Hellenic project envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all Greeks in their conquest of Persia . In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years. Following his conquest of Asia Minor , Alexander broke the power of Achaemenid Persia in a series of decisive battles, including those at Issus and Gaugamela ; he subsequently overthrew Darius III and conquered

4482-770: The Melkite Greek Catholic Church was the largest Christian community in Israel, where about 60% of Israeli Christians belonged to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, while around 30% of Israeli Christians belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem . The Jordanian Greek Orthodox Christians are believed to number 120,000, most of whom are Arabic speaking, or by some accounts more than 300,000. There are currently 29 Greek Orthodox churches – with that number on

4648-612: The Mokattam hills on the outskirts of Cairo but failed to return. A search found only his horse and bloodstained garments. His disappearance has remained a mystery. Modern historians have assessed whether al-Hakim's sister Sitt al-Mulk may have had a hand in his disappearance, but no historic evidence has emerged that would implicate her. Al-Mulk would lead moves to declare her nephew al-Zahir li-I'zaz Din Allah as his father's successor as imam-caliph. The heir al-Hakim had designated

4814-629: The Nabatieh , Matn District , Beqaa Governorate , and North Governorates. Specifically in the Koura District , Zahlé , and Akkar . The Lebanese Greek Orthodox constitute 8% of the total population of Lebanon and the Melkite Catholic Christians are believed to constitute about 5% of the total population of Lebanon. There are 135,000 or more Christian Arabs in Israel (and more than 39,000 non-Arab Christians). As of 2014

4980-465: The Taurus into Cilicia . After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at Issus . Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis , and a fabulous treasure. He offered a peace treaty that included

5146-448: The ancient Greek biographer Plutarch , on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a seal engraved with a lion's image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias

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5312-483: The ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion , which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain). He was the son of the erstwhile king of Macedon, Philip II , and his fourth wife, Olympias (daughter of Neoptolemus I , king of Epirus ). Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander. Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood. According to

5478-523: The mintaq or zunnar "belt" (Greek ζωνάριον) and imāmah "turban", both in black. In addition, Jews must wear a wooden calf necklace and Christians a heavy iron cross. In the public baths, Jews must replace the calf with a bell. In addition, women of the People of the Book had to wear two different coloured shoes, one red and one black. These remained in place until 1014 and were thematised and protested by

5644-459: The "Companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer , and in particular the Iliad ; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns. Alexander was able to quote Euripides from memory. In his youth, Alexander

5810-523: The "holy family", thereby enhancing the political and doctrinal status they bestow upon al-Hakim. In 996, al-Ḥākim's father Caliph al-'Azīz began a trip to visit Syria (which was held by the Fatimids only by force of arms and was under pressure from the Byzantines). The Caliph fell ill at the beginning of the trip at Bilbeis and lay in sickbed for several days. He suffered from "stone with pains in

5976-696: The 'Mad Caliph' because of his many cruelties and eccentricities"; his persecution of Christians is seen as a contributing factor to the Crusades , as he not only forbade pilgrimage to the Holy Land but also ordered the demolishing of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1009. The church was reconstructed by his son and successor al-Zahir , with historian Michael Bonner pointing out that

6142-591: The 17th century, a millennium after the initial Arab conquest. The Muslim Arab army attacked Jerusalem, held by the Byzantines, in November, 636. For four months the siege continued. Ultimately, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, agreed to surrender Jerusalem to Caliph Umar in person. Caliph Umar, then at Medina, agreed to these terms and traveled to Jerusalem to sign the capitulation in

6308-787: The Achaemenid Empire in its entirety. After the fall of Persia, the Macedonian Empire held a vast swath of territory between the Adriatic Sea and the Indus River . Alexander endeavored to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and invaded India in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over Porus , an ancient Indian king of present-day Punjab , at the Battle of the Hydaspes . Due to

6474-617: The Achaemenid throne. The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius. However, as basic forms of community life and the general structure of government were maintained and resuscitated by Alexander under his own rule, he, in the words of the Iranologist Pierre Briant "may therefore be considered to have acted in many ways as the last of the Achaemenids ." Alexander viewed Bessus as

6640-763: The Antiochians, known as the Diocese of the East , was one of the major commercial, agricultural, religious, and intellectual areas of the Empire, and its strategic location facing the Sassanid Empire and the unruly desert tribes gave it exceptional military importance. The entire area of the former diocese came under Sassanid occupation between 609 and 628, but was retaken by the Emperor Heraclius until it

6806-493: The Arab Christian poet Sulayman al-Ghazzi in his diwan . Following contemporary Shiite thinking, during this period al-Hakim also issued many other restrictive ordinances ( sijillat ). These sijillat included outlawing entrance to a public bath with uncovered loins, forbidding women from appearing in public with their faces uncovered, and closing many clubs and places of entertainment. From 1007 to 1012 "there

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6972-475: The Battle of Gabai. After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace. During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of proskynesis , either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social superiors. This was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing

7138-534: The Caliph and his viziers (called wasīta s), and near the end of his reign, the Druze movement, a religious sect that deified al-Hakim as God manifest, began to form. Members of that sect were reported to address prayers to al-Hakim, whom they regarded as "a manifestation of God in His unity." Alarmed by the expansion of the Fatimid dominion, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Qadir of Baghdad adopted retaliatory measures to halt

7304-577: The Chinese emperor Zhenzong of Song gifts from his ruling Caliph, al-Hakim. This reestablished diplomatic relations between Egypt and China that had been lost during the collapse of the Tang dynasty in 907. In the final years of his reign, al-Hakim displayed a growing inclination toward asceticism and withdrew for meditation regularly. On the night of 12/13 February 1021 at the age of 35, al-Hakim left for one of his regular nocturnal meditation journeys to

7470-473: The Christians could no longer celebrate Epiphany or Easter . He also outlawed the use of wine ( nabidh ) and even other intoxicating drinks not made from grapes ( fuqa ) to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This produced a hardship for both Christians (who used wine in their religious rites ) and Jews (who used it in their religious festivals ). In 1005, al-Hakim ordered that Jews and Christians follow ghiyār "the law of differentiation" – in this case,

7636-405: The Christians), as well as the surrounding areas, such as the cities of Mhardeh , Hama , and Homs . Smaller and historical communities can also be found in Aleppo , Damascus , and Latakia . The Greek Orthodox population of Syria is about 1,142,500 people. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church numbers between 118,000 and 240,000 members. In Lebanon, most Antiochian Greek Christians can be found in

7802-453: The Crusader chronicler William of Tyre , claimed that al-'Azīzah was also the mother of Caliph al-Ḥākim, though most historians dismiss this. William of Tyre went so far as to claim that al-Ḥākim's destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009 was due to his eagerness to disprove taunts that he was a Christian born of a Christian woman. By contrast, the chronicler al-Musabbihi recounts that in 981, al-Ḥākim's Muslim mother sought

7968-441: The Cynic occurred during Alexander's stay in Corinth. When Alexander asked Diogenes what he could do for him, the philosopher disdainfully asked Alexander to stand a little to the side, as he was blocking the sunlight. This reply apparently delighted Alexander who is reported to have said, "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes." At Corinth, Alexander took the title of Hegemon ("leader") and, like Philip,

8134-538: The Fatimid da'is of this period operating in the eastern provinces was Hamid al-Din Kirmani , the most accomplished Ismaili theologian-philosopher of the entire Fatimid period. The activities of Kirmani and other da'is soon led to concrete results in Iraq: in 1010 the ruler of Mosul , Kufa and other towns acknowledged the suzerainty of Hakim. The 16th Fatimid imam, caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (996–1021) ordered his da'i, Harun ibn Muhammad in Yemen, to give decisions in light of Da'a'im al-Islam only. In 1013 he completed

8300-429: The Great , was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon . He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia , Central Asia , parts of South Asia , and Egypt . By the age of 30, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India . He

8466-436: The Greek Catholic patriarchate and its library. The events led hundreds of Christians to migrate mainly to Beirut and Smyrna. On July 10, 1860, Saint Joseph of Damascus and 11,000 Antiochian Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christians were killed when Druze and Muslim marauders destroyed part of the old city of Damascus. The Antiochians had taken refuge in the churches and monasteries of Bab Tuma ("Saint Thomas' Gate"). The Massacre

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8632-461: The Greek Orthodox Patriarch was safe, as orders were received just after the execution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople to kill the Antiochian Patriarch as well; however, local officials failed to execute the orders. On March 18, 1826, a flotilla of around fifteen Greek ships led by Vasos Mavrovouniotis attempted to spread the Greek Revolution to the Ottoman Levant. According to then-British Consul John Barker , stationed in Aleppo, in

8798-457: The Greek city of Perinthus , Alexander reportedly saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of Amphissa began to work lands that were sacred to Apollo near Delphi , a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. While Philip was occupied in Thrace, Alexander was ordered to muster an army for a campaign in southern Greece. Concerned that other Greek states might intervene, Alexander made it look as though he

8964-464: The Greek-Orthodox, migrated to Lebanese coast, northern Palestine and Egypt, specializing in trade. As soon as the Greek revolution commenced, Rûm throughout the Empire were targeted for persecutions, and Syria did not escape Ottoman Turkish wrath. Fearing that the Rûm of Syria might aid the Greek Revolution, the Porte issued an order that they should be disarmed. In Jerusalem, the city's Christian population, who were estimated to make up around 20% of

9130-408: The Illyrian chieftain Cleitus and King Glaukias of the Taulantii were in open revolt against his authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing the two rulers to flee with their troops. With these victories, he secured his northern frontier. While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander immediately headed south. While

9296-421: The Ismaili communities there were attacked by Sunni fighters led by their influential Maliki jurists. Relations between the Fatimids and the Qarmatians also remained hostile. On the other hand, Hakim's Syrian policy was successful as he managed to extend Fatimid hegemony to the emirate of Aleppo . Al-Hakim upheld diplomatic relations between the Fatimid Empire and many different countries. Skillful diplomacy

9462-414: The Jordan were the garrisons. The Arab garrisons were kept apart in camps, and life went on much as before for the local population. The taxes instituted were the kharaj —a tax that landowners and peasants paid according to the productivity of their fields—as well as the jizya —paid by non-Muslims in return for protection under the Muslim state and exemption from military service. The Byzantine civil service

9628-412: The Levant are found within the territories of Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. Counting the worldwide diaspora, there are more than 1.5 million Antiochian Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic (Melkite) Christians residing in the northern Middle East , the United States, Canada, Australia and Latin America today. In Syria, the Antiochian Greek Christians are mostly concentrated in Wadi al-Nasara (The Valley of

9794-463: The Macedonian Empire, eventually leading to its disintegration at the hands of the Diadochi . With his death marking the start of the Hellenistic period , Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism that his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism and Hellenistic Judaism . He founded more than twenty cities , with the most prominent being the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and

9960-415: The Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state. Suda writes that Anaximenes of Lampsacus was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns. At the age of 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip II had waged war against the Thracians to

10126-436: The Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. This so irritated Alexander that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on

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10292-405: The Metropolis of Tarsus and Adana , the Metropolis of Amida , and the Metropolis of Theodosioupolis . Those Antiochians living outside of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon were subject to the forced population exchange of 1923 , which ended the Ottoman Greek genocide. One modern Greek town, which is made up of Antiochian survivors from the population exchange, is Nea Selefkia, which

10458-434: The Order of God'), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam (996–1021). Al-Hakim is an important figure in a number of Shia Ismaili sects, such as the world's 15 million Nizaris and 1–2 million Musta'lis , in addition to 2 million Druze . Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as diverse views of his life and legacy exist. Historian Paul Walker writes "Ultimately, both views of him,

10624-464: The Orthodox world resulted in a Russian-backed change in leadership of the Antioch Patriarchate from Greeks to Arabs at the end of the 19th century. Many Antiochians who endorsed pan-Arabism , which was popular in the Levant at the time, adopted and championed Arab nationalism . The bulk of the community supported Arab nationalism, Syrian nationalism , and the Palestinian cause . The highest concentration of Antiochian Greek Christians still living in

10790-460: The Patriarch of Jerusalem, John VII, was put to death for treasonable correspondence with the Byzantine Greeks. As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims and pilgrimages increased, tolerance for other religions declined. Christians were persecuted. Churches were destroyed. The sixth Fatimid caliph, Caliph Al-Hakim (996–1021), who was believed to be "God made manifest" by the Druze, destroyed the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. This powerful provocation started

10956-436: The Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force. He then continued south towards the Peloponnese . Alexander stopped at Thermopylae where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth . Athens sued for peace and Alexander pardoned the rebels. The famous encounter between Alexander and Diogenes

11122-442: The Thracian forces manning the heights. The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi and defeated their army near the Lyginus river (a tributary of the Danube ). Alexander then marched for three days to the Danube , encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry skirmish . News then reached Alexander that

11288-416: The Umayyad caliphs (with the possible exception of Umar II ) were Nasibi who "are the hypocrites for whom hatred of ʿAlī is their religion...They don't just hate ʿAlī, but they worship Allah and seek closeness to Him by hating ʿAlī." After only two years of posting the curses, al-Hakim ended the practice. During this era, al-Hakim ordered that the inclusion of the phrase as-salāh khayr min an-nawm "prayer

11454-421: The adoption of Arabic as the official language, and conversion of a part of the local Christian population to Islam. According to the historian James William Parkes, during the 1st century after the Arab conquest (640–740), the caliph and governors of Syria and the Holy Land ruled entirely over Christian and Jewish subjects. He further states that apart from the Bedouin in the earliest days, the only Arabs west of

11620-411: The age of eleven, on 14 October 996, with the caliphal title of al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah . Al-Ḥākim is reported to have had blue eyes flecked with reddish gold. Al-Ḥākim was born on Thursday, 3 Rabi' al-awwal in AD 985 ( AH 375). His father, caliph al-'Azīz bil-Lāh, had two consorts. One was an umm al-walad who is only known by the title as-Sayyidah al-'Azīziyyah or al-'Azīzah (d. 385/995). She

11786-421: The aid and support of the Iranian upper classes. The Greeks however regarded the gesture of proskynesis as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it. During the long rule of the Achaemenids, the elite positions in many segments of the empire including the central government,

11952-416: The aid of an imprisoned Islamic sage named ibn al-Washa and asked him to pray for her son who had fallen ill. The sage wrote the entire Qur'an in the inner surface of a bowl and bade her wash her son out of it. When al-Ḥākim recovered, she demanded the release of the sage in gratitude. Her request was granted and the sage and his associates were freed from prison. Druze sources claim that al-Ḥākim's mother

12118-583: The animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala . When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor , and considered such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus , the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the Academy to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as

12284-475: The army, and the many satrapies were specifically reserved for Iranians and to a major degree, Persian noblemen. The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family. This created a problem for Alexander as to whether he had to make use of the various segments and people that had given the empire its solidity and unity for a lengthy period of time. Pierre Briant explains that Alexander realized that it

12450-724: The authority and terms of office of his wasitas and viziers, of whom there were more than 15 during the remaining 20 years of his caliphate. Al-Hakim's most rigorous and consistent opponent was the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad , which sought to halt the influence of Ismailism . This competition led to the Baghdad Manifesto of 1011, in which the Abbāsids claimed that the line al-Ḥākim represented did not legitimately descend from 'Alī. His diplomatic and missionary vehicle

12616-418: The avenger of Darius III". Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah States People Centers Other Abu Ali al-Mansur ( Arabic : أبو علي المنصور , romanized :  Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr ; 13 August 985 – 13 February 1021), better known by his regnal name al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ( Arabic : الحاكم بأمر الله , romanized :  al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh , lit.   'The Ruler by

12782-687: The bowels." When he felt that his end was nearing he charged Qadi Muhammad ibn an-Nu'man and General Abū Muhammad al-Hasan ibn 'Ammar to take care of al-Ḥākim, who was then only eleven. He then spoke to his son. Al-Ḥākim later recalled the event: "I found him with nothing on his body but rags and bandages. I kissed him, and he pressed me to his bosom, exclaiming: "How I grieve for thee, beloved of my heart," and tears flowed from his eyes. He then said: "Go, my master, and play, for I am well." I obeyed and began to amuse myself with sports such as are usual with boys, and soon after God took him to himself. Barjawan [the treasurer] then hastened to me, and seeing me on

12948-598: The burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War by Xerxes; Plutarch and Diodorus allege that Alexander's companion, the hetaera Thaïs , instigated and started the fire. Even as he watched the city burn, Alexander immediately began to regret his decision. Plutarch claims that he ordered his men to put out the fires but the flames had already spread to most of the city. Curtius claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until

13114-547: The chief of the local Druzes to also join the Revolution. A few days later, on March 23, 1826, the regional governor Abdullah Pasha sent his lieutenant and nearly 500 Albanian irregular forces to exact revenge for the failed uprising. On October 17–18, 1850 Muslim rioters attacked the Christian neighborhoods of Aleppo . In the aftermath, Ottoman records show that 688 homes, 36 shops, and 6 churches were damaged, including

13280-605: The church during the Easter Vigil. The chronicler Yahia noted that "only those things that were too difficult to demolish were spared." Processions were prohibited, and a few years later all of the convents and churches in Palestine were said to have been destroyed or confiscated. It was only in 1042 that the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX undertook to reconstruct the Holy Sepulchre with

13446-718: The city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice . That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games . It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the World , burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis

13612-586: The city's total (with the majority being Rûm), were also forced by the Ottoman authorities to relinquish their weapons, wear black, and help improve the city's fortifications. Greek Orthodox holy sites, such as the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, located just south of the city of Tripoli in Lebanon, were subjected to vandalism and revenge attacks, which in fact forced the monks to abandon it until 1830. Not even

13778-626: The city: "I shall not enter your houses". From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa , one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its treasury. He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Persian Royal Road . Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He then stormed the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains ) which had been blocked by

13944-509: The coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At Termessos , Alexander humbled and did not storm the Pisidian city. At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium , Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable Gordian Knot , a feat said to await the future "king of Asia ". According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword. In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed

14110-559: The construction of al-Jāmiʻ al-Anwar begun by his father. Commonly known as "Hākim's Mosque", over time it fell into ruin. In the 1970s, the Dawoodi Bohras , an Ismaili Shia sect, under the leadership of Mohammed Burhanuddin , restored the then-dilapidated mosque, using new building methods and materials while maintaining as many of the architectural and artistic features as possible. Their attempts received strong criticism from some academics, conservators, and art historians who saw

14276-512: The contest. Philip marched on Amphissa (ostensibly acting on the request of the Amphictyonic League ), capturing the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes and accepting the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it. As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near Chaeronea , Boeotia . During the ensuing Battle of Chaeronea , Philip commanded

14442-559: The education of the Ismailis and the Fatimid da'i s a priority; in his time various study sessions ( majalis ) were established in Cairo. Hakim provided financial support and endowments for these educational activities. The private 'wisdom sessions' ( majalis al-hikma ) devoted to esoteric Ismaili doctrines and reserved exclusively for initiates, now became organized so as to be accessible to different categories of participants. Al-Hakim himself often attended these sessions which were held at

14608-673: The effort as constructing "a new building" rather than restoration. In the area of education and learning, one of Hakim's most important contributions was the founding in 1005 of the Dār al-ʿIlm (House of Knowledge) in Cairo. A wide range of subjects ranging from the Qur'an and hadith to philosophy and astronomy were taught at the Dār al-ʿIlm, which was equipped with a vast library. During his rule, al-Hakim provided paper, ink, pens and inkstands free of charge to all those who studied there Access to education

14774-528: The empire. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiya's popularity and solidified Syria as his power base. In 969,

14940-520: The end." Appraisals of the more controversial accounts of al-Hakim's life and rule have earned him such monikers as "the Nero of Egypt", and "the Mad Caliph". Born in 985 CE in Cairo , Abu 'Ali al-Mansur was the first Fatimid ruler to have been born in Egypt. Abu 'Ali al-Mansur had been proclaimed as heir-apparent ( wali al-'ahd ) in 993 CE and succeeded his father Al-Aziz Billah (975–996) at

15106-657: The enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed them. With the Athenians lost, the Thebans were surrounded. Left to fight alone, they were defeated. After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese, devastating much of Laconia and ejecting the Spartans from various parts of it. At Corinth , Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modelled on

15272-568: The executive functions of the Khalif were performed by his advisors, the Shiite al-Hakim "behaved like the Shiite khalifs, who he succeeded, exhibiting a hostile attitude with respect to Sunni Muslims, whereas the attitude toward ' People of the Book ' – Jews and Christians – was one of relative tolerance, in exchange for the jizya tax." In 1005, al-Hakim ordered a public posting of curses against

15438-573: The famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert, at which he was pronounced the son of the deity Amun . Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with horns , using the Horns of Ammon as a symbol of his divinity. The Greeks interpreted this message – one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs – as

15604-478: The first three Caliphs ( Abu Bakr , Umar and Uthman ) and against Aisha , wife of Muhammad , for denying the caliphate to Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law ʿAlī, who according to Shia beliefs, was the rightful prophetic successor. According to historian Nissîm Dānā, al-Hakim ordered that "curses were registered against the warrior Muawiyah I , founder of the Umayyad Caliphate , and against others in

15770-572: The floor, at which Alexander reproachfully insulted him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another." In 337 BC, Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King Alexander I of Epirus in Dodona , capital of the Molossians . He continued to Illyria where he sought refuge with one or more Illyrian kings, perhaps with Glaucias , and

15936-438: The horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed. Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him. Alexander named it Bucephalas , meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as India . When

16102-800: The increase – which come under the Jerusalem Patriarchate. The Melkites count 27,000 in Jordan. According to an ethnographic study published by Alexander Synvet in 1878, there were 125,000 Greek Orthodox Christians living in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, as well as another 35,000 Greek Catholics. After the Syrian province of Alexandretta was given to Turkey by the French Mandate powers in 1939, many migrated to Syria and Lebanon . Whilst those able to remain in Turkey are concentrated in

16268-533: The influx of Turkish and Daylamite mercenaries from the Islamic East (the Mashāriqa , "Easterners"). They compelled the underage al-Hakim to dismiss the Christian vizier 'Īsa ibn Nestorius (who was executed shortly after) and appoint their leader Ibn Ammar to head the government, with the title of wāsiṭa ("intermediary") rather than full vizier. At the time the office of sifāra "secretary of state"

16434-683: The inner circle of Muhammad from the Sahabah - the compatriots of Muhammad in the way of Islam." This was in accordance with Shia practice, as laid out by Muslim scholar Ayatollah Haydari: "the followers of Ahl al-Bayt [Shias] say 'O Allah curse all of the Banu Umayya '." The Shia maintain that out of hatred for ʿAlī, Muʿawiyah ordered the Talbiyah not be said (as it was promoted by ʿAlī) and ordered people to curse him ( Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas refused to do so). The Shia hold that Muʿawiyah and all of

16600-487: The interest of modern historians more than any other member of the Fatimid dynasty because: "His eccentric character, the inconsistencies and radical shifts in his conduct and policies, the extreme austerity of his personal life, the vindictive and sanguinary ruthlessness of his dealing with the highest officials of his government coupled with an obsession to suppress all signs of corruption and immorality in public life, his attempted annihilation of Christians and call for

16766-495: The lands he had already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria , and most of the coast of the Levant . In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack Tyre , which he captured after a long and difficult siege . The men of military age were massacred and

16932-431: The mad and despotic tyrant (like Germanic and Roman despots) irrationally given to killing those around him on a whim, and the ideal supreme ruler, divinely ordained and chosen, whose every action was just and righteous, were to persist, the one among his enemies and those who rebelled against him, and the other in the hearts of true believers, who, while perhaps perplexed by events, nonetheless remained avidly loyal to him to

17098-728: The membership of the Greek Orthodox is about 500,000 people. The homeland of the Greek Orthodox is mostly Syria where it has the highest population of Christians and Lebanon. But like the Catholic Melkites , the largest population live in the Americas. The Antiochian Greek Orthodox population of Latin America is about 2.5 million people, while the Antiochian Greek Orthodox population of North America

17264-640: The mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates , to withdraw by sea. Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, Ada , who adopted Alexander. From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onwards,

17430-450: The more to make the attempt". After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword, and the women and children were sold into slavery. Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. After his trip to Siwa, Alexander was crowned in

17596-550: The mutiny of his homesick troops, he eventually turned back at the Beas River and later died in 323 BC in Babylon , the city of Mesopotamia that he had planned to establish as his empire's capital. Alexander's death left unexecuted an additional series of planned military and mercantile campaigns that would have begun with a Greek invasion of Arabia . In the years following his death, a series of civil wars broke out across

17762-667: The near 90-year preparation towards the First Crusade . Historically, Antiochians were considered as part of the Rum Millet (millet-i Rûm), or "Roman nation" by the Ottoman authorities. During the 17th century the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch abandoned the Greek liturgy in favor of the Arabic one. Since 1724 many Greek Orthodox converted to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Many Melkite Catholics, under pressure from

17928-534: The negotiations and scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian, explaining that he wanted a better bride for him. Philip exiled four of Alexander's friends, Harpalus , Nearchus , Ptolemy and Erigyius , and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains. In the 24th day of the Macedonian month Dios, which probably corresponds to 25 October 336 BC, while at Aegae attending

18094-457: The next morning. Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person: Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects? Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia. The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and

18260-481: The niece of his general Attalus . The marriage made Alexander's position as heir less secure, since any son of Cleopatra Eurydice would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half-Macedonian. During the wedding banquet , a drunken Attalus publicly prayed to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir. At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired

18426-434: The north, which left Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent . During Philip's absence, the Thracian tribe of Maedi revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly and drove them from their territory. The territory was colonized, and a city, named Alexandropolis , was founded. Upon Philip's return, Alexander was dispatched with a small force to subdue the revolts in southern Thrace . Campaigning against

18592-547: The old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars ), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth ), and announced his plans to attack the Persian Empire . When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice in 338 BC,

18758-420: The other cities again hesitated, Thebes decided to fight. The Theban resistance was ineffective and Alexander razed the city and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens, leaving all of Greece temporarily at peace. Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving Antipater as regent. After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) , Philip II began

18924-635: The other interest groups from power—not only the Turks and the other ethnic contingents of the army, but also the civilian bureaucracy , whose salary was cut—alienated not only the Mashāriqa , but alarmed Barjawan as well. Barjawan contacted the Fatimid governor of Damascus , the Turk Manjutakin , and invited him to march onto Egypt and depose Ibn Ammar. Manjutakin accepted, but was defeated by Ibn Ammar's troops under Sulayman ibn Ja'far ibn Falah at Ascalon and taken prisoner. Barjawan however soon found

19090-578: The permission of al-Hakim's successor. Al-Hakim ultimately allowed the unwilling Christian and Jewish converts to Islam to return to their faith and rebuild their ruined houses of worship. Indeed, from 1012 to 1021 al-Hakim became more tolerant toward the Jews and Christians and hostile toward the Sunnis. Ironically he developed a particularly hostile attitude with regard to the Muslim Shiites. It

19256-530: The process of rebuilding their authority in the Levant, which had been lost to them for almost twenty years. At the time of the Arab conquest, Bilad al-Sham was inhabited mainly by Syrian Christian sects, Ghassanid and other local Arab tribes and Nabatean Arabs, as well as Greeks, and by non-Christian minorities of Jews, Samaritans, and Itureans Arabs. The population of the region did not become predominantly Muslim until

19422-603: The region. But Ruffié and Taleb (1965) found significant differences of blood markers between ethno-religious groups, particularly the Greek Orthodox in Lebanon, based on a substantially larger sample of Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic individuals within a broader research project—but their research ignored other related 'Melkite-Antiochian' Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities in Syria, Southeastern Turkey and Northern Israel. A study by Makhoul et al. (2010) on Beta Thalassemia Heterogeneity in Lebanon found out that

19588-681: The resulting spread of Greek culture led to the overwhelming dominance of Hellenistic civilization and influence as far east as the Indian subcontinent . The Hellenistic period developed through the Roman Empire into modern Western culture ; the Greek language became the lingua franca of the region and was the predominant language of the Byzantine Empire until its collapse in the mid-15th century AD. Alexander became legendary as

19754-455: The right wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for some time. Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Having damaged

19920-529: The satrapy of Sogdiana, betrayed Bessus to Ptolemy , one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed. However, at some point later when Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in

20086-548: The spread of Ismailism within the very seat of his realm. In particular, in 1011 he assembled a number of Sunni and Twelver Shiite scholars at his court and commanded them to declare in a written document that Hakim and his predecessors lacked genuine descent from Ali and Fatima . This so-called Baghdad Manifesto was read out in Friday mosques throughout the 'Abbasid domains accusing the Fatimids of Jewish ancestry . In addition, because of al-Hakim's alleged Christian mother, he

20252-513: The spring of 637. Sophronius also negotiated a pact with Caliph Umar, known as the Umariyya Covenant or Covenant of Omar, allowing for religious freedom for Christians in exchange for jizya , a tax to be paid by conquered non-Muslims, called 'Ahl al Dhimmah'. The majority population of Jerusalem during the time of Arab conquest was Christian. In the aftermath the process of Islamization took place, combining immigration to Palestine with

20418-563: The systematic destruction of all Christian holy places in the middle east culminating in the destruction of the most holy Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem , his deification by a group of extremist Isma'ili missionaries who became the forerunners and founders of the Druze religion, [which] all combine to contrast his reign sharply with that of any of his predecessors and successors and indeed of any Muslim ruler.... The question

20584-406: The taxation system on the Greek models and organized the military occupation of the country, but in early 331 BC he left for Asia in pursuit of the Persians. Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC where he was regarded as a liberator. To legitimize taking power and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult

20750-461: The temple of Ptah at Memphis. It appears that the Egyptian people did not find it disturbing that he was a foreigner – nor that he was absent for virtually his entire reign. Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. In the temple of Luxor, near Karnak, he built a chapel for the sacred barge. During his brief months in Egypt, he reformed

20916-522: The term is also used due to the dramatic difference between al-Hakim and his predecessors and successors and also points out that such persecution is an extreme rarity in Islam during this era. "In his capital of Cairo, this unbalanced (and, in the view of most, mad) caliph raged against the Christians in particular.... On the whole such episodes remained exceptional, like the episodes of forced conversion to Islam." Historian Michael Foss also notes this contrast: "For more than three hundred and fifty years, from

21082-406: The thalassemia mutations in Lebanese Christians are similar to the ones observed in Macedonia, Greece which "may confirm the presumed ancient Macedonian origin of certain Lebanese Christians". Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( Ancient Greek : Ἀλέξανδρος , romanized :  Alexandros ; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander

21248-557: The theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants". Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne". However, Alexander's eventual decision to burn the Achaemenid palace at Persepolis in conjunction with the major rejection and opposition of the "entire Persian people" made it impracticable for him to pose himself as Darius' legitimate successor. Against Bessus (Artaxerxes V) however, Briant adds, Alexander reasserted "his claim to legitimacy as

21414-415: The third-century Alexander Romance which, in the premodern period, went through over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations and was translated into almost every European vernacular and every language of the Islamic world. After the Bible , it was the most popular form of European literature. Alexander III was born in Pella , the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon , on the sixth day of

21580-423: The throne. He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV , executed. He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed for having been involved in his father's assassination, but spared a third, Alexander Lyncestes . Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice, and Europa, her daughter by Philip, burned alive. When Alexander learned about this, he was furious. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus, who

21746-498: The time a church. A minority returned to their home village but the majority remained "semi-detached", settling for several generations in Egypt without for all that involving themselves fully in the host society. Due to the rise in nationalism along with the loss of economic freedoms during the 1950s, a part of Egypt's Syro-Lebanese community left the country immigrating to the Americas , Europe , and Australia , as well as many returning to Lebanon (especially Beirut ) and Syria. This

21912-493: The time when the Caliph Omar made a treaty with the Patriarch Sophronius until 1009, when mad al-Hakim began attacks on Christians and Jews, the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land were open to the West, with an easy welcome and the way there was no more dangerous than a journey from Paris to Rome.... Soon [after al-Hakim] the panic was over. In 1037 al-Mustansir came to an amicable agreement with Emperor Michael IV ." As one prominent journal has noted, al-Hakim has attracted

22078-553: The title of Khalif." On the following day, he and his new court proceeded from Bilbays to Cairo, behind the camel bearing his father's body, and with the dead Caliph's feet protruding from the litter. They arrived shortly before evening prayer and his father was buried the next evening next to the tomb of his predecessor al-Mu'īzz. Al-Ḥākim was sworn in by Barjawan , a "white eunuch whom al-'Azīz had appointed as Ustad 'tutor'." Because it had been unclear whether he would inherit his father's position, this successful transfer of power

22244-400: The top of a sycamore tree, exclaimed: "Come down, my boy; may God protect you and us all." When I descended he placed on my head the turban adorned with jewels, kissed the ground before me, and said: "Hail to the Commander of the faithful, with the mercy of God and his blessing." He then led me out in that attire and showed me to all the people, who kissed the ground before me and saluted me with

22410-454: The two factions, fulfilling the demands of the Mashāriqa while taking care of the Kutama as well. In this vein, he pardoned Ibn Ammar and restored him his monthly salary of 500 gold dinars . After Bajarwan's murder on 26 March 1000, however, Caliph al-Hakim assumed the reins of government and launched a purge of the Fatimid elites, during which Ibn Ammar and many of the other Kutama leaders were executed. To ensure his own power, Hakim limited

22576-467: The wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Olympias's brother, Alexander I of Epirus , Philip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguards , Pausanias . As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, Perdiccas and Leonnatus . Alexander was proclaimed king on the spot by the nobles and army at the age of 20. Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to

22742-477: The western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. The Macedonians were demoralized by Philip's death and were subsequently defeated near Magnesia by the Achaemenids under the command of the mercenary Memnon of Rhodes . Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry, and

22908-406: The women and children sold into slavery . When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated. However, Alexander was met with resistance at Gaza . The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. When "his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible... this encouraged Alexander all

23074-445: The work of establishing himself as hēgemṓn ( Greek : ἡγεμών ) of a league which according to Diodorus was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in 480 and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. In 336 he sent Parmenion , Amyntas , Andromenes, Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into Anatolia to make preparations for an invasion. The Greek cities on

23240-454: Was a Melkite Christian whose two brothers were appointed patriarchs of the Melkite Church by Caliph al-'Azīz. Different sources say either one of her brothers or her father was sent by al-'Azīz as an ambassador to Sicily . Al-'Azīzah is considered to be the mother of Sitt al-Mulk , one of the most famous women in Islamic history, who had a stormy relationship with her half-brother al-Ḥākim and may have had him assassinated. Some, such as

23406-414: Was a demonstration of the stability of the Fatimid dynasty. Al-Hakim's father had intended the eunuch Barjawan to act as regent until al-Hakim was old enough to rule by himself. Ibn 'Ammar and Qadi Muhammad ibn Nu'man were to assist in the guardianship of the new caliph. Nevertheless, the Kutama Berbers seized the chance to recover their dominant position in the state, which had eroded under al-Aziz due to

23572-409: Was a notably tolerant attitude toward the Sunnis and less zeal for Shiite Islam, while the attitude with regard to the 'People of the Book' was hostile." On 18 October 1009, al-Hakim ordered the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre and its associated buildings, apparently outraged by what he regarded as the fraud practiced by the monks in the "miraculous" Descent of the Holy Fire , celebrated annually at

23738-426: Was a part of the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war , which began as a Maronite rebellion in Mount Lebanon, and culminated in the massacre in Damascus. During the First World War, Antiochians, alongside other Ottoman Greeks, were targeted by the Ittihadist Ottoman authorities in what is now historically known as the Ottoman Greek genocide . As a result, three Antiochian Greek Orthodox Dioceses were completely annihilated;

23904-507: Was accused of being over-sympathetic to non-Muslims, giving them more privileges than they should have been given under Islamic rule. Such accusations were manifested through poetry criticizing the Fatimids. Qadir also commissioned several refutations of Ismaili doctrines, including those written by the Mu'tazili 'Ali b. Sa'id al-Istakri (1013). Hakim confronted numerous difficulties and uprisings during his relatively long reign. While he did not lose any important territories in North Africa ,

24070-421: Was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed Artaxerxes III . Among them were Artabazos II and his daughter Barsine , possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as Amminapes , future satrap of Alexander, or a Persian nobleman named Sisines . This gave

24236-415: Was also combined within that office. Ibn 'Ammar then took the title of Amīn ad-Dawla "the one trusted in the empire". This was the first time that the term "empire" was associated with the Fatimid state. Ibn Ammar's rule quickly descended into a Berber tyranny: he immediately began staffing the government with Berbers, who engaged in a virtual pillaging of the state coffers. The Berbers' attempts to exclude

24402-415: Was appointed commander for the coming war against Persia. He also received news of a Thracian uprising. Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting from Amphipolis , he travelled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at Mount Haemus , the Macedonian army attacked and defeated

24568-455: Was attempting to refute the Russian claims that they were of Aramean origin. They were included as Greeks in an ethnographic study published by French historian and ethnographer Alexander Synvet in 1878. A genetic study focused on the Maronites of Lebanon revealed no noticeable or significant genetic differentiation between the Greek Orthodox Christians, Maronites, Greek Catholic Christians , Sunni Muslims , Shiite Muslims , and Druze of

24734-403: Was away, attending the birth of Alexander. Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception. In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike , sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black . Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas ,

24900-401: Was during this period, in the year 1017, that the unique religion of the Druze began to develop as an independent religion based on the revelation ( Kashf ) of al-Hakim as divine. While it is clear that Hamza ibn Ali was the Caliph's chief dāʿī , there are claims that al-Hakim believed in his own divinity. Other scholars disagree with this assertion of direct divinity, particularly

25066-425: Was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and Cleopatra's uncle. Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive. Alexander spared Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as

25232-407: Was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians. As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly

25398-406: Was known as the 1956–1957 exodus of Egypt's Mutamassirun , which began during the latter stages of the Suez Crisis in Nasserist Egypt. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Antiochians experienced a resurgence of Arabization, leading most to adopt Arabic as a liturgical language. According to Greek journalist Alexandros Massavetas, the rivalry between Moscow and Constantinople for supremacy over

25564-412: Was lost to the Arabs after the Battle of Yarmouk , and the fall of Antioch. Further Information: Muslim conquest of the Levant , Arab–Byzantine wars The Arab conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the conquest of the Levant, which later became known as the Islamic Province of Bilad al-Sham . On the eve of the Arab Muslim conquests the Byzantines were still in

25730-564: Was made available to the public and many Fatimid da'is received at least part of their training in this major institution of learning which served the Ismaili da'wa (mission) until the downfall of the Fatimid dynasty. For more than 100 years, Dār al-ʿIlm distinguished itself as a center of learning where astronomers, mathematicians, grammarians, logicians, physicians, philologists, jurists and others conducted research, gave lectures and collaborated. All were welcomed, and it remained unfettered by political pressures or partisan influences. Hakim made

25896-424: Was needed in establishing friendly, or at least neutral relations with the Byzantine Empire , which had expansionary goals in the early 11th century. The geographically farthest-reaching diplomatic mission of al-Hakim was to Song dynasty China. The Fatimid Egyptian sea captain known as Domiyat traveled to a Buddhist pilgrimage site in Shandong in AD 1008. It was on this mission that he sought to present to

26062-401: Was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus . Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on

26228-556: Was preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the Illyrians invaded Macedonia, only to be repelled by Alexander. Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae , taking it after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of Elatea , only a few days' march from both Athens and Thebes . The Athenians, led by Demosthenes , voted to seek alliance with Thebes against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes's favour, but Athens won

26394-401: Was reckoned at one and a half billion francs, 10% of the Egyptian GDP. Those who had capital invested it in small businesses (oil, soaps, tobacco, patisserie). Others created more important companies trading or producing salt, sodium, textiles, perfume, wood, silk. This economic success led to the foundation of schools, clubs, and charities, generally linked to a place of worship which was most of

26560-432: Was removed from court and al-Mulk was appointed regent for her 16-year-old nephew. After al-Zahir came of age, al-Mulk assumed positions within his administration until her death in 1023. In Western literature he has been referred to as the "Mad Caliph". This title is largely due to his erratic and oppressive behavior concerning religious minorities under his command, as historian Hunt Janin relates: al-Hakim "was known as

26726-451: Was retained until a new system could be instituted; therefore, Greek remained the administrative language in the new Muslim territories for over 50 years after the conquests. The relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were good. The Umayyads were involved in frequent battles with the Byzantine Greeks without being concerned with protecting themselves in Syria, which had remained largely Christian like many other parts of

26892-452: Was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius's successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to

27058-432: Was the Ismā'īlī da'wah "Mission", with its organizational power center in Cairo . He founded the House of knowledge in 1004AD which competed with Baghdad’s House of wisdom and eventually surpassed it, becoming the number 1 in the world. Al-Hakim's reign was characterized by a general unrest. The Fatimid army was troubled by a rivalry between two opposing factions, the Turks and the Berbers . Tension grew between

27224-441: Was the daughter of 'Abdu l-Lāh, one of al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah 's sons and therefore al-'Azīz's niece. Historians such as Delia Cortese are critical of this claim: [I]t is more likely that this woman was in fact a wife of al-Hakim, rather than his mother. It could be argued that the Druzes' emphasis on al-Hakim's descent from an endogamic union served the doctrinal purpose of reinforcing the charisma genealogically transmitted with

27390-818: Was treated as a guest, despite having defeated them in battle a few years before. However, it appears Philip never intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son. Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, Demaratus , who mediated between the two parties. In the following year, the Persian satrap (governor) of Caria , Pixodarus , offered his eldest daughter to Alexander's half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus . Olympias and several of Alexander's friends suggested this showed Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus his heir. Alexander reacted by sending an actor, Thessalus of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he stopped

27556-449: Was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders. Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle . In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he campaigned in the Balkans and reasserted control over Thrace and parts of Illyria before marching on the city of Thebes , which was subsequently destroyed in battle . Alexander then led

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