A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest

Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press (London: Oxford University Press), 1961. — 752 p.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and was a cradle of gentile Christianity. Downey covers its history from its origins through to the Arab Conquests.
Downey s work is a monument of industry, an immense accumulation of facts, and of interpretations which are eminently sensible and cautious. It will certainly remain the standard work on the history of Antioch until there are new and major excavations of the site, and probably long thereafter.