This chapter probes how Libanius and John Chrysostom dealt with Antioch’s past in their conceptualization of the city. In Late Antiquity, Averil Cameron aptly writes, “the past was so real that it was subject of intense competition.”[1] The writings of both authors strongly corroborate this statement. They constantly employed, manipulated, and reinterpreted the city’s history while forming contesting ideals of their own regarding Antioch. Libanius featured in his writings the Hellenistic history of the city and Greek myths[2] associated with it. He engaged with the already-existing traditions, myths, and narratives. Hence, his ideal of Antioch was drawn from the traditional repertoire of gods, mythical heroes, and quasi-mythical historical narratives of Antioch’s Hellenistic past. His interpretation of the city’s history mostly omitted narratives other than these. Even the Roman history of the city was overshadowed, and Christianity does not find a place in his writings beyond some vague implications.[3] We will see how he promoted Greek myths in his narratives about the time predating the actual founding of the city by Seleucus Nicator. In a way, according to him, these narratives revealed how the city’s pre-history and Hellenistic past had pointed to the city’s fourth-century grandeur and how, from the very beginning, Antioch was the chosen place of Greek heroes and Olympian gods, Antioch’s prosperity was tightly connected to the favor of these gods. These gods had always favored Antioch and protected her. In contrast, in John Chrysostom’s vision of Antioch, the Christian God replaced these Greek gods. Chrysostom’s narratives, opposing Libanius’ conceptualization, portray Antioch as a Christian city. Contrary to what Greek myths pointed to, in John Chrysostom’s narratives, Antioch was a city chosen by the Christian God, and Greek heroes are replaced by saints and martyrs who draw their strength from God. In this conceptualization, this time, it was not the gods who guaranteed the prosperity of Antioch, but the Christian God and his saints and martyrs. Chrysostom had a conceptualization of a city which is the stronghold of Christian religion, guarded by the one and true Christian God.[4]
