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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
After Alexander's death, his empire was divided among his
Macedonian generals. The eastern part--Phoenicia, Asia Minor,
northern Syria, and Mesopotamia--fell to Seleucus I, founder of the
Seleucid dynasty. The southern part of Syria and Egypt fell to
Ptolemy, and the European part, including Macedonia, to Antigonus
I. This settlement, however, failed to bring peace because Seleucus
I and Ptolemy clashed repeatedly in the course of their ambitious
efforts to share in Phoenician prosperity. A final victory of the
Seleucids ended a forty-year period of conflict.
The last century of Seleucid rule was marked by disorder and
dynastic struggles. These ended in 64 B.C., when the Roman general
Pompey added Syria and Lebanon to the Roman Empire. Economic and
intellectual activities flourished in Lebanon during the Pax
Romana. The inhabitants of the principal Phoenician cities of
Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre were granted Roman citizenship. These
cities were centers of the pottery, glass, and purple dye
industries; their harbors also served as warehouses for products
imported from Syria, Persia, and India. They exported cedar,
perfume, jewelry, wine, and fruit to Rome. Economic prosperity led
to a revival in construction and urban development; temples and
palaces were built throughout the country, as well as paved roads
that linked the cities.
Upon the death of Theodosius I in A.D. 395, the empire was
divided in two: the eastern or Byzantine part with its capital at
Constantinople, and the western part with its capital at Rome.
Under the Byzantine Empire, intellectual and economic activities in
Beirut, Tyre, and Sidon continued to flourish for more than a
century. However, in the sixth century a series of earthquakes
demolished the temples of Baalbek and destroyed the city of Beirut,
leveling its famous law school and killing nearly 30,000
inhabitants. To these natural disasters were added the abuses and
corruptions prevailing at that time in the empire. Heavy tributes
and religious dissension produced disorder and confusion.
Furthermore, the ecumenical councils of the fifth and sixth
centuries A.D. were unsuccessful in settling religious
disagreements. This turbulent period weakened the empire and made
it easy prey to the newly converted Muslim Arabs of the Arabian
Peninsula.
Data as of December 1987
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