Main Street Apamea
The ruins of Apamea near Hama Syria 2010
Apamea was founded in 300 B.C. by one of Alexander the Great’s generals and later, under Pompey, became a Roman city in 64 A.D. These columns remain from the 1200 columns that lined the street during Roman Times. The columns are in good condition, some have been restored, and there are several unusual designs such as columns with spirals swirling from bottom to top.
This street was called the ‘cardio maximus’ by Romans. It was the main street in the city and ran north to south. It was lined by shops and other businesses. As we walked it, the distance was a kilometer or maybe a kilometer and a half. We did see one or two other groups of tourists, but mostly we had the place to ourselves and it was easy to imagine life there 2000 years ago.
I wanted to show this today, because I saw a story in the Wall Street Journal describing the destruction of these irreplaceable ancient cities by the rebellion going on in Syria now. Syria, once the destination of silk road caravans, is the cradle of civilization…Greeks, Romans, Christians, Muslims, Crusaders…all have left their mark. What a shame to destroy this history.