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In Greek mythology, Nike was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas (Titan) and Styx (Water) and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical (later) myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities. Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the victors with glory and fame.
Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon. Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.
Names stemming from Nike include amongst others: Nicholas, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas, Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.
Latakia is known historically as Laodicea or Laodicea ad Mare.
The location of Latakia, the Ras Ziyarah promontory, has a long history of occupation. The Phoenician city of Ramitha was located here, known to the Greeks as Leukê Aktê (“white coast”).
The city was described in Strabo’s Geographica:
“It is a city most beautifully built, has a good harbour, and has territory which, besides its other good crops, abounds in wine. Now this city furnishes the most of the wine to the Alexandreians, since the whole of the mountain that lies above the city and is possessed by it is covered with vines almost as far as the summits. And while the summits are at a considerable distance from Lāŏdĭcḗa, sloping up gently and gradually from it, they tower above Apameia, extending up to a perpendicular height.”
Roman rule
Temple of Bacchus in Latakia.
Latakia Tetraporticus, built by Septimius Severus in 183 CE.
Main article: Laodicea ad Mare
The city was an important colonia of the Roman empire in ancient Seleukia for seven centuries. It was called Laodicea on the Sea or “Lāŏdĭcḗa ad mắre” and was the capital of the Eastern Roman province of Theodorias from 528 AD until 637 AD. A sizable Jewish population lived in Lāŏdĭcḗa during the first century. The heretic Apollinarius was bishop of Lāŏdĭcḗa in the 4th century. The city minted coins from an early date.
