City
Laudicie
Latakia
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Laodicea by the sea is today Latakia on the Syrian coast, and the map marks it with a pair of towers. The Greek geographer Strabo praised the city as finely built and counted it among the four chief cities of Syria. Seleucus Nicator founded it in honour of his mother, in a fertile land rich in vines. It stood on a peninsula, a fortress and trading town whose excellent harbour also served Antioch. Laid waste by Pescennius Niger, it was raised to a colony with Italian rights by Septimius Severus. The road runs eleven Roman miles from Gabala and fifteen to the station at the Orontes.