140 - 40 BC Phoenicia, Arados AE16 Ancient Grades vf. When Alexander the Great invaded Syria in 332 BC ...

140 - 40 BC Phoenicia, Arados AE16 Ancient Grades vf. When Alexander the Great invaded Syria in 332 BC, Arados submitted without a struggle under her king Strato, who sent his navy to aid Alexander in the reduction of Tyre. It seems to have received the favor of the Seleucid kings of Syria and enjoyed the right of asylum for political refugees. It is mentioned in a rescript from Rome about 138 BC in connection with other cities and rulers of the East, to show favor to the Jews. This was after Rome had begun to interfere in the affairs of Judea and Syria and indicates that Arados was still of considerable importance at that time. The city has been cited as one of the first known examples of a republic in the Levant region, in which the people, rather than a monarch, are described as sovereign. The island was important as a base for commercial ventures into the Orontes valley. Arados inaugurated a new civic era in 259 BC, when its traditional royalty disappeared, and it became a free independent city within the Seleucid kingdom, during the reign of Antiochus II.