At its peak, Antioch was the capital of the Seleucid Empire and was the third largest city in the world, having a population of 500,000 souls. Greek culture dominated, including its polytheistic religion worshiping Zeus as “king of the gods.” Tyche, the mistress of fortune and luck, was Antioch’s patron goddess. Antiochean Jews did not live in a separate neighborhood or ghetto, but dwelled alongside their gentile neighbors, mingling with them to a greater degree than in any