246-198 Struggle between the Seleucidæ and Ptolemies for Phœnicia.
The Seleucidæ left in possession of Phœnicia after the surrender of Sidon (198).
The trade of Media and the Red Sea is diverted to Alexandria in Egypt.
125 Tyre and Sidon are practically independent after the Tyrians put Demetrius II to death.
86 Syria, worn out by the civil wars of the Seleucidæ puts itself under the dominion of Tigranes, king of Armenia.
67 Phœnicia and Syria return for a short time to the Seleucidæ after the victories of Lucullus.
63 Pompey reduces Syria to a Roman province.
44-42 Cassius divides Phœnicia into small principalities. Antony gives Phœnicia to Cleopatra, but reserves freedom of Tyre and Sidon.
20 Augustus deprives Tyre and Sidon of their liberties. He founds a Roman colony called Augustana, at Beirut (Berytus), which has a famous law school under the dominion of Rome. Tyre and Sidon have no political importance, but retain their commercial and manufacturing interests. They continue to have no historical importance until
193-194 A.D. Tyre and Laodicea take part in the struggle of Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger for the emperorship. Niger sends troops to Tyre, which burn and pillage the city.