Berȳtus
（
Βηρυτός). Called in the Old Test.
Berotha
and
Berothai. The modern Beirût; an ancient town of
Phœnicia, about twenty-four miles south of Byblus, famous in the age of Justinian
for the study of law, and styled by that emperor “the mother and nurse of the
laws.” The civil law was taught there in Greek, as it was at Rome in Latin.
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Coin of Berytus.
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It had also the name of Colonia Felix Iulia, from Augustus Caesar, who made it a
Roman colony, and named it in honour of his daughter (
Plin.
H. N. v. 20). The adjacent plain is renowned as the place where St.
George, the patron saint of England, slew the dragon; in memory of which a small chapel was
built upon the spot, dedicated at first to that Christian hero, but now changed to a mosque.
It was frequently captured and recaptured during the Crusades.
