An military installation situated at the north-western corner of the Temple Mount that Herod the Great had built as part of the Temple refurbishment in Jerusalem. Its presence—and the garrison of Roman soldiers—overlooking the Temple served to intimidate those who came to the temple to remind them of who was boss, as well as to provide security in case of any outbreak of the violence. Herod named the fort after his first patron, Mark Antony
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In another act obviously intended to show who was boss—from the time of Herod the Great—the high-priest's vestments were kept in Fort Antonia, secured by the seals of the high-priest and the temple treasurer. They were taken out seven days before any major festivals so that the proper purifications may be made.The practice continued when Judea came under direct Roman administration even though attempts were made by the Jews to do away with the custom.
Though Fort Antonio is not mentioned by name in the NT, it is almost certain to be "the barracks" from which the Roman soldiers rushed down to rescue Paul when he was accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple and was mercilessly beaten by the mob recorded in Acts 21:30ff. Paul seemed to have spent at least two nights there (22:29-30, 23:11).
The fort was set ablaze and destoryed together with the temple in the conflagration of 70 AD during the First Jewish Revolt. Almost no remains of it is now apparent though some scholars suggest its foundations may still be discoverable beneath what is today the Ummariya school along the northern end of the Temple Mount.
The Ummariya school (right) where Antonia would have been.
©ALBERITH
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