Ancient region, Middle East.
Corresponding to modern Lebanon, with adjoining parts of Syria and Israel, its chief cities were Sidon, Tyre , and Berot (modern Beirut ). The Phoenician s were notable merchants, traders, and colonizers (see Carthage ) of the Mediterranean region in the 1st millennium BC. The area was conquered successively by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Macedonians under Alexander the Great . In 64 BC it was incorporated into the Roman province of Syria.