Ar-Rastan was built on the site of ancient Arethusa.
According to Roman historian Appian, Arethusa was established by Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid dynasty in the 3rd century BC.
Most sources agree Seleucus named it after the city of Arethusa in Greek Macedonia, but others claim it was named after a spring in Sicily with the same name.
Arethusa in native Syriac was called Arastan, also mentioned in the Christian First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
To a lesser extent, the name "Arastan" continued to be used by the indigenous inhabitants, alongside "Arethusa".

It served as the first capital of the Emesani kingdom in central Syria, a vassal of the Roman Empire, in the mid-1st-century BC.
Roman historian Strabo stated that it was well governed under the phylarch Sampsiceramus I from 64 to 63, when the Roman general Pompey captured it.
Emesani control was restored by 46 BC when it was ruled by Iamblichus I. During the Roman civil war that followed the death of Julius Caesar, the city's inhabitants sided with Mark Antony against Octavian.
Nonetheless, Arethusa became an independent city-state following Octavian's victory in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, but returned to Emesani control eleven years later.
Thereafter, its status declined with the rise of nearby Emesa (modern-day Homs) as a religious and political center.
Ar-Rastan was built on the site of ancient Arethusa. According to Roman historian Appian, Arethusa was established by Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid dynasty in the 3rd century BC. Most sources agree Seleucus named it after the city of Arethusa in Greek Macedonia, but others claim it was named after a spring in Sicily with the same name. Arethusa in native Syriac was called Arastan, also mentioned in the Christian First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. To a lesser extent, the name "Arastan" continued to be used by the indigenous inhabitants, alongside "Arethusa".
It served as the first capital of the Emesani kingdom in central Syria, a vassal of the Roman Empire, in the mid-1st-century BC. Roman historian Strabo stated that it was well governed under the phylarch Sampsiceramus I from 64 to 63, when the Roman general Pompey captured it. Emesani control was restored by 46 BC when it was ruled by Iamblichus I. During the Roman civil war that followed the death of Julius Caesar, the city's inhabitants sided with Mark Antony against Octavian. Nonetheless, Arethusa became an independent city-state following Octavian's victory in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, but returned to Emesani control eleven years later. Thereafter, its status declined with the rise of nearby Emesa (modern-day Homs) as a religious and political center.
Al-Rastan