Homs
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Homs (Arabic, حمص Himş) is a city and governorate in Syria. The city is located on the Orontes river, dating back to 2300 B.C.. In Roman times it was known as Emesa. The Krak des Chevaliers is built on the mountain gap near Homs. It is also home to the Tomb of Khalid bin Walid, a famous and celebrated Muslim Warrior. The current population of the city is 700,000.
Ancient Homs (Emesa)
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Emesa had a temple to the Syrian sun god El Gebal (Aramaic), also called Elagabalus (Latin) and Heliogabalus (Greek). During Roman times Emesa was ruled by its local dynasty of priest-kings. It was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known as Elagabalus, who was a hereditary priest of the his namesake deity and succeeded his cousin Caracalla in 218. Emesa was also Roman Emperor Aurelian's headquarter during his campaign against Queen Zenobia of Palmyra.
Homs is the city of choice when it comes to making jokes. It is like Belgium to France in joke-making. Homsies (Hamasne) are accused of being crazy and even having an official holiday (every Wedensday and no one knows why this day) for practicing The Crazy Fest (Eid El- Majaneen). Homsies neither deny nor approve this myth. Labeling Homsies crazy has its roots deep back when the Romans decided to conquer this beautiful city, which is near Palmyra. When Homsies heard of the coming conquerors, the small city council collectively approved a rather strange solution. They put out advisories for residents to act like they were crazy, and make the Roman occupiers uncomfortable. Plans were put for Homsies to eat with full mouths, excrete out in the open in food stores (to disgust the forces and sway them from taking their food), dance, touch the foreigners' genitals, make practical jokes, and the rest was up to the Homsies imagination. The Homsies liked the idea and acted in advice, and when the coming conquerors came into the city, all the residents acted crazy, putting up a show that disgusted the coming forces, instigated empathy, and belated this city's besiege. The effects were not in the Homsies favour, for the Romans ruled Homs for decades thereafter.
Governorate
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The Homs governorate encompasses the city of Homs and the surrounding countryside. It is bordered to the south by the Rif Dimashq governorate, to the north by the Tartous, Hama, and Ar Raqqah governorates, and to the east by the Dayr az Zawr governorate.