Original: The Roman emperors favored the city from the first, seeing it as a more suitable capital for the eastern part of the empire than Alexandria could be, because of the isolated position of Egypt.
Simplified: The Romans both felt and expressed boundless contempt for the hybrid Antiochenes; but their emperors favored the city from the first, seeing in it a more suitable capital for the eastern part of the empire than Alexandria could ever be, because of the isolated position of Egypt.