To start, Apache you might try one of these commands:

$ apachectl start
$ service httpd start

To stop Apache, try using:

$ apachectl stop
$ service httpd stop

If you'd like to restart Apache, try these commands:

$ apachectl graceful
$ service httpd restart

To test your config file before starting Apache. I highly recommend you run this every time you edit your config file.

$ apachectl configtest