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34-543: The word limes is sometimes used by modern scholars to denote the frontier of the Roman Empire but was not used by the Romans as such. After the third century it was an administrative term, indicating a military district, commanded by a dux limitis . The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk marking off the boundaries of fields; a boundary line or marker; any road or path; any channel, such as

68-651: A Legate . During the early empire, the Roman army in Syria accounted for three legions with auxiliaries who defended the border with Parthia . In 6 AD, Emperor Augustus deposed the ethnarch Herod Archelaus and united Judea , Samaria and Idumea into the Roman province of Judea ; such province was placed under the direct authority of the Legate of Syria Publius Sulpicius Quirinius , who appointed Coponius as Prefect of Judea. Following

102-653: A Phoenician -speaking majority well into the end of 2nd century, and their main urban centers included Tyre , Sidon and Berytus . On the other hand, Greeks comprised a majority in Hellenistic urban centers such Antioch , Apamea , Cyrrhus and the Decapolis , which had been settled by Greeks under Seleucid patronage. Estimates for the population of the entire Levant in the 1st century vary from 3.5–4 million to 6 million, levels only matched even by 19th century levels. Urban centers peaked and so did population density in

136-557: A group of Iranian peoples ruling most of Greater Iran that is in modern-day Iran, western Iraq, Armenia and the Caucasus. The Sasanians succeeded the Parthians in 224–226 and were recognised as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighbouring arch-rival the Roman (Byzantine) Empire for a period of more than 400 years. At the greatest extent of the Empire , the southern border lay along

170-453: A stream channel; or any distinction or difference between two things. In Britannia the Empire built two walls one behind the other; for Mauretania there was a single wall with forts on both sides of it. In other places, such as Syria and Arabia Petraea , there was no continuous wall; instead there was a net of border settlements and forts occupied by the Roman army. In Dacia , the limes between

204-558: The Comnenii . However, by that time the city was regarded as part of Asia Minor and not of Syria. Provinicia Syria had a diverse demographic distribution. The rural inland was mostly populated by Aramaic speakers descended from various West Semitic peoples who inhabited Syria. Arabs were settled throughout Hauran , Trachonitis and Emesa which they controlled. Arabs were also part of Palmyra 's composition, which included Aramaeans, Arabs and Amorites . The Phoenician coast maintained

238-636: The Diocese of the East . Sometime between 330 and 350 (likely c. 341), the province of Euphratensis was created out of the territory of Syria Coele along the western bank of the Euphrates and the former Kingdom of Commagene , with Hierapolis as its capital. After c. 415, Syria Coele was further subdivided into Syria I (or Syria Prima ), with its capital remaining at Antioch , and Syria II ( Syria Secunda ) or Syria Salutaris , with its capital at Apamea on

272-641: The Fosse Scipio , was the first part of the Limes Africanus to be built in Roman Africa . It was used to divide the Berber kingdom of Numidia from the territory of Carthage that was conquered by the Romans in the second century BC. It was an irregular ditch "from Thabraca on the northern coast to Thaenae on the south-eastern coast". The Fossa was dug by the Romans after their final conquest of Carthage at

306-620: The Third Mithridatic War following the defeat of King of Armenia Tigranes the Great , who had become the protector of the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria . Following the partition of the Herodian Kingdom of Judea into a tetrarchy in 4 BC, it was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria annexing Iturea and Trachonitis . By the late 2nd century AD, the province was divided into Coele Syria and Syria Phoenice . Syria

340-679: The Black Sea and the Danube were a mix of the latter and the wall defenses: the Limes Moesiae was the conjunction of two, and sometimes three, lines of vallum , with a Great Camp and many minor camps spread through the fortifications. In continental Europe, the borders were generally well defined, usually following the courses of major rivers such as the Rhine and the Danube . Nevertheless, those were not always

374-645: The Orontes . In 528, Justinian I carved out the small coastal province Theodorias out of territory from both provinces. The region remained one of the most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire . It was occupied by the Sasanians between 609 and 628, then reconquered by the emperor Heraclius , but lost again to the advancing Muslims after the Battle of Yarmouk and the fall of Antioch . The city of Antioch

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408-576: The Roman Empire, until it was officially transformed into a Roman province following the death of Herod Agrippa II . Syrian province forces were directly engaged in the First Jewish–Roman War of 66–70 AD. In 66 AD, Cestius Gallus , legate of Syria, brought the Syrian army, based on Legio XII Fulminata , reinforced by auxiliary troops, to restore order in Judaea and quell the revolt. The legion, however,

442-564: The civil administration of the whole large province undiminished, and held for long alone in all Asia a command of the first rank. [...] It was only in the course of the second century that a diminution of his prerogatives occurred, when Hadrian took one of the four legions from the governor of Syria and handed it over to the governor of Palestine . Septimius Severus divided the province of Syria proper into Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice , with Antioch and Tyre as their respective provincial capitals. As related by Theodor Mommsen , It

476-404: The death of Herod Philip II (34 AD) and the removal of Herod Antipas (39 AD) Ituraea , Trachonitis , Galilee and Perea were also transferred under the jurisdiction of the province of Syria. From 37 to 41 AD, much of the southern region was separated from Syria and transformed into a client kingdom under Herod Agrippa I . After Agrippa's death, his kingdom was gradually re-absorbed into

510-800: The deserts of Arabia in the Egyptian region and the Sahara in North Africa , which represented a natural barrier against expansion. The Empire controlled the Mediterranean shores and the mountain ranges further inland. The Romans attempted twice to occupy the Siwa Oasis and finally used Siwa as a place of banishment. However, the Romans controlled the Nile many kilometres into Africa up to Syena , Berenice, Hyerasykaminos and even Qasr Ibrim (the southernmost of all), near

544-590: The end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC. The construction's primary purpose was administrative, not military. It delineated the limits of the newly created Roman province of Africa marking the border between the Roman Republic and its then ally Numidia . After the end of Caesar's Civil War in 46 BC, the western part of the Fossa regia served as the boundary between the province of Nova Africa , to its west, and

578-574: The final border lines; the province of Dacia , modern Romania , was completely on the far side of the Danube, and the province of Germania Magna , which must not be confused with Germania Inferior and Germania Superior , was the land between the Rhine, the Danube and the Elbe (Although this province was lost three years after its creation as a result of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest ). In Great Britain both Hadrian and Antoninus Pius built defences to protect

612-606: The former, which was called Coele-Syria , two legions, to the governor of the latter, the province of Syro-Phoenicia , one [legion]. From the later 2nd century, the Roman Senate included several notable Syrians, including Claudius Pompeianus and Avidius Cassius . Syria was of crucial strategic importance during the Crisis of the Third Century . In 244 AD, Rome was ruled by a native Syrian from Philippopolis (modern day Shahba ) in

646-408: The legate of Legio III Augusta . Following his African conquests, the Roman Empire may have reached its greatest extent during the reign of Septimius Severus , under whom the empire encompassed an area of 5 million square kilometres (2 million square miles). Syria (Roman province) Roman Syria was an early Roman province annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC by Pompey in

680-686: The modern border between Egypt and Sudan , then Meroe , lying very near the tropic . The period in which each aforementioned town represented the final frontier of Rome is uncertain. In Africa the Romans controlled the area north of the Sahara , from the Atlantic Ocean to Egypt, with the borders being controlled by many sections of fortifications such as the Limes Arabicus (called the Limes Uranus), Limes Mauretaniae , Fossatum Africae , Fossa Regia , Limes Tripolitanus , Limes Numidiae, etc. In

714-520: The ousting of the Byzantines from most parts of Syria. However, Antioch and other northern parts of Syria remained in the empire and other parts were under the protection of the emperors through their Hamdanid, Mirdasid , and Marwanid proxies, until the Seljuk arrival, who after three decades of incursions, conquered Antioch in 1084. Antioch was captured again during the 12th century by the revived armies of

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748-506: The province of Africa Vetus to its east. Even after these two provinces were merged into Proconsular Africa in 27 BC, the ditch continued to be maintained as late as the year 74 AD under Vespasian as shown by many stone marker posts that have been found. Ea pars quem Africam appellavimus dividitur in duas provincias, veterem ac novam, discretas fossa inter Africanum sequentem et reges Thenas usque perducta . — Plinius, Historia Naturalis , V, 25 (AD 77) (The region that we call Africa

782-600: The province of Britannia from the Caledonians . Hadrian's Wall , constructed in 122 held a garrison of 50,000 soldiers, while the Antonine Wall , constructed between 142 and 144, was abandoned by 164 and briefly reoccupied in 208, under the reign of Septimius Severus . The eastern borders changed many times, as the Roman Empire was facing two major powers, The Parthian Empire and the Sasanian Empire . The Parthians were

816-551: The province of Arabia Petraea. The emperor was Marcus Iulius Philippus, more commonly known as Philip the Arab . Philip became the 33rd emperor of Rome upon its millennial celebration. Roman Syria was invaded in 252/253 (the date is disputed) after a Roman field army was destroyed in the Battle of Barbalissos by the King of Persia Shapur I which left the Euphrates river unguarded and the region

850-583: The rural settlements. Antioch and Palmyra reached a peak of 200,000–250,000 inhabitants, while Apamea counted 117,000 'free citizens' circa AD 6. Combined with their dependancies and villages, Apamea and Cyrrhus may have counted as high as 500,000 each. The Syrian Coastal Mountain Range , marginal hill country, were less densely settled and had a population of around 40–50,000. The inhabitants of Syria adopted Greek customs while maintaining elements of Near Eastern culture. The continuity of pre-Hellenistic cultures

884-502: The south of Mauritania Tingitana Romans made a limes in the third century, just north of the area of actual Casablanca near Sala and stretching to Volubilis . Septimius Severus expanded the "Limes Tripolitanus" dramatically, even briefly holding a military presence in the Garamantian capital Garama in AD 203. Much of the initial campaigning success was achieved by Quintus Anicius Faustus ,

918-402: Was Severus who at length withdrew the first place in the Roman military hierarchy from the Syrian governor. After having subdued the province—which had wished at that time to make Niger emperor, as it had formerly done with its governor Vespasian —amidst resistance from the capital Antioch in particular, he ordained its partition into a northern and a southern half, and gave to the governor of

952-566: Was annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC, when Pompey the Great had the Seleucid king Antiochus XIII Asiaticus executed and deposed his successor Philip II Philoromaeus . Pompey appointed Marcus Aemilius Scaurus to the post of governor of Syria. Following the fall of the Roman Republic and its transformation into the Roman Empire , Syria became a Roman imperial province, governed by

986-551: Was ambushed and destroyed by Jewish rebels at the Battle of Beth Horon , a result that shocked the Roman leadership. The future emperor Vespasian was then put in charge of subduing the Jewish revolt. In the summer of 69, Vespasian, with the Syrian units supporting him, launched his bid to become Roman emperor. He defeated his rival Vitellius and ruled as emperor for ten years when he was succeeded by his son Titus . Based on an inscription recovered from Dor in 1948, Gargilius Antiquus

1020-519: Was inconsistent across different regions, and where it existed, it varied, including Aramean , Phoenician , and neo-Hittite influences. However, many areas documented exclusively Greek elements. In contrast to Jews , who shared collective historical memories, Syrians lacked a unified cultural or social identity. The unifying aspects in Roman Syria were Greek civic structures and narratives promoted by Roman imperial rule, suggesting that Syrian culture

1054-570: Was known to have been the governor of a province in the eastern part of the Empire, possibly Syria, between his consulate and governing Asia. In November 2016, an inscription in Greek was recovered off the coast of Dor by Haifa University underwater archaeologists, which attests that Antiquus was governor of the province of Judea between 120 and 130, possibly prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt . As related by Theodor Mommsen , The governor of Syria retained

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1088-616: Was largely defined through Greek and Roman influences. The term 'Syrian' therefore primarily functioned as a geographical designation. Ancient episcopal sees of the late Roman province of Syria Prima (I) listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees : Ancient episcopal sees of the late Roman province of Syria Secunda (II) listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees : 36°12′N 36°09′E  /  36.200°N 36.150°E  / 36.200; 36.150 Fossa Regia The Fossa Regia , also called

1122-454: Was pillaged by the Persians. In 259/260 a similar event happened when Shapur I again defeated a Roman field army and captured the Roman emperor, Valerian, alive at the Battle of Edessa . Again, Roman Syria suffered as cities were captured, sacked and pillaged. From 268 to 273, Syria was part of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire . Following the reforms of Diocletian , Syria Coele became part of

1156-621: Was reconquered by Nikephorus Phocas in 963, along with other parts of the country, at that time under the Hamdanids , although still under the official suzerainty of the Abbasid caliphs and also claimed by the Fatimid caliphs. After emperor John Kurkuas failed to conquer Syria up to Jerusalem, a Muslim reconquest of Syria followed in the late 970s undertaken by the Fatimid Caliphate that resulted in

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