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| Provincia Syria ἐπαρχία Συρίας eparchía Syrías | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of theRoman Empire | |||||||||||||||
| 64 BC–198 AD | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Roman Syria highlighted in 125 AD | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Antioch (modern-dayAntakya,Hatay,Turkey) | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Conquest ofCoele-Syria byPompey | 64 BC | ||||||||||||||
• Province divided intoCoele Syria andPhoenice | 198 AD | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||||||||
Roman Syria was an earlyRoman province annexed to theRoman Republic in 64 BC byPompey in theThird Mithridatic War following the defeat ofKing of ArmeniaTigranes the Great, who had become the protector of the Hellenistic kingdom ofSyria.[1]
Following the partition of theHerodian Kingdom of Judea into atetrarchy in 4 BC, it was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria annexingIturea and Trachonitis. By the late 2nd century AD, the province was divided intoCoele Syria andSyria Phoenice.
Syria wasannexed to theRoman Republic in 64 BC, whenPompey the Great had theSeleucid kingAntiochus XIII Asiaticus executed and deposed his successorPhilip II Philoromaeus. Pompey appointedMarcus Aemilius Scaurus to the post of governor of Syria.
Following thefall of the Roman Republic and its transformation into theRoman Empire, Syria became a Roman imperial province, governed by aLegate. During the early empire, the Roman army in Syria accounted for three legions with auxiliaries who defended the border withParthia.
In 6 AD, EmperorAugustus deposed theethnarchHerod Archelaus and unitedJudea,Samaria andIdumea into theRoman province of Judea; such province was placed under the direct authority of the Legate of SyriaPublius Sulpicius Quirinius, who appointedCoponius asPrefect of Judea. Following the death ofHerod Philip II (34 AD) and the removal ofHerod Antipas (39 AD)Ituraea,Trachonitis,Galilee andPerea 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 aclient kingdom underHerod Agrippa I. After Agrippa's death, his kingdom was gradually re-absorbed into the Roman Empire, until it was officially transformed into a Roman province following the death ofHerod Agrippa II.
Syrian province forces were directly engaged in theFirst Jewish–Roman War of 66–70 AD. In 66 AD,Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, brought the Syrian army, based onLegio XII Fulminata, reinforced by auxiliary troops, to restore order in Judaea and quell the revolt. The legion, however, was ambushed and destroyed by Jewish rebels at theBattle of Beth Horon, a result that shocked the Roman leadership. The future emperorVespasian 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 rivalVitellius and ruled as emperor for ten years when he was succeeded by his sonTitus.
Based on an inscription recovered fromDor in 1948,Gargilius Antiquus 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.[2] In November 2016, an inscription in Greek was recovered off the coast of Dor byHaifa University underwater archaeologists, which attests that Antiquus was governor of the province ofJudea between 120 and 130, possibly prior to theBar Kokhba revolt.[3]
As related byTheodor Mommsen,
The governor of Syria retained 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, whenHadrian tookone of the four legions from the governor of Syria and handed it over to the governor ofPalestine.[4]
| Provincia Coele Syria ἐπαρχία Κοίλης Συρίας | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of theRoman Empire | |||||||||||
| 198–end of 4th century | |||||||||||
 Roman Empire in 210 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Antioch | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 198 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | end of 4th century | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||||
| Provincia Syria Phoenice | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of theRoman Empire | |||||||||||||
| 198–end of 4th century | |||||||||||||
Roman Empire in 210 | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Tyre | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 198 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | end of 4th century | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Septimius Severus divided the province of Syria proper intoSyria Coele andSyria Phoenice,[5][6] with Antioch andTyre as their respective provincial capitals.
As related byTheodor Mommsen,
It wasSeverus 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 makeNiger emperor, as it had formerly done with its governorVespasian—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 the former, which was calledCoele-Syria, two legions, to the governor of the latter, the province ofSyro-Phoenicia, one [legion].[4]
From the later 2nd century, theRoman Senate included several notable Syrians, includingClaudius Pompeianus andAvidius Cassius.
Syria was of crucial strategic importance during theCrisis of the Third Century. In 244 AD, Rome was ruled by a native Syrian from Philippopolis (modern dayShahba) in the province of Arabia Petraea. The emperor was Marcus Iulius Philippus, more commonly known asPhilip 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 theBattle of Barbalissos by the King of PersiaShapur I which left the Euphrates river unguarded and the region was pillaged by the Persians. In 259/260 a similar event happened whenShapur I again defeated a Roman field army and captured the Roman emperor, Valerian, alive at theBattle of Edessa. Again, Roman Syria suffered as cities were captured, sacked and pillaged.
From 268 to 273, Syria was part of the breakawayPalmyrene Empire.
| The 'Orient' in the time ofSeptimius Severus c. 200 AD[7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Coele Syria | Provincia Syria Coele | |
| Phoenicia | Provincia Syria Phoenice | |
| Palaestina | Provincia Syria Palaestina | |
| Arabia | Provincia Arabia Petraea | |
Following the reforms ofDiocletian, Syria Coele became part of theDiocese of the East.[8] Sometime between 330 and 350 (likely c. 341), the province ofEuphratensis was created out of the territory ofSyria Coele along the western bank of theEuphrates and the formerKingdom of Commagene, withHierapolis as its capital.[9]
After c. 415,Syria Coele was further subdivided intoSyria I (orSyria Prima), with its capital remaining atAntioch, andSyria II (Syria Secunda) orSyria Salutaris, with its capital atApamea on the Orontes. In 528,Justinian I carved out the small coastal provinceTheodorias out of territory from both provinces.[8]
The region remained one of the most important provinces of theByzantine Empire. It wasoccupied by theSasanians between 609 and 628, then reconquered by the emperorHeraclius, but lost again to theadvancing Muslims after theBattle of Yarmouk and thefall of Antioch.[8][10][11]The city ofAntioch was reconquered byNikephorus Phocas in 963, along with other parts of the country, at that time under theHamdanids, although still under the official suzerainty of theAbbasid caliphs and also claimed by theFatimid caliphs. After emperorJohn I Tzimiskes 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 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 theemperors through their Hamdanid,Mirdasid, andMarwanid proxies, until theSeljuk arrival, who after three decades of incursions, conquered Antioch in 1084. Antioch was captured again during the 12th century by the revived armies of theComnenii. However, by that time the city was regarded as part of Asia Minor and not of Syria.
Syria had a diverse demographic distribution. The rural inland was mostly populated byAramaic speakers descended from variousWest Semitic peoples who inhabited Syria.Arabs were settled throughoutHauran,Trachonitis andEmesa which they controlled. Arabs were also part ofPalmyra's composition, which included Aramaeans, Arabs andAmorites.[12] ThePhoenician coast maintained aPhoenician-speaking majority well into the end of 2nd century, and their main urban centers includedTyre,Sidon andBerytus.
On the other hand,Greeks comprised a majority in Hellenistic urban centers suchAntioch,Apamea,Cyrrhus and theDecapolis, which had been settled by Greeks underSeleucid patronage.[13]
Estimates for the population of the entireLevant 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 the rural settlements.Antioch andPalmyra 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. TheSyrian Coastal Mountain Range, marginal hill country, were less densely settled and had a population of around 40–50,000.[14]
The inhabitants of Syria adoptedGreek customs while maintaining elements ofNear Eastern culture. The continuity of pre-Hellenistic cultures was inconsistent across different regions, and where it existed, it varied, includingAramean,Phoenician, andneo-Hittite influences. However, many areas documented exclusively Greek elements.[15]
In contrast toJews, 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 was largely defined through Greek and Roman influences. The term 'Syrian' therefore primarily functioned as a geographical designation.[15]
Ancient episcopal sees of the lateRoman province ofSyria Prima (I) listed in theAnnuario Pontificio astitular sees:[16]
Ancient episcopal sees of the late Roman province ofSyria Secunda (II) listed in theAnnuario Pontificio astitular sees:[16]
In 194 A.D. The emperor Septimus Severus divided the province of Syria and made the northern part into a separate province called Coele Syria.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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† Italy was never constituted as a province, instead retaining a special juridical status untilDiocletian's reforms. | ||
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