Decapolis
From ArchaeoWiki
The Decapolis (Greek: deka, ten; polis, city) was the name given to a grouping of ten separate cities situated on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire's provinces in Syria and Judaea (the latter subsequently renamed Syria Palaestina in 135 CE). The members of the Decapolis did not an official league or political unit, but were rather grouped together on account of their prevailing Greek language, Hellenistic culture, location and political status.
The ten Decapolis cities represented centres of Greek and Roman culture in a region that was otherwise broadly Semitic (Jewish, Nabatean, and Aramean). The "Region of the Decapolis" was located in present-day northeastern Israel (state), north-western Jordan, and south-western Syria. Each city retained a considerable degree of autonomy.
The identities of the traditional Ten Cities of the Decapolis derive from the Roman historian Pliny the Elder (N.H. 5.16.74).
- Gerasa (Jerash)
- Scythopolis (Beth-Shean), the only city on the western side of the Jordan River
- Hippos (Hippus or Sussita)
- Gadara (Umm Qays)
- Pella (East of Irbid)
- Philadelphia, present day Amman, the capital of Jordan
- Dion
- Canatha
- Raphana
- Damascus, the capital of modern Syria (Damascus is situated considerably north of the others and so is sometimes thought to have been an "honorary" member of the Decapolis.
According to other sources, there may have been eighteen or nineteen Graeco-Roman cities once counted as part of the Decapolis. Abila, for example, is very often cited as belonging to the group.
Bibliography
- Riedl, Nadine [2003], Gottheiten und Kulte in der Dekapolis, unpublished PhD dissertation, Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, 2003. html+pdf
