Jordan - An Archaeological Reader - Russell B. Adams
The Roman Period
Jordan - An Archaeological Reader - Russell B. Adams
Philip Freeman
University of Liverpool
Description
Jordan was the province of Arabia in the Roman period. However, the northern part of the province also extended into what is today Syria and where lay the “capital”of Arabia, Bostra (modern Busra al-Sham) along with a number of adjacent towns. As such, they are omitted from this discussion. There is, however, a considerable modern literature that reports on recent work in the area (e.g. Dentzer 1986; MacAdam 1986b; Burns 1992). In contrast the “Jordanian” cities of Gadara and Pella, once members of the informal pre-province league known as the Decapolis, were transferred to the province of Syria when the Nabataean kingdom was annexed in AD 106. Although part of another province in the Roman period, these particular cities are discussed here as they are now in Jordan. Finally, I have defined the Roman period as spanning the mid-first century AD to the end of the fourth century.