For the Achaemenid satrapy of Arabia, see Arabia (satrapy)
Arabia Petraea, also called Provincia Arabia or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the second century; it consisted of the former Nabataean kingdom in modern Jordan, southern modern Syria, the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Arabia was a Satrapy (province of the Achaemenid Empire and later of the Sassanid Empire, by the name of Arabistan. In Ancient Rome, a province (Latin provincia, pl provinciae) was the basic and until the Tetrarchy (circa The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Nabataeans ( Arabic: الأنباط, Al-Anbāṭ) were an ancient Semitic people Arabs of southern Jordan, Canaan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء Its capital was Petra. Petra (from "petra" rock in Greek; Arabic: البتراء Al-Batrāʾ) is an archaeological site in the Arabah It was bordered on the north by Syria, on the west by Iudaea and Aegyptus. Syria was a Roman province, conquered in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursing victory in the Third Mithridatic Kingdom of Judea redirects here For the 10th-6th century BCE kingdom see Kingdom of Judah Iudaea ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard Ægyptus redirects here See Egypt Province for the province of the Ottoman Empire
It was annexed by Trajan, like many other eastern frontier provinces of the Roman Empire, but held onto, unlike Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria, well after Trajan's rule. Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan ( September 18 53 &ndash August 9 117) was a Roman Emperor who see History of Armenia (Moses of Chorene for the historiographical work Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture (Its desert frontier was called the Limes Arabicus. The Limes Arabicus was a desert frontier of the Roman Empire, in the province of Arabia Petraea. ) It produced no usurpers and no emperors (Philippus, though Arab, was from Shahbā, a Syrian city added to the province of Arabia at a point between 193 and 225—Philippus was born around 204). Marcus Julius Philippus or Philippus I Arabs (c 204 - 249 known in English as Philip the Arab or formerly (prior to World War II in The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Shahba (شهبا also known as Philippopolis, is a city located 87 km south of Damascus in the Jabal el Druze in Muhafazat as Suwayda As a frontier province, it included a desert populated by the nomadic Saraceni, and bordering the Parthian hinterland. Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first then later for all who professed the religion of Islam. Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran
Though subject to eventual attack and deprivation by the Parthians and Palmyrenes, it had nothing like the constant incursions faced in other areas on the Roman frontier, such as Germany and North Africa, nor the entrenched cultural presence that defined the other, more Hellenized, eastern provinces. Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran Palmyra ( Arabic: تدمر Tadmor) was in ancient times an important city of central Syria, located in an Oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus
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Geography
The geographic makeup of Arabia has some variation. It includes the comparatively fertile Moab plateau, which received 200mm of annual rainfall, at the southernmost tip of which lays Petra which, along with Bostra (or Busra), are the political foci of the province. Moab (; Greek Μωάβ; Arabic مؤاب, Assyrian Mu'aba, Ma'ba, Ma'ab; Egyptian Petra (from "petra" rock in Greek; Arabic: البتراء Al-Batrāʾ) is an archaeological site in the Arabah Bosra ( بصرى, also Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra, Busra Eski Şam, Busra ash-Sham, Nova Trajana Inhospitability is the norm, though, and along with the desert proper that is the Sinai, the arid Negev, which extends north of the Sinai, is practically such. The Negev (נֶגֶב Tiberian vocalization: Néḡeḇ) is the Desert region of southern Israel. Along with this are the coastal areas around the Red Sea; the badlands known as Hismā that develop to the north of that coast; and the ever-present rocky butt. The Red Sea is a Salt water Inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia.
Major Cities
Most of Arabia was sparsely populated, and its cities can be found concentrated to the north, toward the Jordan. This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia The only major port is Aqaba, which can be found at the tip of a wide gulf from the Red Sea bearing the same name. For the town in the West Bank see Aqabah West Bank. Aqaba (العقبة Al-ʻAqabah) is a coastal town in the far south of There is some disagreement as to what was the capital of the province, with claims that Bostra, near the border of the province of Syria, as the sole capital and other claims that both Petra and Bostra served that purpose. Petra served as the base for Legio III Cyrenaica, and the governor of the province would spend time in both cities, issuing edicts from both. Notice - The Legion III Cyrenaica living history (wwwlegioiiicyrenaica Upon annexation of the province, Bostra gained the appellative “Traiane” when Trajan declared it the capital while Hadrian performed the same ceremonial act for Petra when he became emperor. Publius Aelius Hadrianus (January 24 76 &ndash July 10 138 as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after
Conquest
Before Roman control, the area was ruled by Rabbel II, last king of the Nabataeans until 106 AD. Rabel II Soter (ar-Rabil was the last ruler of the Kingdom of the Nabataea, ruling from AD 70 to 106 When Rabbel II, who had ruled since 70, died, the Third Cyrenaica moved north from Egypt into Petra while the Sixth Ferrata, a Syrian garrison unit, moved south to occupy Bostra. The conquest of Nabataea can be best described as casual, an act by Trajan to consolidate control of the area before acting on his designs for territory across the Tigris and eventually into Mesopotamia proper. The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern There’s no evidence of any pretext for the annexation--Rabbel II had an heir by the name of Obodas--and though there was little fighting and gloria (Attested to by the fact that Trajan did not adopt the appellation Arabicus, as he did Dacius when he conquered Dacia), there does seem to have been enough of a defeat to cause some humiliation on the part of the Nabataeans. Dacia, in ancient geography was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Hellenes ( Greeks) " Getae " The two cohorts that eventually found themselves in Arabia had been sailed from Egypt to Syria in preparation for the action, which despite some resistance among the Nabataean royal guard, seemed to be not entirely resisted by the Nabataeans, as evidenced by the fact that the Nabataean troops served as auxiliary troops supporting Roman legions soon after conquest.
The conquest of Arabia was not officially exulted until completion of the Via Nova Traiana. The Via Traiana Nova (previously known as the King's Highway) was rebuilt by Trajan. This road extended down the center of the province from Bostra to Aqaba. It isn’t until the project is finished that coins, featuring Trajan’s bust on the obverse and a camel on the reverse, appear commemorating the acquisition of Arabia. These coins are minted until 115, at which time the Roman imperial focus was turning farther eastward. The road links not only Bostra and Aqaba, which other than being a port doesn’t seem to hold much significance in the eyes of the imperial government, but also Petra, which sits at the center of the province, between the road’s two termini. Though Trajan declared Bostra to be the capital of the province, he also awarded Petra the status of metropolis, as a sign that he agreed in the matter of its importance with his successor, Hadrian, who considered it to be more dignified and historic. A metropolis (from the Greek μήτηρ mētēr meaning 'mother' and πόλις pólis meaning 'city/town' is a big City, in most cases with
Romanization
With Roman conquest came the imposition of Greek in official discourse. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly This was standard for a province in Eastern Rome, but Arabia had far less of the history of Hellenization than its neighbors, and the language was little used before its introduction by the Romans. After the conquest, though, Greek was adopted popularly, as well as officially, practically supplanting Nabataean and Aramaic, as evidenced by inscriptions at Umm al Quttain. The occurrence of Latin in the province is rare and limited to such cases as the tomb inscription of T. Aninius Sextius Florentinus, governor in 127, and, somewhat paradoxically, in personal names.
Millar makes a case for a Graeco-Roman Hellenization in Arabia. Hellenization (or Hellenisation) is a term used to describe the spread of Greek culture. It is an area, after all, that was not significantly hellenized during the rule of Alexander, and the locals originally spoke Aramaic and Nabataean, not Greek. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Aramaic is a Semitic language with So with the introduction of Roman rule, along with many aspects of classic Roman socialization, such as public works and glorification of the military, came an introduction of Greek cultural and social values. Arabia acclimates to the new culture so fully that it seems the original linguistic groups faded away. There were scattered Nabataean inscriptions during the period of imperial Roman rule.
Influence
When Avidius Cassius rebelled against what he believed was a deceased Marcus Aurelius, he received no support from Arabia, overlooked by some historians due likely to the fact that Arabia hadn’t the wealth or political might of Syria. Gaius Avidius Cassius (ca 130&ndashJuly 175 was a Roman usurper who briefly ruled Egypt and Syria in 175 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (often referred to as "the wise" ( April 26, 121 – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor Arabia responded similarly when the governor of Syria, Pescennius Niger, proclaimed himself emperor in 193. Gaius Pescennius Niger (c 140&ndash194 was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194
When Septimius Severus came into power and stripped the Syrian city of Antioch of its status as Metropolis for its part in the rebellion and meted out punishment to any others who were unlucky enough to choose the wrong side, the Third Cyrenaica received the honorific “Severiana”. Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) ( April 11 145 - February 4 211) was a Roman general and Roman Emperor In addition, the governor of Arabia, P. Aelius Severianus Maximus, was allowed to continue in his post in reward for his loyalty. Syria was split into two and Arabia was expanded to include the Leja’ and Jebel Drūz, rough terrain south of Damascus, and also the birthplace of M. Jabal ad-Duruz ( جبل الدروز) also known as Jabal al-Arab (Arabic جبل العرب) is an elevated volcanic region in southern Syria Julius Phillipus—Phillip the Arab.
Severus had enlarged a province that was already huge. He then proceeded to enlarge the empire, through the conquest of Mesopotamia. The transfer of the Leja’ and Jebel Drūz seemed to have been part of a shrewd series of political acts on the emperor’s part to consolidate control of the area before this conquest. Arabia became the ideological power base for Septemius Severus in the Roman Near East. The obvious need to mitigate and tame the power of the province of Syria, which had shown itself over and over to be a hotbed of rebellion, was then accomplished in three parts: The aforementioned reorganization of Syria into two political units, the reduction of its territory in favor of Arabia, and the marriage of the emperor to the shrewd Julia Domna. Julia Domna (170-217 was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire.
Arabia became such a symbol of loyalty to Severus and the empire, according to Bowersock, that during his war against Clodius Albinus, in Gaul, Syrian opponents propagated a rumor that the Third Cyrenaica had defected. For others with this Cognomen, see Albinus (cognomen. Decimus Clodius Ceionius Septimius Albinus (ca Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western That it would matter to an issue in France that a single legion in a backwater province on the other side of the empire would rebel indicates the political sway that Arabia had amassed. Not a land of significant population, or resources or even strategic position, it had become a bedrock of Roman culture. That it was an Eastern Roman culture didn't seem to dilute its effectiveness in matters in the west. It is precisely because Arabia had so little that it was able to define itself as Roman and that spurred its loyalty to an Imperial Rome that may never have existed.
With Emperor Diocletian's restructuring of the empire in 284-305, Arabia province was enlarged to include parts of modern-day Israel. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate Tetrarchy ( Greek: "leadership of four " can be applied to any system of government where power is divided between four individuals Events By Place Roman Empire November 20 — Diocletian becomes Emperor. Events By Place Roman Empire May 1 — Diocletian and Maximian, Emperors of Rome retire from office For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Arabia after Diocletian was a part of the Diocese of Oriens ("the East"), which was part of the Prefecture of Oriens. In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. The praetorian prefectures ( Latin: praefectura praetorio, in Greek variously named ἔπαρχότητα των πραιτωρίων or ὑπαρχία The province was conquered by the Arab Muslims under Caliph Umar in the seventh century. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah Umar (a=عمر بن الخطاب|t=`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c 581-83 CE &ndash 7 November, 644) also known as Umar the Great or Omar the Great
References
G. W. Bowersock, Roman Arabia, (Harvard University Press, 1983)
Fergus Millar, Roman Near East, (Harvard University Press, 1993)
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