Syria Palestine

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Roman provinces in the Eastern Mediterranean

Syria Palestine ("Palestinian Syria") was the name of a province of the Roman Empire in the Palestine region , which emerged from the province of Judaea after the suppression of the Bar Kochba uprising in 135 .

Judea had become a regularly administered part of the Roman Empire in the year 6 and was then administered first by a knightly prefect, later by a procurator and, after the Jewish War, finally by a Legatus Augusti pro praetore . The differences between the Jewish population and the Roman authorities repeatedly led to conflicts during this time. After the Jewish uprising in 132 to 135, Emperor Hadrian finally pursued a consistent anti-Jewish policy, in the context of which the name Syria Palestine was established. The aim of this renaming of Judea was the concrete reference to the Jewish peopleto give up in favor of the more geographical name Palestine. The first part of the new name referred to Syria , which had been around since the 1st century BC. Was administered as a separate province and its governor had presided over his lower-ranking colleague in Judea in the early days. Now, in the 2nd century, Palestine was independent of Syria despite this naming, even to a greater extent than before, since instead of a Legatus Augusti pro praetore a higher governor of consular rank was in charge of the region. This in turn was probably due to the fact that in addition to the already existing legion in Caesarea Maritima, a second legion was stationed after Legio , thereby increasing the military importance of the province. When exactly the transfer of the Legion and the rise of the governor's post took place is controversial - in any case, these events must fall before the governorship of Quintus Tineius Rufus , who took office no later than 130.

The capital was still Caesarea Maritima. Jerusalem , which had previously had a special meaning as the holy city of the Jews, was renamed Aelia Capitolina and was given the shape of a typical Roman city. The Jews were forbidden to settle there or in the immediate vicinity. While the neighboring province of Syria was divided into several smaller provinces by Septimius Severus and later again under Diocletian , Syria Palestine remained in existence until late antiquity . Presumably it was small enough not to pose a threat as a potential starting point for usurpations . Instead, Diocletian even added parts of the province of Arabia to the area of ​​Palestine, namely the Negev and Sinai . He moved the Legio X Fretensis from Jerusalem to Aila (today's Eilat ) to protect the country against Arab incursions . The part of the Roman imperial border now running through Palestine was subordinated to its own commander-in-chief, the Dux Palaestinae , who is known from the late antique administrative manual Notitia dignitatum . The already existing border wall , the Limes Palaestinae , was pushed further south.

The provinces of Palestine I, II and III

In the further course of the 4th century Syria Palestine was also subjected to partitions. In 358, the areas that had belonged to Arabia until the beginning of the century were converted into a separate province of Palestine salutaris , of which Petra became the capital . Around the year 400 the remaining part was finally divided further: Palestine prima comprised the heartland with the capital Caesarea, Palestine secunda extended to Galilee , the Golan and the East Bank and had the capital Scythopolis (today Bet Sche'an ). Palaestina salutaris was subsequently also referred to as Palaestina tertia.

While Palestine experienced the imperial-wide crisis in the 3rd century , the 4th century meant an economic upswing, among other things through the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the associated upswing in pilgrimages to the "Holy Land". In the course of late antiquity, Christianity, with imperial support, succeeded in asserting itself against Judaism in almost the entire region. In the years 614 to 628 Palestine was conquered by the Sasanid Empire, but shortly afterwards it was returned to Ostrom . It is unclear whether the Eastern Roman Empire actually rebuilt rule there or left the province to its own devices for the time being. Just a few years later, Palestine finally came to the Arabs as part of the Islamic expansion in the Levant , whereby Yehuda Nevo and Judith Koren assume that this did not take place as part of a military undertaking, but that the takeover took place without great resistance.

literature

  • Martin Noth : On the history of the name Palestine. In: Journal of the German Palestine Association. Volume 62, Issue 1/2, 1939, pp. 125-144.
  • Othmar Keel , Max Küchler , Christoph Uehlinger: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land. Volume 1: Geographical-historical regional studies. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, ISBN 3-525-50166-8 , pp. 279-283 ( online ).
  • Tilmann Bechert : The provinces of the Roman Empire. Introduction and overview ( Zabern's illustrated books on archeology ). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1999, pp. 111–117.
  • Johannes Pahlitzsch : Palestine III: Roman and Byzantine times. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 9, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01479-7 , Sp. 160-162.
  • Yehuda Nevo , Judith Koren: Crossroads to Islam: The Origins of the Arab Religion and the Arab State. Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York 2003, ISBN 978-1-591-02083-7 (English: Negev Archaeological Project for the Study of Ancient Arab Desert Cultures).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Angelika Berlejung : History and religious history of ancient Israel. In: Jan Christian Gertz (Hrsg.): Basic information Old Testament. An introduction to Old Testament literature, religion, and history. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, pp. 55–185, here p. 63.
  2. ↑ Johannes Pahlitzsch : Palestine III: Roman and Byzantine times. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 9, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01479-7 , Sp. 160-162, here Sp. 161.
  3. ↑ Othmar Keel , Max Küchler , Christoph Uehlinger: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land. Volume 1: Geographical-historical regional studies. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, ISBN 3-525-50166-8 , p. 279 f. ( online ).
  4. ↑ Tilmann Bechert : The provinces of the Roman Empire. Introduction and overview. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1999, p. 114.
  5. ↑ Werner Eck: Rome and the Province of Iudaea / Syria Palaestina. The contribution of epigraphy. In: Aharon Oppenheimer (ed.): Jewish history in Hellenistic-Roman times. Ways of research: from the old to the new Schürer (= writings of the historical college. Colloquia. Volume 44) Oldenbourg, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-486-56414-5 , pp. 237–264, here pp. 246–250 (where however the year 132 is regarded as the latest possible start of the governorship).
  6. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum, chap. 34.
  7. ↑ Othmar Keel, Max Küchler, Christoph Uehlinger: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land. Volume 1: Geographical-historical regional studies. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, ISBN 3-525-50166-8 , p. 281 f. ( online ).
  8. ^ Yaron Dan: Palestina Salutaris (Tertia) and its Capital. In: Israel Exploration Journal . Volume 32, number 2/3, 1982, pp. 134-137.
  9. ↑ a b Johannes Pahlitzsch : Palestine III: Roman and Byzantine times. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 9, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01479-7 , Sp. 160-162, here Sp. 162.