I. The Hellenistic Towns

I. THE HELLENISTIC TOWNS
THE LITERATURE
Noris, Annus et epochae Syromacedonum in vetustis urbium Syriae nummis praesertim Mediceis expositae (Florence 1689). I cite from the Leipsic edit. 1696.
Belley, Suppléments aux Dissertations du Cardinal Noris sur les époques des Syro-Macédoniens, in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, ancient series, vols. xxvi. xxviii. xxx. xxxii. xxxv. Paris 1759-1770.
Eckhel, Doctrina numorum veterum. Vol. iii. Vindob. 1794.
Mionnet, Description de médailles antiques. Vol. v. Paris 1811. Supplément. Vol. viii. Paris 1837. Recueil des planches. Paris 1808.
De Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, Description des monnaies autonomes et impériales de la Palestine et de l’Arabie Pétrée. Paris 1874.
Droysen, Geschichte des Hellenismus. 2nd ed. 3 parts in 6 half vols. Gotha 1877-1878.
Stark, Gaza und die philistäische Küste. Jena 1852.
Kuhn, Die städtische und bürgerliche Verfassung des römischen Reichs bis auf die Zeiten Justinians. 2 parts. Leipzig 1864-1865.
Kuhn, Ueber die Entstehung der Städte der Alten. Komenverfassung und Synoikismos. Leipzig 1878 (especially pp. 422-434).
Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung. Vol. i. (also under the title of Handb. der röm. Alterthümer von Marquardt u. Mommsen, vol. iv.). 2nd ed. Leipzig 1881.
Pauly’s Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Alterthumswissenschaft, unter den betr. Artikeln.
Winer’s and Schenkel’s Biblische Realwörterbucher, unter den betr. Artikeln.
The geographical works of Reland, Raumer, Robinson, Ritter, Guérin, and others (for the titles see above, § 2).
Menke’s Bibelatlas, maps iv. and v.
OF fundamental importance in the political life of Palestine during the Hellenic era was the independent organization of large municipal communities. This was indeed no novelty in Palestine, where from of old the large towns of the Philistine and Phoenician coasts had formed centres of political life. The entrance of Hellenism marks however a turning-point in this respect also. For, on the one hand it essentially transformed the existing communities, while on the other it founded numerous new ones and made the municipal communities in general the basis of the political organization of the country in a far more thorough manner than before. Wherever Hellenism penetrated—especially on the Philistine coasts and the eastern boundaries of Palestine beyond the Jordan—the country districts were grouped around single large towns as their political centres. Each of such communities formed a comparatively independent whole managing its own internal affairs, and its dependence upon the rulers of Syria consisted only in the recognition of their military supremacy, the payment of taxes, and certain other performances. At the head of such a Hellenistically organized community was a democratic senate of several hundred members, which we may probably conceive of as resembling the Athenian βουλή, i.e. as one changed annually, chosen from the Phylae, or as a committee chosen by lot from the people (Marquardt).[247] It formed the ruling power, not for the town only, but also for all the smaller towns and villages, which belonged to the often extensive district of the town.[248] The entire Philistinian and Phoenician coast was in this way divided into a number of municipal communities, some of which were of considerable importance. We have then briefly to consider as such the Hellenistic towns in the east and north-east of Palestine, the Hellenized towns in the interior of Palestine, such as Samaria and Scythopolis, and the towns founded by Herod and his sons, of which a considerable portion of the population was non-Jewish.
[247] The Senate of Gaza, e.g. consisted of 500 members (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 3), that of Tiberias of 600 (Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 9). Comp. Kuhn, Die städtische und bürgerliche Verfassung, ii. 354.
[248] The furnishing of these towns with a district of greater or less extent will be shown in many cases in what follows. Compare on the Hellenistic town-constitution, F. W. Tittmann, Darstellung der griechischen Staatsverfassung, Leipzig 1822. Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 208-216 (1881). Also much matter in the Corp. Inscr. Graec. p. 32 sqq.
With all their independence these towns of course participated on the whole in the political fate of the rest of Palestine. In the time of the Diadochoi the government changed very frequently. Ptolemy I. three times took possession of Phoenicia and Palestine, and three times had to surrender them. It was not till about 280 B.C. that Ptolemy (II.) Philadelphus succeeded in establishing the rule of the Ptolemies over these countries for a lengthened period.[249] After that date not only Palestine proper, but also the whole of Phoenicia, as far as Eleutherus, south of Aradus, was under their dominion.[250] Their power, however, did not extend beyond Lebanon. Damascus already belonged to the Seleucidae.[251] In the years 219-217 B.C. Antiochus assumed a transitory possession of Palestine, but was obliged to give it up in consequence of the unsuccessful battle at Raphia. After the death of Ptolemy (IV.) Philopator, he however invaded Palestine a second time, and his victory at Panias (198 B.C.) was decisive in favour of the Seleucidae. From this time onward Palestine and the whole Philistinian-Phoenician coast belonged to the Syrian kingdom.[252] The supremacy of the Ptolemies, like that of the Seleucidae, found its expression chiefly in two points: in the appointment of military governors (στρατηγοί) in the regions subject to their sway, and in the imposition of regular taxes. Josephus in his account of Josephus, the farmer of taxes, and his son Hyrcanus (Antt. xii. 4), gives us a very vivid picture of the manner in which the system of taxation was organized in the later period of their rule, a picture which, notwithstanding its fictitious colouring, certainly gives a faithful reflection of the institutions. It shows that the imposts were not collected by the authorities, but leased to great contractors, to whom their collection in the several towns was given up.[253]
[249] For particulars, see Stark, Gaza und die philistäische Küste, pp. 347-367. It seems probable, from an inscription of Oum el-Awamid, published by Renan (Mission de Phénicie, pp. 711-725), that Tyre had an era which began thirty-seven years later than that of the Seleucidae, i.e. 275 B.C. (see Renan as above, pp. 719-723). Its cause seems to have been the definite seizure of Phoenicia by Ptolemy II., who showed himself on that occasion the benefactor of the town. Comp. Six, Numismatic Chronicle, 1877, p. 192.
[250] See Stark, pp. 368, 371. Kuhn, ii. 128 sq.
[251] See below, on Damascus.
[252] Farther particulars in Stark, pp. 375-406, 425 sqq.
[253] In illustration of Joseph. Antt. xii. 4, compare especially Stark, pp. 412-423, and Nussbaum, Observationes in Flavii Josephi Antiquitates (Göttinger Dissertat. 1875), pp. 15-17. There is an internal contradiction in the narrative of Josephus. He transposes the beginning of the renting of the taxes by Josephus, which lasted twenty-two years to the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, who died 221 B.C. (Antt. xii. 4. 1; comp. 4. 6); the entire account also assumes, that Palestine was then still under the rule of the Ptolemies. This would, as Stark states, p. 416, bring it to about the years 229-207 B.C. On the other hand however Josephus always calls the wife of the Egyptian king, Cleopatra, while this name was first naturalized in the family of the Ptolemies by Cleopatra, the daughter of Antiochus the Great and wife of Ptolemy V. Stark rightly finds the error to consist in the mistake as to the queen’s name, and accepts the results which follow from the other dates. The view of Nussbaum is more artificial. It is based moreover upon the improbable assumption, that Palestine had shortly after the battle of Raphia already come again into the possession of Antiochus.
Towards the end of the second century before Christ, the kingdom of the Seleucidae increasingly exhibits an image of dissolution. The central authority was so weakened by continual revolutions, that a multitude of independent communities were founded in the border lands of the empire. During this period therefore not only did the Jews obtain and maintain their full freedom, but a number also of the larger towns, which had already in the wars between Syria and Egypt often played a part of their own, declared themselves independent, and as a sign of their independence began a new computation of time. Thus Tyre had an era dating from the year 126 B.C.; Sidon a similar one from the year 111; Ascalon from 104. In other towns individual “Tyrants” would seize upon the sovereignty. Thus we find towards the end of the second, and in the beginning of the first century before Christ, a tyrant, Zeno Kotylas in Philadelphia, his son Theodorus in Amathus on the Jordan, Zoilus in Straton’s Tower and Dora, Demetrius in Gamala.[254] And there is no lack of evidence that the Romans at their entry into Syria found there a number of independent petty princes.[255]
[254] Stark, p. 478 sq. Kuhn, ii. 162.
[255] Josephus speaks quite generally of μόναρχοι (Antt. xiii. 16. 5). Appian. Syr. 50, testifies that Pompey τῶν ὑπὸ τοῖς Σελευκίδαις γενομένων ἐθνῶν τοῖς μὲν ἐπέστησεν οἰκείους βασιλέας ἢ δυνάστας, whom however Pompey certainly was not the first to create. Plinius, Hist. Nat. v. 23, 82, still knows in Syria of seventeen tetrarchias in regna descriptas barbaris nominibus.
The strengthening of the Jewish power was in those times fatal for the towns in the neighbourhood of Palestine. Even the earlier Maccabees, and subsequently John Hyrcanus, subjected several towns. But it was especially Alexander Jannaeus who made conquests on a large scale. At the end of his rule all the coast towns from Raphia to Carmel, with the sole exception of Ascalon, almost all the towns of the country east of Jordan, and of course those also which were situated in the interior, such as Samaria and Scythopolis, as far north as the Lake of Merom,[256] were subject to the Jews.
[256] Joseph. Antt. xiii. 15. 4. See above, § 10.
The conquest of Syria by Pompey put an end again at a stroke to the independence of all the small towns, which had separated themselves from the empire of the Seleucidae. The only consequence to the autonomic towns was, that they now entered into the same relations of voluntary dependence towards the Romans, in which they had hitherto stood towards the Seleucidae. To those towns however, which had been subjected by the Jews, the Roman invasion had even the character of a deliverance from a hated rule. For Pompey again separated from the Jewish region all those towns which had been subjected to the Jews since the time of the Maccabees and restored to them their freedom.[257] Josephus enumerates as such “liberated” towns, which had of course to acknowledge the Roman supremacy, the following: Gaza, Azotus, Jamnia, Joppa, Straton’s Tower, Dora, Samaria, Scythopolis, Hippus, Gadara, Pella, Dium.[258] The list is, however, incomplete. For besides the above-named, others also used the Pompeian era, i.e. the computation since the liberation by Pompey, and many of these towns retained it till far into the imperial period. Those lying in the region east of the Jordan, together with Scythopolis, then united with each other in the “ten cities alliance,” the so-called Decapolis. The proconsul Gabinius was another benefactor to many of these towns. In the years 57-55 B.C. he rebuilt the towns of Raphia, Gaza, Anthedon, Azotus, Jamnia, Apollonia, Dora, Samaria and Scythopolis, some of which had been entirely destroyed by the Jews.[259] The Roman civil wars however, with their exhaustion of the provinces and the arbitrary rule of Antony in the East, brought bad times to these towns. He bestowed upon Cleopatra the entire Philistinian and Phoenician coast, from the borders of Egypt to Eleutherus, with the sole exception of Tyre and Sidon.[260] Even when, after the fall of Antony and Cleopatra, whose authority had ceased of itself, a more quiet era had been established by Augustus, many of these towns again changed masters.[261] Augustus bestowed upon Herod all the coast towns from Gaza to Straton’s Tower, with the exception of Ascalon, together with the towns of Samaria, Hippus and Gadara in the interior.[262] After the death of Herod these towns again experienced different fates. Gaza, Hippus and Gadara were placed under the immediate government of the Roman legate of Syria (on Anthedon, see below the section respecting it); Azotus and Jamnia with Phasaelis, which was built by Herod, were given to his sister Salome, while Joppa, Straton’s Tower and Samaria fell with the rest of Judaea to Archelaus.[263] The towns belonging to Salome came after her death to the Empress Livia.[264] After the death of Livia, they seem to have been transferred to the private possession of her son Tiberius, on which account we find an imperial ἐπίτροπος in his time in Jamnia.[265] The towns bestowed upon Archelaus, together with the rest of his district, came after his deposition under the oversight of a Roman procurator, then in the years 41-44 A.D. to King Agrippa I., and were again after his death under Roman procurators. This frequent change of masters was however of little more consequence to these towns, than that the taxes had to be paid now to one now to another governor. For they had, on the whole, the independent management of their own affairs, even though the supremacy of their different masters made itself sometimes more and sometimes less noticed. Finally, it was of importance to the development of their communal life that Herod and his sons refounded a great number of towns, so especially Caesarea (= Straton’s Tower), Sebaste (= Samaria), Antipatris, Phasaelis, Caesarea Philippi, Julias, Sepphoris, Livias, Tiberias.
[257] Compare on the Roman custom of giving their freedom to the towns of conquered regions, Kuhn, ii. 15-19.
[258] Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7.
[259] Antt. xiv. 5. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4.
[260] Antt. xv. 4. 1, fin.; Bell. Jud. i. 18. 5.
[261] The different changes of possessors subsequently to Alexander Jannaeus are visibly represented by the numerous special maps in Menke’s Bibelatlas, plates iv. and v.
[262] Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3. Of the coast towns Josephus names only Gaza, Anthedon, Joppa, and Straton’s Tower. But Azotus and Jamnia, which after the death of Herod fell to his sister Salome, must then have come into Herod’s possession.
[263] Antt. xvii. 11. 4, 5; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 4.
[264] Antt. xviii. 2. 2; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1. Azotus is not expressly named but is certainly intended.
[265] Antt. xviii. 6. 3. Comp. Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, ii. 248 sq.
The kind of dependence of these towns upon the Roman power both in name and in fact differed considerably.[266] There were in the Roman Empire both free and subject communities. The former (civitates liberae, ἐλεύθεροι) had not only their own judicature and administration of finance, but were also free from taxation proper and only bound to certain definitely appointed contributions; they were αὐτόνομοι καὶ φόρων ἀτελεῖς (Appian. Civ. i. 102).[267] Again there was among these a privileged class, the civitates foederatae or such as had their freedom guaranteed by a foedus. All these free cities were indeed dependent upon Rome, but were not regarded as belonging in the strict sense to the province. From them must then be distinguished the subject towns (ὑπήκοοι) properly belonging to the province, the specific difference of which from the former consisted in their liability to taxation. For αὐτονομία, or the privilege suis legibus uti, was often conceded to them, though under the control of the Roman proconsul.[268] All the varieties of civic position here alluded to were represented among the Syrian towns. Tyre e.g. was one of the privileged civitates foederatae.[269] Ascalon was an oppidum liberum. But just because this is mentioned of Ascalon as something special, the greater number are not to be regarded as free communities in the technical sense of the word. Nor is it, according to what has just been said, opposed to this that many of them are designated as αὐτόνομοι. And still less does it signify, when Josephus says that Pompey made these towns free (ἐλευθέρας). For this means only their liberation from Jewish sway. Their political condition is correctly pointed out by Josephus by the expressions προσένειμε τῇ ἐπαρχίᾳ and κατέταξεν εἰς τὴν Συριακὴν ἐπαρχίαν.[270] These slight political distinctions were not indeed of much practical importance. For the most privileged towns were taxed for certain requirements, and on the other hand many of the subject towns, at least in Syria, had a jurisdiction and administration of their own. Least of all were these distinctions paid respect to with regard to military affairs. It would be a great mistake to suppose, that in war all or most of these towns were released from the obligation of furnishing auxiliaries. At least Josephus speaks quite generally of the auxiliaries, which had been furnished by “the towns” at the campaign of Cestius Gallus against Jerusalem.[271] When in the year 4 B.C. Berytus with its district furnished 1500 auxiliaries to the army of Varus,[272] this certainly is not a case in point, inasmuch as Berytus was then already a Roman colony and was therefore under different legal regulations from the other towns. But we also know e.g. that from A.D. 44-67 there was in Caesarea a garrison of five cohorts and a wing of cavalry, which was formed for the most part of Caesareans and Sebastenians (inhabitants of the towns of Caesarea and Sebaste and their respective districts).[273] Nay we find towards the end of the first century after Christ a cohors I. Tyriorum already in Moesia.[274] So too in occupying the towns with garrisons regard was certainly had less to political distinctions than to military requirements. “Free” Antioch became the chief seat of the Roman military force in Syria, and we know of Ascalon, that though an oppidum liberum, it received a Roman garrison, though but a small one.[275]
[266] Comp. on what follows, Kuhn, ii. 14-41. Marquardt, i. 71-86, 396. Also Stark, Gaza, pp. 522-525.
[267] See especially Marquardt, i. 78 sq., 84 sq.
[268] See especially Kuhn, ii. 34 sqq.
[269] Marquardt, i 75.
[270] Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7.
[271] Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 19: Πλεῖστοι δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν πόλεων ἐπίκουροι συνελέγησαν, ἐμπειρίᾳ μὲν ἡττώμενοι τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ταῖς δὲ προθυμίαις καὶ τῷ κατὰ Ἰουδαίων μίσει τὸ λεῖπον ἐν ταῖς ἐπιστήμαις ἀναπληροῦντες.
[272] Antt. xvii. 10. 9; Bell. Jud. ii. 5. 1.
[273] Antt. xix. 9. 1, 2, xx. 6. 1; Bell. Jud. ii. 12. 5, iii. 4. 2, and especially xx. 8. 7: μέγα δὲ φρονοῦντες ἐπὶ τῷ τοὺς πλείστους τῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους ἐκεῖσε στρατευομένων Καισαρεῖς εἶναι καὶ Σεβαστηνούς. Further particulars in the Zeitschr. für wissenschaftliche Theologie, 1875, p. 419 sqq.
[274] Corp. Inscr. Lat. vol. iii. p. 863 (Diplom, xx. of the year A.D. 99).
[275] Bell. Jud. iii. 2. 1.
The Roman colonies occupied among the towns of the Roman Empire an exempt position from taxes.[276] There had been such both in Palestine and Phoenicia since the time of Augustus. The oldest were Berytus, founded by Augustus, Ptolemais by Claudius, Caesarea by Vespasian. All the colonies of the imperial period were military colonies, i.e. they consisted of superannuated soldiers, to whom possession of lands was awarded as payment for their services, and indeed in such wise, that this was always done to a large number at one place contemporaneously, thereby founding the colony. The lands required for the purpose were in earlier times simply taken from their possessors. Afterwards (i.e. after Augustus) it was customary to compensate the owners or to give the veterans such land as was already state property. The colonists either formed a new community beside the older one, or themselves entered into the older community, in which case the latter received in its entirety the Roman municipal constitution.[277] Thus the plantation of a colony, which had formerly been an act of cruel plunder, gradually became an actual favour to a town. The rights of colonies also differed. Those were in the most favoured position, which had received the full jus Italicum and with it exemption from poll taxes and land taxes.[278] Herod imitated Augustus in his system of establishing military colonies.[279]
[276] See on this subject in general, Rein, art. “Colonia” in Pauly’s Real-Enc. ii. 504-517. Kuhn, Die städt. und bürgerl. Verf. i. 257 sqq. Marquardt, i. 35 sqq. 86 sqq., 92-132.
[277] Marquardt, i. 118 sq.
[278] Marquardt, i. 89.
[279] Antt. xv. 8. 5. See below, Samaria, Geba, Heshbon.
The position of those towns, which were temporarily under the Herodian princes, did not essentially differ from that of those directly under Roman governors. It is certainly possible, that the Herodian princes made their power more directly felt, but this cannot be proved. For the security of their sovereignty, they appointed governors of their own in the towns; thus Herod the Great placed an ἄρχων in Idumaea and Gaza,[280] Agrippa I. a στρατηγός in Caesarea[281] and an ἔπαρχος in Tiberias,[282] Agrippa II. a viceroy in Caesarea Philippi[283] and an ἔπαρχος in Gamala.[284] Such a viceroy was also the ἐθνάρχης of King Aretas in Damascus, 2 Corinthians 11:32.
[280] Antt. xv. 7. 9.
[281] Antt. xix. 7. 4.
[282] Joseph. Vita, 9; whether Agrippa I. or II. is spoken of is uncertain.
[283] Vita, 13. Comp. Kuhn, ii. 346.
[284] Vita, 11.
The great independence of these towns involves the fact, that each had its special history. In following this in each separate case, we shall begin with the towns of the Philistinian and Phoenician coast, advancing from south to north. Many of these had at the commencement of the Hellenistic period a brilliant past behind them and continued to be of prominent importance during the whole Graeco-Roman period.
1. Raphia, Ῥαφία (so is it written on the coin), may still be pointed out in the ruins of Kirbeth bir Refah, situated according to Guérin about half a league from the sea, but upon a flat harbourless shore,[285] and therefore regarded by Pliny and Ptolemy as an inland town.[286] It was the first Syrian town after leaving Egypt.[287] Apart from the cuneiform inscriptions,[288] it is first mentioned in history in the campaign of Antigonus against Egypt, B.C. 306, when the fleet of Antigonus, under the command of his son Demetrius, was here destroyed by a storm.[289] It then became famous chiefly through the victory, which was here gained by the unwarlike Ptolemy Philopater over Antiochus the Great, and which resulted in the loss of Palestine and Phoenicia by the latter.[290] In the year 193 the marriage of Ptolemy Philopater with Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus the Great, was celebrated here.[291] In the beginning of the first century before Christ Raphia was conquered by Alexander Jannaeus (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 2; comp. Antt. xiii. 15. 4), was afterwards, like the neighbouring towns, separated by Pompey from the Jewish district and was rebuilt by Gabinius (Antt. xiv. 5. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4). Hence the coins of Raphia, of the imperial age (from Commodus to Philip the Arabian), have an era commencing with the refoundation by Gabinius (57 B.C.).[292] It seems never to have been in the possession of the Herodian princes.
[285] Diodor. xx. 74 calls Raphia δυσπροσόρμιστον καὶ τεναγώδη.
[286] Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 13. 68. Ptolem. (ed. Nobbe), v. 16. 6. Comp. also, Strabo, xvi. 2. 31; Itinerar. Antonini (ed. Parthey et Pinder, 1848), p. 69. Sozomenus, Hist. eccl. vii. 15. Hierocles, Synecdemus (ed. Parthey, 1866), p. 44. Reland, Palaestina, p. 967 sq. Ritter, Erdkunde, xiv. 138 sqq., xvi. 39. Raumer, Palästina, p. 219. Guérin, Judée, ii. 233-235. Le Quien, Oriens christianus, iii. 630.
[287] Polyb. v. 80: II Πρώτη τῶν κατὰ Κοίλην Συρίαν πόλεων ὡς πρὸς τὴν Αἴγυπτον. Joseph. Bell. Jud. iv. 11. 5: ἔστι δὲ ἡ πόλις αὕτη Συρίας ἀρχή.
[288] Friedr. Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies? (1881), p. 291.
[289] Diodor. xx. 74. Droysen, Gesch. des Hellenismus (2nd ed.), ii. 2. 147. Stark, Gaza, p. 358.
[290] The battle is fully described Polyb. v. 82-86. Comp. Stark, Gaza, p. 382-386.
[291]a Livius, xxxv. 13.
[292] This may now be considered as certain, though Noris and Eckhel still hesitate, whether the era of Pompey or of Gabinius was to be accepted. See Noris, Annus et epochae Syromacedonum, v. 4.2 (ed. Lips p. 515-521). Eckhel, Doctrina numorum, iii. 454 sq. Mionnet, Description de médailles, v. 551 sq.; Suppl. viii. 376 sq.; Kenner, Die Münzsammlung des Stifts St. Florian in Ober-Oesterreich (1871), pp. 179-182, Plate vi. n. 17-18. De Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, pp. 237-240, pl. xii. n. 7-9. Stark, Gaza, p. 515.
2. Gaza, Γάζα, Hebr. עַזָּה,[293] the ancient and important city of the Philstines, so often mentioned in the Old Testament.[294] Herodotus knows it by the name of Κάδυτις, and remarks, that it is not much smaller than Sardis.[295] Already in the times of Persian supremacy it must—as the coins testify—have been in active intercourse with Greece.[296] In the time of Alexander the Great it was next to Tyre the most important fortress on the Philistinian-Phoenician coast. Alexander did not take it till after a three months’ troublesome siege (332 B.C.).[297] After that time it became more and more a Greek town.[298] The contests of Ptolemy Lagos with the other Diadochoi for the possession of Coelesyria of course affected Gaza in the highest degree. In 315 B.C. it was conquered by Antigonus.[299] In 312 it again fell into the hands of Ptolemy in consequence of his victory gained at Gaza over Demetrius the son of Antigonus.[300] In the same year however he renounced the possession of Coelesyria, and on his retreat had the most important fortresses, Gaza among them, demolished.[301] The sovereignty over these districts changed several times during the decades next following, till at length they were for a longer period in the possession of the Ptolemies about 240 B.C. In the years 218-217 Gaza, like the rest of Syria, was temporarily in the possession of Antiochus the Great.[302] Twenty years later Coelesyria came permanently under the dominion of the Seleucidae through the victory of Antiochus the Great at Panias (198 B.C.). Gaza also must then have been conquered after a difficult siege, to which indeed we have only allusions in Polybius.[303] The sway of the Seleucidae is evidenced among other things by a coin of Demetrius I. (Soter) minted at Gaza.[304] During the contests in the Syrian kingdom between Demetrius II. (Nicator) and Antiochus VI. respecting Trypho (145-143 B.C.), Gaza refusing to join the party of Antiochus, was besieged by Jonathan the Maccabee in concert with him, and its environs laid waste, whereupon it gave up its opposition and delivered hostages to Jonathan as a pledge of its adherence to Antiochus.[305] With respect to the constitution of Gaza at this time we learn incidentally, that it had a council of 500 members.[306] About the year 96 B.C. Gaza as well as the neighbouring cities of Raphia and Anthedon fell into the hands of Alexander Jannaeus. Alexander conquered it after a siege of one year, though at last only through treachery, and abandoned the city and its inhabitants to destruction (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 2; comp. Antt. xiii. 15. 4. Stark, p. 499 sqq.). When Pompey conquered Syria, Gaza also—so far as its existence can be then spoken of—obtained its freedom (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). The newly built town consequently began a new era from the time of Pompey (52 B.C.).[307] The rebuilding itself did not take place till the time of Gabinius (Antt. xv. 5. 3). Probably the ancient Gaza was then forsaken and the new town built somewhat farther southwards.[308] In the year 30 B.C. Gaza came under the authority of Herod the Great (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3). After his death it was again added to the province of Syria (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3). With this agrees the fact, that the imperial coins of Gaza do not begin till after the death of Herod the Great. The oldest known are two coins of Augustus of the years 63 and 66 aer. Gaz.[309] In the time of Claudius, Gaza is spoken of as an important city by the geographer Mela.[310] In A.D. 66 it was attacked and destroyed by the rebellious Jews (Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). This must however have been a very partial destruction. For so strong a fortress could not have been actually destroyed by a band of insurrectionary Jews. Coins too of the years 130, 132, 135 aer. Gaza. (= A.D. 68/69, 70/71, 73/74) testify to the lasting prosperity of the city.[311] Special tokens of favour seem to have been bestowed upon it by Hadrian.[312] It is called on an inscription of the time of Gordian (A.D. 238-244) ἱερὰ καὶ ἄσυλος καὶ αὐτόνομος.[313] It must have subsequently become a Roman colony.[314] Eusebius speaks of it as a πόλις ἐπίσημος.[315] And this too it remained for a considerable period.[316] The independence of these great cities is shown in perhaps the most striking manner by the fact, that Gaza as well as Ascalon, Tyre and Sidon had each its own calendar.[317]
[293] On the Hebrew form, comp. Steph. Byz. s.v. Γάζα· ἐκλήθη καὶ Ἄζα· καὶ μέχρι νῦν Σύροι Ἄζαν αὐτὴν καλοῦσιν.
[294] See Reland, Palaestina, pp. 787-800. Robinson’s Palestine, ii. pp. 36-43. Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 45-65. Raumer, Palästina, pp. 192-194. Winer, RWB. s.v. Arnold in Herzog’s Real-Enc., 1st ed. iv. 671-674. Sepp, Jerusalem und das heilige Land, 2nd ed. ii. 617 sqq. Guérin, Judée, ii. 178-211, 219-221. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, iii. 234 sq., 248-251, and pl. xix. of the large English chart. Gatt, Bemerkungen über Gaza und seine Umgebung (Zeilschr. des deutschen Pal. Ver. vii. 1-14). For the history, see especially Stark, Gaza. Also Alb. v. Hormann, Gaza, Stadt, Umgebung und Geschichte, 1876 (Progr. des Knabenseminars der Diöcese Brixen zu Rothholz, see the notice in Zeitschr. f. die österreich. Gymnasien, 1877, p. 142 sq.).
[295]a Herodot. ii. 159, iii. 5: Σαρδίων οὐ κολλῷ ἐλάσσονος.
[296]b Comp. on these exceedingly interesting coins the learned article of Six, Observations sur les monnaies phéniciennes (Numismatic Chronicle, new series, vol. xvii. 1877, pp. 177-241; on Gaza, pp. 221-239). The coins have partly Greek, partly Phoenician inscriptions. The name of the town (עז or עזה) is to be seen at all events on several of them. Their most interesting feature however is, that they are coined according to an Athenian standard and with Athenian types, evidently for commerce with Greece. It is probable, that genuine Athenian coins first came to Palestine in the period of the hegemony of Athens in the fifth century before Ohrist, and that henceforth others were coined after their pattern. See Six, as above, pp. 230 sq., 234-236.
[297] The two months’ duration of this siege is testified by Diodor. xvii. 48 and Josephus, Antt. xi. 8. 3, 4. Comp. also Arrian, ii. 26, 27. Curtius, iv. 6, and Plutarch. Alexander, 25. Polyb. xvi. 40 (= ed. Hultsch. xvi. 22a). Droysen, Gesch. d. Hellenismus, 2nd ed. i. 1, 297-301. Stark, Gaza, pp. 236-244.
[298] It is expressly designated a πόλις Ἐλληνίς, Joseph. Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3.
[299] Diodor. xix. 59. Droysen, ii. 2. 11. Stark, p. 350.
[300] Diodor. xix. 84. On the battle, Droysen, ii. 2. 42 sqq. Stark, pp. 351-354.
[301] Diodor. xix. 93: κατέσκαψε τὰς ἀξιολογωτάτας τῶν κεκρατημένων πόλεων, Ἀκην μὲν τῆς Φοινίκης Συρίας, Ἰόπην δὲ καὶ Σαμάρειαν καὶ Γάζαν τῆς Συρίας. Comp. Stark, p. 355 sq.
[302] Polyb. v. 80. Stark, pp. 382-385.
[303] Polyb. xvi. 18, xvi. 40 (ed. Hultsch, xvi. 22a), xxix. 6a (ed. Hultsch, xxix. 12). Stark, p. 204 sq.
[304] Gardner, Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Seleucid kings of Syria (1878), p. 47.
[305] 1Ma_11:61-62. Joseph. Antt. xiii. 5. 5. Stark, p. 492. No conquest of Gaza took place in the Maccabean period. For in the passage 1Ma_13:43-48 we must read Gazara.
[306] Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 3.
[307] On the era of Gaza, comp. Noris, Annus et epocliae Syromaced. v. 2, 3 (ed. Lips. pp. 476-502). Eckhel, Doct. Num. iii. 448-454. Ideler, Handb. der Chronol. i. 474 sq. Stark, Gaza, pp. 513-515. The coins in Mionnet, v. 535-549; Suppl. viii. 371-375. De Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, pp. 209-233, pl. xi. The Chronicon paschale (ed. Dindorf, i. 352) remarks on Olymp. 179. 4 = 61 B.C.: Ἐντεῦθεν Γαζαῖοι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν χρόνους ἀριθμοῦσιν. Hence Noris and Eckhel place the beginning of the era in the year 61 B.C. According however to Ideler and Stark, the year 62 must according to the coins be regarded as the starting-point of the era.
[308] On the distinction between Old and New Gaza, comp. especially Stark, pp. 352 sq., 509-513. The town near which Ptolemy Lagos conquered Demetrius Poliorcetes, 312 B.C., is expressly called Old Gaza by Diodorus and Porphyry; see Diodor. xix. 80 (τὴν παλαιὰν Γάζαν); Porphyry in the fragment in Euseb. Chron. ed. Schoene, i. col. 249-250 (according to the Armenian veterem Gazam, in Greek in Syncellus, Παλαίγαζαν, or as Gutschmid reads Παλαιγάζην). It is to just this Old Gaza that the notice of Strabo, that Gaza was destroyed by Alexander and has since lain waste, refers; Strabo, xvi. 2. 30, p. 759: κατεσπασμένη δʼ ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ μένουσα ἔρημος. [The remark in Acts 8:26 : αὕτη ἐστὶν ἔρημος, is on the contrary not in point here, because αὕτη there more probably refers to όδός.] Strabo is indeed so far mistaken, that he seems to know nothing of New Gaza, his remark being based upon the statement of an older geographer, in whose time New Gaza did not as yet exist. The existence of a New Gaza, somewhat to the south of Old Gaza, is however chiefly evidenced by an anonymous geographical fragment (Αποσπασματια τινα γεωγραφικα, ed. Hudson [in the appendix to his edition of Dionysius Perieget., Geographiae vet. scriptores Graeci minores, vol. iv., Oxon. 1717], p. 39: μετὰ τὰ Ῥινοκόρουρα ἡ νέα Γάζα κεῖται πόλις οὖσα καὶ αὐτὴ εἶθʼ ἡ ἔρημος Γάζα, εἶτα ἡ Ἀσκάλων πόλις) and by Hieronymus (Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 125: antiquae civitatis locum vix fundamentorum praebere vestigia, hanc autem quae nunc cernitur, in alio loco pro ilia, quae conruit, aedificatam). If then the local distinction of Old and New Gaza is beyond question, we must also with Stark consider it most probable, that the foundation of New Gaza must be referred to Gabinius. For an entire destruction of Old Gaza did not, as Strabo seems to suppose, result from its conquest by Alexander the Great, but from that by Alexander Jannaeus. For the rest both Old and New Gaza lay twenty stadia inland (see on Old Gaza, Arrian, II. 26; on New Gaza, Sozom. Hist. eccl. v. 3; Strabo, p. 759, erroneously seven stadia, Antoninus Martyr, c. 33, mil. pass.). From both too must be distinguished the port of Gaza, which indeed remained the same for both, Γαζαίων λιμήν, Strabo, p. 759; Ptolemaeus, v. 16. 2. This port was raised to a city under the name of Κωνστάντεια by Constantine the Great (Euseb. Vita Constantin. iv. 38; Sozomenus, Hist. eccl. ii. 5), but lost this name again together with the rights of a city through Julian and was afterwards called again only Μαϊουμᾶς (= seaport town); see Sozom. Hist. eccl. v. 3. Marci Diaconi Vita Porphyrii, ed. Haupt (an article of the Berlin Acad. 1874), c. 57. Antoninus Martyr, c. 33. Reland, p. 791 sqq. Stark, p. 513. Kuhn, ii. 363. Guérin, Judée, ii. 219-221.
[309] Eckhel, iii. 453 sq. Mionnet, v. 536. De Sauloy, p. 213.
[310] Mela, i. 11: in Palaestina est ingens et munita admodum Gaza.
[311] Mionnet, v. 537 sq.; Suppl. viii. 372. De Saulcy, p. 214.
[312] The coins of Hadrian’s time have a new Hadrianic era as well as the usual town era. The Chronicon paschale (ed. Diudorf, i. 474) mentions besides a πανήγυρις Ἀδριανή, as celebrated since the time of Hadrian. See Stark, p. 550.
[313] Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 5892. Comp. Stark, p. 554 sq.
[314] Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 1904: Καλωνίας Γάζης. The mention also of a Gazensis Duumvir by Jerome, Vita Hilarionis, c. 20 (Vallarsi, ii. 22), points to a Roman municipal constitution. Comp. Marquardt, Rom. Staatsverwaltung, i. 429.
[315] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 242.
[316] Antoninus Martyr (about A.D. 570, De locis sanctis, c. 33; Tobler et Molinier, Itinera, i. 109): Gaza autem civitas est splendida, deliciosa, homines in ea honestissimi, omni liberalitate decori, amatores peregrinorum.
[317] See on the whole, Ideler, Handbuch der Chronologie, i. 410 sq., 434 sq., 438 sq. On Gaza also, Noris, v. 2 (ed. Lips. p. 476 sqq.). Stark, p. 517 sq.
3. Anthedon, Ἀνθηδών, situate on the sea, erroneously called an inland town by Pliny,[318] was according to Sozomen only twenty stadia from Gaza, probably in a northerly (northwesterly) direction.[319] Its very name shows it to have been founded in the Greek period. It is first mentioned in the time of Alexander Jannaeus, who conquered it about the same time as Raphia (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 2; comp. Antt. xiii. 15. 4). Like the other coast towns it was undoubtedly retaken from the Jews by Pompey. Gabinius rebuilt it (Antt. xiv. 5. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4). Augustus bestowed it on Herod (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3), who again restored it and gave it the name of Agrippias or Agrippeion in honour of Agrippa (Antt. xiii. 13. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 2, 21. 8). It is not expressly mentioned in the partition of Herod’s inheritance. Hence it is uncertain whether, like its neighbour Gaza, it was united to the province of Syria, or passed like Joppa and Caesarea to Archelaus (see Stark, p. 542 sq.). In the latter case it would have shared the fate of the rest of Judaea and therefore have come, after the deposition of Archelaus, under Roman procurators and have been from A.D. 41-44 under the rule of King Agrippa. The existence of a coin of Anthedon with the name of Agrippa would give evidence of the latter, if its reading were certain.[320] At the beginning of the Jewish war Anthedon was attacked and partially devastated by the revolted Jews (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). The name Agrippias was never naturalized; Josephus already and all subsequent authors call it Anthedon again.[321] On coins too only this name occurs.[322]
[318] Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 13. 68: intus Anthedon. That it was on the coast is however certain from the unanimous testimony of all other authors; see Joseph. Antt. xiii. 15. 4, xviii. 6. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 21. 8; Ptolem. v. 16. 2; Steph. Byz. s.v.; Sozomenus, Hist. eccl. v. 9. See on the subject in general, Reland, Palaestina, pp. 566-568. Raumer, Palästina, p. 171. Pauly’s Real-Encycl. i. 1. 1087 sq. Guérin, Judée, ii. 215-218. Le Quien, Oriens christianus, iii. 631.
[319]a Sozomenus, v. 9. Anthedon is according to Joseph. Antt. xiii. 15. 4 generally placed south of Gaza. But the majority of the passages from Josephus speak of it as north of Gaza (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 2, 20. 3, ii. 18. 1); so too Plinius, v. 13. 68. The note of Theodosius is decisive for its lying between Gaza and Ascalon; Theodosius, De situ terrae sanctae (ed. Gildemeister, 1882), § 18: inter Ascalonain et Gazam civitates duae, id est Anthedon et Maioma. Rightly therefore has Gatt (Zeitschr. des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, vii. 1884, pp. 5-7) identified the ruins of el-Blachije, one league north-west of Gaza, for which a native gave him the name of Teda, with Anthedon. Comp. also the remarks of Nöldeke and Gildemeister, Zeitschr. d. DPV. vii. 140-142.
[320] The coins in Mionnet, Suppl. viii. 364. Against the correctness of the reading see Madden, Coins of the Jews (1881), p. 134.
[321] So Plinius, Ptolemaeus, Steph. Byz., Sozomenus in the passages cited; Hierocles, Synecd. p. 44; the Acts of the Councils in Le Quien, as above. The isolated assertion of Tzetzes (in Reland, p. 567), that the former Anthedon is “now” called Agrippias, is based upon Josephus only.
[322] Eckhel, Doctr. Num. iii. 443 sq. Miounet, Descript. v. 522 sq.; Suppl. viii. 364. De Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, pp. 234-236, pl. xii. n. 1-4. All three indeed give also coins with the legend Ἀγριππέων. But these do not belong to Anthedon; sea Stark, p. 515.
4. Ascalon, Ἀσκάλον, Hebr. אַשְׁקְלוֹן, was like Gaza an important town of the Philistines, repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament and also already known to Herodotus.[323] The present Ascalon lies close to the sea, and Ptolemy also mentions Ascalon as a coast town.[324] But the old town must have lain inland, if ever so little, since even in the sixth century after Christ Ascalon and Majuma Ascalonis (the port of Ascalon) are distinguished.[325] In the Persian period Ascalon belonged to the Tyrians.[326] Coins of Alexander the Great coined at Ascalon mark the commencement of the Hellenistic period.[327] Like all Palestine and Phoenicia it was in the third century before Christ under the dominion of the Ptolemies, and had consequently to pay them yearly tribute.[328] With Antiochus III. began its subjection to the Seleucidae, which is also evidenced by Ascalonian Seleucid coins from Antiochus III. to Antiochus IX.[329] Ascalon was able by prudent concessions to protect itself against the increasing power of the Jews. The Maccabaean Jonathan did indeed march twice against the town, but was on both occasions pacified by a respectful welcome on the part of the inhabitants.[330] Ascalon was also the only coast town, which remained unmolested by Alexander Jannaeus. It was able in the year 104 B.C. to attain to independence and thenceforth began a computation of time of its own, which it made use of even in the times of the Roman Empire.[331] The Romans acknowledged its independence at least formally.[332] Besides the usual era of the year 104 B.C. another of 57 B.C. occurs in several instances, which proves that Ascalon was favoured by Gabinius.[333] On some of the coins of Ascalon the heads have been taken for those of Cleopatra and a Ptolemy, which would point to their sovereignty or claims to sovereignty over this region.[334] Ascalon was never in the possession of Herod and his successors, although it was indeed adorned with public buildings by Herod,[335] who seems also to have had a palace there, which after his death passed into the possession of his sister Salome.[336] The ancient enmity of the Jews and Ascalonians made the breaking out of the Jewish war in A.D. 66 fatal for both. At first Ascalon was devastated by the Jews;[337] then the Ascalonians put to death all the Jews dwelling in their city, 2500 in number;[338] finally, the Jews made a second attack upon the town, which was indeed easily repelled by the Roman garrison stationed there.[339] Ascalon long remained a flourishing Hellenistic city with celebrated religious rites and games.[340] Many individuals famous in Greek literature were natives of this town.[341]
[323] Herodot. i. 105. See on Ascalon in general, Reland, Palaestina, pp. 586-596. Winer, RWB., and Pauly, Real-Enc. s.v. Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 70-89. Raumer, Paläst. p. 173 sq. Tobler, Dritte Wanderung nach Palästina (1859), pp. 32-44. Sepp, Jerusalem (2nd ed.), ii. 599 sqq. Guérin, Judée, ii. 135-149, 153-171. Guthe, Die Ruinen Askalon’s, with a plan (Zeitschr. d. deutschen Palästina-Vereins, ii. 164 sqq.). The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, iii. 237-247 (with a plan), also plate xix. of the large English chart.
[324] Ptolem. v. 16. 2.
[325] Antoninus Martyr, c. 33 (in Tobler and Molinier, Itinera, i. 109): Ascalonem … In proximo civitatis Maiuma Ascalonis. In A.D. 518 a bishop of Ascalon and a bishop of Majuma Ascalonis are mentioned contemporaneously; see Le Quien, Oriens christ. iii. 602 sq. Kuhn, ii. 363.
[326] Scylax in Geographi graeci minores, ed. Müller, i. 79: Ἀσκάλων πόλις Τυρίων καὶ βασίλεια. Movers (Phönicier, ii. 2. 177 sq.) insists on referring this notice only to the harbour of Ascalon (Majuma Ascalonis) which he considers to be a foundation of the Tyrians. But this lay in the immediate neighbourhood of the town (see the preceding note) and could hardly have been in the possession of any, who did not own the town itself. It is on the contrary to be supposed, that Ascalon was, in the Persian period (to which the statements of Scylax refer) under the rule of the Tyrians as Joppa and Dora were under that of the Sidonians.
[327]a L. Müller, Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand (1855), p. 308, planches, n. 1472 sqq. The coins communicated by Mionnet, i. 522, Suppl. iii. 199, belong, according to Müller, p. 267, to the town of Aspendos in Pamphylia.
[328] Joseph. Antt. xii. 4. 5; see above, p. 52 sq. If it is correct, that a coin of Antiochus, coined at Ascalon, is in existence (as Mionnet, v. 8, No. 59, states), Ascalon must at that time have been under Syrian sway. But comp. on the other side, Stark, Gaza, p. 476; Droysen, iii. 1. 274.
[329] Mionnet describes Ascalonian coins of Antiochus III. and IV., of Trypho and Antiochus VIII. (Descript. de médailles, v. p. 25, No. 219, pp. 38, 72, No. 625, p. 525; Suppl. viii. 366). The catalogue of the British Museum gives such of Trypho, Alexander Zebinas, Antiochus VIII. and IX. (Gardner, Catalogue of the Greek Coins, Seleucid Kings, 1878, pp. 68, 69, 81-88, 91); de Saulcy, one of Trypho (Mélanges de Numismatique, vol. ii. 1877, p. 82 sq.). See on the subject generally, Stark, Gaza, pp. 474-477.
[330] 1Ma_10:86; 1Ma_11:60. Stark, Gaza, pp. 490 sq., 492.
[331] See on the era 104 B.C., Chron. paschale on Olymp. 169. 1 = 104 B.C. (ed. Dindorf, i. 346): Ἀσκαλωνῖται τοὺς ἑαυτῶν χρόνους ἐντεῦθεν ἀριθμοῦσιν. Hieron. Chron. ad ann. Abrah. 2295 (in Euseb. Chron., ed Schoene, ii. 185): The second year of Probus (1080 A.V.C) = 380 aer. Ascal. Noris, Annus et epochae, v. 4. 1 (ed. Lips. pp. 503-515). Eckhel, Doctr. Num. iii. 444-447. Coins in Mionnet, Descr. v. 523-533; Suppl. viii. 365-370. De Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, pp. 178-208, 406, pl. ix. x. The same, Mélanges de Numismatique, vol. ii. 1877, pp. 148-152.
[332] Plinius, Hist. Nat. v. 13. 68: oppidum Ascalo liberum. In the earlier imperial period (down to the middle of the 2nd century after Christ) Ascalon used autonomic as well as imperial coins, the former however of only the smallest kind and least value; see de Saulcy, p. 187.
[333] The double date 56 and 102 is found on a coin of Augustus. On another (in de Saulcy, p. 189, No. 8), 55 and 102. The year 102 is according to the usual era of Ascalon 3/2 B.C. If however this, according to the second era = 55/56, then the year 1 of this latter era = 57 B.C. (not 58, as was before supposed on the strength of the coin of the year 56).
[334]a De Saulcy, Note sur quelques monnaies inédites d’Ascalon (Revue Numismatique, 1874, pp. 124-135). Feuardent, the same, pp. 184-194. Comp. Bursian’s philol. Jahresbericht, vii. 467 sq.
[335] Joseph. Bell. Jud. i. 21. 11.
[336] Joseph. Antt. xvii. 11. 5; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3. Comp. Stark, p. 542. On the question, whether Herod was born at Ascalon, see above, § 12. De Saulcy thinks the use of certain supposed Jewish symbols (two cornucopias crossing each other with a lemon (?) in the middle) upon certain coins of Ascalon of the time of Augustus must be referred to the influence of Herod; see his Note sur quelques monnaies d’Ascalon, in the Annuaire de la Société Française de Numismatique et d’Archéologie, iii. 253-258.
[337] Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1.
[338] Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 5.
[339] Joseph. Bell. Jud. iii. 2. 1, 2. On the enmity of the Ascalonians to the Jews, see also Philo, ii. 576, ed. Mangey.
[340] The games are mentioned in the inscription Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4472; Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 1839 (comp. above, p. 24 sq.). Ammian. Marcellin. xiv. 8. 11 mentions Caesarea, Eleutheropolis, Neapolis, Ascalon and Gaza as the most important towns of Palestine. To this very day “the ruins of Ascalon and Kaisarieh are the moat considerable on the whole coast from Ghâseh to Bêrût” (Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, p. 44).
[341] Steph. Byz. s.v. reckons four philosophers, two grammarians, and two historians of Ascalon (comp. above, p. 26); and the catalogue is not yet complete (see Reland, p. 594).
5. Azotus, Ἄζωτος, or Ashdod, Hebr. אַשְׁדּוֹד, like Gaza and Ascalon, an old Philistine town frequently mentioned in the Old Testament and already known to Herodotus.[342] Ptolemy speaks of it as a coast town;[343] Josephus at one time as a coast, at another as an inland town.[344] The latter is more accurate, for it lay, as the present Asdud does, more than a league inland, on which account Ἄζωτος παράλιος is in Christian times distinguished from Ἄζωτος μεσόγειος.[345] The district of Azotus is frequently mentioned in the Books of the Maccabees; but no certain conclusions can be drawn therefrom as to its extent.[346] Nor are any further details of its fate under the Ptolemies and Seleucidae known.[347] At the time of the rising of the Maccabees Azotus was unable to maintain itself against Jewish supremacy. Judas already destroyed its altars and images (1Ma_5:68). Jonathan, however, devastated the city, together with its temple of Dagon, by fire. (1Ma_10:84; 1Ma_11:4). At the time of Alexander Jannaeus the city, or rather its ruins, belonged to the Jewish region (Joseph. Antt. viii. 15. 4). Pompey again separated it from this latter, and made it a free town (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). But the ruined city was not restored till Gabinius (Antt. xiv. 5. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4). It possibly came, together with the other maritime towns, under the dominion of Herod (B.C. 30), from whom it passed after his death to his sister Salome (Antt. xvii. 8. 1, 11. 5; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3). Whether, like Jamnia, it fell after her death to the Empress Livia is not quite certain, since Azotus is not expressly named (Antt. xviii. 2. 2; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1). It is probable that a considerable portion of its population was Jewish, on which account Vespasian was obliged, during the Jewish war, to place a garrison in it (Bell. Jud. iv. 3. 2). Coins of Azotus during the Roman period seem not to have been preserved.[348]
[342] Herodot. ii. 157. See on the subject generally, Reland, Palaestina, pp. 606-609. Winer, RWB., s.v. Asdod. Pauly, Real-Enc. i. 2. 2208 sq. Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 94-100. Raumer, Paläst. p. 174; Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, pp. 26-32. Guérin, Judée, ii. 70-78; The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 409 sq., 421 sqq., also sheet xvi. of the large English chart.
[343] Ptolem.
[344] As a coast town, Antt. xiii. 15. 4; as an inland town, Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7; comp. Kuhn, ii. 362, 364.
[345] Hieroclis, Synecdemus, ed. Parthey (1866), p. 43.
[346] 1Ma_14:34; 1Ma_16:10.
[347]a On two interesting coins of Asdod, probably of the first Diadochian period, see Georg Hoffmann in Sallet’s Zeitschr. für Numismatik, vol. ix. 1882, p. 96 sq. The superscription of the coins is Hebrew, bnt in Greek characters. On the one is ΑΣΔΩΔ ΑΣΙΝΑ, i.e. עיר אשדוד חסינה (the strong city of Ashdod); on the other ΙΡ ΑΣ ΙΡΟΜ Η, i.e. probably the city of Ashdod in the eighth year of Hirom (the king of the city).
[348] The coins with the legend Τυχὴ Ἀσωτίων, which older numismatics have referred to this town (Eckhel, iii. 448; Mionnet, v. 534; Suppl. viii. 370), are rightly denied to belong to it by de Saulcy (Numism. p. 282 sq.), even on account of the σ instead of ζ [also in the Pseudo-Aristeas Ἀσωτίων χώραν is, according to Mor. Schmid in Merx’s Archiv, i. 275, 6, the correct reading, instead of Ἀζωτίων χώραν].
6. Jamnia, Ἰάμνεια, in the Old Testament Jabneh, יַבְנֶה (2 Chronicles 26:6), under which name it frequently occurs in Rabbinic literature.[349] Jamnia, like Azotus, is sometimes called a maritime, sometimes an inland town,[350] for it lay considerably inland, but had a port. Both are correctly distinguished by Pliny and Ptolemy.[351] There is express testimony that Jamnia had a district.[352] According to Strabo, it was so densely populated that Jamnia and its neighbourhood were able to furnish 40,000 fighting men.[353] In the Maccabaean period Jamnia was—at least according to the second Book of the Maccabees—attacked by Judas, and its port together with the fleet burnt.[354] The town itself however did not come into the possession of the Jews either then, or, as Josephus asserts, under Simon.[355] It was not till Alexander Jannaeus that it formed a portion of the Jewish territory (Antt. xiii. 15. 4). Pompey again separated it from the latter (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7), Gabinius restored it. Like Azotus, Jamnia must also have come into the possession of Herod, since it was left by him to his sister Salome (Antt. xvii. 8. 1, 11. 5; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3). The Empress Livia received it from the latter (Antt. xviii. 2. 2; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1), and after her death it seems to have become a private possession of Tiberius (Antt. xviii. 6. 3; see above, p. 55). The population was then a mixed one of Jews and heathen, but with a preponderance of the Jewish element.[356] This explains the fact, that Vespasian twice found himself obliged to garrison the city,[357] and that Jamnia, after the destruction of Jerusalem, soon became a headquarter of Jewish learning.
[349] Mishna, Shekalim i. 4; Rosh hashana ii. 8, 9, iv. 1, 2; Kethuboth iv. 6; Sanhedrin xi. 4; Edujoth ii. 4; Aboth iv. 4; Bechoroth iv. 5, vi. 8; Kelim v. 4; Para vii. 6. For the passages of the Tosefta, see the index to Zuckermandel’s edition (1882). Neubauer, La Géographie du Talmud, 1868, pp. 73-76.
[350] Maritime town, Antt. xviii. 15. 4. Inland town, Antt. iv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7; comp. Kuhn, ii. 362 sq.
[351] Plinius, H. N. v. 13. 68: Jamneae duae, altera intus. Ptolem. v. 16.2: Ἰαμνειτῶν λιμήν v. 16. 6: Ἰάμνεια. See generally, Reland, p. 823 sq. Winer, RWB., s.v. “Jabne.” Pauly, Real-Enc. iv. 17. Raumer, p. 203 sq. Ritter, xvi. 125 sq. Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, pp. 20-25. Guérin, Judée, ii. 53-65. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii 414, 441-433; also sheet xvi. of the large English chart.
[352] Joseph. Bell. Jud. iii. 5: Ἰάμνεια καὶ Ἰόπη τῶν περιοίκων ἀφηγοῖνται.
[353] Strabo, xvi. p. 759. Strabo here indeed erroneously calls Jamnia a κώμη.
[354] 2Ma_12:8 sq., 2Ma_12:40; comp. Stark, Gaza, p. 487.
[355] Joseph. Antt. xiii. 6. 6; Bell. Jud. i. 2. 2. See, on the other hand, 1Ma_10:69; 1Ma_15:40.
[356] Philo, Legat. ad Cajum, § 30 (Mang. ii. 575): ταύτην μιγάδες οἰκοῦσιν οἱ πλείους μὲν Ἰουδαῖοι, ἕτεροι δέ τινες ἀλλόφυλοι παρεισφθαρέντες ἀπὸ τῶν πλησιοχώρων, οἱ τοῖς τρόπον τινὰ αὐθιγενέσιν ὄντες μέτοικοι, κακὰ καὶ πράγματα παρέχουσιν, ἀεί τι παραλύοντες τῶν πατρίων Ἰουδαίοις. Philo, indeed, by here assigning the part of natives to the Jews, and that of metoikoi to the heathen, reverses the true order of things. For even in the Maccabaean period Jamnia was a chiefly heathen city, nor was it till afterwards that its Jewish element increased.
[357] Joseph. Bell. Jud. iv. 3. 2, 8. 1.
7. Joppa, Ἰόπη or Ἰόππη,[358] Hebr. יָפוֹ,[359] the present Jaffa. The special importance of Joppa is found in the fact that it was comparatively the best harbour on the coast of Palestine.[360] It was therefore at almost all periods the chief place of debarkation for the interior of Judaea, and its possession, especially on the greater development of trade and commerce in later times, was almost a vital question for the Jews. In the Persian period, and indeed in the time of the Sidonian King Eschmunazar, Joppa was granted to the Sidonians by the “Lord of Kings,” i.e. by the Persian monarch.[361] To the Greeks it was chiefly known as the scene of the myth of Perseus and Andromeda, and is mentioned as such even before the time of Alexander the Great by Scylax (see above, p. 15). In the Diadochian period it seems to have been an important arsenal. When Antigonus wrested Coelesyria from Ptolemy Lagos, he was obliged to take Joppa as well as other places by force.[362] And when, three years later (312 B.C.), Ptolemy Lagos found he could not hold the reconquered region against Antigonus, he had Joppa razed on his retreat as one of the more important fortresses.[363] In the time of the Maccabees the efforts of the Jews were especially directed to obtain possession of this important place. It is true that Judas Maccabaeus—if the account is quite trustworthy—only destroyed the port and fleet of Joppa during a nocturnal attack (2Ma_12:3-7). Jonathan however, in the year 147 or 146 B.C., made a serious assault of the town, in consequence of which the inhabitants opened the gates to him and forced the Syrian garrison to depart (1Ma_10:75-76). Thenceforward the Jews remained with but slight intermission in possession of the town till the time of Pompey. From the same period also must be dated the Judaizing of the city. For when, a few years after its conquest by Jonathan, the inhabitants showed signs of again surrendering the town to the Syrians, Simon, the brother of Jonathan, stationed a Jewish garrison in it (1Ma_12:33-34) and compelled the heathen inhabitants to leave the town (1Ma_13:11 : ἐξέβαλε τοὺς ὄντας ἐν αὐτῇ).[364] Simon afterwards enlarged and improved the harbour and fortified the town (1Ma_14:5; 1Ma_14:34). When the energetic Antiochus VII. (Sidetes) endeavoured again to retrench the power of the Jews, the possession of Joppa was a main point of dispute. Even while Antiochus was contending with Trypho, he demanded from Simon the surrender of Joppa (1Ma_15:28-30). The latter however declared himself only ready to pay a sum of money instead (1Ma_15:35). When, some years later, in the beginning of the reign of John Hyrcanus, all Palestine was conquered and even Jerusalem besieged by Antiochus, it is probable that Joppa had already been taken by him. He was nevertheless satisfied at the conclusion of a peace with the payment of a tribute for Joppa (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 8. 3).[365] Thus the town continued in the possession of the Jews, and in later times even the payment of the tribute ceased. There is express testimony that Alexander Jannaeus possessed Joppa (Antt. xiii. 15. 4). This maritime city was however taken by Pompey from the Jews, who were thus entirely cut off from the sea (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). Among the favours bestowed by Caesar on the Jews one of the most valuable was the restoration of Joppa (Antt. xiv. 10. 6).[366] It is not quite certain whether Herod held Joppa from the first. At any rate, like the other coast towns, it belonged, during the years 34-30 B.C., to Cleopatra (see above, § 15), and thenceforth to Herod (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3).[367] From this time it was always united with Judaea proper, and hence passed after Herod’s death to Archelaus (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3), and was after his deposition under Roman procurators. At the beginning of the Jewish war, Joppa was, by reason of its mainly Jewish population, a central seat of rebellion. It was destroyed at the very beginning of the war by Cestius Gallus (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 10), but soon fortified again and conquered a second time by Vespasian (Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 2-4). From that time it probably again became a chiefly heathen town. It is shown by a coin recently discovered, that it was also called Flavia, which leads to the inference of its refoundation in the time of Vespasian.[368] Notwithstanding its close connection with Judaea, Joppa formed an independent political community after the manner of Hellenistic towns.[369] Of its coins few specimens have been preserved.[370]
[358] The orthography fluctuates. In the texts of non-biblical authors the form Ἰόπη, which is required by Greek grammarians, is preferred (see Movers, Phönicier, ii. 2. 176, note 78. Mendelssohn in Ritschl’s Acta societ. philol. Lips. vol. v. p. 104) and corroborated by the usage of poets (Alexander Ephesius in Steph. Byz., ed. Meineke, p. 255: Δῶρός τʼ ἀγχίαλός τʼ Ἰόπη προύχουσα θαλάσσης, also Dionys. Perieg. in Müller, Geogr. gr. min. ii. 160: οἵτʼ Ἰόπην καὶ Γάζαν Ἐλαΐδα τʼ ἐνναίουσι). The biblical manuscripts, on the contrary, have, as it appears, universally Ἰόππη, whether in the Old or New Testament (1 Maccabees and Acts). Of the few coins that have been preserved some have one, some the other form. The Greek Ἰόπη is related to יָפוֹ as Ἄκη is to עַכּוֹ. But it might also arise from the form יפי (concluding with Jod), as the name is given on the inscription of Eschmunazar. See Schlottmann, Die Inschrift Eschmunazars (1868), p. 150 sqq.
[359] Joshua 19:46; Jonah 1:3; 2 Chronicles 2:15; Ezra 3:7. Mishna, Nedarim iii. 6; Tosefta, Demai i, 11 (ed. Zuckermandel, p. 46, 1). Neubauer, La Géographie du Talmud, p. 81 sq.
[360] Joseph. Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 3 indeed describes the harbour as dangerous, which it still is. It must, however, have been comparatively the best According to Diodor. i. 13, there was but one safe harbour (ἀσφαλῆ λιμένα), viz. the Pharos of Alexandria from Paraetonium in Libya to Jopa in Coelesyria. Strabo too (xvi. p. 759) rightly gives prominence to the importance of Joppa as a port for Judaea. See especially 1Ma_14:5. Compare on the subject in general, Reland, pp. 864-867. Winer, RWB. Pauly, Real-Enc. Schenkel, Bibellex. s.v. Ritter, xvi. 574-580. Raumer, p. 204 sq. Tobler, Topographie von Jerusalem, ii. 576-637. Sepp, Jerusalem (2nd ed.), i. 1-22. Guérin, Judée, i. 1-22 Bädeker-Socin., Palästina (1st ed.), p. 131 sqq., with plan. Schwarz, Jafa und Umgebung, mit Plan (Zeitschr. d. deutschen Pal.-Ver. iii. 44 sqq.). The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 254-258, 275-278; also sheet xiii. of the large English chart.
[361]a See the inscription of Eschmunazar, line 18-19, and Schlottmann, as above, pp. 83-147 sqq. The text is best given in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, vol. i. (1881) pp. 9-20.
[362] Diodor. xix. 59. Comp. Droysen, Hellenismus, ii. 2. 11. Stark, Gaza, p. 350.
[363] Diodor. xix. 93. Comp. Droysen, ii. 2. 54. Stark, p. 355 sq.
[364] Comp. Stark, p. 493 sq. A similar procedure was observed towards Gazara.
[365] The seizure of Joppa by an Antiochus is assumed in two Roman Senatus-consultus, in the latter of which its surrender is commanded him by the Roman Senate (Joseph, Antt. xiii. 9. 2, xiv. 10. 22). Perhaps this explains the striking leniency of Antiochus in the conditions of peace. It is however just questionable, whether Antiochus Sidetes is meant.
[366] For further details, see above, § 15.
[367] The Jews having been in possession of Joppa since Caesar, and it being expressly said of Joppa, that Herod conquered it when he took possession of his kingdom (Antt. xiv. 15. 1; Bell. Jud. i. 15. 3, 4), it must be supposed that it was his from the beginning of his reign, and that he then obtained it again in the year 30, after the short interregnum of Cleopatra. The only difficulty is, that at the enlargement of his domains in the year 30, Joppa is named, not as a portion of the domains again bestowed on Herod, but expressly as among the towns newly bestowed besides these.
[368]a Darricarrère, Sur une monnaie inédite de Joppe (Revue archéologique, nouv. série, vol. xliii. 1882, p. 74 sq.). The coin is of the time of Elagabalus, and bears the inscription: Ιπππης Φλαουιας.
[369] This appears chiefly from the manner in which Josephus (Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 5) mentions Joppa beside Judaea proper: μεθʼ ἃς Ἰάμνεια καὶ Ἰόπη τῶν περιοίκων ἀφηγοῦνται. In Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 4 also, the κῶμαι and πολίχναι τῆς Ἰόπης are mentioned.
[370] Eckhel, Doctr. Num. iii. 433. Mionnet, v. 499. De Saulcy, p. 176 sq., pl. ix. n. 3, 4. Reichardt, Numismatic Chronicle, 1862, p. 111; and Wiener Numismat. Monatshefte, published by Egger, vol. iii. 1867, p. 192. Darricarrère, as above.
8. Apollonia, Ἀπολλωνία. An Apollonia between Joppa and Caesarea is mentioned by geographers down to the later imperial period.[371] It occurs only twice in history: at the time of Alexander Jannaeus, when it belonged to the Jewish region (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 15. 4), and at the time of Gabinius, who restored it (Joseph. Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4). According to the statement of distance in the Peutinger table (22 m. p. from Caesarea) it must have been situate where the present Arsuf is.[372] Stark’s supposition, that it is identical with Σώζουσα, is commended by the circumstance, that in Cyrenaica also an Apollonia and a Sozusa appear, which are probably identical. Sozusa would thus be the town of Apollo Σωτήρ.[373] The name Apollonia makes it probable, that it was founded by Seleucus I. in the time of the definitive occupation of Coelesyria by the Ptolemies.[374]
[371] Plinius, H. N. v. 13. 69. Ptolem. v. 16. 2. Tabula Peutinger. Segm. ix. Geographus Ravennas, ed. Pinder et Parthey (1860), pp. 83 and 356. Guidonis Geogr. in the above-named edition of the Geogr. Ravenn. p. 524. Steph. Byz., s.v. Ἀπολλωνία, reckons twenty-five towns of this name, No. 12 among them: περὶ τὴν Κοίλην Συρίαν; No. 13: κατὰ Ἰόπην (this being the one now in question); No. 20: Συρίας κατὰ Ἀπάμειαν.
[372] See is general, Reland, p. 573. Ritter, xvi. 590. Pauly’s Enc. i. 2. 1308., Kuhn, ii. 362. Guérin, Samarie, ii. 375-382. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 135, 137-140 (with plan); also sheet x. of the large English chart. De Saulcy, Numismatique, p. 110 sq., pl. vi. n. 1, 2.
[373] Σώζουσα in Hierocles, ed. Parthey, p. 44. Comp. Stark, Gaza, p. 452. On Sozusa in Cyrenaica, Forbinger, Handb. ii. 829.
[374] Appian. Syr. 57 does not indeed mention our town, but speaks of Apollonia as a Macedonian town-name transplanted into Syria by Seleucus I. Comp. Stark, as above.
9. Straton’s Tower, Στράτωνος πύργος, afterwards Caesarea.[375] Like Apollonia, Straton’s Tower may have been a foundation of the Hellenistic period, perhaps at first a castle, so called, after a general of the Ptolemies. It is however possible, that it was founded towards the end of the Persian period by a Sidonian king of the name of Straton.[376] Artemidorus, about 100 B.C., is the first geographical author by whom it is mentioned.[377] At that period too it first occurs in history, being mentioned in the time of Aristobulus I., 104 B.C. (Antt. xiii. 11. 2). In the beginning of the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, a “tyrant,” Zoilus was master of Straton’s Tower and Dora (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 12. 2). He was soon overthrown by Alexander Jannaeus (Antt. xiii. 12. 4), and hence Straton’s Tower is named among the towns belonging to Alexander (Antt. xiii. 15. 4). It obtained its freedom from Pompey (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). It was bestowed upon Herod by Augustus (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3), and from this period dates the special importance of the town. For it was rebuilt on the most magnificent scale by Herod, and provided with artificial embankments and an excellent harbour (Antt. xv. 9. 6, xvi. 5. 1; Bell. Jud. i. 21. 5-8).[378] He called the town Καισάρεια in honour of the emperor, and the harbour Σεβαστὸς λιμήν.[379] Hence on Nero’s coins we meet with Καισαρια ἡ προς Σεβαστω λιμενι.[380] The designation Καισάρεια Σεβαστή occurs only once.[381] Elsewhere the town is called in distinction from others Καισάρεια Στράτωνος,[382] and in later times Καισάρεια τῆς Παλαιστίνης.[383] It quickly attained to great prosperity, and remained for a long period one of the most important towns of Palestine.[384] After the death of Herod it passed with the rest of Judaea to Archelaus (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3). It afterwards continued on all occasions united with Judaea, and hence came after the deposition of Archelaus under Roman procurators, then under Agrippa I., and then again under procurators. Coins of Agrippa I., which were coined in Caesarea, are still in existence.[385] His στρατηγός in Caesarea is incidentally mentioned (Antt. xix. 7. 4). It is well known that he himself died there (see above, § 18). He was hated by the Caesareans for his Judaizing tendencies (Antt. xix. 9. 1). The Roman procurators, both before and after the reign of Agrippa, took up their abode at Caesarea (see above, § 17‌c). Hence the town is called in Tacitus, Judaeae caput (Tac. Hist. ii. 78). It was also the chief garrison for the troops under the command of the procurators, who were for the most part composed of natives (see above, p. 65). The population being chiefly a heathen one (Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 1), though mingled with a considerable Jewish fraction, disputes easily occurred, and the more so that both had equal civil rights, and had therefore to conduct the affairs of the town in common.[386] Neither the Jews nor the heathen were satisfied with this state of things. Each of these parties claimed the exclusive government of the town. Already towards the close of the official career of Felix there were sanguinary contests on the subject, in consequence of which Nero, whose adviser had been bribed by the heathen party, deprived the Jews of their equality of right, and declared the heathen sole governors of the town. The exasperation which ensued gave the first inducement to the great rising of the Jews in A.D. 66 (Antt. xx. 8. 7 and 9; Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 7, 14. 4, 5). After the breaking out of the war, the Jews, as the minority, fell victims to the fury of the heathen populace. It is said that all the Jewish inhabitants, 20,000 in number, were then assassinated in an hour (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1 vii. 8. 7, ed. Bekker, p. 161). Caesarea was changed by Vespasian into a Roman colony, though without the full jus Italicum.[387] On coins it bears the title col(onia) prima Fl(avia) Aug(usta) Caesarensis or Caesarea. To this was added after the time of Alexander Severus the title metropolis, or as it is more completely given on coins after Decius, metropolis, pr. S. Pal. (= provinciae Syriae Palaestinae.[388]
[375] See generally, Reland, pp. 670-678. Raumer, p. 152 sq. Winer, RWB., and Schenkel’s Bibellex. s.v. Caesarea. Pauly, Real-Enc. ii. 47. Kuhn, Die städt. und bürgerl. Verfassung, ii. 347-350. The same, Ueber die Entstehung der Städte der Alten (1878), pp. 423-433. Ritter, xvi. 598-607. Sepp, Jerusalem (2nd ed.), ii. 573 sqq. Guérin, Samarie, ii. 321. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 13-29 (with plans), also sheet vii. of the English chart.
[376] In Justinian’s Novelle 103 praef. it is said of Caesarea: Καίτοι γε ἀρχαία τέ ἐστι καὶ ἀεὶ σεμνή, ἡνίκα τε αὐτὴν Στράτων ἰδρύσατο πρῶτος, ὃς ἐξ Ἑλλάδος ἀναστὰς γέγονεν αὐτῆς οἰκιστὴς ἡνίκα τε Οὐεσπασιανος … εἰς τὴν τῶν Καισάρων αὐτὴν ὠνόμασε προσηγορίαν. The worthlessness of this notice is shown already by the gross mistake with respect to Vespasian. As there was a Straton’s Island on the Abyssinian coast of the Red Sea (Strabo, xvi. p. 770), Straton’s Tower may have been a foundation of the Ptolemies. So Stark, Gaza, p. 451. To me however it seems almost more probable, that it was founded by the Sidonians. For towards the end of the Persian period they were in possession of the nearest towns both northward and southward, viz. Dora and Joppa (which see), and therefore presumably of the strip of coast also upon which Straton’s Tower was built. Straton moreover was the name of one or more of the last kings of Sidon (see Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 87, and also Böckh). At any rate its designation as πύργος, tower, is not usual for a town of Hellenistic foundation. Lastly, L. Müller thinks, that a coin of Alexander the Great with the letters Στ may be referred to our Straton’s Tower (L. Müller, Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand, p. 306, plates, n. 1466), in which case it must already have been in existence in the time of Alexander the Great, or at latest in the Diadochian period (in which also coins of Alexander were issued). All this combined favours the view, that it was already founded by the Sidonians.
[377] Artemidorus in Steph. Byz. s.v. Δῶρος (on Artemidorus, see Forbiger, Handbuch der alten Geographie, i. 246 sqq., 255 sqq. Pauly’s Enc. s.v.). The latest geographer who knows of Straton’s Tower by that name only is Strabo, xvi. p. 758.
[378] Besides the above principal passages, compare also Joseph. Antt. xv. 8. 5. Plinius, v. 13. 69. On the time of its building, see above, § 15. On its constitution and political position, see especially Kuhn’s above-named work.
[379] On the latter, see Antt. xvii. 5. 1; Bell. Jud. i. 31. 8.
[380] These coins are fully treated of by Belley in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, old series, vol. xxvi. 1759, pp. 440-445. Comp. also Eckhel, iii. 428 sq. Mionnet, Description, v. 486 sq. De Saulcy, Numismatique, p. 116 sq.
[381] Joseph. Antt. xvi. 5. 1. Philo, Legat, ad Cajum, § 38, ed. Mang. ii. 590. The designation Αὐγοῦστα Καισάρεια occurring on an inscription (Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4472 = Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 1839) is an abbreviation of colonia prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea, the official title of Caesarea as a colony since Vespasian; see below, p. 87, and Kuhn, ii. 349.
[382] Ptolem. v. 16. 2, viii. 20. 14. Clement. Homil. i. 15, 20, xiii. 7; Recogn. i. 12. Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 1620b (Inscription of Aphrodisias in Caria of the second century after Christ, comp. above, p. 24).
[383] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, pp. 207, 250. De martyr. Palestinae, i. 2.
[384] Joseph. Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 1. Clement. Recogn. i. 12. Apollonius, Tyan. epist. xi. (in Epistológraphi graeci, ed. Hercher, Paris 1873, Didot). Totius orbis descriptio in Müller, Geogr. gr. minores, ii. 517. Ammian. xiv. p. 11.
[385] Eckhel, iii. 491, 492. Madden, History of Jewish Coinage, pp. 107, 109. The same, Coins of the Jews (1881), pp. 133, 136. The coins with the legend Καισαρειας ασυλου are rightly denied by Eckhel to belong to our Caesarea.
[386]a The ἄνδρες οἱ κατʼ ἐξοχὴν τῆς πόλεως, mentioned Acts 25:23, must according to the context be regarded as heathen. This however does not exclude Jews from a share in the government, but merely corresponds with, the preponderance of the heathen element testified to by Josephus.
[387] Plinius, H. N. v. 13. 69: Stratonis turris, eadem Caesarea, ab Herode rege condita, nunc colonia prima Flavia a Vespasiano imperatore deducta. Digest. lib. xv. 8. 7 (from Paulus): Divus Vespasianus Caesarienses colonos fecit non adjecto, ut et juris Italici essent, sed tributum his remisit capitis; sed divus Titus etiam solum immune factum interpretatus est. Ibid. lib. xv. 1. 6 (from Ulpianus): In Palaestina duae fuerunt coloniae, Caesariensis et Aelia Capitolina, sed neutra jus Italicum habet. Comp. Zumpt, Commentationes epigr. i. 897 sq. On the jus Italicum, see Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 89 sqq. (1881), and the literature therein cited, p. 89, note 7, to which is to be added: Beaudouin, Etude sur le Jus italicum, Paris (1883). Comp. Revue critique, 1884, No. 6, pp. 99-101.
[388] On the coins in general, see Eckhel, iii. 428-442. Mionnet, v. 486-497; Suppl. viii. 334-343. De Saulcy, pp. 112-141, pl. vii.
10. Dora, Δῶρα, in Polybius Δοῦρα, elsewhere also Δῶρος, in Pliny, Dorum,[389] Hebr. דּוֹר or דֹּאר,[390] an old Phoenician settlement 8 or 9 miles north of Caesarea.[391] It was known from ancient times to the Greeks, being already mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus, who lived 500 years before Christ, in his description of the earth.[392] Nay, it is possible that it may, during the hegemony of Athens in the Mediterranean in the 5th century B.C., have been tributary to the Athenians.[393] In the time of the Sidonian King Eshmunazar it was granted to the Sidonians by the “Lord of Kings,” i.e. by the Persian monarch.[394] Hence Scylax, whose description refers to the Persian period, rightly calls Dora a town of the Sidonians.[395] Although Dora was no large city,[396] it was on account of its favourable position a strong fortress. When Antiochus the Great made (219 B.C.) his first attack upon Coelesyria, he besieged Dora, but in vain.[397] Eighty years afterwards (139-138 B.C.) Trypho was here besieged by Antiochus Sidetes with a large army, but equally without result. The siege ended with the flight of Trypho.[398] On a coin of Trypho’s stamped at Dora the town is called ἱε(ρὰ) κ(αὶ) ἄ(συλος).[399] Some decades afterwards we find it in the possession of the tyrant Zoilus (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 12. 2), who was afterwards overthrown by Alexander Jannaeus (Antt. xiii. 12. 4). It must therefore have subsequently belonged to the Jewish region, but was again separated from it by Pompey (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). Like many other towns, Dora also then began a new era, which it continued to use on coins of the imperial age.[400] It was restored by Gabinius (Antt. xiv. 5. 3). After Pompey it was under direct Roman government, and therefore never belonged to Herod (whose dominions on the coast extended no farther northward than Caesarea). It is called on coins of the imperial period ἱερὰ ἄσυλος αὐτόνομος ναυαρχίς.[401] The existence of a Jewish community in Dora is evidenced by an occurrence of the time of King Agrippa I.: a number of young people once placed a statue of the emperor in the Jewish synagogue, and it needed energetic intervention on the part of Petronius the governor, in a letter addressed to the authorities of Dora (Δωριτῶν τοῖς πρώτοις), to secure to the Jews that free exercise of their religion, which had been pledged to them (Antt. xix. 6. 3). In the later imperial period, Dora seems to have fallen into decay.[402] Christian bishops of Dora are however mentioned down to the 7th century.[403]
[389] The form Δῶρος occurs especially in older authors, but is also preferred by Steph. Byz. Δῶρα was afterwards exclusively used. (1) Δῶρος is found in Scylax (fourth century B.C.), Apollodorus (about 140 B.C.), Alexander Ephesius (see on him Pauly’s Enc. s.v. Alex. n. 40), Charax (the three last named in Steph. Byz. s.v. Δῶρος). To this series belongs also Pliny (H. N. v. 19. 75, Dorum). (2) Δῶρα or Δωρά found besides in 1 Macc., in Artemidorus (about 100 B.C.), Claudius Jolaus (both in Steph. Byz.), Josephus (constantly), on coins of Caligula, Trajan, Elagabalus (in De Saulcy), Ptolemaeus (v. 15. 5), Clement. Recogn. (iv. 1), Eusebius (Onom., ed. Lag. p. 250), Hieronymus (the same, p. 115), Hierocles (ed. Parthey, p. 43), the lists of bishops (in Le Quien, Oriens christ. iii. 574 sqq.), Geographus Ravennas (ed. Pinder et Parthey, pp. 89, 357). To this series belong also Polybius (v. 66, Δοῦρα) and Tab. Peuting. (Thora). Comp. also note 136, below. The first Book of the Maccabees uses Δωρᾶ indecl., it is elsewhere treated as a neut. plur. (Josephus usually; Eusebius, p. 280, the lists of bishops); sometimes also as a fem. sing. (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 7. 2; c. Apion. ii. 9. Clement. Recogn. iv. 1).
[390] דּוֹר, Joshua 11:2; Joshua 12:23; Judges 1:27; 1 Chronicles 7:29. דֹּאר, Joshua 17:11; 1 Kings 4:11. Also upon the inscription of Eshmunazar, see below, note 137. In the O. T. נָפַת דּוֹר (Joshua 12:23; 1 Kings 4:11) or נָפוֹת דּוֹר (Joshua 11:2), properly the height or heights of Dor, and therefore probably the hill country, which lay inland from Dor, is distinguished from the town of Dor (see Riehm’s Wörterbuch, s.v.). Only the former and not the maritime town was possessed by Solomon. Less probable is Movers’ notion (Phönicier, ii. 2. 175 sq.), that Naphath-Dor is distinguished as an inland town from Dor as a coast town.
[391] The foundation by the Phoenicians is fully described by Claudius Jolaus in Steph. Byz. s.v. Δῶρος (also in Müller, Fragm. hist. graec. iv. 363). Josephus also calls Dora a πόλις τῆς Φοινίκης (Vita, 8; c. Apion. ii. 9). The distance from Caesarea, 8 m. p. according to Tab. Peuting.; 9 m. p. according to Eusebius (Onom., ed. Lag. p. 283) and Jerome (the same, pp. 115, 142). According to Artemidorus (in Steph. Byz. s.v.), Dora lay ἐπὶ χερσονησοειδοῦς τόπου. Comp. generally, Reland, pp. 738-741; Raumer, p. 154; Winer, Schenkel, Pauly, s.v.; Ritter, xvi. 607-612; Guérin, Samarie, ii. 305-315. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. pp. 3, 7-11; also sheet vii. of the English chart.
[392] Hecataeus in Steph. Byz. s.v. Δῶρος (also in Müller, Fragm. hist. graec. i. 17, n. 260): μετὰ δὲ ἡ πάλαι Δῶρος, νῦν δὲ Δῶρα καλεῖται. The words cannot indeed have come down just as they stand from Hecataeus, because they manifest a change in the usage of the language, which did not fully take place till about 500 years later (see above, note 133). Hence the copy made use of by Steph. Byz. must here have had an interpolation. On Hecataeus, see Forbiger, Handbuch der alten Geogr. i. 48 sqq. C. Müller, Fragm. hist. graec. t. i. Proleg, pp. ix.-xvi. Westermann in Pauly’s Enc. iii. 1082 sq.
[393]a The Δῶρος tributary to the Athenians is indeed generally taken to be a town in Caria (according to Steph. Byz. s.v. Δῶρος). Such an one however not being elsewhere known of, and the power of the Athenians extending in any case to Cyprus, we may perhaps suppose it to have been the Phoenician Doros. See Ulr. Köhler, Urkunden und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Delisch-attischen Bundes (Transactions of the Berlin Academy, 1869), pp. 121, 207. Six, Numismatic Chronicle, 1877, p. 235.
[394] See the inscription of Eshmunazar, lines 18, 19, in the Corp. Inscript. Semiticarum, vol. i. (1881) pp. 9-20; also Schlottmann, Die Inschrift Eschmunazar (1868), pp. 82 sq., 146 sqq.
[395] Scylax in Geographi graeci minores, ed. Müller, i. 79: Δῶρος πόλις Σιδονίων. On Scylax, see e.g. Fabricius-Harles, Bibliotlh. gr. iv. 606 sqq. Forbiger, Handb. d. alten Geogr. i. 113 sqq., 123 sqq. Westermann in Pauly’s Enc. vi. 1. 891 sq. Nicolai, Griech. Literaturgesch. i. 322 sq. Anonyini vulgo Scylacis Caryandensis periplum maris interni cum appendice, iterum rec. Fabricius, Lips. 1878.
[396] Artemidorus: πολισμάτιον. Claudius Jolaus: βραχεῖα πολίχνη (both in Steph. Byz.). Clement. Recogn. iv. 1: breve oppidum.
[397] Polyb. v. 66.
[398] 1Ma_15:11-37; Joseph. Antt. xiii. 7. 2.
[399] Mionnet, v. 72. Stark, p. 477.
[400] The commencement of the era cannot be strictly determined. At all events however it is that of Pompey (B.C. 63?), not that of Gabinius, as De Saulcy, in spite of his own objections assumes, for an era of Gabinius could not begin earlier than the autumn of 58 B.C. = 696 A.U.C. and then 175 aer. Dor., of which year coins of Trajan are in existence, would be = 870/871 A.U.C., while Trajan was already dead before the autumn of 870. See generally, Noris, iv. 5. 5 (ed. Lips. pp. 453-458). Pellerin, Recueil de médailles de peuples et de villes (3 vols. Paris 1763), ii. 216 sq. Eckhel, Doctr. Num. iii. 362 sq. Ideler, Handb. der Chronologie, i. 459. The coins in Mionnet, v. 359-362; Suppl. viii. 258-260. De Saulcy, pp. 142-148, pl. vi. n. 6-12.
[401] See especially Mionnet and De Saulcy, as above.
[402] Hieronymus, Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 115: Dora … nunc deserta. Ibid. p. 142: Dor autem est oppidum jam desertum. The same, Peregri-natio Paulae (in Tobler, Palacstinae descriptions, 1869, p. 13): ruinas Dor, urbis quondam potentissimae.
[403] Le Quien, Oriens christianus, iii. 574-579.
11. Ptolemais, Πτολεμαΐς.[404] The original name of the town was Akko, עַכּוֹ (Richter 1. 31), or, as it reads in Greek, Ἄκη. By this name it was already known to the Greeks in pre-Hellenistic times.[405] It was here that in the year 374 B.C. the army of Artaxerxes Mnemnon assembled for the campaign against Egypt.[406] Ake must have been an important town in the time of Alexander the Great. For among the coins of Alexander stamped in Phoenicia those of Ake especially are very numerous. They have the name of Alexander in Greek, that of the town in Phoenician characters (Ἀλεξάνδρου, עכ, sometimes עכא), and the year of an era beginning with Alexander the Great. As elsewhere so too in Ake these coins were still issued long after the death of Alexander.[407] Ake was levelled to the ground in the year 312 by Ptolemy Lagos, when he again evacuated before Antigonus the district of Coelesyria, which he had just conquered.[408] It probably received from Ptolemy II. the name of Πτολεμαΐς, which was henceforth the prevailing one.[409] Still its original name Akko was uninterruptedly maintained beside the Greek one, which it subsequently supplanted.[410] In the Seleucid period also Ptolemais figures as one of the most important cities of the Phoenician-Philistine coast. The conquest of this region by Antiochus the Great in the year 219 was much facilitated by the surrender to him of the towns of Tyre and Ptolemais by the Phoenician general Theodotus.[411] Antiochus wintered in Ptolemais in 218/219.[412] The Seleucidae after their definitive occupation of Phoenicia specially favoured Ptolemais. On coins, especially those of the times of Antiochus IV. and VIII., the inhabitants are called Ἀντιοχεῖς οἱ ἐν Πτολεμαΐδι, sometimes with the addition ἱερὰ ἂσυλος, sometimes ἱερὰ αὐτόνομος. The bestowal of the title “Antiochians,” and with it perhaps certain privileges, is to be regarded as a mark of favour, which was aspired after by many other towns, e.g. Jerusalem, during the predominance of the Hellenistic party.[413] Seleucid coins of Antiochus V., Demetrius I., Alexander Balas, and Trypho, minted at Ptolemais, are in existence.[414] The town was used as a residence by the kings during their temporary abode in these regions (1Ma_10:56-60; 1Ma_11:22; 1Ma_11:24). It always showed itself hostile to the Jews. Even at the beginning of the Maccabaean rising, it was especially the towns of Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon, which fought against the Jews, who had revolted from Syrian sovereignty (1Ma_5:15 sqq.). Jonathan was here treacherously taken prisoner by Trypho (1Ma_12:45 sqq.). After the accession of Alexander Jannaeus, B.C. 104, when the Seleucidae had already lost all authority in the southern parts of their dominions, three neighbouring powers contended for the possession of Ptolemais. At first Alexander Jannaeus entertained the purpose of conquering it, but was prevented from carrying out his design by Ptolemy Lathurus, the ruler of Cyprus, who himself took possession of the town by force (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 12. 2-6). He was however soon deprived of it by his mother Cleopatra, queen of Egypt (Antt. xiii. 13. 1-2). Ptolemais seems never again to have come under the authority of the Selucidae, nay even the still more northward towns of Tyre and Sidon had meantime made themselves independent. On the contrary, we still find there, about 70 B.C., an Egyptian princess, Selene, daughter of this Cleopatra, and widow of Antiochus Grypus, to whom she had been given in marriage by her mother, when the latter entered into alliance with him against Antiochus Kyzikenos, who ruled in Coelesyria.[415] At the instance of this Selene Ptolemais closed its gates against Tigranes, king of Armenia, the conqueror of the Seleucid kingdom; was thereupon conquered by Tigranes, but again liberated when Tigranes found himself obliged to retreat by reason of the attacks of the Romans upon his own kingdom (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 16. 4). Ptolemais seems to have experienced special favour from Caesar, when in the year 47 he was over the affairs of Syria. For there are in existence some of its coins of the imperial period with an era reaching back to Caesar.[416] Probably the coins with the legend Πτολεμαι. ἱερας καὶ ἀσυλον (or the like) belong also to this time (shortly after Caesar).[417] The Emperor Claudius settled a colony of veterans in Ptolemais. Hence the town was henceforth called colonia Ptolemais, though it did not possess the actual privileges of a colony.[418] At the breaking out of the Jewish war, the Jews in Ptolemais, 2000 in number, were slaughtered by the inhabitants (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 5). The district of Ptolemais is mentioned by Josephus as the western boundary of Galilee (Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1; comp. Vita, 24). The formula: Πτολεμαΐδα καὶ τὴν προσκυροῦσαν αὐτῇ, scil. χώραν (1Ma_10:39), is characteristic.
[404] For a description of the situation, see Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 10. 2. Compare in general, Reland, pp. 534-542. Pauly, Real-Enc. vi. 1. 243. Winer, s.v. “Acco.” Raumer, p. 119 sq. Ritter, xvi. 725-739. Robinson, Recent Scriptural Researches in Palestine, iii. 89-101. Sepp, Jerusalem, ii. 513 sqq. Guérin, Galilée, i. 502-525. Bädeker-Socin, Paläst. 1st ed. p. 369 sqq. (with plan of the present Akka). The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, i. 145, 160-167, also sheet iii. of the English chart. Ebers and Guthe, Palästina, vol. ii. p. 450.
[405] Scylax in Geogr. gr. min., ed. Müller, i. 79. Isaeus, Orat. iv. 7. Demosthenes, Orat. 52 contra Callippum, § 24 (where indeed the word Ἄκην is first restored in Dindorf’s edit, after the gloss in Harpocration, Lex. s.v. Ἄκη, the earlier edition having Θρᾳκην). Diodor. xv. 41, xix. 93. Polyaen. iii. 9.56. Cornel. Nepos, xiv. Datames, c. 5. Comp. Strabo, xvi. p. 758. Plinius, H. N. v. 19. 75. Charax in Steph. Byz. s.v. Δώρος. Claudius Jolaus in Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἄκη. Steph. Byz. ibid. and s.v. Πτολεμαΐς. The Lexicographers, Etymolog. magn., Harpocration, Suidas (see the passages in Reland, p. 536 sq.; also Kuhn, ii. 331). A coin of Ακη in Mionnet, v. 473; De Saulcy, p. 154, pl. viii. n. 2; some others in Reichardt, Numismatic Chronicle, 1862, p. 108; 1864, p. 187. Wiener Numismat. Monatshefte, published by Egger, vol. ii. 1866, p. 3. On the ancient history of Ake, comp. especially the fragment from Menander in Joseph. Antt. ix. 14. 2 (Ake revolts from Tyre in the time of Shalmanezar, and goes over to Shalmanezar).
[406] Diod. xv. 41. This is referred to also by Polyaen. iii. 9. 56; Cornel. Nep. xiv. 5; comp. Strabo, xvi. p. 758: Εἶθʼ ἡ Πτολεμαΐς ἐστι μεγάλη πόλις ἣν Ἄκην ὠνόμαζον, πρότερον ᾖ ἐχρῶντο ὁρμητηρίῳ πρὸς τὴν Αἴγυπτον οἱ Πέρσαι.
[407] See Eckhel, iii. 408 sq.; Mionnet, i. 520 sq.; also Recueil des planches, pl. xxi. n. 1-10; Suppl. iii. 197 sq. and pl. ii. n. 1-6. Gesenius, Scripturae linguaeque Phoeniciae monumenta, p. 269 sq. L. Müller, Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand (1855), p. 303; also planches, n. 1424-1463. Numerous copies of these coins (gold staters of Alexander, especially those of the years 23 and 24) have become known by means of a large discovery of coins at Sidon in the year 1863. See W(eckbecker) in the Wiener Numismatischen Monatsheften, pub. by Egger, vol. i. 1865, pp. 5-11. Waddington in the Revue Numismatique, 1865, pp. 8-25. Droysen, Geschichte des Hellenismus (2nd ed.), i. 1. 302-304. The same, Monatsber. der Berliner Akademie, 1877, p. 40 sqq. Weckbecker in Egger’s Wiener Numismat. Monatsheften, i. 98,99, tells of tetradrachmas of Ake of Alexander the Great with the years 16, 22, 31, 32, which “were brought to market in Beirut by an Armenian of Mossul at about the same time (1862-1863).” A collection of the whole material may be expected in the Corp. Inscr. Semiticarum. On the fact that coins were issued with the name of Alexander after his death, see L. Müller, Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand, pp. 50-90. The numbers of the years on the coins of Ake are 5-46. Since the year 334 or 333 must be accepted as the starting-point, these coins were issued not only till 306, when the Diadochoi assumed the royal title, but also till about two decades afterwards. See especially, Müller, pp. 80-88.
[408] Diodor. xix. 93. Comp. above, note 52 (Gaza) and 109 (Joppa).
[409] The founding and naming of the town is expressly referred to Ptolemy in Pseudo-Aristeas (ed. Moritz Schmidt in Merx’ Archiv, vol. i. p. 274): Πτολεμαίδα τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐκτισμένην. This is also probable in itself. Ptolemy II. was the first of the Ptolemies, who continued in possession of Phoenicia and Coelesyria. That he there undertook the founding of towns is proved by the example of Philadelphia (see below). Already in 219-217 Ptolemais is mentioned under this name in Polybius, without his pointing out that it was then not as yet known by this name (Polyb. v. 61-62. 71). Comp. also Droysen, iii. 2. 305.
[410] The name עַכּוֹ occurs especially in Rabbinic literature, see Mishna, Nedarim iii. 6; Gittin i. 2, vii. 7; Aboda sara iii. 4; Ohaloth xviii. 9. The passages of the Tosefta in the Index to Zuckermandel’s ed. (1882). Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, p. 231 sq. To this very day the town is called Akka (Acre).
[411] Polyb. v. 61-62. Comp. Stark, Gaza, p. 375 sqq.
[412] Polyb. v. 71.
[413] On the coins in question, see Eckhel, iii. 305 sq. Mionnet, v. 37 sq., 88, 216-218. Gardner, Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Seleucid Kings, p. 41. Even the circumstance that ἱερὰ ἄσυλος appears as an apposition to Ἀντιοχεῖς (Ἀντιοχέων τῶν ἐν Προλεμαΐδι ἱερᾶς ἀσύλου, and similarly on the coins of Hippus, see below, No. 13), proves that the town of Ptolemais and its citizens collectively, not a colony of Antiochian merchants in Ptolemais, is intended (the latter is the view of Eckhel and Kuhn, i. 22; see, on the other hand, Stark, p. 449; Droysen, iii. 2. 305). The title Antiochians was also aspired after by the Hellenistic party in Jerusalem; see 2Ma_4:9, and Grimm (the passage should be translated, “and to enroll the inhabitants of Jerusalem as Antiochians,” or “to receive the inhabitants of Jerusalem into the list of Antiochians”). Whether, and what, privileges were combined therewith can hardly be ascertained.
[414] Gardner, Catalogue of Greek Coins, etc., pp. 44, 47, 52. A coin of Trypho is given by De Saulcy, Mélanges de Numism. vol. ii. 1877, p. 82.
[415] Justin. Hist. xxxix. 4. 4.
[416] See Eckhel, iii. 425. De Saulcy, pp. 162, 164, 166. Ptolemais was not the only town which was favoured by Caesar; comp. Marquardt, i. 397.
[417] See these especially in De Saulcy, 154-156.
[418] Plinius, v. 19, 75: colonia Claudi Caesaris Ptolemais quae quondam Acce; comp. xxxvi. 26. 190. Digest. lib. xv. 1. 3 (from Ulpianus): Ptolemaeensium enim colonia, quae inter Phoenicien et Palaestinam sita est, nihil praeter nomen coloniae habet (also Noris, p. 427 sq.). On coins: COL. PTOL., sometimes with the numbers of the vi. ix. x. xi. legions. See in general. Noris, iv. 5. 2 (ed. Lips. pp. 424-430). Eckhel, iii. 423-425. Mionnet, v. 473-481; Suppl. viii. 324-331. De Saulcy, pp. 153-169. 405 sq., pl. viii. n. 2-11. The same, Mélanges de Numismatique, vol. ii. 1877, pp. 143-146. Zumpt, Commentat. epigr. i. 386. Marquardt, i. 428
Next to the great maritime towns, the towns of the so-called Decapolis belong to the class of independent Hellenistic communities. The organization alluded to in this word was probably the work of Pompey. For we first meet with the term (ἡ Δεκάπολις) during the Roman period;[419] and most of the towns of Decapolis owe their independent political existence to Pompey. These were the Hellenistic towns of the country east of Jordan, which, having been subjected by Alexander Jannaeus, were again liberated from Jewish authority by Pompey. It is probable that they then formed a kind of confederacy, which originally consisted of ten towns, and was therefore called ἡ Δεκάπολις, but retained the name after the number was enlarged by the accession of other towns. For the number did not always remain the same, as Pliny, our chief authority, remarks, H. N. v. 18. 74: Decapolitana regio a numero oppidorum, in quo non omnes eadem observant, plurimum tamen Damascum, Philadelphiam, Rhaphanam, Scythopolim, Gadara, Hippon, Dion, Pellam, Galasam (read: Gerasam), Canatham. Besides Pliny, only Ptolemy v. 15. 22-23 gives an enumeration of the several towns. It contains all the towns mentioned by Pliny, with the exception of Raphana; and besides these, nine others (situated chiefly in the north of Palestine in the neighbourhood of Damascus), so that the number given by him amounts to eighteen. Hence we must keep to Pliny for the original number. To those named by him, we add only Abila and Kanata (another town than Kanatha), both which have also the Pompeian era. All the towns except Scythopolis lie in the region east of the Jordan. The inclusion of Damascus, lying so far to the north, is striking. Since however it is mentioned by both Pliny and Ptolemy, it must be retained. In any case Decapolis, as such, continued in existence in the second century after Christ (the time of the geographer Ptolemy). Its dissolution took place in the course of the third century, in consequence of the transference of some of its most important towns (as Kanatha, Gerasa, Philadelphia) to the province of Arabia (constituted a province A.D. 105). The mention of Decapolis by later authors, as Eusebius, Epiphanius, Steph. Byz., rests therefore only on historical information. The following enumeration is in geographical order from north to south.
[419] Matthew 4:25; Mark 5:20; Mark 7:31; Plinius, H. N. v. 18.74. Josephus, Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 7; Vita, 65, 74. Ptolemaeus, v. 15. 22. Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4501 (inscription of the time of Hadrian). Eusebius, Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 251. Epiphanius, Haer. 29.7; de mens. et pond. § 15. Stephanus Byz. s.v. Γέρασα (the text handed down has here τεσσαρεσκαιδεκαπόλεως, for which however Meineke rightly reads δεκαπόλεως). Comp. in general, Winer, RWB., s.v. “Decapolis.” Caspari, Chronologisch-geographische Einleitung in das Leben Jesu Christi (1869), pp. 83-90.
12. Damascus, Δαμασκός, Hebr. דַּמֶּשְׂק. From the varied history of this town, we can here bring forward only such particulars as are important with respect to its constitution during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.[420] The dominion of Alexander the Great over Damascus is evidenced not only by the narratives of authors, but by coins of Alexander issued there.[421] In the third century before Christ, Damascus seems to have belonged not, like Phoenicia and Palestine, to the Ptolemies, but to the Seleucidae. It is true, that when Ptolemy II. seized Phoenicia and Palestine, B.C. 280, he must also have taken possession of Damascus. It was however reconquered by Antiochus I. (280-262).[422] At the great invasion of the realm of the Seleucidae by Ptolemy III., B.C. 246, in which all Syria was for some time lost to Seleucus II., Damascus seems to have been not once conquered, but only besieged. Seleucus relieved it, when in the year 242/241 he again victoriously pressed southwards.[423] The fact, that Damascus anciently formed part of the Seleucid dominions, is indirectly confirmed by the circumstance, that Polybius, when fully relating the particulars of the conquest of Phoenicia and Palestine by Antiochus the Great (v. 61-71), mentions indeed the taking of the most important Phoenician and Palestinian towns, but nowhere speaks of Damascus. When in 111 B.C. the Syrian kingdom was, in consequence of the strife between the brothers Antiochus VIII. (Grypos) and Antiochus IX. (Kyzikenos), divided, and Antiochus Kyzikenos established himself in the southern part,[424] Damascus probably became the capital of his small kingdom. At all events it was about 95-85 B.C. repeatedly the capital of a kingdom of Coelesyria separated from the kingdom of Syria, first under Demetrius Eukaerus a son of Antiochus Grypos (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 4), then under Antiochus XII. also a son of Grypos (Antt. xiii. 15. 1). Antiochus XII. fell in battle against the Arabian king Aretas; and Damascus continued henceforth under his authority (Antt. xiv. 15. 1, 2; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 7, 8). When Pompey penetrated into Asia, Damascus was first of all occupied by his legates (Antt. xiv. 2. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 6. 2). Apparently it was not restored to the Arabian king, but united to the province of Syria.[425] In the time of Cassius (44-42 B.C.) we find a Roman commander, Fabius, in Damascus (Antt. xiv. 11. 7, 12. 1; Bell. Jud. i. 12. 1, 2). Already in the times of Augustus and Tiberius there were Roman imperial coins of Damascus, but at the same time, as in the case of Ascalon, autonomic ones also. The Seleucid era is used on both, and this continued to be the prevailing one at Damascus.[426] There are no coins of the times of Caligula and Claudius, though there are coins from Nero onwards. With this circumstance must be combined the fact, that Damascus, when St. Paul fled from it (probably in the time of Caligula), was under a viceroy (ἐθνάρχης) of the Arabian king Aretas (2 Corinthians 11:32). Hence it then belonged temporarily to the Arabian king, whether he seized it by violence or obtained it by imperial favour. That there was a Jewish community in Damascus is already evident from the New Testament (Acts 9:2; 2 Corinthians 11:32). That it was numerous may be inferred from the number of Jews slain at Damascus at the breaking out of the great war. This amounted to 10,000, or according to another statement 18,000 (the former, Bell. Jud. ii. 20. 2; the latter, Bell. Jud. vii. 8. 7). After Hadrian the town bore the title μητρόπολις, after Alexander Severus it was a colony (not first after Philip the Arabian, as even Eckhel supposes), both facts being witnessed to by the coins.[427] We are informed (Antt. xviii. 6. 3) of a dispute concerning boundaries between the Damascenes and Sidonians in the time of Tiberius, which is chiefly of interest as showing, how extensive the district pertaining to this town must have been, since it bordered upon that of Sidon.
[420] See in general, Rödiger in Ersch and Gruber’s Encycl. sect. i. vol. 22, Div. 2, pp. 113-116. Arnold in Herzog’s Real-Encycl. 1st ed. iii. 259-262. Winer, s.v. Nöldeke in Schenkel’s Bibellex. s.v. Robinson, Recent Scriptural Researches, iii. 442-468. Ritter, Erdkunde xvii. 2. 1332 sqq. Kremer, Topographie von Damascus (Records of the Viennese Academy, phil.hist. Cl. vol. v. and vi. 1854-55). Porter, Five Years in Damascus, 2 vols. 1855. Sepp, Jerusalem (2nd ed.), ii. 358-385. Bädeker-Socin, Palästina in Bild und Wort, vol. i. (1883) pp. 389-442 and 504.
[421]a Curtius, iii. 13, iv. 1. Arrian, ii. 11. 9 sq., 15. 1. The coins in L. Müller, Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand, p. 287 sq., pl. n. 1338-1346.
[422] Polyaen. iv. 15; comp. Droysen, Gesch. d. Hellenismus, iii. 1. 256, 274. Stark, Gaza, pp. 366, 367.
[423] Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, i. 251 (Armenian text according to Petermann’s translation): Ptolemaeus autem, qui et Triphon, partes (regiones) Syriorum occupavit: quae vero apud (ad contra) Damaskum et Orthosiam obsessio fiebat, finem accepit (accipiebat) centesimae tricesimae quartae olompiadis anno tertio, quum Seleukus eo descendisset (descenderit). Olymp. 134, 3 = 242/241 B.C. Comp. Droysen, iii. 1. 390, 393. Stark adopts, according to Zohrab’s translation of the Armenian text, the view of an actual taking of Damascus by Ptolemy.
[424] Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, i. 260.
[425] Hieronymus, Comment. in Jesaj. c. 17 (Opp. ed. Vallarsi, iv. 194): Alii aestimant de Romana captivitate praedici, quoniam et Judaeorum captus est populus, et Damascus, cui imperabat Areta, similem sustinuit servitutem. I cannot think Marquardt (i. 405) correct in adopting the notion, that the Arabian kings kept possession of Damascus in exchange for the payment of a tribute till A.D. 106.
[426] See on the coins in general, Noris ii. 2. 2 (ed. Lips. pp. 87-93). Eckhel, iii. 329-334. Mionnet, v. 283-297; Suppl. viii. 193-206. De Saulcy, pp. 30-56, 404, pl. ii. n. 1-10. Kremer, Die Münzsammlung des Stifts St. Florian (1871), pp. 167-170, table vi. n. 7, 8.
[427] On the title μητρόπολις, see Eckhel, iii. 331. Kuhn, ii. 192. Marquardt, i. 430.
13. Hippus, Ἵππος, is properly the name of a mountain or hill, on which stood the town of the same name.[428] Identical with it is probably the Hebrew Susitha (סוסיתא), which is frequently mentioned in Rabbinical authorities as a Gentile town of Palestine,[429] and Susije,[430] which frequently occurs in Arabic geographers. The following statements serve to determine the locality. According to Pliny, it stood on the eastern shore of the Lake of Gennesareth;[431] according to Josephus, only 30 stadia from Tiberias;[432] according to Eusebius and Jerome, near a certain city and castle of Afeka.[433] According to these data the ruins of el-Hösn on a hill on the eastern shore of the Lake of Gennesareth are probably to be regarded as marking the position of the ancient Hippus; a village of the name of Fik, which must be identical with the ancient Afeka, is three-quarters of a league off.[434] The supposed identity of the name Hippos with el-Hösn (the horse) is certainly questionable.[435] But little is known of the history of Hippus.[436] It received its freedom from Pompey (Joseph. Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). It was bestowed by Augustus upon Herod (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3), after whose death it was again separated from the Jewish region (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3). On this occasion it is expressly called a Greek city (l.c.). At the outbreak of the Jewish revolt the district of Hippus as well as that of Gadara was devastated by the Jews under the leadership of Justus of Tiberias (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1; Vita, 9). The inhabitants of Hippus retaliated by slaying or casting into prison all the Jews dwelling in the city (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 5). In Christian times Hippus was the see of a bishop.[437] The name of the town has as yet been only once shown to exist upon coins (viz. on one of Nero’s time).[438] But coins with the legend Ἀντιοχέων τῶν πρὸς Ἵπ(πον) τῆς ἱερ(ᾶς) κ(αὶ) ἀσύλου have been rightly referred by numismatists to Hippus. They have as might be expected the Pompeian era, and on most is the image of a horse.[439]—The district of Hippus is mentioned Vita, 9, 31; Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1. Vita, 9: Ἐμπίπρησι τάς τε Γαδαρηνῶν καὶ Ἱππηνῶν κώμας, αἳ δὴ μεθόριοι τῆς Τιβεριάδος καὶ τῆς τῶν Σκυθοπολιτῶν γῆς ἐτίγχανον κείμεναι, is most instructive as showing, that the districts of these four towns were so extensive as to form a connected whole.
[428] Ptolemaeus, v. 15. 8.
[429] In the Tosefta, Ohaloth xviii. 4 (ed. Zuckermandel, p. 616, 23), Susitha is mentioned together with Ascalon as an example of a heathen town “girt about” by the land of Israel. It is elsewhere frequently named in conjunction with Tiberias. Comp. Lightfoot, Centuria chronographica Matthaeo praemissa, c. 77; decas Marco praemissa, c. 5. 1 (Opp. ii. 226, 413). Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, pp. 238-240.
[430]a Clermont-Ganneau, Où était Hippos de la Décapole? (Revue archéologique, nouvelle série, vol. xxix. 1875, pp. 362-369). Furrer, Zeitschr. d. deutschen Palästina-Vereins, ii. 74.
[431] Plinius, v. 15. 71: in lacum … Genesaram … amoenis circumsaeptum oppidis, ab oriente Juliade et Hippo.
[432] Joseph. Vita, 65. The statements of Josephus are here indeed very systematic, Hippus 30, Gadara 60, Scythopolis 120 stadia from Tiberias. He is here following the tendency of stating distances as low as possible. His figures must therefore be anything but strictly taken. Besides it is clear also from Josephus, that the district of Hippus lay by the lake, opposite Tarichea (Vita, 31) in the neighbourhood of Gadara (Vita, 9).
[433] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lag. p. 219. Hieron. ibid. p. 91.
[434] The situations of Fik and el-Hösn are already described by Burckhardt, Reisen in Syrien, i. 438. That it is here that the ancient Hippus must be sought is the view also of Raumer, p. 250. Ritter, xv. 1. 352 sq. Furrer, Zeitschr. d. deutschen Pal.-Vereins, ii. 73 sq. Others identify el-Hösn with Gamala, and find Hippus either in Fik (so Merrill, East of the Jordan, 1881, pp. 168-169) or in Sumra, lying far more to the south (so Guérin, Galilée, i. 310-312).
[435]A Clermont-Ganneau (as above, p. 364) explains Hösn as the common pronunciation of Hisn (fortress). The name occurs elsewhere also as an Arabic local name in modern Palestine.
[436] Comp. besides the literature in note 175, Reland, p. 821 sq.
[437] Epiphan. Haer. 73, 26. Le Quien, Oriens christianus, iii. 710 sq. Hierocles, Synecd., ed. Parthey, p. 44. The Notit. episcopat., the same, p. 144.
[438]a The coin is given by Muret, Revue Numismatique, troisième série, vol. i. 1883, p. 67, and pl. ii. n. 9. It has on one side a head of Nero with the superscription Αυτ. Καισ., on the other a horse with the superscription Ιππηνων and the date ΑΛΡ (131), the latter according to the Pompeian era.
[439] Noris, iii. 9. 5 (ed. Lips. pp. 331-334). Eckhel, iii. 346 sq. Mionnet, v. 319 sq.; Suppl. viii. 224. De Saulcy, pp. 344-347, pl. xix. n. 10-15.
14. Gadara, Γαδαρά. The position of Gadara on the site of the present ruins of Om-Keis (Mkês), to the south-east of the Lake of Gennesareth, was recognised by Seetzen so early as 1806, and may now be regarded as settled.[440] The main point of connection is furnished by the warm springs for which Gadara was famous, and which are still found in this region.[441] They lie on the northern bank of the Scheriat el-Mandur; on the southern bank, at about a league’s distance from the springs, are found on the lofty ridge of the hill the ruins of the town. Hence the Scheriat el-Mandur is identical with the Hieromices, which according to Pliny flowed past the town.[442] Gadara was in the time of Antiochus the Great already an important fortress. It was conquered by Antiochus both at his first invasion (B.C. 218),[443] and when he finally took possession of Palestine after his victory at Panias, B.C. 198.[444] It was taken by Alexander Jannaeus after a ten months’ siege (Antt. xiii. 13. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 4. 2). It consequently belonged under him and his successors to the Jewish region (Antt. xiii. 15. 4), but was separated from it by Pompey (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). On this occasion Pompey, out of regard for his freedman Demetrius of Gadara, rebuilt the city, which had been destroyed by the Jews (Alexander Jannaeus?). Hence upon the numerous coins of the town extending from Augustus to Gordian, the Pompeian era is used. It begins in the year 690 A.U.C., so that 1 aer. Gadar. = 64/63 B.C.[445] The memory of its rebuilding by Pompey is also perpetuated upon coins from Antoninus Pius to Gordianus by the legend Πομπηιέων Γαδαρέων.[446] The notion that Gadara was the seat of one of the five Jewish Sanhedrin established by Gabinius is incorrect (see above, § 13). In the year 30 B.C., Gadara was bestowed upon Herod by Augustus (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3). The town was however very discontented with his government. So early as the year 23-31 B.C., when M. Agrippa was staying at Mytilene, certain Gadarenes there brought complaint against Herod (Antt. xv. 10. 2). Complaints were repeated when Augustus in the year 20 personally visited Syria (Antt. xv. 10. 3). In both cases those who made them were dismissed. It is quite in accordance with this, that we find Gadarene coins of just the year 20 B.C. (44 aer. Gadar.) with the image of Augustus and the inscription Σεβαστός—Herod being desirous, by stamping such coins at Gadara, to show his gratitude to the emperor.[447] After the death of Herod, Gadara regained its independence under Roman supremacy (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3). At the beginning of the Jewish revolt the district of Gadara, like that of the neighbouring Hippus, was devastated by the Jews under the leadership of Justus of Tiberias (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1; Vita, 9). The Gadarenes, like their neighbours of Hippus, avenged themselves by slaying or imprisoning the Jews dwelling in their town (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 5). Such of the inhabitants however as were friendly to the Romans, not feeling themselves secure against the turbulent elements in their own city, requested and received a Roman garrison from Vespasian in the later period of the war (Bell. Jud. iv. 7. 3, 4).[448] In what sense Josephus can designate Gadara as the μητρόπολις τῆς Περαίας (Bell. Jud. iv. 7. 3) cannot be further ascertained.[449] On coins, especially of the time of the Antonines, it is called ἱε(ρὰ) ἄσ(υλος) α(ὐτόνομος) γ(…?) Κοί(λης) Συρ(ίας).[450] According to an inscription discovered by Renan, it was during the later imperial period a Roman colony.[451] The information of Stephanus Byz. (s.v.), that it was also called Ἀντιόχεια and Σελεύκεια, stands quite alone, and certainly refers only to temporary official designations, not to such as had come into common use. There is abundant evidence that it was already in pre-Christian times a flourishing Hellenistic town. Josephus calls it at the death of Herod a πόλις Ἑλληνίς (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3); Strabo mentions as renowned natives of Gadara, Philodemus the Epicurean, the poet Meleager, and Menippus the Cynic, who on account of his witty style was often called ὁ σπουδογελοῖος, and Theodorus the orator.[452] Of later times must also be added Oenomaus, the cynic and the orator Apsines.[453] Meleager says of himself that he came of “an Attic race, dwelling in Assyrian Gadara.”[454] The district of Gadara formed the eastern boundary of Galilee (Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1). On its extent, comp. Vita, 9, and above, p. 100. That it reached to the Lake of Gennesareth may not only be inferred from Matthew 8:28 (where the reading is uncertain), but also from the coins, on which a ship is often portrayed, nay once (on a coin of Marc. Aurel.) a ναυμα(χία) mentioned.[455]
[440] Seetzen, Reisen durch Syrien (ed. by Kruse, 4 vols. 1854-59), i. 368 sqq., iv. 188 sqq. Burckhardt, Reisen in Syrien, i. 426 sqq., 434 sqq., 537 sq. (who indeed takes Om-Keis for Gamala, but is corrected by his editor Gesenius). Buckingham, Travels in Palestine, 1821, pp. 414-440 (like Burckhardt). Winer, s.v. “Gadara.” Raumer, p. 248 sq. Ritter, xv. 1. 371-384, xv. 2. 1052 sq. Sepp, Jerusalem, ii. 211-216. Bädeker-Socin, p. 415 sq. Guérin, Galilée, i. 299-308. Merrill, East of the Jordan (1881), pp. 145-158. For the history, Reland, pp. 773-778. Kuhn, ii. 365 sq., 371.
[441] Comp. on the situation, Euseb. Onomast. p. 248: Γάδαρα, πόλις ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἰορδάνην, ἀντικρὺ Σκυθοπόλεως καὶ Τιβεριάδος πρὸς ἀνατολὰς ἐν τῷ ὄρει, οὗ πρὸς ταῖς ὑπωρείαις τὰτῶν θερμῶν ὑδάτων λουτρὰ παράκειται. Ibid. p. 219: Αἰμάθ … κώμη πλησίον Γαδάρων, ἥ ἐστιν Ἐμμαθᾶ, ἔνθα τὰ τῶν θερμῶν ὑδάτων θερμὰλουτρά. On the baths, see also especially the passages from Epiphanius, Antoninus Martyr and Eunapius (who declares them to have been the most important after those of Baiae), in Reland, p. 775. Also Origenes in Joann. vol. vi. c. 24 (ed. Lommatzsch, i. 239): Γάδαρα γὰρ πόλις μέν ἐστι τῆς Ἰουδαίας, περὶ ἣν τὰ διαβόητα θερμὰ τυγχάνει. The place where the springs are situated occurs in the Talmud under the name חמתה. See the passages in Levy, Neuhebr. Wörterbuch, ii. 69 sq. Lightfoot, Centuria Matthaeo praemissa, c. 74 (Opp. ii 224 sq.). Hamburger, Real-Encyclop. für Bibel und Talmud, Div. ii. art “Heilbäder.” Grätz, Monatschr. für Gesch. und Wissensch. des Judenth. 1880, pp. 487-495.
[442] Plinius, v. 18. 74: Gadara Hieromice praefluente. The form Hieromax, which still appears in handbooks, is derived from the incorrect reading Hieromace. That Hieromices must be adopted as the nominative is proved by the occurrence elsewhere of the forms Hieromicas (Tab. Peuting.) and Jeromisus (Geogr. Ravennas, ed. Pinder et Parthey, p. 85). The native name is Jarmuk, יַרְמוּךְ, Mishna, Para viii. 10, and Arabic geographers (see Arnold in Herzog’s Real-Encycl. 1st ed. vii. 10, xi. 20).
[443] Polyb. v. 71. Stark, Gaza, p. 381. Polybius says of Gadara on this occasion: ἃ δυκεῖ τῶν κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς τόπους ὀχυρότητι διαφέρειν.
[444] Polyb. xvi. 39 = Joseph. Antt. xii. 3. 3. Stark, p. 403.
[445] On the era and the coins, see Noris, iii. 9.1 (ed. Lips. pp. 297-308). Eckhel, iii. 348-350. Mionnet, v. 323-328; Suppl. viii. 227-230. De Saulcy, pp. 294-303, pl. 15. Kenner, Die Münzesammlung des Stifts St. Florian (1871), p. 171 sq., Taf. vi. n. 10.
[446] As the legend is generally abbreviated (Πο. or Πομπ. Γαδαρεων), the reading is not quite certain. The older numismatics give for a coin of Caracalla the reading Πομπηιτεων Γαδαρεων; De Saulcy, on the contrary (p. 302, and pl. xv. n. 9), gives Πομπηιεων Γαὸαρεων, which is certainly correct.
[447] Comp. De Saulcy, p. 295. The coins in Mionnet, v. 323; Suppl. viii. 227.
[448] From Joseph. Vita, 15, it might appear as though Josephus also, as ruler of Galilee, had once taken possession of Gadara by force. But the reading there should certainly be Γαβαρεῖς, instead of Γαδαρεῖς; comp. Vita, 25, 45, 47. In Bell. Jud. iii. 7. 1, also Γαβαρέων must be read for Γαδαρέων. Lastly, in Antt. xiii. 13. 5, either the reading is corrupt or another Gadara is meant.
[449] Eckhel (iii. 349) supposes that it was the place of assembly of some association for the celebration of periodical games, in which sense the word μητρόπολις is certainly often used.
[450] See in De Saulcy especially the coins of Commodus, n. 2 (p. 301), and Elagabalus, n. 5 (p. 303). The predicate ἱερα is also found in an epigram of Meleager, where he says of himself: ὃν θεόπαις ἤνδρωσε Τύρος, Γαδάρων θʼ ἱερὰ χθών (Anthologia palatina, vii. 419, ed. Jacobs, vol. i. p. 431). Gadara is also designated by Steph. Byz. as πόλις Κοίλης Συρίας.
[451] Renan, Mission de Phénicie, p. 191 = Corp. Inscr. Lat. vol. iii. n. 181 (epitaph at Byblue): col(onia) Valen(tia) Gadara.
[452] Strabo, xvi. p. 759. Strabo indeed frequently confuses our Gadara with Gadaza = Gadara. That the latter cannot be regarded as the native place of these men is self-evident. The individuals in question are all known to us elsewhere (see above, p. 29). The orator Theodorus was the tutor of the Emperor Tiberius (Sueton. Tiber. 57), and afterwards lived at Rhodes, where Tiberius frequently visited him during his exile (Pauly’s Enc. vi. 2, 1819).
[453] Reland, p. 775.
[454] Anthologia palatina, vii. 417, ed. Jacobs, vol. i. p. 480 (ed. Dübner, i. 352, where however, without reason, Γαδάροις is changed into Γάδαρα):
[455] On the latter, comp. especially Eckhel, iii. 348 sq. A ship is seen in the illustrations in De Saulcy, pl. xv. n. 9-11.
Νᾶσος ἐμὰ θρέπτειρα Τύρος· πάτρα δέ με τεκνοῖ
Ατθὶς ἐν Ἀσσυρίοις ναιομένα Γαδάροις.
15. Abila, Ἄβιλα. The local name Abel (אָבֵל) or Abila is very frequent in Palestine. Eusebius knows of three places of this name celebrated for the cultivation of the vine: (1) A village in South Peraea, 6 mil. pass. from Philadelphia; (2) A πόλις ἐπίσημος, 12 mil. pass. from Gadara; (3) A place between Damascus and Paneas.[456] Of these the second town on the east of Gadara is the one with which we are here concerned. Its situation, on the south bank of the Scheriat el-Mandur, was discovered, as well as that of Gadara, by Seetzen.[457] Pliny does not mention this Abila among the cities of Decapolis. Its inclusion among them is however evidenced by an inscription of the time of Hadrian.[458] An Ἄβιδα by which our Ἄβιλα is certainly intended is also placed by Ptolemy among the cities of Decapolis.[459] It first appears in history in the time of Antiochus the Great, who occupied Abila as well as its neighbour Gadara at both his first and his second conquest of Palestine, 219 and 198 B.C.[460] On the whole it seems to have frequently shared the lot of Gadara. Like the latter, Abila received its liberty through Pompey. For the coins of Abila with the Pompeian era are rightly ascribed to this town.[461] Its titles also are the same as those of Gadara: ἱ(ερὰ) ἄ(συλος) α(ὐτόνομος) γ(…?) Κοί(λης) Συ(ρίας). The coins show that the town was also called Σελεύκεια, the inhabitants were called Σελευκ(εῖς) Ἀβιληνοί.[462] In Nero’s time Abila was given to Agrippa II., unless the notice of Josephus to that effect rests upon an error.[463] In the sixth century after Christ Christian bishops of Abila, who may with tolerable certainty be referred to our Abila, are mentioned.[464]
[456] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Legarde, p. 225: Ἄβελ ἀμπέλων. ἔνθα ἐπολέμησεν Ἰεφθάε. γῆς υἱῶν Ἀμμών, ἥ ἐστιν εἰς ἔτι νῦν κώμη ἀμπελοφόρος Ἄβελ ἀπὸ ςʹ σημείων Φιλαδελφίας. καὶ ἄλλη πόλις ἐπίσημος Ἀβελὰ οἰνοφόρος καλουμένη, διεστῶσα Γαδάρων σημείοις ιβʹ πρὸς ἀνατολάς. καὶ τρίτη τις αὐτὴ Ἀβελὰ τῆς Φοινίκης μεταξὺ Δαμασκοῦ καὶ Πανεάδος.
[457] Seetzen, Reisen durch Syrien (edited by Kruse), i. 371, iv. 190 sq. Comp. also Burckhardt, Reisen in Syrien, i. 425, 537. Raumer, p. 241. Ritter, xv. 2. 1058-1060. On the history, Reland, p. 525 sq. Kuhn, ii. 335, 371 sq.
[458] Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4501 (inscription of Palmyra of the year 445 aer. Sel. = 133-134 A.D.): Ἀγαθάγγελος Ἀβιληνὸς τῆς Δεκαπόλεος.
[459] Ptolem. v. 15. 22. The Codex of Vatopedi also has here Ἄβιδα; see Géographie de Ptolémée, reproduction photolithogr. du manuscrit grec du monastère de Vatopédi (Paris 1867), p. lvii. line 4.
[460] Polyb. v. 71 and xvi. 39 = Joseph. Antt. xii. 3. 3.
[461] See on these, especially Belley in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, ancient series, vol. xxviii. 1761, pp. 557-567. Eckhel, iii. 345 sq. Mionnet, v. 318; Suppl. viii. 223 sq. De Saulcy, pp. 308-312, pl. xvi. n. 1-7.
[462] This is now confirmed by a coin of Faustina, jun., given by De Saulcy (p. 310, and pl. xvi. n. 2). The coins formerly known give either the abbreviated Σε. Ἀβιληνων or (a damaged one of Faustina) … λευκ. Αβιλας, the former of which was completed as Σεβαστων, the latter as Λευκαδος, both erroneously, as is now shown.
[463] Bell. Jud. ii 13. 2. In the parallel passage, Antt. xx. 8. 2, Josephus says nothing of it; and it is striking that Abila should not (like the other towns there named: Julias-Bethsaida, Tarichea, Tiberias) be connected with the rest of Agrippa’s dominions. Besides Antt. xii. 3. 3 and Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 2 are the only passages in which our Abila is mentioned by Josephus. For in Antt. iv. 8. 1, v. 1. 1, Bell. Jud. iv. 7. 6, another Abila, near the Jordan, and opposite Jericho, not far from Julias-Livias, and not identical with either of the three places of the same name mentioned by Eusebius, is meant. Again, the well-known Abila Lysaniae is different. Nor is the list by any means thereby exhausted. See Winer, RWB., s.v. “Abila.”
[464] Le Quien, Oriens christianus, iii. 702 sq. Comp. Hierocles, Synecd., ed. Parthey, p. 44. Notit. episcopat., the same, p. 144.
16. Raphana, not to be confounded with the Syrian Ῥαφάνεια in Cassiotis, is mentioned only by Pliny (v. 18. 74).[465] The Ῥαφών however of the first Book of the Maccabees (5:37 = Joseph. Antt. xii. 8. 4), which, according to the context of the narrative (comp. 5:43) lay in the neighbourhood of Astaroth-Karnaim, and therefore in Batanaea, is probably identical with it. Since Ptolemy has not the name of Raphana among the towns of Decapolis, it is probable that he mentions the town by another name; and it is at least possible, though only possible, that Raphana is, as Quandt supposes, identical with the Capitolias mentioned by Ptolemy (v. 15. 22), and so frequently elsewhere since the second century after Christ.[466]
[465] On the Syrian Raphaneia, see Joseph. Bell. Jud. vii. 1. 3, 5. 1. Ptolem. v. 15. 16. Tab. Peuting. Hierocles, ed. Parthey, p. 61. Steph. Byz. s.v. Eckhel, iii. 323. Mionnet, v. 268; Suppl. viii. 168. Pauly’s Encycl. s.v. Ritter, xvii. 1. 940 sq.
[466] Quandt, Judäa und die Nachbarschaft im Jahrh. vor und nach der Geburt Christi (1873), p. 40 sq. Capitolias was (according to Tab. Peuting.) 16 m. p. from Adraa. Since then Raphana was in the neighbourhood of Astaroth-Karnaim, and the latter (according to Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lag. p. 213) 6 m. p. distant from Adraa, Capitolias and Raphana may in fact be identical. The situation of almost all these places is indeed not yet certainly determined. It seems to me incorrect to seek Capitolias, as is frequently done, to the south-east of Gadara. For, according to the Itinerarium Antonini (ed. Parthey et Pinder, pp. 88, 89), it lay on the direct route from Gadara to Damascus, and therefore to the north-east of the former. With this agree also the astronomical definitions of Ptolemy (north-east of Gadara, under the same geographical latitude as Hippus). The roadway too given in the l’eutinger Table, Gadara-Capitolias-Adraa-Bostra, has therefore not a south-eastern, but a north-eastern direction. On the whole Raumer is correct, although his more particular determination of the locality is very problematical. Compare on Capitolias in general, Noris, iii. 9. 4 (ed. Lips. pp. 323-331). Eckhel, 328 sq. Mionnet, v. 281-283; Suppl. viii. 192. De Saulcy, pp. 304-307, pl. xvi. n. 9. Reland, p. 693 sq. Ritter, xv. 356, 821, 1060. Raumer, p. 246. Seetzen, Reisen (edited by Kruse), iv. 185 sqq. Kuhn, ii. 372. Le Quien, Oriens christ. iii. 715 sq.
17. Kanata. The existence of this town, as distinct from Kanatha, has but recently been ascertained on the ground of inscriptions by Waddington.[467] Upon an inscription at el-Afine (on the south-western declivity of the Hauran, to the west of Hebran) is mentioned an ἀγωγὸς ὑδάτων εἰσφερομένων εἰς Κάνατα built by Cornelius Palma, governor of Syria in the time of Trajan.[468] This Kanata cannot be identical with Kanatha = Kanawat, for the latter, lying higher than el-Afine, and being itself abundantly supplied with water, an aqueduct from el-Afine thither is inconceivable. The situation of Kanata is however also determined by an inscription discovered by Wetzstein at Kerak (in the plain west-south-west of Kanawat): Διῒ μεγίστ[ῳ] Κανατηνῶν ὁ [δῆμος].[469] According to this Kanata is identical with the present Kerak, to whose former Greek culture other inscriptions also bear testimony.[470] The few coins of Kanata, which were by former numismatists wrongly attributed to the better known Kanatha, prove at least that Kanata had the Pompeian era, and therefore very probably belonged to Decapolis.[471] The coins belong to the times of Claudius and Domitian.[472] That Kerak was once a town is confirmed by the mention of a βουλευτής upon an inscription.[473] On the other hand, another inscription of the middle of the third century after Christ calls it a κώμη.[474] It had thus already lost the rights of a town. The date on this inscription is according to the era of the province of Arabia, hence we may conclude, that at the establishment of this province (105 B.C.) it was allotted to it.
[467] Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions grecques et latines, vol. iii., descriptions of n. 2296, 2329, and 2412d. Comp. also Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 395, note 17.
[468] Le Bas et Waddington, vol. iii. n. 2296.
[469] Wetzstein, Ausgewählte griechischc und lateinische Inschriften (Transactions of the Berlin Academy, 1863, philol.-histor. Cl.), n. 185 = Waddington, n. 2412d.
[470] Wetzstein, n. 183-186 = Waddington, n. 2412d-2412g.
[471] Belley in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, ancient series, vol. xxviii. 568 sqq. Eckhel, iii. 347. Mionnet, v. 231; Suppl. viii. 225. De Saulcy, p. 339 sq., pl. xxiii. n. 8, 9. Reichardt in the Wiener Numismat. Zeitsch. 1880, pp. 68-73. De Saulcy and Reichardt were the first to distinguish correctly the coins of Kanata and Kanatha. Among the older numismaticians are also other mistakes.
[472] Mionnet, Suppl. viii. 225, gives a coin of Maximinus, which however does not belong to Kanata, but to Ascalon (see De Saulcy, p. 208). De Saulcy and Reichardt give each a coin of Elagabalus, the reading of which is however very uncertain.
[473] Wetzstein, n. 184 = Waddington, n. 2412e.
[474] Wetzstein, n. 186 = Waddington, n. 2412f.
18. Kanatha. On the western declivity of the Hauran range is the place now called Kanawat, whose ruins are among the most important of the country east of the Jordan. Numerous inscriptions, well preserved remains of temples and other public buildings, prove that an important town once stood here; and both ruins and inscriptions point to the first centuries of the Roman imperial period. The ruins have, since Seetzen’s first hasty visit, been frequently described.[475] The inscriptions have been most completely collected by Waddington.[476] It is rightly and almost universally admitted, that the Kanatha so often mentioned by ancient authors, and with which the Old Testament קְנָת (Numbers 32:42; 1 Chronicles 2:23) is probably identical, is to be sought for here.[477] The form of the name fluctuates between Κάναθα and Κάνωθα; Κεναθηνός also occurs upon an inscription.[478] Apart from the Old Testament passages, the history of Kanatha cannot be traced farther back than the time of Pompey; its coins have the Pompeian era,[479] and it is reckoned by both Pliny (v. 18. 74) and Ptolemy (v. 15. 23) among the towns of Decapolis. On the coins of Commodus given by Reichardt the inhabitants are called Γαβειν(ιεῖς) Καναθ(ηνοί); the town therefore seems to have been restored by Gabinius. Herod experienced a mortifying defeat at Kanatha in a battle against the Arabians.[480] On the civic constitution of Kanatha in imperial times we get some information from inscriptions, βουλευταί being frequently mentioned,[481] and once an ἀγορανόμος.[482] A Graeco-Latin epitaph of a Syrian merchant, discovered in 1862 in the neighbourhood of Trevoux in France, is of special interest. He is designated in the Greek text as βουλευτὴς πολίτης τε Κανωθαί[ω]ν ἐ[…] Συρίης, in the Latin as decurio Septimianus Canotha.[483] What the latter title denotes is indeed very doubtful.[484] If the Συρία of the Greek text is to be understood in the strict sense of the province of Syria, it follows from the combination of the two texts, that Kanatha belonged to the province of Syria down to the time of Septimius Severus.[485] In the time of Eusebius it belonged to the province of Arabia. It is striking that Eusebius calls it a κώμη.[486] Could it in his time have no longer had a civic constitution?[487] A Christian bishop of Kanotha was present at the Councils of Ephesus (A.D. 449), Chalcedon (A.D. 451) and Constantinople (A.D. 459).[488]
[475] Seetzen, Reisen durch Syrien (edited by Kruse), i. 78 sqq., iv. 40, 51 sqq. Burckhardt, Reisen in Syrien, i. 157 sqq., 504 sq. Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. 2. 931-939. Porter, Five Years in Damascus, 1855, ii. 89-115 (with plan). Bädeker-Socin, Palästina, p. 433 sqq. (with plan). Merrill, East of the Jordan (1881), pp. 36-42. Views of the ruins in Laborde, Voyage en Orient, Paris (1837-1845), livraison 21, 22, 26; and in Rey, Voyage dans le Haouran et aux bords de la mer morte exécuté pendant les années 1857 et 1858, Paris. Atlas, pl. v.-viii. (pl. vi. plan).
[476] Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 2329-2363. Older information in Corp. Inscr. Graec. 4612-4615. Wetzstein, Ausgewählte Inschriften (Transactions of the Berlin Academy, 1863), n. 188-193.
[477] The identity of Kanatha with the present Kanawat is best proved in Porter’s Five Years in Damascus, ii. 110 sqq. The statements in Eusebius and the Tab. Peuting. are especially convincing. Compare also for the history, Reland, pp. 681 sq., 689. Winer, RWB., s.v. “Kenath.” Raumer, p. 252. Ritter, as above. Kuhn, ii. 385 sq. Waddington’s explanations on n. 2329.
[478] The form Kanatha is found in Josephus (Bell. Jud. i. 19. 2), Plinius (v. 18. 74), Ptolemaeus (v. 15. 23), Stephanus Byz. (Lex. s.v.), Eusebius (Onomast., ed. Lag. p. 269); on coins (see the next note), inscriptions (Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4613: Καναθηνῶν ἡ πόλις; Waddington, n. 2216: Καναθηνὸς βουλευτής; Renier, Inscr. de l’Algérie, n. 1534 and 1535 = Corp. Inscr. Lat. vol. viii. n. 2394, 2395: cohors prima Flavia Canathenorum); also the Tabula Peuting. (Chanata). The form Kanotha is found in Hierocles, ed. Parthey, p. 46 (Κανοθά); a Notitia episcopal., the same, p. 92 (Κανοθάς); the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon in Le Quien, Oriens christianus, ii. 867 (gen. Κανώθας); an inscription in the Bullettino dell’ Instituto di corrisp. archeol. 1867, p. 204 (βουλευτὴς πολίτης τε Κανωθαί[ω]ν). Lastly, Κεναθηνός in Waddington, n. 2343. On the present form of the name Kanawat, see Wetzstein, Reisebericht über Hauran und die Trachonen (1860), p. 77 sq.
[479] See De Saulcy, pp. 399-401, pl. xxiii. n. 10; and especially Reichardt, Die Münzen Kanatha’s (Wiener Numismat. Zeitschr. 1880, pp. 68-72).
[480] Bell. Jud. i. 19. 2. In the parallel passage, Antt. xv. 5. 1, the place is called Κανά.
[481] Waddington, n. 2216, 2339 (= Wetzstein, n. 188). Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4613 (= Waddington, n. 2331a). The last-named inscription was discovered by Seetzen, not in Kanawat (as is erroneously stated in the Corp. Inscr. Graec. and in Waddington), but in Deir el-Chlef; see Kruse in his edition of Seetzen’s Travels, iv. 40, note.
[482] Corp. Inscr. Graec. 4912 = Waddington, n. 2330.
[483] The inscription is given by Henzen in the Bullettino dell’ Institute di corrisp. archeol. 1867, pp. 203-207.
[484] See Henzen as above, and Waddington’s explanations on 2329.
[485]a So also Waddington on n. 2329, and Marquardt, i. 396. Still Marquardt is inclined, by reason of the circumstances of the garrison, to the view that Kanatha was, in the time of Caracalla, already united to the province of Arabia; see p. 433, note 3.
[486] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 269: Κανάθ. κώμη τῆς Ἀραβίας εἰς ἔτι Καναθὰ λεγομένη … κεῖται δὲ καὶ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐν Τραχῶνι πλησίον Βοστρῶν.
[487]a The statements of Eusebius are not quite trustworthy. He calls e.g. Jabis at one time πόλις (p. 225), at another κώμη (p. 268).
[488] Le Quien, Oriens christ. ii. 867.
19. Scythopolis, Σκυθόπολις, one of the most important Hellenistic towns of Palestine, the only one among the towns of Decapolis which lay westward of the Jordan.[489] The ancient name of the town was Beth-sean, בֵּית שְׁאָן or בֵּית שָׁן, in the Septuagint and in the first Book of Maccabees (v. 52, 12:40 sq.), Βαιθσάν.[490] The ancient name was always maintained beside the Greek one,[491] nay at last supplanted it. To this very day the desolate ruins of Beisan in the valley of the Jordan south of the Lake of Gennesareth mark the position of the ancient city. The name Σκυθόπολις is undoubtedly equal to Σκυθῶν πόλις, as indeed it is frequently written.[492] The reason for this name is very obscure, probably it must be explained as by Syncellus, by the fact that a number of Scythians settled here on the occasion of their great invasion of Palestine in the seventh century before Christ.[493] On the name Nysa, which Scythopolis also bore according to Pliny, Stephanus Byz., and which is found upon coins, see above, p. 20. The town was perhaps already known by its Greek name Scythopolis in the time of Alexander the Great, or at any rate in the third century before Christ, when it was tributary to the Ptolemies.[494] When in 218 B.C. Antiochus the Great invaded Palestine, the town willingly (καθʼ ὁμολογίαν) surrendered to him.[495] Like the rest of Palestine however it did not come permanently under Syrian dominion till twenty years later (198 B.C.). In the time of the Maccabees Scythopolis is mentioned as a heathen town, but not as one hostile to the Jews (2Ma_12:29-31). Towards the end of the second century (about 107 B.C.) it came under Jewish rule, the weak Antiochus IX. (Kyzikenos) being unable to offer effectual resistance to the advance of John Hyrcanus, nay his general Epicrates treacherously surrendering Scythopolis to the Jews (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 10. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 2. 7 speaks otherwise).[496] Hence we find it also in the possession of Alexander Jannaeus (Antt. xiii. 15. 4). It was again separated from the Jewish region by Pompey (Antt. xiv. 5. 3, xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7), and restored by Gabinius (Antt. xiv. 5. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4). It afterwards continued to be an independent town under Roman supremacy. Nor did either Herod or his successors ever possess the town. Its membership among the cities of Decapolis is testified by Josephus, who calls it “one of the largest towns of Decapolis” (Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 7: ἣ δέ ἐστι μεγίστη τῆς Δεκαπόλεως). It is not quite certain what era it made use of. The Pompeian era is evidently used on a coin of Gordianus; while upon others a later one seems adopted. The titles of the town, especially upon the coins of Gordianus, are ἱερὰ ἄσυλος.[497] At the beginning of the Jewish war, A.D. 66, the revolted Jews attacked the district of Scythopolis (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). The Jewish inhabitants found themselves obliged, for the sake of safety, to fight on the side of the heathen against their fellow-countrymen, who were attacking the town. The heathen inhabitants however afterwards requited this alliance by faithless treachery, luring them into the sacred grove, and then surprising them by night and massacring them to the number, as it is said, of 13,000 (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 3, 4, vii. 8. 7; Vita, 6). When Josephus says with respect to the period of the Jewish war, that Scythopolis was then obedient to King Agrippa (Vita, 65, ed. Bekker, p. 341, 20: τῆς ὑπηκόου βασιλεῖ), this is certainly not to be understood in the sense of actual subjection, but only means, that Scythopolis was on the side of Agrippa and the Romans.[498] The district of Scythopolis must be regarded as very extensive. At the taking of Scythopolis and Philoteria (a town of that name on the Lake of Gennesareth of which we know nothing else) by Antiochus the Great, in the year 218, Polybius remarks, that the district subject to these two towns could easily furnish abundant support for the whole army.[499] We have also similar testimony at a later date, viz. that of Josephus (Vita, 9), that the district of Scythopolis bordered on that of Gadara (see above, p. 88). The district of this town is also mentioned Bell. Jud. iv. 8. 2. The subsequent history of Scythopolis, which remained for centuries an important and flourishing town, cannot be further pursued here. On its religious rites, games and industry, compare above, pp. 19, 27, 41.
[489] See in general, Reland, pp. 992-998. Winer, s.v. “Beth-sean.” Raumer, p. 150 sq. Pauly’s Enc. vi. 1. 729. Robinson, Palestine, iii. 326-332. Ritter, xv. 1. 426-435. Kuhn, ii. 371. Guérin, Samarie, i. 284-299. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 83, 101-114 (with plans); also sheet ix. of the large English chart.
[490] In the Old Test., Joshua 17:11; Joshua 17:16; Judges 1:27; 1 Samuel 31:10; 1 Samuel 31:12; 2 Samuel 21:12; 1 Kings 4:12; 1 Chronicles 7:29. On the identity of Bethsean and Scythopolis, sec Joseph. Antt. v. 1. 22, vi. 14. 8, xii. 8. 5, xiii. 6. 1. The gloss of the LXX. on Judges 1:27. Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lag. p. 237. Steph. Byz. (see next note).
[491] בית שאן in the Mishna, Aboda sara i. 4, iv. 12. The adj. בישני, Pea viii. 1. Comp. Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, p. 174 sq. Steph. Byz. s.v. Σκυθόπολις, Παλαιστίνης πόλις ἣ Νύσσης (l. Νύσσα) Κοίλης Συρίας, Σκυθῶν πόλις, πρότερον Βαίσων λεγόμενη ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων. The form Beisan is contracted from Beth-sean.
[492] Σκυθῶν πόλις, Judith 3:11; 2Ma_12:29; LXX. Judges 1:27. Polybius, v. 70. Aristides, ed. Dindorf, ii. 470.
[493] Syncell. ed. Dindorf, i. 405: Σκύθαι τὴν Παλαιστίνην κατέδραμον καὶ τὴν Βασὰν (l. Βαισὰν) κατέσχον τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν κληθεῖσαν Σκυθόπολιν. On the invasion of the Scythians, see especially Herodotus, i. 105. Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 88 sq. Pliny too and his successor Solinus derive the name from the Scythians, but indeed from those whom the god Dionysius settled there for the protection of the grave of his nurse: Plinius, v. 18. 74: Scythpolim, antea Nysam, a Libero Patre sepulta nutrice ibi Scythie deductis. Solinus (ed. Mommsen), c. 36: Liber Pater cum humo nutricem tradidisset, condidit hoc oppidum, ut sepulturae titulum etiam urbis moenibus ampliaret. Incolae deerant: e comitibus suis Scythas delegit, quos ut animi firmaret ad promptam resistendi violentiam, praemium loci nomen dedit. For another and equally mythological derivation from the Scythians, see Malalas, ed. Dindorf, p. 140, and Cedrenus, ed. Bekker, i. 237. In general Steph. Byz. also explains the name by Σκυθῶν πόλις (see note 228). The derivation from Sukkoth is obviated by the fact, that the Hebrew name of the town is not Sukkoth but Beth-sean.
[494] Joseph. Antt. xii. 4. 5. Comp. above, p. 53. It would be a more ancient testimony to the use of the Greek name, if the reference of the letters Σκ on certain coins of Alexander the Great to Scythopolis were certain. See L. Müller, Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand, p. 304, planches, n. 1429, 1464.
[495] Polyb. v. 70. Stark, Gaza, p. 381.
[496] On the chronology, comp. above, § 8.
[497] See on the coins and the era, Belley in the Mémoires des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, ancient series, vol. xxvi. 1759, pp. 415-428. Eckhel, iii. 438-440. Mionnet, v. 511 sq.; Suppl. viii. 355 sq. De Saulcy, pp. 287-290, pl. xiv. n. 8-13.
[498] This is all that Josephus is in the context concerned with. It is highly improbable that Scythopolis really belonged (as Menke in his Bibel-Atlas supposes) to the dominions of Agrippa, since Josephus in the passages in which he is describing accurately the realm of Agrippa does not mention it.
[499] Polyb. v. 70: εὐθαρσῶς ἔσχε πρὸς τὰς μελλούσας ἐπιβολὰς διὰ τὸ τὴν ὑποτεταγμένην χώραν ταῖς πόλεσι ταύταις ῥᾳδίως δύνασθαι παντι τʼ# στρατοπέδῳ χορηγεῖν καὶ δαψιλῆ παρασκευάζειν τὰ κατεπείγοντα πρὸς τὴν χρείαν.
20. Pella, Πέλλα. The district of Pella is designated by Josephus as the northern boundary of Peraea.[500] According to Eusebius, the Jabesh of Scripture was only 6 m. p. from Pella, on the road from this latter to Gerasa.[501] Now as Gerasa lies south of the present Wadi Jabis, Pella must have lain a little to the north of it, and hence it is almost certain, that the important ruins at Fahil, on a terrace over the Jordan valley opposite Scythopolis in a south-easterly direction, mark the position of the ancient Pella.[502] That it stood here is further borne out by the fact that Pliny describes Pella as aquis divitem.[503] Whether the original Semitic name was Fahil (פחלא ?), and the name Pella chosen by the Greeks on account of its similarity of sound, may be left uncertain.[504] In any case the name Pella was borrowed from the famous Macedonian town of the same name. The latter being the birthplace of Alexander the Great, it is not improbable that our Pella as well as the neighbouring Dium was founded by Alexander the Great himself, as indeed the somewhat corrupt text of Stephanus Byz. declares.[505] According to another passage of Stephanus Byz. our Pella was also called Βοῦτις.[506] Pella is first mentioned in history at the conquest of Palestine by Antiochus the Great, B.C. 218, when after taking Atabyrion (Tabor) he turned towards the country east of the Jordan and seized Pella, Kamus, and Gephrus.[507] Alexander Jannaeus conquered and destroyed the town, because its inhabitants would not adopt “Jewish customs” (Bell. Jud. i. 4. 8; Antt. xiii. 15. 4).[508] It was again separated from the Jewish region by Pompey (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). The fact of its having belonged to Decapolis is attested by Eusebius and Epiphanius as well as by Pliny and Ptolemy.[509] The few coins which have been preserved bear, as might be expected, the Pompeian era.[510] When Pella is named in Josephus (Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 5) among the chief places of the eleven toparchies of Judaea, this must be ascribed either to a mistake on the part of Josephus himself or to an error in the text. At the commencement of the Jewish war Pella was attacked by the insurgent Jews (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). During the war the Christian Church fled thither from Jerusalem.[511] Christian bishops of Pella are mentioned in the fifth and sixth centuries after Christ.[512]
[500] Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 3. Peraea is here taken in its political meaning, i.e. with the exclusion of the towns of Decapolis (comp. above, p. 2). In a geographical sense, it reaches much farther northward, comprising e.g. even Gadara (Bell. Jud. iv. 7. 3).
[501] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lag. p. 225: ἡ δὲ Ἰάβις ἐπέκεινα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου νῦν ἐστὶ μεγίστῃ πόλις, Πέλλης πόλεως διεστῶσα σημείοις δʹ ἀνιόντων ἐπὶ Γερασάν. Similarly, p. 268 (where however Jabis is more correctly called a κώμη).
[502] Comp. Robinson’s Palestine, iii. 320-325. Ritter, xv. 2. 1023-1030. Raumer, p. 254. Guérin, Galilée, i. 288-292. Merrill, East of the Jordan (1881), pp. 442-447. On the history, Reland, p. 924 sq. Droysen, Hellenismus, iii. 2. 204 sq. Kuhn, ii. 374. There is but slight foundation for the objection raised by Kruse (Seetzen’s Reisen, iv. 198 sqq.) to the above determination of the locality. Korb’s thorough discussion of the situation of Pella (Jahn’s Jahrb. für Philologie und Paedagogik, 4th year, vol. i. 1829, pp. 100-118) places the situation too far northward by partially placing in the foreground the statements of Josephus, and neglecting to do justice to the more precise statements of Eusebius.
[503] Plinius, v. 18. 74.
[504]a Tuch, Quaestiones de Flavii Josephi libris historicis (Lips. 1859), p. 18, altogether regards Pella as only the Greek pronunciation for פחלא, and scouts the idea of any connection with the name of the Macedonian town. This is however more than improbable.
[505] Steph. Byz. ed. Meineke, s.v. Δῖον, πόλις … Κοίλης Συρίας, κτίσμα Αλεξάνδρου, καὶ Πέλλα. The words καὶ Πέλλα are probably the gloss of some learned reader, who thus meant to say that Pella as well as Dium was founded by Alexander the Great. The reading ἡ καὶ Πέλλα is an erroneous emendation by some former editor. Comp. also Droysen, iii. 2. 204 sq. A Syrian Pella is also mentioned among the cities founded by Seleucus I. in Appian. Syr. 57, and Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 116 sq. According to the Latin text of Jerome: Seleucus Antiochiam Laodiciam Seleuciam Apamiam Edessam Beroeam et Pellam urbes condidit. So also Syncell., ed. Dindorf, i. 520, and the Armenian text of Eusebius, in which only Seleucia is missing. By this Pella however we must probably understand the town of Apamea on the Orontes, which was at first called by its founder Seleucus I. Apamea, and afterwards Pella, which name was subsequently lost (see especially Malalas, ed. Dindorf, p. 203 [according to Pausanias Damascenus, comp. Müller, Fragm. hist. graec. iv. 470]; also Strabo, xvi. p. 752; Stephanus Byz. s.v. Ἀπάμεια; in Diodor. xxi. 25, Apamea occurs under the name of Pella, see Wesseling’s note on the passage). It is true that the lists in Appian and Eusebius mention Pella along with Apamea as though they were two different cities. This mistake has however arisen from the circumstance, that the change of name has been looked upon as a second founding, and treated accordingly in the lists of foundations of towns. Hence indeed our Pella (in Decapolis) is out of question.
[506] Steph. Byz. s.v. Πέλλα, πόλις … Κοίλης Συρίας, ἡ Βοῦτις λεγομένη.
[507] Polyb. v. 70.
[508]a In the last passage also our Pella is certainly intended, and not another Moabite one. Josephus only names Pella quite at the end of the list after enumerating the Moabite towns, because he desires to append a special remark concerning it. Comp. Tuch, Quaestiones, etc., pp. 17-19.
[509] Plin. v. 18. 74. Ptolem. v. 15. 23. Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lag. p. 251. Epiphanius, Haer. 29. 7; de mensuris et ponder. § 15.
[510] See Belley in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, ancient series, vol. xxviii. 568 sqq. Eckhel, iii. 350. Miennet, v. 329; Suppl. viii. 232. De Saulcy, pp. 291-293, pl. xvi. n. 8.
[511] Euseb. Hist. eccl. iii. 5. 2, 3; Epiphanius, Haer. 29. 7; de mensuris et ponder. § 15.
[512] Le Quien, Oriens christ. iii. 698 sq.
21. Dium, Δῖον. Among the towns of this name, of which Steph. Byz. enumerates seven, that in Macedonia at the foot of Olympus is the best known. Hence it is very credible, that our Dion in Coelesyria was a foundation of Alexander the Great.[513] According to the astronomical definitions of Ptolemy (v. 15. 23), Dium lay under the same degree of latitude as Pella, but 1/6 of a degree farther eastward. With this agree the statements of Josephus concerning Pompey’s route, that the Jewish king Aristobulus accompanied Pompey on his march from Damascus against the Nabataeans as far as Dium, that here he suddenly separated from Pompey, who therefore now turned suddenly westward and came by Pella and Scythopolis to Judaea.[514] Little is known of the history of Dium.[515] It was conquered by Alexander Jannaeus (Antt. xiii. 15. 3), liberated by Pompey (Antt. xiv. 4. 4), and then belonged to Decapolis (Plin. v. 18. 74; Ptolem. v. 15. 23). The coins of Dium, with the legend Δειηνων, have the Pompeian era. Some of those belonging to the time of Caracalla and Geta are still in existence.[516] The Δία mentioned by Hierocles is certainly identical with this Dium.[517]
[513] So Steph. Byz. s.v. Δῖον (see above, note 241). Stephanus remarks ἦς τὸ ὕδωρ νοσερόν, and quotes the following epigram:—
[514] Joseph. Antt. xiv. 3. 3, 4; Bell. Jud. i. 6. 4, fin. Also Menke’s Bibel-Atlas, sheet iv. In both passages indeed Dium first came into the text through Dindorf’s emendations. The older editions have, Antt. xiv. 3. 3: εἰς Δήλιον πόλιν; Bell. Jud. i. 6. 4: ἀπὸ Διοσπόλεως. As certain manuscripts have ἀπὸ διὸς ἡλιουπόλεως (see Cardwell’s ed.) we might feel inclined to read Heliopolis in both passages. But the context makes this impossible.
[515] Comp. Reland, p. 736 sq. Raumer, p. 247. Kuhn, iii. 382 sq.
[516] See Belley in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, ancient series, vol. xxviii. 568 sqq. Eckhel, iii. 347 sq. Mionnet, v. 32; Suppl. viii. 26. De Saulcy, pp. 378-383, pl. xix. n. 8, 9.
[517] Hierocles, Synecd., ed. Parthey, p. 45. The Notitia episcopat., the same, p. 92. Also in Joseph. Antt. xii. 15. 3 the manuscripts have Δίαν.
νᾶμα τὸ Διηνὸν γλυκερὸν ποτόν, ἠνιδὲ πίῃς,
παύσει μὲν δίψης, εὐθὺ δὲ καὶ βιότου.
22. Gerasa, Γέρασα. The ruins of the present Dscharásch are the most important in the region east of the Jordan, and are indeed (with those of Palmyra, Baalbec and Petra) among the most important in Syria. There are still in existence considerable remains of temples, theatres and other public buildings. About one hundred columns of a long colonnade, which ran through the middle of the town, are still standing. The buildings seem from their style to belong to the second or third century after Christ.[518] Few inscriptions have as yet been published.[519] There can be no doubt that here was the ancient Gerasa.[520] The derivation of the name from γέροντες (veterans) of Alexander the Great, who settled here, is based only upon etymological trifling.[521] It is certainly possible, that the foundation of Gerasa as a Hellenistic town may reach as far back as Alexander the Great. It is first mentioned in the time of Alexander Jannaeus, when it was in the power of a certain Theodorus (a son of the tyrant Zeno Kotylas of Philadelphia). It was conquered after an arduous siege by Alexander Jannaeus towards the end of his reign.[522] It was while still defending the fortress Ragaba “in the district of Gerasa (ἐν τοῖς Γερασηνῶν ὅροις)” that he died.[523] Gerasa was undoubtedly liberated by Pompey, for it belonged to Decapolis.[524] At the outbreak of the Jewish war it was attacked by the Jews (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1); yet the Jews dwelling in the town were spared by the inhabitants (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 5). The Gerasa conquered and destroyed by Lucius Annius at the command of Vespasian (Bell. Jud. iv. 9. 1) cannot be this Gerasa, which as a Hellenistic town was certainly friendly to the Romans. The few coins of Gerasa (from Hadrian to Alexander Severus) have no era and contain no epithet of the city, They almost all have the superscription Ἄρτεμις τύχη Γεράσων.[525] On an inscription of the time of Trajan the inhabitants are called Ἀντιοχεῖς πρὸς τῷ Χρυσορόᾳ.[526] Upon another inscription, also of the Roman period, the town is called Γέρασα Ἀντιόχεια.[527] In an ethnographic sense Gerasa must be reckoned part of Arabia,[528] but seems even in the second century after Christ to have belonged to the province of Syria and only subsequently to have been incorporated in that of Arabia.[529] In the fourth century after Christ it was one of the most important towns of this province.[530] Its district was so large, that Jerome could say, that what was formerly Gilead was now called Gerasa.[531] Famous men of Gerasa are mentioned by Steph. Byz.[532] The names too of certain Christian bishops are well known.[533]
[518] See in general, Seetzen, Reisen, i. 388 sq., iv. 202 sqq. Burckhardt, Reisen, i. 401-417, 530-536 (with plan). Buckingham, Travels in Palestine, 1821, pp. 353-405. Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. 2. 1077-1094. Bädeker-Socin, Palästina, p. 408 sqq. (with plan). Merrill, East of the Jordan, pp. 281-290. Illustrations, Laborde, Voyage en Orient (Paris 1887 sq.), livraison 9, 16, 34, 85. Rey, Voyage dans le Haouran et aux bords de la mer morte exécuté pendant les années 1857 and 1858 (Paris), Atlas pl. xix.-xxiii. (pl. xxi. plan). Duc de Luynes, Voyage d’Exploration à la mer morte à Petra et sur la rive gauche du Jourdain, Paris s. a. (1874), Atlas, pl. 50-57. Also Riehm’s Wörterb. s.v. “Gadara.”
[519] Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4661-4664. Corp. Inscr. Lat. vol. iii. n. 118, 119. Wetzstein, Ausgewählte Inschriften (Trans. of the Berlin Acad. 1863), n. 205-207. Böckh, Report of the Berlin Acad. 1835, p. 14 sqq. Allen, American Journal of Philology, vol. iii. (Baltimore 1882), p. 206. Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1882, p. 218 sqq.; 1883, p. 107 sq.
[520] Compare on the history, Reland, p. 806 sqq. Pauly’s Encycl. iii. 770. Winer, s.v. “Gadara.” Raumer, p. 249 sq. Ritter, as above. Kuhn, ii. 370, 383.
[521] See the passages from Jamblicus and the Etymolog. magnum in Droysen, Hellenismus, iii. 2. 202 sq. Also Reland, p. 806.
[522] Bell. Jud. i. 4. 8. In the parallel passage Antt. xiii. 15. 3, Ἔσσαν stands instead of Γέρασαν. The reading in Bell. Jud. is however certainly the correct one.
[523] Antt. xiii. 15. 5. Ragaba can hardly be identical with the Ἐργά of Eusebius (p. 216), which lay 15 m. p. westward of Gerasa, and was therefore certainly under the power of Alexander Jannaeus before the conquest of Gerasa.
[524] Ptolem. v. 15. 23. Steph. Byz. s.v. Γέρασα, πόλις τῆς Κοίλης Συρίας, τῆς δεκαπόλεως (for such is the reading, as by Meineke, instead of the traditional τεσσαρεσκαιδεκαπόλεως). Plinius, v. 18. 74, names Galasa, for which we must read Gerasa, among the cities of Decapolis.
[525] Eckhel, iii. 350. Mionnet, v. 329; Suppl. viii. 230 sq. De Saulcy, p. 384 sq., pl. xxii. n. 1, 2.
[526] Mommsen, Berichte der sächsisch. Gesellsch. d. Wissensch., philol.-hist. Classe, vol. ii. 1850, p. 223. Waddington, n. 1722. The inscription was set up in honour of A. Julius Quadratus, the imperial legate of Syria, and indeed in his native Pergamos (where the inscription was discovered). The Gerasenes designate themselves according to Waddington’s completion, [Ἀντιο]χέων τῶν [πρὸς τ]ῷ Χρυσορόᾳ τῶν π[ρότ]ερον [Γε]ρασηνῶν ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆ[μος]. No other place in Syria is known by the name of Chrysorrhoas except the Nahr Barada near Damascus (Strabo, xvi. p. 755. Plin. v. 18. 74. Ptolem. v. 15. 9). It is self-evident that this cannot, as Mommsen strangely assumes, be intended here. On the contrary, we find that the rivulet Kerwân running through Gerasa was also called Chrysorrhoas (see Bädeker, p. 409).
[527]a American Journal of Philology, vol. iii. (Baltimore 1882) p. 206, communicated by Allen, from a copy by Merrill. The inscription was found in Gerasa itself. It is an epitaph consisting of four distichs on a woman of the name of Juliana from Antioch. She died in the course of her journey in Gerasa and was buried there, and it is said of her in the epitaph that she will not now return to her home in Antioch. ἀλλʼ ἔλαχεν γαί[η]ς [Γ]ερ[ά]σ[ης] μέρος Ἀντιοχείης. That the inscription belongs to the Roman period is shown by the name Juliana.
[528] Origenes in Joann. vol. vi. c. 24 (Opp. ed. Lommatzach, i. 239), Γέρασα δὲ τῆς Ἀραβίας ἐστὶ πόλις.
[529] See Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 433, note 1.
[530] Ammian. Marc. xiv. 8. 13: Haec quoque civitates habet inter oppida quaedam ingentes Bostram et Gerasam atquo Philaaelphiam murorum firmitate cautissimas. Comp. Euseb. Onomast. p. 242. Γέρασα, πόλις ἐπίσημος τῆς Ἀραβίας.
[531]a Hieronymus in Obadjam v. 19 (Vallarsi, vi. 381): Benjamin autem … cunctam possidebit Arabiam, quae prius vocabatur Galaad et nunc Gerasa nuncupatur. Comp. also Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, p. 250.
[532] Steph. Byz. s.v. Γέρασα· ἐξ αὐτῆς Ἀρίστων ῥήτωρ ἀστεῖός ἐστιν … καὶ Κήρυκος σοφιστὴς καὶ Πλάτων νομικὸς ῥήτωρ. To these must also be added the Neo-Pythagorean philosopher and mathematician Nicomachus of Gerasa, second century after Christ (Fabric. Bibl graec., ed. Harless, v. 629 sqq.).
[533] Epiphan. Haer. 73. 26. Le Quien, Oriens christ. ii. 859 sq.
23. Philadelphia, Φιλαδέλφεια, the ancient capital of the Ammonites called in the O. T. “Rabbah of the Ammonites” (רַבַּת בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן), i.e. the chief city of the Ammonites, or more shortly “Rabbah” (רַבָּה).[534] In Polybius it is called Rabbat-Amana,[535] in Eusebius and Steph. Byz. Amman and Ammana.[536] The situation of the town is certainly evidenced by the ruins south of Gerasa, which to this day bear the name of Ammana. The ruins belong, like those of Kanatha, to the Roman period.[537] The town received the name of Philadelphia from Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus), to whom consequently its Hellenization is to be referred.[538] In the time of Antiochus the Great it was a strong fortress, which in the year 218 B.C. he vainly endeavoured to take by storm, and of which he vainly unable to get possession, till a prisoner showed him the subterranean path, by which the inhabitants came out to draw water. This being stopped up by Antiochus, the town was forced to surrender for want of water.[539] About 135 B.C. (at the death of Simon Maccabaeus) Philadelphia was in the power of a certain Zenos Kotylas (Antt. xiii. 8. 1; Bell. Jud. i. 2. 4). It was not conquered by Alexander Jannaeus, though he had possession of Gerasa to the north and Esbon to the south of it. Hence Philadelphia is not named among the towns which were separated by Pompey from the Jewish region. It was however joined by him to the confederacy of Decapolis[540] and had therefore the Pompeian era.[541] It was in its neighbourhood that Herod fought against the Arabians.[542] In A.D. 44 sanguinary contests took place between the Jews of Peraea and the Philadelphians concerning the boundaries of a village called Mia in our present text of Josephus, but for which Zia is probably the correct reading (Antt. xx. 1. 1).[543] At the outbreak of the Jewish war, Philadelphia was attacked by the insurgent Jews (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). Upon an inscription of the second century after Christ our Philadelphia is called Φιλαδέλφεια τῆς Ἀραβίας.[544] This is however meant only in an ethnographical sense. For coins down to Alexander Severus have the superscription Φιλαδελφέων, Κοίλης Συρίας.[545] The town therefore still belonged to the province of Syria and was probably allotted to the province of Arabia towards the close of the third century.[546] In the fourth century it was one of the most important towns of this province.[547] Josephus mentions the district of Philadelphia (Φιλαδελφηνή) as the eastern boundary of Peraea (Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 3). If the supposition be warranted, that Zia is the correct reading in Joseph. Antt. xx. 1. 1, the district of Philadelphia must have extended to about 15 m. p. westward of the town, in other words, full half of the land lying between the Jordan and the town must have belonged to the Philadelphian district.
[534] Deuteronomy 3:11; Joshua 13:25; 2 Samuel 11:1; 2 Samuel 12:26-29; 2 Samuel 17:27; Jeremiah 49:2-3; Ezekiel 21:25; Ezekiel 25:5; Amos 1:14; 1 Chronicles 20:1. On the identity of Rabbah of the Ammonites with Philadelphia, see below the passages from Eusebius (note 269), Steph. Byz. and Jerome (note 271).
[535] Polyb. v. 71, Ῥαββατάμανα. So too Steph. Byz. s.v. Ῥαββατάμμανα, πόλις τῆς ὀρεινῆς Ἀραβίας.
[536] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 215, Ἀμμᾶν ἡ νῦν Φιλαδελφία, πόλις ἐπίσημος τῆς Ἀραβίας. Ibid. p. 219, Ἀμμών … αὔτη ἐστὶν Αμμᾶν ἡ καὶ Φιλαδελφία, πόλις ἐπίσημος τῆς Αραβίας. Comp. ibid. p. 288, Ῥαββά, πόλις βασιλείας Ἀμμών, αὕτη ἐστὶ Φιλαδελφία. Steph. Byz., see note 271.
[537] See in general, Seetzen, Reisen, i. 396 sqq., iv. 212 sqq. Burckhardt, Reisen, ii. 612-618. Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. 2. 1145-1159. De Saulcy, Voyage en Terre Sainte, 1865, i. 237 sqq. (with plan). Bädeker-Socin, Palästina, p. 318 sqq. (with plan). Merrill, East of the Jordan, p. 399 sqq. Conder, Quarterly Statement, 1882, pp. 99-112. Illustrations, Laborde, Voyage en Orient (Paris 1837 sqq.), livr. 28, 29. On the history, besides Ritter, the article on “Rabbath Ammon” in Winer’s Realwörterb., Herzog’s Real-Encycl. (1st ed. xii. 469 sq.), Schenkel’s Bibellex., Riehm’s WB. Kuhn, ii. 383 sq.
[538] Steph. Byz. s.v. Φιλαδέλφεια … τῆς Συρίας ἐπιφανὴς πόλις, ἡ πρότερον Ἄμμανα, εἶτʼ Ἀστάρτη, εἶτα Φιλαδέλφεια ἀπὸ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Φιλαδέλφου. Hieronymus in Ezek. c. 25 (Vallarsi, v. 285): Rabbath, quae hodie a rege Aegypti Ptolemaeo cognomento Philadelpho, qui Arabiam tenuit cum Judaea, Philadelphia nuncupata est. L. Müller (Numismatique d’Alexandre le Grand, p. 309, pl. n. 1473 sqq.) refers certain coins of Alexander the Great, with the letters Φι to our Philadelphia. Although it would not be impossible for coins with the name of Alexander to be issued in the days of Ptolemy II. (see note 150, above), yet the correctness of this explanation seems to me very questionable. Philoteria e.g. (Polyb. v. 70) might be intended.
[539] Polyb. v. 71. Conder found in his surveys at Amman a path, which is possibly identical with that mentioned by Polybius, see Athensæum, 1883, n. 2905, p. 832: The discovery at Ammân. Comp. also Quarterly Statement, 1882, p. 109.
[540] Plinius, v. 18. 74.
[541] Chron. paschale (ed. Dindorf, i. 351), ad Olymp. 179. 2 = 63 B.C., Φιλαδελφεῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἀριθμοῦσι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν χρόνους. The era is also frequently found upon coins. See Noris, iii. 9. 2 (ed. Lips. pp. 308-316). Eckhel, iii. 351. Mionnet, v. 330-333; Suppl. viii. 232-236. De Saulcy, pp. 386-392, pl. xxii. n. 3-9.
[542] Bell. Jud. i. 19. 5. In the parallel passage Antt. xv. 5. 4, Philadelphia is not mentioned.
[543] A village of Zia lying 15 m. p. west of Philadelphia is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomast. p. 258, καὶ ἔστι νῦν Ζία κώμη ὡς ἀπὸ ιεʹ σημείων Φιλαδελφίας ἐπὶ δυσμάς. The supposition that Zia is the correct reading in this passage has been already expressed by Reland (p. 897), Havercamp (on Joseph. l.c.) and Tuch, Quaestiones de Fl. Josephi libris historicis, Lips. 1859, p. 19 sq.
[544] Le Bas et Waddington, Inscr. vol. iii. n. 1620b; comp. above, p. 25.
[545] See Mionnet, Suppl. viii. 236. De Saulcy, p. 392.
[546] Comp. Marquardt, i. 433, note 1.
[547] Ammian. Marcellin. xiv. 8. 13 (see above, note 264). Comp. also the passages from Eusebius (note 269).
It is an undoubted fact, that all the cities hitherto described formed independent political communities, which—at least after the time of Pompey—were never internally blended into an organic unity with the Jewish region, but were at most externally united with it under the same ruler. Almost all of them had a chiefly heathen population, which after the third century before Christ became more and more Hellenistic in its character. It was only in Joppa and Jamnia and perhaps Azotus, that the Jewish element obtained during and after the Maccabean period the ascendancy. But even these towns with their respective districts formed both before and after that time independent political units.—To the same category belonged also, as Kuhn correctly admits,[548] the towns which were refounded by Herod and his sons. It is true, that in many of these the population was mainly Jewish. But even where this was the case, the constitution was of Hellenistic organization, as is shown especially in the case of Tiberias. In most of them however the heathen population preponderated. Hence we must not assume, that they were organically incorporated with the Jewish realm, but that they occupied within it au independent position similar to that of the older Hellenistic towns. Nay in Galilee, where it was indeed impregnated with heathen elements, the Jewish country seems, on the contrary, to have been subordinate to the newly built capitals—first to Sepphoris, then to Tiberias, then again to Sepphoris (see the articles concerning them), Among the towns built by Herod certainly the two most important were Sebaste, i.e. Samaria, and Caesarea, the latter of which has been already spoken of (No. 9). Of less importance were Gaba in Galilee and Esbon in Peraea (Antt. xv. 8. 5), which must also be regarded as chiefly heathen towns, for at the outbreak of the Jewish war they, like Ptolemais and Caesarea, Gerasa and Philadelphia, were attacked by the insurgent Jews (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). Lastly, we have to mention as towns founded by Herod, Antipatris and Phasaelis, Kypros named together with the latter being a mere castle near Jericho and not a πόλις (Bell. Jud. i. 21. 9; Antt. xvi. 5. 2), which also applies to the fortresses of Alexandreion, Herodeion, Hyrcania, Masada and Machaerus. Among the sons of Herod, Archelaus founded only the village (κώμη) of Archelais.[549] Philip, on the other hand, built Caesarea = Panias and Julias = Bethsaida, and Herod Antipas the cities of Sepphoris, Julias = Livias and Tiberias. These ten cities still remain to be treated of:
[548] Die städtische und bürgerliche Verfassung des röm. Reichs, ii. 346-348.
[549] Comp. Joseph. Antt. xvii. 13. 1; Antt. xviii. 2. 2. Pilnius, xiii. 4, 44. Ptolem. v. 16. 7. According to the Tabula Peutinger., Archelais lay on the road from Jericho to Scythopolis 12 m. p. from Jericho and 24 m. p. from Scythopolis. See also Robinson’s Palestine, iii. 569. Ritter, xv. i. 457. Guérin, Samarie, i. 235-238. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 387, 395 sq., and sheet xv. of the chart.
24. Sebaste = Samaria.[550] The Hellenization of the town of Samaria (Hebr. שֹׁמְריֹן) was the work of Alexander the Great. The Samaritans had during his stay in Egypt, B.C. 332-331, assassinated Andromachus his governor in Coelesyria. Consequently when Alexander returned from Egypt (B.C. 331), he executed strict justice upon the offenders and planted Macedonian colonists in Samaria.[551] The Chronicle of Eusebius speaks also of a refoundation by Perdiccas,[552] which could only have taken place during his campaign against Egypt (B.C. 321); this is however very improbable so soon after the colonization by Alexander the Great. As in old times so now also Samaria was an important fortress. Hence it was levelled by Ptolemy Lagos, when in the year B.C. 312 he again surrendered to Antigonus the land of Coelesyria, which he had shortly before conquered.[553] Some fifteen years later (about 296 B.C.) Samaria, which had meanwhile been restored, was again destroyed by Demetrius Poliorcetes in his contact with Ptolemy Lagos.[554] Thenceforward we are for a long time without special data for the history of the town. Polybius indeed mentions, that Antiochus the Great in both his first and second conquest of Palestine 218 and 198 B.C. occupied the country of Samaria,[555] but the fate of the town is not further indicated. It is of interest to find, that the country of Samaria, under the Ptolemies as well as under the Seleucidae, formed like Judaea a single province, which again was subdivided into separate νομοί.[556] Towards the end of the second century before Christ, when the Seleucidian Epigonoi were no longer able to prevent the encroachments of the Jews, the town fell a victim to their policy of conquest; and Samaria—then a πόλις ὀχυρωτάτη—was again conquered in the reign of John Hyrcanus (B.C. 107) by his sons Antigonus and Aristobulus after a siege of a year, and entirely given up to destruction (Antt. xiii. 10. 2, 3; Bell. Jud. i. 2. 7).[557] Alexander Jannaeus had possession of the town or its ruins (Antt. xiii. 15. 4). It was separated from the Jewish region by Pompey and never henceforth organically combined with it (Antt. xiv. 4. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 7. 7). Its rebuilding was the work of Gabinius (Antt. xv. 14. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 4), on which account its inhabitants were for a while called Γαβινιεῖς.[558] The town was bestowed upon Herod by Augustus (Antt. xv. 7. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 20. 3); and by his means it first regained prosperity. For while it had hitherto been a comparatively small though strong town, its extent was so greatly increased by Herod, that it was now twenty stadia in circumference and not inferior to the most important towns. In the city thus enlarged Herod settled six thousand colonists, composed partly of disbanded soldiers, partly of people from the neighbourhood. The colonists received excellent estates. The fortifications too were rebuilt and extended, and finally the town obtained also, by the erection of a temple to Augustus and other magnificent edifices, the splendour of modern culture.[559] Herod gave to the newly-rebuilt town the name of Σεβαστή (Antt. xv. 8. 5; Bell. Jud. i. 21. 2. Strabo, xvi. p. 860) in honour of the emperor, who had recently assumed the title of Augustus. The coins of the town bear the inscription Σεβαστηνῶν or Σεβαστηνῶν Συρ(ίας) and a special era commencing with the year of the rebuilding of the city, i.e. according to the usual view 25 or perhaps more correctly 27 B.C.[560] The town is also mentioned in Rabbinical literature by its new name of Sebaste (סבסטי).[561] When Josephus says, that Herod granted it “an excellent constitution,” ἐξαίρετον εὐνομίαν (Bell. Jud. i. 21. 2), he makes indeed no great addition to our knowledge. It is however probable from other reasons, that the country of Samaria was subordinated to the town of Sebaste precisely as Galilee was to the capitals Sepphoris and Tiberias respectively and Judaea was to Jerusalem. For on the occasion of the tumults of the Samaritans under Pilate a “council of Samaritans,” Σαμαρέων ἡ βουλή, is mentioned, which seems to point to a United organization of the country (Antt. xviii. 4. 2).[562] Sebastenian soldiers served in the army of Herod and embraced the party of the Romans against the Jews in the conflicts which broke out at Jerusalem after his death (Bell. Jud. ii 3. 4, 4. 2, 3; comp. Antt. xvii. 10. 3). At the partition of Palestine after the decease of Herod, Sebaste with the rest of Samaria fell to Archelaus (Antt. xvii. 11. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3), after whose banishment it remained for a time under Roman procurators, was then temporarily under Agrippa, and then again under procurators. During this last period Sebastenian soldiers formed a main element in the Roman troops stationed in Judaea (see above, p. 65). At the outbreak of the Jewish war Sebaste was attacked by the insurgent Jews (Bell. Jud. ii 18. 1). The town of Sebaste, with its chiefly heathen population, then remained as during the disturbances that followed the death of Herod (Antt. xvii. 10. 9; Bell Jud. ii. 5. 1) undoubtedly on the side of the Romans, while the native Samaritans in the district of Sichem certainly occupied a difficult position (Bell. Jud. iii. 7. 32). Sebaste became a Roman colony under Septimius Severus.[563] But its importance henceforth declined before the prosperity of Neapolis = Sichem.[564] Eusebius and Stephanus Byz. still call Sebaste only “a small town.”[565] Its district was nevertheless so large, that it comprised e.g. Dothaim, which lay 12 m. p. northward of the town.[566]
[550] Compare in general, Reland, pp. 979-983. Pauly’s Encycl. vi. 1. 727 sq. Winer, s.v. “Samaria.” Raumer, p. 159 sq. Robinson’s Palestine, iii. 126, 127. Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 658-666. Guérin, Samarie, ii. 188-210. Bädeker-Socin, p. 354 sqq. Sepp, Jerusalem, ii. 66-74. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 160 sq., 211-215 (with plan), also sheet xv. of the large English chart.
[551] Curtius, Rufus, iv. 8: Oneravit hunc dolorem nuntius mortis Andromachi, quern praefecerat Syriae: vivum Samaritae cremaverant. Ad cujus interitum vindicandum, quanta maxime celeritate potuit, coutendit, advenientique sunt traditi tanti sceleris auctores. Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 114 (ad ann. Abr. 1680, according to the Armenian): Andromachum regionum illorum procuratorem constituit, quem incolae urbis Samaritarum interfecerunt: quos Alexander ab Egipto reversus punivit: capta urbe Macedonas ut ibi habitarent collocavit.—So too Syncell., ed. Dindorf, i. 496: τὴν Σαμάρειαν πόλιν ἑλὼν Ἀλέξανδρος Μακεδόνας ἐν αὐτῇ κατῴκισεν.
[552] See below, note 287, and also Droysen, iii. 2. 204. Ewald’s Gesch. des Volkes Israel, iv. p. 293.
[553] Diodor. xix. 93. Comp. above, note 52 (Gaza), 109 (Joppa), 151 (Ptolemais).
[554] Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 118 (ad Olymp. 121. 1 = 296 B.C. according to the Armenian): Demetrius rex Asianorum, Poliorcetes appellatus, Samaritanorum urbem a Perdica constructam (s. incolis frequentatam) totam cepit. Syncell., ed. Dindorf, i. 519: Δημήτριος ὁ Πολιορκητὴς τὴνπόλιν Σαμαρέων ἐπόρθησεν. So too i. 522. Comp. Droysen, ii. 2. 243, 255. Stark, p. 361.
[555] Polyb. v. 71. 11, xvi. 49 = Joseph. Antt. xii. 3. 3.
[556] See in general, Antt. xii. 4. 1, 4; 1Ma_10:30; 1Ma_10:38; 1Ma_11:28; 1Ma_11:34.
[557] On the chronology, comp. above, § 8.
[558] Cedrenus, ed. Beker, i. 323: τὴν τῶν Γαβινίων (l. Γαβινιέων) πόλιν, τήν ποτε Σαμάρειαν (Herodes) ἐπικτίσας Σεβαστὴν αὐτὴν προσηγόρευσε. Cedrenus here indeed mistakes Herod the Great for Herod Antipas and the latter again for Herod Agrippa.
[559] Considerable remains of a large colonnade running along the hill, the building of which is probably to be ascribed to Herod, are still in existence. See the literature cited in note 283.
[560] On the date of the rebuilding, see § 15. On the coins in general, Noris, v. 5 (ed. Lips. pp. 531-536). Eckhel, iii. 440. Mionnet, v. 513-516; Suppl. viii. 356-359. De Saulcy, pp. 275-281, pl. xiv. n. 4-7.
[561] Mishna, Arachin iii. 2 (the “pleasure gardens of Sebaste,” פרדסוח סבסטי, are here adduced as an example of specially valuable property, See the commentary of Bartenora in Surenhusius’ Mishna, v. 198). Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, p. 171 sq.
[562]a On the constitution and political position given by Herod to the town; see especially Kuhn, Ueber die Entstehung der Städte der Alten (1878), pp. 422 sq., 428 sqq.
[563] Digest, lib. xv. 1. 7 (from Ulpianus): Divus quoque Severus in Sebastenam civitatem coloniam deduxit. On coins, COL. L. SEP. SEBASTE. Comp. Eckhel, iii. 441. Zumpt, Commentationes epigr. i. 432. Kuhn, ii 56 The coins in Mionnet and De Saulcy, as above.
[564] Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. 8. 11, names Neapolis, but not Sebaite, among the most important towns of Palestine. Comp. above, note 88.
[565] Euseb. Onomast. p. 292: Σεβαστήν, τὴν νῦν πολίχνην τῆς Παλαιστίνης. Steph, Byz. s.v. Σεβαστή … ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Σαμαρείτιδι πολίχνιον.
[566] Euseb. Onomast. p. 249: Δωθαείμ … διαμένει ἐν ὁρίοις Σεβαστῆς, ἀπέχει δὲ αὐτῆς σημείοις ιβʹ ἐπὶ τὰ βόρεια μέρη.
25. Gaba, Γάβα or Γαβά. The name corresponds to the Hebrew גֶּבַע or גִּבְעָה, a hill, and is a frequent local name in Palestine. We are here concerned only with a Gaba, which according to the decided statements of Josephus stood on Carmel, and indeed in the great plain near the district of Ptolemais and the borders of Galilee, and therefore on the north-eastern declivity of Carmel (see especially, Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1, and Vita, 24). Herod here settled a colony of retired knights, on which account the city was also called πόλις ἱππέων (Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1; Antt. xv. 8. 5).[567] From the manner in which the town is mentioned in the two passages, Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1; Vita, 24, it is evident that it did not belong to the district of Galilee. Its population being chiefly heathen, it was attacked by the Jews at the beginning of the Jewish insurrection (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1), while on the other hand it took an active part in the struggle against the Jews (Vita, 24). This town is probably the Geba on Carmel mentioned by Pliny.[568] Whatever other material has been adduced to the contrary by scholars with respect to Gaba, has served to complicate rather than throw light upon the questions concerning its situation and history.[569] A Gabe 16 m. p. from Caesarea is mentioned by Eusebius, but the distance stated is too short to suit the situation north-east of Carmel.[570] Still more improbable is it, that the coins with the superscription Κλαυδι(έων) Φιλιπ(πέων) Γαβηνῶν belong to our Gaba. These titles point rather to a Gaba, which had belonged to the Tetrarch Philip;[571] and the Gabe, mentioned by Pliny as near Caesarea Panias, may be identical with it.[572] Lastly, which Gaba the Γάβαι in Palaestina secunda, mentioned by Hierocles, may be, must be left uncertain.[573] Guérin thinks he has discovered our Gaba in the village of Sheikh Abreik upon a hill near Carmel, with the situation of which the statements of Josephus certainly agree.[574]
[567] The latter passage (Antt. xv. 8. 5) is according to the usual text: ἔν τε τῷ μεγάλῳ πεδίῳ, τῶν ἐπιλέκτων ἱππέων περὶ αὐτὸν ἀποκληρώσας, χωρίον συνέκτισεν ἐπίτετῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ Γάβα καλούμενον καὶ τῇ Περαίᾳ τὴν Ἐσεβωνῖτιν. According to this it might be supposed that Herod had founded three colonies: 1. an unknown place in the great plain; 2. a place called Gaba in Galilee; and 3. Esebonitis in Peraea. The two first are, however, certainly identical; the τε after ἐπί must be omitted, and the meaning of ἐπὶ τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ is, as the whole context shows, “for the controlling of Galilee.” This also confirms the view, that Gaba lay on the eastern declivity of Carmel. For the rest, the reading here, as well as in Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 1, fluctuates between Γαβα and Γαβαλα, but the former is preferable.
[568] Plinius, H. N. v. 19. 75.
[569] See in general, Reland, p. 769. Pauly’s Encycl. iii. 563. Kuhn, Die städt. und bürgerl. Verf. ii. 320, 350 sq. The same, Ueber die Entstehung der Städte der Alten, p. 424. Quandt, Judäa und die Nachbarschaft im Jahrh. vor und nach der Geburt Christi (1873), p. 120 sq.
[570] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 246: καὶ ἔστι πολίχνη Γαβὲ καλουμένη ὡς ἀπὸ σημείων ιςʹ τῆς Καισαρείας et alia villa Gabatha in finibus Diocaesareae παρακειμένη τῷ μεγάλῳ πεδίῳ τῆς Λεγεῶνος. The words here interpolated in Latin from Hieronymus have been omitted from the text of Eusebius through homoioteleuton. Through their omission it came to appear, that the little town of Gabe was 16 m. p. from Caesarea, and yet at the same time in the great plain of Legeon (Megiddo), which is not possible. The Gabe of Eusebius seems, on the contrary, to be identical with Jeba, which is marked on the large English chart directly north of Caesarea on the western declivity of Carmel. Map of Western Palestine, sheet viii. to the left, above; also Memoirs, ii. 42, where indeed this Jeba is identified with πόλις ἱππέων.
[571] See on the coins, Noris, iv. 5. 6 (ed. Lips. pp. 458-462). Eckhel, iii. 344 sqq. Mionnet, v. 316-318; Suppl. viii. 220-222. De Saulcy, pp. 339-343, pl. xix. n. 1-7. The coins have an era commencing somewhere between 693 and 696 A.U.C.
[572] Plinius, H. N. v. 18. 74.
[573] Hierocles, Synecd., ed. Parthey, p. 44.
[574] Guérin, Galilé, i. 395-397. Sheikh Abreik lies upon an isolated eminence close to Carmel, under the same degree of latitude as Nazareth. Compare The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, i. 343-351, also the English map, sheet v. It is certainly incorrect to seek for Gaba in the situation of the present Jebata, as Menke does in his Bibel-Atlas. The latter is much too far from Carmel, in the midst of the plain; and is, on the contrary, identical with the Gabatha of Eusebius (see note 302).
26. Esbon or Hesbon, Hebr. חֶשְׁבּוֹן, in the LXX. and Eusebius Ἐσεβών, Josephus Ἐσσεβών, later Ἐσβοῦς. The town lay, according to Josephus, 20 m. p. east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho.[575] With this agrees exactly the situation of the present Hesbân, east of Jordan, under the same degree of latitude as the northern point of the Dead Sea, where ruins are also found.[576] Hesbon is frequently mentioned as the capital of an Amorite kingdom.[577] In Isaiah and Jeremiah, on the other hand, it appears as a Moabite town.[578] And as such it is also mentioned by Josephus even in the time of Alexander Jannaeus, by whose victories it was incorporated in the Jewish region (Antt. xiii. 15. 4). Its further history cannot be accurately followed. At all events it was in the possession of Herod, when he refortified it for the control of Peraea, and placed in it a military colony (Antt. xv. 8. 5).[579] The district of Esbon is mentioned as the eastern boundary of Peraea by Josephus, hence it did not in a political sense belong to Peraea.[580] At the outbreak of the Jewish war, it was attacked by the insurgent Jews (Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). At the creation of the province of Arabia, A.D. 105, Esbon, or as it was now called Esbus, was probably forthwith awarded to it, for Ptolemy already speaks of it as belonging to Arabia.[581] The few coins as yet known are those of either Caracalla or Elagabalus.[582] It was an important town in the time of Eusebius,[583] and Christian bishops of Esbus (Esbundorum, Ἐσβουντίων) are mentioned in the fourth and fifth centuries.[584]
[575] Euseb. Onomast. p. 253: Ἐσεβών … καλεῖται δὲ νῦν Ἐσβοῦς, ἐπίσήμος πόλις τῆς Ἀραβίας, ἐν ὄρεσι τοῖς ἀντικρὺ τῆς Ἱεριχοῦς κειμένη, ὡς ἀπὸ σημείων κʹ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου.
[576] See Seetzen, Reisen, i. 497, iv. 220 sqq. Burckhardt, Reisen, ii. 623 sq., 1063. Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. 2. 1176-1181. De Saulcy, Voyage en Terre Sainte (1865), i. 279 sqq. (with a plan of the ruins). Bädeker-Socin, Palästina, p. 318. On the history, Reland, p. 719 sq. Raumer, p. 262. The articles on “Hesbon,” in Winer, Schenkel, Riehm, Herzog’s Real-Encycl. 1st ed. vi. 21 sq. Kuhn, Die städt. und bürgerl. Verfassung, ii. 387, 386 sq.
[577] Numbers 21:26 sqq.; Deuteronomy 1:4; Deuteronomy 2:24 sqq., Deuteronomy 3:2 sqq., Deuteronomy 4:46; Joshua 9:9; Joshua 12:2 sqq., Joshua 13:10; Joshua 13:21; Judges 11:19 sqq. Comp. also Jdt_5:15.
[578] Isaiah 15:4; Isaiah 16:8-9; Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:34-35; Jeremiah 49:3.
[579] Thus certainly must the passage cited be understood; see on its tenor, note 299. The form Ἐσεβωνῖτις is the designation of the district of Esbon. The town itself is called Ἑσεβών or Ἐσσεβών. Σεβωνῖτις occurs for Ἐσεβωνῖτις, Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1, iii. 3. 3. See the following note.
[580] Σεβωνῖτις is certainly the reading, as in Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1, instead of Σιλβωνῖτις. In Menke’s Bibel-Atlas, sheet v., Essebon is correctly placed outside Peraea; on the other hand, it is incorrectly allotted to the Nabataean realm instead of to that of Herod the Great. It is possible that after the death of Herod it may have fallen into the hands of the Arabians, as e.g. Machaerus also temporarily belonged to them (Antt. xviii. 5. 1). The circumstance that Esbon, after the erection of Arabia to the rank of a province, belonged thereto favours this supposition. Less convincing is the mention of the Esbonitae Arabes in Plinius, v. 11. 65, since this is only said in an ethnographical sense. In any case the Σεβωνῖτις formed in the time of Josephus a town district proper, which though perhaps subject to the Arabians, was still distinct from the other Arabias, Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 3.
[581] Ptolem. v. 17. 6. The town is here called Ἔσβουτα (so also the Codex of Vatopedi, see Géographie de Ptolémée, reproduction photolithographique, etc., Paris 1867, p. lvii. below), which however is properly the accusative form of Ἔσβους.
[582] Eckhel, iii. 503. Mionnet, v. 585 sq.; Suppl. viii. 387. De Saulcy, p. 393, pl. xxiii. n. 5-7.
[583] See above, note 307. Eusebius also frequently mentions the town elsewhere in the Onomasticon. See Lagarde’s Index, s.v. εσβουν, εσεβουν and εσεβους.
[584] Le Quien, Orient christianus, ii. 863.
27. Antipatris, Ἀντιπατρίς.[585] The original name of this town was Καφαρσαβά,[586] or Καβαρσαβά,[587] sometimes Καπερσαβίνη,[588] Hebrew כפר סבא, under which name it also occurs in Rabbinical literature.[589] Its situation is evidenced by the present Kefr-Saba, north-eastward of Joppa, the position of which agrees with the statements of ancient writers concerning Antipatris, that it was 150 stadia from Joppa,[590] at the entrance of the mountainous district,[591] and 26 m. p. south of Caesarea, on the road thence to Lydia.[592] Herod here founded in a well-watered and well-wooded plain a new city, which he called Antipatris in honour of his father Antipater (Antt. xvi. 5. 2; Bell. Jud. i. 21. 9). The town is also mentioned in Rabbinical literature under this name, אנטיפטרט;[593] also by Ptolemy, Eusebius, and Stephanus Byzantinus.[594] It was much reduced in the fourth century after Christ, being spoken of in the Itinerar. Burdig., not as a civitas, but only as a mutatio (stopping place), and designated by Jerome as a semirutum opidulum.[595] Yet a Bishop of Antipatris still occurs in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451.[596] Its existence in these later times is also elsewhere evidenced.[597] Nay, so late as the eighth century after Christ it is still spoken of as a town inhabited by Christians.[598]
[585] See on the subject generally, Reland, p. 569 sq., 690. Pauly’s Enc. i. 1. 1150. Kuhn, ii. 351. Winer, s.v. “Antipatrie.” Raumer, p. 147. Robinson’s Palestine, ii. p. 242, iii. pp. 138, 139. Ritter, xvi. 569-572. Guérin, Samarie, ii. 357-367; comp. ii. 132 sq. Wilson, Quarterly Statement, 1874. pp. 192-196. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 134, 258-262; the English map, sheets x. and xiii. Ebers and Guthe, Palästina, vol. ii. p. 452.
[586] Joseph. Antt. xvi. 5. 2.
[587] Joseph. Antt. xiii. 15. 1. The reading here fluctuates between Καβαρσαβα, Χαβαρσβα, and Χαβαρζαβα.
[588] Such is undoubtedly the reading instead of και περσαβινη in the passage of the Chronicon Paschale, ed. Dindorf, i. 367: ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ καὶ Ἀνθηδόνα ἐπικτίσας Ἀγρίππειαν ἐκάλεσεν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ περσαβίνην εἰς ὄνομα Ἀντιπάτρου τοῦ ἰδίου πατρός. Comp. Reland, pp. 690, 925. In the parallel passage in Syncellus, ed. Dindorf, i. 595, it is said: ἔτι τε Παρσανάβαν εἰς τιμὴν Ἀντιπάτρον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ἀντιπατρίδα ὠνόμασε.
[589] Tosefta, Nidda 649. 35 (ed. Zuckermandel); Bab. Nidda 61a; Jer. Demai ii. 1, fol. 22c. Hamburger, Real-Encycl. für Bibel und Talmud, ii. 637, art. “Kephar Saba.”
[590] Antt. xiii. 15. 1.
[591] Bell. Jud. i. 4. 7.
[592] The Itinerarium Burdigalense (in Tobler and Molinier, Itinera, etc., p. 20) gives the distance from Caesarea to Antipatris at 26 m. p., that from Antipatris to Lydda at 10 m. p. The former number agrees almost exactly with the situation of Kefr-Saba, the latter is in consequence of a clerical error too little. The general situation of Antipatris, as on the road from Caesarea to Lydda, is also elsewhere testified; see Antt. xxiii. 31; Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 19. 1, 9, iv. 8. 1. Hieronym. Peregrinatio Paulae (in Tobler, Palaestinae descr. p. 13). The reasons brought forward by Guérin, Wilson, Conder, and Mühlau (Riehm’s Wörterb.) against the identity of Kefr-Saba and Antipatris do not seem to me decisive.
[593] Mishna, Gittin vii. 7; Bab. Gittin 76a. Lightfoot, Centuria Matthaeo praemissa, c. 58 (Opp. ii. 214). Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, pp. 86-90. Hamburger, Real-Encycl. ii. 63, art. “Antipatris.”
[594] Ptolemaeus, v. 16. 6. Eusebius, Onomast. pp. 245, 246. Steph. Byz. s.v.
[595] See the passages cited, note 324.
[596] Le Quien, Oriens christianus, iii. 579 sq.
[597] Hierocles, Synecd. (ed. Parthey) p. 43. The Notitia episcopat. (the same), p. 143.
[598] Theophanis, Chronographia, ad ann. Dom. 743 (ed. Bonnens. i. 658).
28. Phasaelis, Φασαηλίς.[599] It was in honour of his brother Phasael that Herod founded in the Jordan valley, in a hitherto untilled but fertile region, which was thus gained for cultivation, the city of Phasaelis (Antt. xvi. 5. 2; Bell. Jud. i. 21. 9). After his death the town, with its valuable palm plantations, came into the possession of his sister Salome (Antt. xviii. 8. 1, 11. 5; Bell. Jud. ii. 6. 3); and after her death into that of the Empress Livia (Antt. xviii. 2. 2; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1). Pliny speaks of the excellent dates obtained from the palm trees growing there.[600] The town is also mentioned by Ptolemy, Stephanus Byz., and the geographers of Ravenna.[601] Its name has been preserved in the present Karbet Fasail on the edge of the plain of the Jordan, in a fertile district. The stream flowing thence to the Jordan is called Wadi Fasail.[602]
[599] See in general, Reland, p. 953 sq. Pauly’s Enc. v. 1439. Raumer, p. 216. Robinson’s Palestine, i. p. 569, iii. p. 293. Ritter, xv. 1. 458 sq. Guérin, Samarie, i. 228-232. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, ii. 388, 392; and the large English map, sheet xv.
[600] Plinius, H. N. xiii. 4. 44: Sed ut copia ibi atque fertilitas, ita nobilitas in Judaea, nec in tota, sed Hiericunte maxume, quamquam laudatae et Archelaide et Phaselide atque Liviade, gentis ejusdem convallibus.
[601] Ptolem. v. 16. 7. Steph. Byz. s.v. Geographus Ravennas, edd. Pinder et Parthey (1860), p. 84. The town is also mentioned in the Middle Ages (in Burchardus and Marinus Sanutus), see the passages in Guérin, Samarie, i. 231 eq.
[602] See especially the large English map, sheet xv., and the description in Guérin and Conder, as above.
29. Caesarea Panias.[603] Τὸ Πάνειον properly means the grotto dedicated to Pan at the source of the Jordan.[604] It is first mentioned under this name by Polybius in the time of Antiochus the Great, who there gained (198 B.C.) over the Egyptian general Scopas the decisive victory, in consequence of which all Palestine fell into his hands.[605] Even this early mention would lead us to infer a Hellenization of the place in the third century before Christ. In any case the population of the surrounding district, as its farther history also shows, was chiefly non-Jewish. In the early times of Herod the country of Πανιάς (as it was called from the Pan-Grotto there) belonged to a certain Zenodorus, after whose death, in the year 20 B.C., it was given by Augustus to Herod (see above, § 15), who built a splendid temple to Augustus in the neighbourhood of the Pan-Grotto (Antt. xv. 10. 3; Bell. Jud. i. 21. 3). The place, which lay there, was originally called like the country, Πανιάς or Πανεάς.[606] It was first, however, transformed into a considerable town by Philip the Tetrarch, the son of Herod, who rebuilt it and called it Καισάρεια, in honour of Augustus (Antt. xviii. 2. 1; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1). This refoundation belongs to the early times of Philip; for the coins of the town have an era, the commencement of which probably dates from the year 3 B.C. (751 A.U.C.), or at latest 2 B.C. (752 A.U.C.).[607] After the death of Philip, his realm was for a few years under Roman administration, then under Agrippa I., then again under Roman procurators, and at last, in A.D. 53, under Agrippa II., who enlarged Caesarea and called it Νερωνιάς in honour of Nero (Antt. xv. 9. 4), which name is occasionally found on coins.[608] That the town was then also chiefly a heathen one appears from Joseph. Vita, 13. Hence both Titus and Vespasian passed their times of repose during the Jewish war amidst games and other festivities at this place.[609] The name Neronias seems never to have been naturalized. In the first century after Christ this Caesarea was, to distinguish it from others, usually called Καισάρεια ἡ Φιλίππου;[610] its official designation upon coins, especially of the second century, is Καισ(άρεια) Σεβ(αστὴ) ἱερ(ὰ) καὶ ἄσυ(λος) ὑπὸ Πανείω.[611] Elsewhere it has generally been called since the second century Καισάρεια Πανιάς, which name also predominates on coins of the third.[612] Since the fourth the name of Caesarea has been wholly lost, and the town called only Panias.[613] This seems besides to have always remained its prevailing name among the native population,[614] as it is also that chiefly used (in the form פנייס) in Rabbinic literature.[615] When the “villages of Caesarea Philippi” (αἱ κῶμαι Καισαρείας τῆς Φιλίππου) are mentioned in the New Testament, Mark 8:27, of course the genitive here expresses not a merely “local reference” of the villages to the town,[616] but shows that they belong and are subject to it,—in other words, that Caesarea had, like each of these towns, a district of its own which it governed.
[603] See on the general subject, Reland, pp. 918-922. Winer’s RWB. and Schenkel’s Bibellex. s.v. “Caesarea.” Kuhn, ii. 334. Robinson’s Palestine, iii. 397-413. Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. 1. 195-207. Guérin, Galilée, ii. 308-323. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, i. 95, 109-113, 125-128; the large English map, sheet ii. Ebers and Guthe, Palästina in Bild und Wort, i. 356-366. Views of the Pan-Grotto in the Duc de Luynes Voyage d’ Exploration, etc., Atlas, plates 62, 63. Inscriptions, Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4537-4539. Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 1891-1894.
[604] The Paneion is described as a grotto (σπήλαιον, ἄντρον) in Joseph, Antt. xv. 10. 3. Bell. Jud. i. 21. 3, iii. 10. 7: δοκεῖ μὲν Ἰορδάνου πηγὴ τὸ Πανίου. Steph. Byz. s.v. Πανία. The mountain was called by the same name as the grotto Euseb. Hist. eccl. vii. 17: ἐν ταῖς ὑπωρείαις τοῦ καλουμένου Πανίου ὄρους (Τὸ Πάνειον is properly an adjective requiring as a complement either ἄντρον or ὄρος.
[605] Polybius, xvi. 18, xxviii. 1.
[606] Πανιάς or Πανεάς is properly an adjective and indeed the fem. of Πάνειος (as ἀγριάς, λευκάς, ὀρειάς are the poetic feminines of ἄγριος, λευκός, ὄρειος). Hence the same word serves to designate both the country (where χώρα is the complement, Antt. xv. 10. 3, xvii. 8. 1. Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1. Plinius, v. 18. 74: Panias in qua Caesarea) and the town or village (where πόλις or κώμη is the complement, Antt. xviii. 2. 1).
[607] See Noris, iv. 5. 4. (ed. Lips. pp. 442-453). Eckhel, iii. 339-344. Sanclemente, De vulgaris aerae emendatione (Rome 1793), iii. 2, p. 322 sqq. The coins in Mionnet, v. 311-315; Suppl. viii. 217-220. De Saulcy, pp. 313-324, pl. xviii. The addition to the Chronicle of Eusebius, which transposes the foundation to the time of Tiberius, is of no value. See below, note 390. Also Jerome in the Chronicle and Comment. on Matth. xvi. 13 (see note 345).
[608] Mionnet, v. 315. De Saulcy, pp. 316, 318. Madden, History of Jewish Coinage, pp. 116, 117. The same, Coins of the Jews, pp. 145, 146.
[609] Joseph. Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 7, vii. 2. 1.
[610] Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27. Joseph. Antt. xx. 9. 4; Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 7, vii. 2. 1; Vita, 13.
[611] See the literature cited in note 339, especially Mionnet and De Saulcy.
[612] Ptolem. v. 15. 21, viii. 20. 12 (Καισάρεια Πανιάς). Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 4750 (upon the statue of Memnon at Thebes), and n. 4921 (at Philoe), both times Καισαρείας Πανιάδος. Le Bas et Waddington, Inscriptions, vol. iii. n. 1620b (at Aphrodisias in Caria in the second century after Christ). Καισάρειαν Πανιάδα. Tabula Peuting. (Caesareapaneas). Geographus Ravennas, edd. Pinder et Parthey, p. 85. The coins in De Saulcy, pp. 317, 322 sq.
[613] Eusebius, who frequently mentions the town in the Onomasticon, always calls it Πανεάς only (see the Index in Lagarde’s edition). And this is generally its name in ecclesiastical literature; see Eusebius, Hist. eccl. vii. 17, 18. Hieron. in Jesaj. xlii. 1 sqq., ed. Vallarsi, iv. 507 (in confinio Caesareae Philippi, quae nunc vocatur Paneas). Idem in Ezek. xxvii. 19, ed. Vall. v. 317 (ubi hodie Paneas, quae quondam Caesarea Philippi vocabatur); Idem in Matt. xvi. 13, ed. Vall. vii. 121 (in honorem Tiberii (sic !) Caesaris Caesaream, quae nunc Paneas dicitur, construxit). Sozom. v. 21. Philostorg. vii. 3 (comp. also Müller, Fragm. hist. graec. iv. 546). Theodoret. Quaest. (see the passages in Reland, p. 919). Malalas, ed. Dindorf, p. 237. Glycas Theophanes (see the passages in Reland, p. 922). Photius, Cod. 271, sub fin. The Acts of the Councils (in Le Quien, Oriens christianus, ii. 831). Hierocles, Synecd., ed. Parthey, p. 43. Theodosius, De situ terrae sanctae, § 13 (ed. Gildemeister 1882). On the supposed status of Christ at Paneas, see also Gieseler, Kirchengesch. i. 1. 85 sq.
[614] Comp. Euseb. H. E. vii. 17: ἐπὶ τῆς Φιλίππου Καισαρείας, ἣν Πανεάδα Φοίνικες προσαγορεύουσι.
[615] Mishna, Para viii. 11; Tosefta, Bechoroth p. 542, 1, ed. Zuckermandel (in both passages the “Grotto of Panias,” מערת פנייס, is mentioned). Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. col. 1752. Levy, Chald. Wörterbuch, ii. 273 sq. Lightfoot, Centuria Matthaeo praemissa, c. 67 (Opp. ii. 220). Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, pp. 236-238. The corrupted form פמייס does not belong to the usage of the living language, but in the first instance to a later text. In the passages cited from the Mishna the best authorities still have פנייס (so Aruch, Cod. de Rossi 138, Cambridge University Additional, 470. 1). In Aruch this form only is everywhere quoted.
[616] So Winer, Grammatik, § 30. 2.
30. Julias, formerly Bethsaida.[617] In the place of a village called Bethsaida, lying to the north of the Lake of Gennesareth, a new town was built by Philip, who called it Ἰουλιάς, in honour of Julia the daughter of Augustus (Antt. xviii. 2. 1; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1). Its situation eastward of the Jordan, just before the latter flows into the Lake of Gennesareth, is placed beyond doubt by the repeated and concurrent statements of Josephus.[618] The foundation of this city also must have taken place in the earlier times of Philip. For in the year 2 B.C. (752 A.U.C.) Julia had already been banished by Augustus to the island of Pandateria,[619] and it is not conceivable, that Philip should, after that date, have named a town after her.[620] Of its subsequent history, nothing is known but that it was given by Nero to Agrippa II. (Antt. xx. 8. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 2). It is mentioned in Pliny, Ptolemy and the geographers of Ravenna.[621] From the manner in which Josephus speaks of it (Antt. xviii. 2. 1), it might appear as though Philip had only altered the name of the village of Bethsaida into Julias, and thus, that the new place too was only a κώμη.[622] In another passage however he explicitly distinguishes Julias from the surrounding villages as a πόλις, hence the former was properly speaking a πόλις from the time of its rebuilding. The question as to whether the Bethsaida of the New Testament was identical with this—a question recently again decided in the affirmative[623]—must here be left undiscussed.
[617] See in general, Reland, pp. 653 sqq., 869. Raumer, p. 122. Winer, s.v. “Bethsaida.” Kuhn, ii. 352. Robinson, ii. pp. 405, 406, iii. pp. 358, 359. Ritter, xv. 1. 278 sqq. Guérin, Galilée, i. 329-338. Furrer in the Zeitsch. of the German Pal.-Vereins, ii. 66-70.
[618] See especially, Bell. Jud. iii. 10. 7; also Antt. xviii. 2. 1 (on the Lake of Gennesareth); Vita, 72 (near the Jordan); Antt. xx. 8. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 2 (in Peraea). Also Plinius, H. N. v. 15. 71, mentions Julias on the eastern shore of the Lake of Gennesareth.
[619] Velleius, ii. 100. Dio Cassius, Leviticus 10. Comp. Sueton. Aug. 65. Tac. Annal. i. 53. Pauly’s Enc. v. 844 sq. Lewin, Fasti sacri (1865), n. 961.
[620] So also Sanclemente, De vulgaris aerae emendatione, p. 327 sqq. Lewin, Fasti sacri, n. 953. The Chronicle of Eusebius erroneously places the foundation of Julias in the time of Tiberius; see below, note 390.
[621] Plinius, v. 15. 71. Ptolem. v. 16. 4. Geogr. Ravennas, edd. Pinder et Parthey, p. 85.
[622] Antt. xviii. 2. 1: κώμην δὲ Βηθσαϊδάν, πρὸς λίμνῃ δὲ τῇ Γεννησαρίτιδι, πόλεως παρασχὼν ἀξίωμα πλήθει τε οἰκητόρων καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ δυνάμει, Ἰουλίᾳ θυγατρὶ τῇ Καίσαρος ὁμώνυμον ἐκάλεσεν.
[623] Holtzmann, Jahrb. f. prot. Theol. 1878, p. 383 sq. Furrer in the Zeitsch. of the German Päl.-Ver. ii. 66-70. Against this identity, see especially Reland, Raumer and Winer, as above.
31. Sepphoris, Σεπφώρις.[624] The Semitic form of this name fluctuates between צִפּוֹרִין and צִפּוֹרִי. Perhaps the former is the older, the latter the abbreviated form.[625] With the former correspond the Greek and Latin Σεπφουρίν, Saphorim, Safforine;[626] with the latter Σαπφουρεί, Sapori.[627] Josephus constantly uses the Graecized form Σεπφώρις. On coins the inhabitants are called Σεπφωρηνοί.[628] The earliest mention is found in Josephus in the beginning of the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, when Ptolemy Lathurus made an unsuccessful attempt to take Sepphoris by force (Antt. xiii. 12. 5). When Gabinius, about 57-55 B.C., divided the Jewish region into five “Synedria,” he transferred the Synedrium for Galilee to Sepphoris (Antt. xiv. 5. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 8. 5); which shows that this town must then have been the most important town of Galilee. It is also mentioned as a place of arms at the conquest of Palestine by Herod the Great, who was only able to take it without difficulty, because the garrison of Antigonus had evacuated the place (Antt. xiv. 15. 4; Bell. Jud. i. 16. 2). At the insurrection, after the death of Herod, Sepphoris seems to have been a main seat of the rebellion. Varus despatched thither a division of his army, burnt the town and sold its inhabitants as slaves (Antt. xvii. 10. 9; Bell. Jud. ii. 5. 1). This makes a turning-point in its history; from a Jewish town adhering to the national party it now became a town friendly to the Romans, with probably a mixed population. For Herod Antipas, to whose possession it was transferred, rebuilt it and made it “the ornament of all Galilee” (Antt. xviii 2. 1): πρόσχημα τοῦ Γαλιλαίου παντός. But its population was—as was shown by its attitude during the great war, A.D. 66-70—no longer anti-Roman and hence no longer purely Jewish.[629] It is perhaps this change, which is referred to in a passage of the Mishna, in which the “ancient government of Sepphoris” is assumed to have been a purely Jewish one.[630] At its rebuilding by Herod Antipas, Sepphoris seems to have been also raised to the rank of capital of Galilee.[631]
[624] See in general, Reland, pp. 999-1003. Pauly’s Enc. vi. 1. 1050. Raumer, p. 139. Kuhn, ii. 372. Robinson’s Palestine, iii. 111, 112. Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 748 sq. Guérin, Galilée, i. 369-376. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, i. 279 sq., 330-338; also sheet v. of the English map.
[625] The place does not occur in the Old Testament, but very frequently, on the other band, in Rabbinical literature. In the Mishna it is found in the four following places: Kiddushin iv. 5; Baba mezia viii. 8; Baba bathra vi. 7; Arachin ix. 6; very often in the Tosefta (see the Index in Zuckermandel’s edition). Comp. also Lightfoot, Centuria Matthaeo praemissa, c. 82, 83 (Opp. ii. 229 sqq.). Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, ii. 1115. The orthography fluctuates between צפורין (or, which is the same, ציפורין, צפורים) and (ציפורי) צפורי. The Cod. de Rossi 138 has in all the four places in the Mishna ציפורין; the Cambridge manuscript too (University Additional, 470. 1) has throughout the plural form. This also appears to be the prevailing form in the Jerusalemite Talmud (see the quotations in Lightfoot, as above). Elsewhere, on the contrary, צפורי predominates, especially in the Tosefta (according to Zuckermandel’s edition).
[626] Σεπφουρίν, Epiphan. Haer. 30. 11 (ed. Dindorf). Saphorim, Hieronymus praef. in Jonam (Vallarsi, vi. 390). Safforine, Hieran. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 88. In John 11:54 the Greek and Latin text of the Cod. Cantabr. has the addition Σαπφουρειν, Sapfurim, after χώραν.
[627] Σαπφουρεἰ, Ptolem. v. 16. 4 (the Codex of Vatopedi has Σαπφουρεί without the addition ἢ Σαπφουρίς; see Géographie de Ptolémée reproduction photolithographique, etc., p. lvii.). Sapori, Geographus Ravennas, edd. Pinder et Parthey, p. 85.
[628] See Eckhel, iii. 425. Mionnet, 482. De Saulcy, p. 325 sq., pl. xvii. n. 1-4.
[629]a That it was however still chiefly Jewish is evident especially from Bell. Jud. iii. 2. 4: προθύμους σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ὑπέσχοντο κατὰ τῶν ὁμοφύλων συμμάχους.
[630] Kiddushin iv. 5. It is here said, that every one is to be esteemed an Israelite of pure blood, who can prove his descent from a priest or Levite, who has actually ministered as such, or from a member of the Sanhedrim; nay every one whose ancestors were known to have been public officials or almoners, in particular, according to Rabbi Jose, every מי שהיה החום בארכי הישנה של ציפורין. In explanation of this difficult passage we remark that חָתוּם, properly, “sealed,” is here equivalent to “confirmed, acknowledged, accredited by documents” (compare the use of σφραγίζω, John 3:33; John 6:27). The word עֵד, which the common text has after חתום, must according to the best MSS. be expunged. ארכי = ἀρχή ישנה is certainly not the local name Jeshana (for which older commentators have taken it), but the adjective “old.” Hence two explanations are possible. Either—1. “Every one, who (with respect to his ancestors) was recognised in the old government of Sepphoris as a member thereof.” It would then be assumed that all the members of the old government were Israelites of pure blood. Or 2. “Every one, who was acknowledged by the old government of Sepphoris,” viz. as an Israelite of pure blood. In this case also the old government of Sepphoris would be assumed to consist of purely Israelitish officials. The first explanation seems to me to be preferable according to the context. It may certainly be questionable, when the ancient purely Jewish government of Sepphoris was replaced by another of mixed or heathen composition. This might have taken place in the time of Hadrian, when much may have been changed in consequence of the Jewish insurrection, at about which period also, it should be observed, Sepphoris received the new name of Diocaesarea (see below). According to all indications however, it seems to me probable, that Sepphoris so early as its rebuilding by Herod Antipas was no longer a purely Jewish town. Consider also the coins with the image of Trajan!
[631] Josephus says, Antt. xviii. 2. 1: ἦγεν αὐτὴν αὐτοκρατορίδα. This alone tells us nothing more than that he granted it its autonomy (αὐτοκρατορίδα = κὐτόνομον). But subsequent history makes it probable, that the rest of Galilee was then already subordinated to it. The explanation of αὐτοκρατορίς as capital can hardly be conceded. Some MSS. have αὐτοκράτορι, whence Dindorf conjectures: ἀνῆκεν αὐτὴν αὐτοκράτορι, “he dedicated it to the emperor.”
This rank was however afterwards bestowed by the same prince upon the newly built city of Tiberias, to which Sepphoris was subordinate.[632] It so continued until Tiberias was, in the reign of Nero, separated from Galilee and bestowed upon Agrippa II., when Sepphoris consequently again occupied the position of capital of Galilee.[633] Thus these two towns alternately assumed the same position with respect to Galilee, that Jerusalem did with respect to Judaea (see below, § 2). Sepphoris was at that time the most important fortress in Galilee,[634] and, after Tiberias, the largest town in the province.[635] Hence, at the outbreak of the Jewish war, it was of the greatest consequence, that just this town did not participate in the insurrection, but remained from the beginning on the side of the Romans. So early as the time when Cestius Gallus marched against insurgent Jerusalem, Sepphoris took up a friendly position towards him.[636] It remained also faithful to its Romish tendencies during the winter of A.D. 66/67, when Josephus was organizing the insurrection in Galilee.[637] Josephus therefore took possession of it by force, in doing which he was unable to prevent its being plundered by his Galilaean troops.[638] Cestius Gallus consequently sent a garrison to the oppressed town, by which Josephus was repulsed, when he for the second time entered it by force.[639] Vespasian soon after arrived in Galilee with his army, and Sepphoris entreated and again received from him a Roman garrison.[640] We have but fragmentary information of the further history of the town. Its inhabitants are, on coins of Trajan, still called Σεπφωρηνοί. Soon after however it received the name of Diocaesarea, which appears on coins since Antoninus Pius. Its official designation upon coins is: Διοκαι(σάρεια) ἱερὰ ἄσ(υλος) καὶ αὐτό(νομος).[641] The name of Diocaesarea remained the prevailing one in Greek authors,[642] though its original appellation continued to exist, and at last banished the new one.[643] The district of Diocaesarea was so extensive, that it included e.g. the village of Dabira on Mount Tabor.[644]
[632] Vita, 9, Justus said of Tiberias: ὡς ἡ πόλις ἐστὶν ἀεὶ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, ἄρξειεν δὲ ἐπί γε τῶν Ἡρώδου χρόνων τοῦ τετράρχου καὶ κτίστου γενομένου, βουληθέντος αὐτοῦ τὴν Σεπφωριτῶν πόλιν τῇ Τιβεριέων ὑπακούειν.
[633] Vita, 9: ἄρξαι γὰρ εὐθὺς τὴν μὲν Σεπφώριν, ἐπειδὴ Ῥωμαίοις ὑπήκουσε, τῆς Γαλιλαίας.
[634] Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 11: ἡ καρτερωτάτη τῆς Γαλιλαίας πόλις Σεπφώρις. Comp. Bell. Jud. iii. 2. 4. The ἀκρόπολις is mentioned Vita, 67. Comp. Mishna, Arachin ix. 6: קצרה הישנה של ציפורין, “the old citadel of Sepphoris.” Tosefta, Shabbath, p. 129, 27th ed. Zuckermandel, קצטרא שבציפורי.
[635] Vita, 65 (ed. Bekker, p. 340, 32): τῶν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ πόλεων αἱ μεγίσται Σεπφώρις καὶ Τιβεριάς. Vita, 45: εἰς Σεπφώριν, μεγίστην τῶν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ πόλιν. Bell. Jud. iii. 2. 4: μεγίστην μὲν οὖσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας πόλιν, ἐρυμνοτάτῳ δὲ ἐπεκτισμένην χωρίῳ. Accordiug to Vita, 25, Tiberias, Sepphoris and Gabara were the three largest towns of Galilee.
[636] Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 11.
[637] Joseph. Vita, 8, 22, 25, 45, 65. Two passages indeed in the Bell. Jud. seem to contradict this: according to Bell. Jud. ii. 20. 6, Josephus committed to the Sepphorites themselves the charge of fortifying their town, because he found them in other respects “ready for war” (προθύμους ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον), i.e. against the Romans; and according to Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 7, Sepphoris, at the outbreak of the conflict between Josephus and the more fanatical war party, stood on the side of the latter. The true relation however between these two facts is seen from the more special statements of the Vita. The Sepphorites alleged their readiness to attach themselves to the cause of the revolution, solely for the purpose of keeping off from themselves the whole revolutionary party; and fortified their city not against, but for the Romans (see especially, Vita, 65). And when in the winter of 66/67 they had remained a long time without Roman protection, they were obliged to tack between the two revolutionary parties, which were mutually attacking each other, and as far as possible to take up a friendly position towards both (see Vita, 25, and especially, Vita, 45), to which circumstance what is said in Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 7 may be reduced.
[638] Vita, 67.
[639] Vita, 71. The remark, Vita, 15: δὶς μὲν κατὰ κράτος ἑλὼν Σεπφωρίτας, refers to this double capture of Sepphoris.
[640] Vita, 74; Bell. Jud. iii. 2. 4, 4. 1. The former garrison sent by Cestius Gallus had meantime either withdrawn or was now replaced or strengthened by the troops of Vespasian.
[641] See on the coins in general, Noris, v. 6, fin. (ed. Lips. 562-564). Eckhel, iii. 425 sq. Mionnet, v. 482 sq.; Suppl. viii. 331 sq. De Saulcy, pp. 325-330, pl. xvii. n. 1-7. On a supposed coin of Seleucus I. (Nikator), Eckhel, iii. 426. Mionnet, v. 4. On the identity of Sepphoris and Diocaesarea, Epiphan. Haer. 30. 11, fin. Hieronymus, Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 88. Idem, praefat. in Jonam (Vallarsi, vi 390). Hegesippus, De bello Jud. i. 30. 7.
[642] Eusebius, in Onomast., calls the town exclusively Διοκαισάρεια (see the Index in Lagarde). Compare also, beside the literature cited in the preceding note, Socrates, Hist. eccl. ii. 33. Sozom. Hist. eccl. iv. 7. Theophanes, Chronographia, ed. Bonnens. i. 61. Cedrenus, ed. Bekker, i. 524. Le Quien, Oriens christ. iii. 714.
[643] On the continued use of the name Sepphoris, see above, notes 357-359. The place is still called Sefurije.
[644] Euseb. Onomast. p. 250: Δαβειρά … ἐν τῷ ὄρει Θαβώρ, ἐν ὁρίοις Διοκαισαρείας, Gabatha, the present Jabata, about 7-8 mil. pass. from Diocaesarea, also belonged to its district. See above, note 302.
32. Julias or Livias.[645] In the Old Testament, a place called Beth-haram (בֵּית הָרָם or בֵּית הָרָן), in the country east of the Jordan, in the realm of the Amorite kings of Hesbon, is mentioned (Joshua 13:27; Numbers 32:36). In the Jerusalemite Talmud בית רמתה is stated to be the more modern name of this Beth-haram;[646] and both Eusebius and Jerome identify the scriptural Beth-haram with the Βηθραμφθά or Bethrhamtha, which was known to them.[647] The Βηθαράμαθος, where Herod the Great had a palace, which was destroyed during the insurrection after his death, is at any rate identical with the latter.[648] It was this very Bethramphtha, which was rebuilt and fortified by Herod Antipas, and called Julias in honour of the wife of Augustus (Joseph. Antt. xviii. 2. 1; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1). Eusebius and others give the name as Livias instead of Julias,[649] and the town is elsewhere frequently mentioned by this name.[650] Since the wife of Augustus was called by her own name Livia during his lifetime, and did not bear the name of Julia till she was admitted into the gens Julia by his testament,[651] we must conclude that Livias was the older name of the town, and that this was after the death of Augustus altered into that of Julias; but that this new official appellation was, as in the case of Caesarea Philippi and Neronias, unable to banish the older and already nationalized name. Only Josephus uses the official designation Julias. He still mentions the town by this name at the time of the Jewish war, when it was occupied by Placidus, a general of Vespasian.[652] The situation of the town is most accurately described by Theodosius, the Palestinian pilgrim (sixth century), and after him by Gregory of Tours: it lay beyond Jordan, opposite Jericho, 12 m. p. from that town, in the neighbourhood of the warm springs.[653] With this Eusebius, who places it opposite Jericho on the road to Hesbon, coincides.[654] Its cultivation of dates is as much celebrated by Theodosius as by Pliny.[655]
[645] See in general, Reland, pp. 642, 874. Pauly’s Enc. iv. 1107. Winer, RWB. i. 171 (s.v. “Beth-haram”). Raumer, p. 260. Ritter, xv. 538, 578, 1186. Seetzen, Reisen, iv. 224 sq. Riehm’s Wörterb. s.v. Beth-haram. Kuhn, Die städtische und bürgerl. Verfassung, ii. 352 sq. Id. Ueber die Entstehung der Städte der Alten (1878), p. 426. Tuch, Quaestiones de Flavii Josephi libris historicis (1859), pp. 7-11.
[646] Jer. Shebiith 38d (on Mishna, Shebiith ix. 2; see the passage also in Reland, pp. 306-308). Peraea is here divided into three parts, according to its physical conditions of mountain, plain, and valley (הר, שפלה and עמק). In the mountainous part lies e.g. Machaerus, in the plain Hesbon, in the valley בית הרן and בית רמתה .בית נמרה and בית נמרין are then stated to be the more modern names of these last two places. In the Tosefta (p. 71, 22rd ed. Zuckermandel) the two places are called בית נמרה רמתא. Has the בית been here omitted before רמתא, or could the place have been called simply רמתא?
[647] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 234. Hieronymus, ibid. p. 103.
[648] Bell. Jud. ii. 4. 2. In the parallel passage, Antt. xvii. 10. 6, the name is corrupted. Instead of ἐν Ἀμαθοῖς, as the traditional text has it, we must read either ἐν Ἀραμαθοῖς (with the omission of Beth, so Tuch, Quaestiones, etc., p. 10) or just ἐν Βηθαραμαθοῖς.
[649] Euseb. Onomast. p. 234: Βηθραμφθά … αὐτὴ δὲ ἐστὶν ἡ νῦν καλουμένη Λιβιάς, Hieronymus, ibid. p. 103: Bethramtha … ab Herode in honorem Augusti Libias coguominata. Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 148 sq.: Herodes Tiberiodem condidit et Liviadem (according to Jerome, also the Armenian). Synecd., ed. Dindorf, i. 605: Ἡρώδης ἔκτισε Τιβεριάδα εἰς ὂνομα Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, ὁ αὐτὸς Λιβιάδα.
[650] Plinius, H. N. xiii. 4. 44. Ptolemaeus, v. 16. 9 (Λιβιάς according to the Cod. of Vatopedi). Euseb. in Onomast. frequently. Hierocles, Synecd., ed. Parthey, p. 44. The Notitia episcopat., the same, p. 144. The Acts of the Councils (Le Quien, Oriens christ. iii. 655 sq.). The Vita S. Joannis Silentiarii (in the Acta Sanctorum, see the passage in Reland, p. 874). Geographus Ravennas, ed. Pinder et Parthey, p. 84 (Liviada as nominat.). Theodosius, De situ terrae sanctae, § 65, ed. Gildemeister, 1882 (Liviada as nominat.). Gregor. Turon. De gloria martyr. i. 18. On the nominative formation Liviada, see Rönsch, Itala und Vulgata, p. 258 sq.
[651] On the testament of Augustus, see Tacit. Annal. i. 8: Livia in familiam Juliam nomenque Augustum adsumebatur. The name Julia for Livia is found in authors (see e.g. Tacit. Annal. i. 14, v. 1. Sueton. Calig. 16; Dio Cassius, lvi. 46. Plinius, H. N. x. 55. 154. Joseph. frequently), and upon coins and inscriptions. See Pauly’s Enc. iv. 484, 1116. Palestinian coins of Julia, see in Madden, History of Jewish Coinage, pp. 141-151. The same, Coins of the Jews (1881), pp. 177-182.
[652] Bell. Jud. iv. 7. 6, 8. 2. The town is not elsewhere mentioned by Josephus. For in Antt. xx. 8. 4, Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 2, it is certainly Julias = Betheaida, which is intended; and in Antt. xiv. 1. 4, Λιβιάς is probably the same place, which is called Λέμβα in Antt. xiii. 15. 4, where it is questionable which form is correct. Comp. Tuch, as above, pp. 11, 14. The Λυσιάς of Strabo, p. 763, which also lay in the same district, and is distinct from Livias, might also be compared, since it existed in the time of Pompey.
[653] Theodosius, De situ terrae sanctae (ed. Gildemeister, 1882), § 65: Civitas Liviada trans Jordanem, habens de Hiericho milia xii.… ibi aquae calidae sunt, ubi Moyses lavit, et in ipsis aquis calidis leprosi curantur. Gregr. Turon. De gloria martyrum, i. 18: Sunt autem et ad Levidam (elsewhere Leviadem) civitatem aquae calidae … ubi similiter leprosi mundantur; est autem ab Hiericho duodecim millia.
[654] Euseb. Onomast., ed. Lagarde, pp. 213, 216, 233. Comp. also the passage from the Vita S. Joannis Silentiarii in Reland, p. 874. The data furnished are sufficient for an approximate determination of the locality, but there is as yet no certain foundation for more accurately fixing it.
[655] Plinius, H. N. xiii. 4. 44 (see above, note 332). Theodosius, l.c.: ibi habet dactulum nicolaum majorem; also the note of Gildemeister.
33. Tiberias, Τιβεριάς.[656] The most important work of Herod the Great was the building of a new capital on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth, which he called Τιβεριάς in honour of the Emperor Tiberius. It was situated in a beautiful and fertile district in the neighbourhood of celebrated warm springs (Antt. xviii. 2. 3; Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1; compare above, § 17‌b).[657] Its building took place considerably after that of Sepphoris and Livias. For while Josephus mentions the building of these two cities at the very beginning of the reign of Herod Antipas, he does not speak of the building of Tiberias till the entrance of Pilate upon his office (A.D. 26); see Antt. xviii. 2. 1-3. This makes it probable, that Tiberias was not built till A.D. 26 or later.[658] Eusebius in his Chronicle decidedly places the building in the 14th year of Tiberius; but this statement is quite without chronological value.[659] Unfortunately the era of the town occurring upon the coins of Trajan and Hadrian cannot be calculated with certainty. It appears however, that the dates of the coins do not contradict the conjecture arrived at from Josephus.[660] The population of Tiberias was a very mixed one. To obtain inhabitants for his new town Herod Antipas was obliged to settle there, partly by compulsion, a real colluvies hominum (see above, § 17‌b). Its attitude however during the Jewish war shows them to have been chiefly Jewish. The constitution however was one of Hellenistic organization.[661] The town had a council (βουλή) of 600 members,[662] at the head of which was an ἄρχων[663] and a committee of the δέκα πρῶτοι,[664] also Hyparchoi[665] and an Agoranomos.[666] It was also promoted to be the capital of Galilee, Sepphoris itself being subordinated to it (see above, p. 139), The coins of Tiberias issued in the time of Herod have simply the superscription Τιβεριάς.[667] After the deposition of Herod Antipas Tiberias was transferred to the possession of Agrippa I. A coin of his time also, with the superscription Τιβεριέων is known.[668] After the death of Agrippa the town came under the authority of the Roman procurators of Judaea. It must at the same time have received new political privileges or experienced some kind of favour from the Emperor Claudius; for the inhabitants are constantly called Τιβεριεῖς Κλαυδιεῖς on the coins of Trajan and Hadrian.[669] It continued to maintain its position as capital of Galilee till the time of Nero (Joseph. Vita, 9). By him, probably in A.D. 61, it was bestowed upon Agrippa II., and thus separated from Galilee (Antt. xx. 8. 4; Bell. Jud. ii. 13. 2; Vita, 9).[670] Hence it formed part of the realm of Agrippa, when the Jewish insurrection broke out in A.D. 66. The attitude of the population with respect to it was a very varying one. Some desired to remain on the side of Agrippa and the Romans; others—and indeed the mass of those without property—wished to join the cause of the revolution; others again took up a position of reserve (Vita, 9; comp. also Vita, 12, where the revolutionary party is called ἡ τῶν ναυτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀπόρων στάσις). This party had decidedly the upper hand, and the rest had consequently to submit. A chief leader of this party was Jesus the son of Sapphias, then archon of the town.[671] Still even after the triumph of the revolutionary torrent, a part of the population maintained their relations to Agrippa, and repeatedly entreated, though in vain, his support.[672] When Vespasian had subjected the greater part of Galilee and penetrated as far as Tiberias, the town ventured no resistance, but voluntarily opened its gates and begged for pardon, which was granted out of regard for Agrippa. Vespasian indeed allowed his soldiers to march into Tiberias, but spared the town and restored it to Agrippa.[673] It remained in his possession probably till his death, A.D. 100, till which period it did not again come under direct Roman rule, to which circumstance extant coins of the time of Trajan and Hadrian bear testimony.[674] Eusebius designates it as a πόλις ἐπίσημος.[675] It was in the third and fourth centuries after Christ a chief seat of Rabbinical scholarship, and is hence frequently mentioned in Talmudic. literature.[676]
[656] See in general, Reland, pp. 1036-1042. Raumer, p. 142 sq. Winer, RWB. s.v. Robinson’s Palestine, ii. p. 380 sq., iii. p. 342 sq. Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. 315-322. Bädeker-Socin, pp. 382-387. Sepp, Jerusalem, ii. 188-209. Guérin, Galilée, i. 250-264. The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs by Conder and Kitchener, i. 361 sq., 379, 418-420; also sheet vi. of the large English chart.
[657] On the warm springs, see Plinius, H. N. v. 15. 71: Tiberiade aquis calidis salubri. Joseph. Antt. xviii. 2. 3; Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 6, iv. 1. 3; Vita, 16. Mishna, Shabbath iii. 4, xxii. 5; Negaim ix. 1; Machshirin vi. 7. Tosefta, Shabbath, p. 127, 21st ed. Zuckermandel. Antoninus Martyr, c. 7. in civitatem Tiberiadem, in qua sunt thermae salsae. Jakubi (9th cent.), translated in the Zeitsch. d. deutschen Pal.- Verein, iv. 87 sq. The present Tiberias lies about 40 minutes north of the springs; and there is no reason for transferring the former situation of the town elsewhere. For the opinion of Furrer (Zeitsch. d. DPV. ii. 54), that the ancient Tiberias lay so close to the springs, “that they were enclosed within the walls of the town,” rests upon a mistaken view of Joseph. Vita, 16; Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 6. See on the other hand, Antt. xviii. 2. 3; Bell. Jud. iv. 1. 3. (The ἐν Τιβεριάδι in the two former passages means only “in the district of Tiberias;” thus also e.g. in Steph. Byz., ed. Meineke, p. 366: Κάστνιον, ὂρος ἐν Ἀσπένδῳ τῆς Παμφυλίας; p. 442: ἔστι καὶ ἐν Κυζίκῳ κώμη Μέλισσα; comp. Marquardt, Röimische Staatsverwaltung, i. 1881, p. 16, note 5. In the Old Test. also באשדור = in the district of Ashdod.) The place where the springs were was called Ἐμμαοῦς (Antt. xviii. 2. 3) or Ἀμμαοῦς (Bell. Jud. iv. 1. 3), Hebrew חמתה, Jer. Erubin v. 22d below; Tosefta, Erubin p. 146, 5th ed. Zuckermandel. Comp. also Lightfoot, Centuria Matthaeo praemissa, c. 74 (Opp. ii. 244 sq.). Hamburger, Real-Encyklop. für Bibel und Talmud, 2nd Div., art. “Heilbäder.”
[658] So also Lewin, Fasti sacri (London 1866), n. 1163.
[659] Eusebius, Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 146-149 relates the building of new towns by the sons of Herod in the following rder: Philip built Caesarea and Julias, Herod Antipas built Tiberias and Livias. All the buildings are placed in the time of Tiberius. Sepphoris is entirely passed over. All this puts it beyond doubt, that the statements of Eusebius are entirely derived from Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 9. 1. For the buildings are there enumerated in exactly the same order, also after the accession of Tiberius, and with the same omission of Sepphoris. Hence the statements of Eusebius are not only without independent value, but are besides derived from the more inaccurate statement of Josephus in the Bell. Jud., and ignore his more accurate account in Antt. xviii. 2. 1-3.
[660] On the coins and the era, see Noris, v. 6 (ed. Lips. pp. 552-564). Sanclemente, De vulgaris aerae emendatione, p. 324 sq. Huber in the Wiener Numismatische Zeitsch., 1st year, 1869, pp. 404-414. De Saulcy, pp. 333-338, pl. xvii. n. 9-14. The same, in the Annuaire de la Société Française de Numismatique et d’Archéol. iii. 266-270. Among the dated coins only those of Trajan with the date 81 and those of Hadrian with the date 101 are attested with certainty. Noris and Sanclemente assume also coins of Trajan with the year 101, and accordingly calculate the epoch of Tiberias to be A.D. 17 (then the year in which Hadrian succeeded Trajan, i.e. A.D. 117 = 101 era of Tiberius, and A.D. 17 = 1 era of Tiberius). But the coins with the year 101 certainly all belong to Hadrian. Other coins too given singly by numismatists (De Saulcy gives coins of Claudius with the year 33, of Trajan with 80, and of Hadrian with 103) are also doubtful. Hence all that can with certainty be affirmed is, that the epoch of Tiberias cannot begin earlier than A.D. 17. The consideration, that Tiberias was probably in the possession of Agrippa II. till A.D. 100, and hence could not previously have issued imperial coins, leads somewhat farther. Under this assumption the epoch could not on account of the coins of Trajan of 81 be placed earlier than A.D. 19. A still further point of contact might be obtained, if the title, which Trajan bears upon the coins of 81, could be certainly determined. For if he is on these called only Germanicus and not Dacicus, the coins in question could not have been issued later than A.D. 103 (after which year Trajan bore also the latter title), and consequently the epoch could not begin later than A.D. 22 (so Eckhel). If however in the reverse case he has just upon these coins both titles (as Reichardt asserts in Huber’s above-named work, reading ΓΕΡ. Δ. instead of ΓΕΡΜ), the coins could not have been issued earlier than 103, nor the epoch begin before A.D. 22. This would be in accordance with Josephus.
[661] See on what follows, Kuhn, Die städtische und bürgerl. Verfassung, ii. 353. The same, Ueber die Entstehung der Städte der Alten, p. 427 sq.
[662] Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 9. Comp. in general, Vita, 12, 34, 55, 58, 61, 68.
[663] Vita, 27, 53, 54, 57; Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 3. One Jesus the son of Sapphias, is here throughout named as archon of Tiberias during the time of the revolt. Among his offices was that of presiding at the meeting of the council.
[664] Vita, 13, 57; Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 9 = Vita, 33. See especially, Vita, 13: τοὺς τῆς βουλῆς πρώτους δέκα. Vita, 57: τοὺς δέκα πρώτους Τιβεριέων. On these δέκα πρῶτοι, so frequently occurring in the Hellenistic communities, see Kuhn, i. 55; Marquardt, Röm. Staatsverwaltung, i. 213 sq (1881); the Index to the Corp. Inscr. Graec. p. 35. They were not perhaps the oldest or the most respected members of the council, but a changing committee of it with definite official functions, as the frequently occurring formula δεκαπρωτεύσας shows (see Corp. Inscr. Graec. n. 2639, 2929, 2930. Add. 2930b, 3490, 3491, 3496, 3498, 4289, 4415b. δεκαπρωτευκώς, n. 3418). Their chief office was the collection of taxes, for the due payment of which they were answerable with their private property, Digest. lib. iv. 1. 1: Munerum civilium quaedam sunt patrimonii, alia personarum. Patrimonii sunt munera rei vehicularis, item navicularis decemprimatus: ab istis enim periculo ipsorum exactiones solemnium celebrantur. Digest. lib. iv. 18. 26: Mixta munera decaprotiae et icosaprotiae, ut Herennius Modestinus.… decrevit: nam decaproti at icosaproti tributa exigentes et corporate ministerium gerunt et pro omnibus defunctorum (?) fiscalia detrimenta resarciunt. It is worthy of notice, that Josephus during his government of Galilee delivers to the decem primi at Tiberias valuables of King Agrippa, and makes them responsible for them, Vita, 13, 57.
[665] Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 6: τοῖς ματὰ τὴν πόλιν ὑπάρχοις.
[666] Antt. xviii. 6. 2. On the office of the ἀγορανόμος, see Westermann in Pauly’s Enc. i. 1 (2nd ed.), pp. 582-584. Stephanus, Thes. s.v. The material furnished by inscriptions in the Index to the Corp. Inscr. Graec. p. 32.
[667] Madden, History of Jewish Coinage, pp. 97, 98. The same, Coins of the Jews (1881), pp. 119, 120.
[668] Madden, History, p. 110; Coins of the Jews, p. 138.
[669] See the literature cited above, especially De Saulcy.
[670] On the time, see above, § 19, Appendix 2.
[671] Joseph. Vita, 12, 27, 58, 54. 57; Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 3, iii. 9. 7-8. The revolutionary attitude of the town is plainly seen throughout the whole narrative of Josephus in his Vita.
[672] Bell. Jud. ii. 21. 8-10; Vita, 32-34, 68-69, 70.
[673] Bell. Jud. iii. 9. 7-8.
[674] A coin of the time of Commodus has been published by Huber in the Wiener Numismatischen Zeitschr. Jahrg. i. 1869, p. 401 sqq.
[675] Onomast., ed. Lagarde, p. 215.
[676] Neubauer, Géographie du Talmud, pp. 208-214. Pinner, Compendium des jerus. und bad. Talmud (1832), pp. 109-116.
Of some of the last-named towns, as Antipatris, Phasaelis, Julias and Livias it cannot certainly be determined whether they really belonged to the class of independent towns with Hellenistic constitutions, since it is just as likely that, like other second-rate towns, they were incorporated in the general organization of the country. They had however to be named here, because in any case a certain proportion of the towns built by Herod and his sons belonged to the above category. On the other hand, it is also possible, that the number of the independent communities is not exhausted by the towns here enumerated. Hence we cannot look upon the list we have given as a strictly defined one. For the times of Roman imperialism a further number of independent civic communities would have to be named, which are here designedly passed over, because it was not till later (at the earliest A.D. 70) that they attained this position. This was the case especially with Nicopolis (= Emmaus), Neapolis (= Sichem), Diospolis (= Lydda), Eleutheropolis and the communities belonging to the province of Arabia, as Bostra, Adraa and others. Aelia Capitolina (= Jerusalem) too would have to be mentioned as a heathen town for the period after Hadrian. On Capitolias, comp. above, p. 106.
Concerning the position of the Jews in these mainly heathen communities no further material exists than what has been already communicated on the places in question. The history of Caesarea (No. 9) is the most instructive. Here heathens and Jews possessed down to Nero’s time equal civic rights (ἰσοπολιτεία, Antt. xx. 8. 7 and 9) and hence equal eligibility to the town senate. As this of necessity entailed manifold dissensions, both parties strove to bring about an alteration of this state of things, each desiring to have the supremacy. Thus a threefold possibility existed: 1. equality, 2. exclusion of the Jews, and 3. exclusion of the heathen, from civic privileges. All three cases actually occurred. In the old Philistinian and Phoenician towns the Jews hardly possessed the privilege of citizenship. They dwelt in them indeed by thousands; but were only tolerated as inhabitants; and how strained were the relations between them and the heathen citizens, is best shown by the sanguinary persecution of the Jews in many of these towns at the outbreak of Jewish revolution, as e.g. in Ascalon, Ptolemais and Tyre. In other towns heathen and Jews may have been on an equality; this was especially the case in those towns, which subsequently to the Maccabaean period were mainly inhabited by Jews, as Jamnia and Joppa. Whether heathens were excluded from civic rights in any of the hitherto named towns is very doubtful; and not probable even in Sepphoris and Tiberias. The third possibility is at all events represented by Jerusalem and in general by the towns of the strictly Jewish territory. Particulars cannot be further entered into from lack of material It must suffice to have established the general point of sight On the organization of the Jewish communities in these towns, see below, § 27. II. and § 31. II.-III.