The Decapolis a Greco-Roman Confederation

Ten Cities of the Roman Empire in Palestine in the First Century BCE

Dec 16, 2008 Neil Gunn

The Decapolis was a confederation of ten contiguous cities, with the exception of Damascus, on what was then the edge of the Roman Empire in north eastern Palestine.

Gauis Plinius Secundus, Roman historian, better known as Pliny the Elder c 27-79 BCE said, “ Adjoining Judea on the side of Syria is the region of the Decapolis, so called from the number of its towns…”

Decapolis

The name Decapolis is derived from the Greek deka, meaning ten and polis, meaning city. The cities that made up the Decapolis, according to Pliny the Elder, are listed below with their modern name or modern location in brackets.

Philadelphia (Amman, Jordan), Gerasa (Jerash, Jordan), Pella (Pella , Jordan), Scythopolis (Beth-She’an, Israel), Gadara (Umm Qays, Jordan), Hippos (Hippus or Sussita, Israel), Dion (Beit Ras, Jordan), Raphana (Raphana, Jordan), Canatha (El Qanawat, Syria), Damascus (Damascus, Syria).

There may be some confusion for researchers of the period as some of the ancient place names were spelt in various ways and also known by other names. Some historians (Potelmy Geography 14-18) also list as many as 18 cities in the Decapolis. Josephus and Strabo also mention it frequently in their writing.

The earliest mention of the Decapolis comes in the New Testament book of Matthew 4:25, “Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Towns…” It is also mentioned in Mark 5:20, “ So the man left and went all through the Ten Towns telling what Jesus had done for him…”

Many of the cities were established years earlier by former Macedonian soldiers of Alexander the Great, from the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires, who settled in the area after his death in 323 BCE.

Roman Conquest of Judea 65-62 BCE

The cities retained their unique Hellenic culture and were quite distinct from many of their neighbours in the region. Indeed Josephus records a number of them in a list of Gentile cities in Judea before the Roman conquest.

Roman General Pompey

An exact dating of the formation of the Decapolis is difficult but it was after the conquest of Judea and Syria, 65-62 BCE, by Roman General Pompey.

The citizens welcomed the arrival of the Roman armies, seeing them as a buffer between them and the Semitic peoples of the region. The clash of cultures had been fuelled by amongst other things, the Greek dislike of the Semitic custom of male circumcision and the Semite loathing of the Greek’s acceptance of homosexuality.

Greco-Roman Culture

The Decapolis cities became centres of Greco-Roman culture and were allowed a degree of autonomy, each operating as a city-state, which would have included control of a number of smaller towns and villages. Essential to their growth and sustainability were the cultural and economic bonds between them.

The Romans constructed many new and fine building including temples and public buildings and streets were laid out in traditional grid style. Historian Josephus records that the cities were taxed for imperial purposes

The Decapolis survived until the 2nd century CE when Emperor Trajan added new provinces in the region to the Roman Empire.

Consequently the Decapolis cities were re-classified as part of different Roman provinces, Syria, Palestina, Secunda and Arabia.

Sources:

New Advent on-line Catholic Encyclopaedia

Good News Bible

Josephus Antiquities of the Jews

Pliny the Elder Natural History

Potelmy, Geography

The copyright of the article The Decapolis a Greco-Roman Confederation in Middle Eastern History is owned by Neil Gunn. Permission to republish The Decapolis a Greco-Roman Confederation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Map Decapolis Cities

Jerash, Jordan