Decapolis

Decapolis Δεκάπολις
63 BC–AD 106
The ten cities of Decapolis marked in black
Common languages	Koine Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Latin, Hebrew
Religion	Hellenistic religion, Imperial Cult
Government	Client state
History
• Pompey's conquest of Syria	63 BC
• Trajan's annexation of Arabia Petrea	AD 106
Preceded by Succeeded by Coele-Syria Hasmonean kingdom Arabia Petraea Syria Palaestina
Today part of	Israel Jordan Syria

32°43′00″N 35°48′00″E / 32.7167°N 35.8000°E / 32.7167; 35.8000

The Decapolis (Greek: Δεκάπολις, Dekápolis, 'Ten Cities') was a group of ten Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the Jordan Rift Valley, between Judaea, Iturea, Nabataea, and Syria.^[1]

The Decapolis was a center of Hellenistic and Roman culture in a region which was otherwise populated by Jews, Arab Nabataeans and Arameans.^[2] The cities formed a group because of their language, culture, religion, location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous city-state dependent on Rome. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars^[who?] believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.

In the time of the Emperor Trajan, the cities were incorporated into the provinces of Syria and Arabia Petraea; several cities were later placed in Syria Palaestina and Palaestina Secunda. The Decapolis region is located in modern-day Jordan (Philadelphia, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara), Israel (Scythopolis and Hippos) and Syria (Raphana, Dion, Canatha and Damascus).