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174-632: Hippos was a Hellenistic city in the northern Jordan Valley , and a long-time member of the Decapolis , a group of ten cities more closely tied to the Greco-Roman culture than to the local Semitic-speaking population. Later, Hippos became a predominantly Christian city, which declined towards the end of the Byzantine period and throughout the Early Muslim period , and was abandoned after

348-598: A Latinized version of the Greek name. Archaeological evidence shows habitation at Hippos from the Early/Middle Chalcolithic period. The site was re-inhabited in the third century BCE by the Ptolemies , though whether it was an urban settlement or a military outpost is still unknown. During this time, Coele-Syria served as the battleground between two dynasties descending from captains of Alexander

522-415: A national park and in 2004 the area around it, including the site itself, were declared a national reserve. Following an archaeological survey conducted in 1999, the site has been excavated annually. The research undertaken at Hippos-Sussita is an international project. The first eleven seasons (2000–2010) were an Israeli–Polish–American collaboration co-directed by Arthur Segal and Michael Eisenberg from

696-545: A Carthaginian army there. This was the first time a European force had invaded the region. After this war he controlled most of south-east Sicily and had himself proclaimed king, in imitation of the Hellenistic monarchs of the east. Agathocles then invaded Italy ( c.  300 BC ) in defense of Tarentum against the Bruttians and Romans , but was unsuccessful. Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul were mostly limited to

870-406: A Hellenistic period is a 19th-century concept, and did not exist in ancient Greece . Although words related in form or meaning, e.g. Hellenist ( Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνιστής , Hellēnistēs ), have been attested since ancient times, it has been attributed to the 19th century German historian Johann Gustav Droysen , who in his classic work Geschichte des Hellenismus ( History of Hellenism ), coined

1044-662: A carefully neutral posture and acting to preserve the balance of power between the major Hellenistic kingdoms. Initially, Rhodes had very close ties with the Ptolemaic kingdom. Rhodes later became a Roman ally against the Seleucids, receiving some territory in Caria for their role in the Roman–Seleucid War (192–188 BC). Rome eventually turned on Rhodes and annexed the island as a Roman province. The west Balkan coast

1218-578: A combined Theban and Athenian army at the Battle of Chaeronea after a decade of desultory conflict. In the aftermath, Philip formed the League of Corinth , effectively bringing the majority of Greece under his direct sway. He was elected Hegemon of the league, and a campaign against the Achaemenid Empire of Persia was planned. However in 336 BC, while this campaign was in its early stages, he

1392-477: A common Attic -based Greek dialect, known as Koine Greek , which became the lingua franca throughout the ancient world. During the Hellenistic period, Greek cultural influence reached its peak in the Mediterranean and beyond. Prosperity and progress in the arts , literature , theatre , architecture , music , mathematics , philosophy , and science characterize the era. The Hellenistic period saw

1566-482: A distance its ancestral home [...] Thus when the city came to be bereft of the nation of the Jews, and its ancient inhabitants had completely perished, it was settled by foreigners." Similarly, Jerome writes that Jews were only allowed to visit the city to mourn its ruins, paying for the privilege. Under the argument to ensure the prosperity of the newly founded Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina, Jews were forbidden to enter

1740-468: A factor in popularizing the uprising across all of Judea. With the onset of the conflict, initial rebel victories established an independent Jewish enclave covering much of the province for several years. Bar Kokhba was appointed nasi ( נָשִׂיא , lit.   ' prince ' ) of the rebels' provisional state, and much of Judea's populace regarded him as the messiah of Judaism who would restore Jewish national independence . This initial setback for

1914-622: A familiar device of Jewish literature. An additional legion, the VI Ferrata , arrived in the province to maintain order. Works on Aelia Capitolina commenced in 131. Consul Quintus Tineius Rufus performed the foundation ceremony which involved ploughing over the designated city limits. "Ploughing up the Temple", seen as a religious offence, turned many Jews against the Roman authorities. The Church Fathers and rabbinic literature emphasize

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2088-604: A fleet. Ptolemy invaded Syria and defeated Antigonus' son, Demetrius Poliorcetes , in the Battle of Gaza of 312 BC which allowed Seleucus to secure control of Babylonia , and the eastern satrapies. In 310 BC, Cassander had young King Alexander IV and his mother Roxana murdered, ending the Argead dynasty which had ruled Macedon for several centuries. Antigonus then sent his son Demetrius to regain control of Greece. In 307 BC he took Athens, expelling Demetrius of Phaleron , Cassander's governor, and proclaiming

2262-580: A large, vaulted cistern, allowed a large population to live in the city. During the Late Roman period, the imperial restructuring under Diocletian placed Hippos in the province of Palaestina Secunda , encompassing Galilee and the Golan . When Christianity became officially tolerated in the Roman Empire , giving rise to what is called by historians the Byzantine period, Palestine became

2436-504: A league against Cassander's Macedon. The decisive engagement of the war came when Lysimachus invaded and overran much of western Anatolia, but was soon isolated by Antigonus and Demetrius near Ipsus in Phrygia . Seleucus arrived in time to save Lysimachus and utterly crushed Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. Seleucus' war elephants proved decisive; Antigonus was killed, and Demetrius fled back to Greece to attempt to preserve

2610-506: A liberator than a conqueror. In addition, much of the area conquered would continue to be ruled by the Diadochi , Alexander's generals and successors. Initially, the whole empire was divided among them; however, some territories were lost relatively quickly or only remained nominally under Macedonian rule. After 200 years, only much reduced and rather degenerate states remained, until the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt by Rome. When Alexander

2784-470: A magnificent marble sarcophagus showing Dionysus discovered in Turmus Ayya , Latin-inscribed stone discovered at Khirbet Tibnah , a statue of Minerva discovered at Khirbat al-Mafjar , a tomb of a centurion at Beit Nattif and a Roman mansion with western elements discovered at Arak el-Khala, near Beit Guvrin . In Perea , a Roman military presence in the middle of the 2nd century suggests that

2958-596: A mere two and a half years. The revolt had catastrophic consequences for the Jewish population in Judaea, with profound loss of life, extensive forced displacements, and widespread enslavement. The scale of suffering surpassed even the aftermath of the First Jewish–Roman War , leaving central Judea in a state of desolation. Some scholars characterize these consequences as an act of genocide. Several decades after

3132-626: A new agreement with Antipater at the Treaty of Triparadisus . Antipater was made regent of the Empire, and the two kings were moved to Macedon. Antigonus remained in charge of Asia Minor, Ptolemy retained Egypt, Lysimachus retained Thrace and Seleucus I controlled Babylon . The second Diadochi war began following the death of Antipater in 319 BC. Passing over his own son, Cassander , Antipater had declared Polyperchon his successor as Regent . Cassander rose in revolt against Polyperchon (who

3306-518: A paste of tin and lead. Hippos was abandoned after the 749 Galilee earthquake . G. Schumacher visited the ruin in 1883–1885, giving a protracted account of Hippos ( Kŭlat el Husn ) in his work, The Jaulân , although he had incorrectly surmised that the site may have been the ancient Gamala described by Josephus . The first excavations were carried out by Israeli archaeologists Emmanuel Anati , Claire Epstein , Michael Avi-Yona and others from 1951 to 1955. They unearthed some domestic buildings,

3480-414: A result. According to Rabbinic sources some 400,000 men were at the disposal of Bar Kokhba at the peak of the rebellion. Simon bar Kokhba took the title Nasi Israel and ruled over an entity named Israel that was virtually independent for over two and a half years. The Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva, who was the spiritual leader of the revolt, identified Simon Bar Koziba as the Jewish messiah and gave him

3654-537: A series of religious edicts aimed at uprooting the Jewish nationalism in Judea. He prohibited Torah law and the Hebrew calendar and executed Judaic scholars. The sacred scrolls of Judaism were ceremonially burned at the large Temple complex as an offering to Jupiter. At the Temple, he installed two statues, one of Jupiter, another of himself. These proclamations remained in effect until Hadrian’s death in 138, which marked

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3828-435: A significant relief to the surviving Jewish communities. Hadrian's post-war policy included a prohibition against Jews living in or even approaching Jerusalem, as described by several ancient sources. Eusebius notes that "Hadrian then commanded that by a legal decree and ordinances the whole nation should be absolutely prevented from entering from thenceforth even the district round Jerusalem, so that it could not even see from

4002-466: A significant settlement gap above these layers. It appears that Jewish settlement in Judea was almost completely eradicated by the end of the revolt. Shimeon Applebaum estimates that about two-thirds of the Jewish population of Judea died during the revolt. In 2003, Cotton described Dio's figures as highly plausible, given accurate Roman census declarations. In 2021, an ethno-archaeological comparison analysis by Dvir Raviv and Chaim Ben David supported

4176-508: A similar account: "in Hadrian's reign, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and the Jewish nation was massacred in large groups at a time, with the result that they were even expelled from the borders of Judaea." Roman post-war policy also involved removing and enslaving large numbers of prisoners of war, a practice also observed after the revolt of the Salassi (25 BCE), the wars with

4350-435: A standing army of mercenaries and a small core of Greco-Macedonian settlers. Promotion of immigration from Greece was important in the establishment of this system. Hellenistic monarchs ran their kingdoms as royal estates and most of the heavy tax revenues went into the military and paramilitary forces which preserved their rule from any kind of revolution. Macedonian and Hellenistic monarchs were expected to lead their armies on

4524-479: A summary of Arrian 's Events after Alexander , by Photios I of Constantinople . Lesser supplementary sources include Curtius Rufus , Pausanias , Pliny , and the Byzantine encyclopedia the Suda . In the field of philosophy, Diogenes Laërtius ' Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is the main source; works such as Cicero 's De Natura Deorum also provide some further detail of philosophical schools in

4698-474: A total force of 60,000–120,000 Roman soldiers facing Bar Kokhba's rebels. It is plausible that Legio IX Hispana was among the legions Severus brought with him from Europe, and that its demise occurred during Severus' campaign, as its disappearance during the second century is often attributed to this war. One of the crucial battles of the war took place near Tel Shalem in the Beit She'an valley, near what

4872-579: Is Athens , which had been decisively defeated by Antipater in the Lamian war (323–322 BC) and had its port in the Piraeus garrisoned by Macedonian troops who supported a conservative oligarchy . After Demetrius Poliorcetes captured Athens in 307 BC and restored the democracy , the Athenians honored him and his father Antigonus by placing gold statues of them on the agora and granting them

5046-479: Is a gap in settlement above these levels. Fragmentary material from Transjordan and the Galilee adds to the discoveries from Judea. Excavations at archaeological sites such as Horvat Ethri and Khirbet Badd ‘Isa have demonstrated that these Jewish villages were destroyed in the revolt, and were only resettled by pagan populations in the 3rd century. Discoveries from towns like Gophna, known to be Jewish before

5220-523: Is now identified as the legionary camp of Legio VI Ferrata . This theory was proposed by Werner Eck in 1999, as part of his general maximalist work which did put the Bar Kokhba revolt as a very prominent event on the course of the Roman Empire's history. Next to the camp, archaeologists unearthed the remnants of a triumphal arch , which featured a dedication to Hadrian, most likely referring to

5394-694: Is often considered suspect, and it may in reality have been intended to constitute a form of mockery of Jewish traditions which seemed absurd to the Romans. Cassius Dio reports that: The Jews [...] did not dare try conclusions with the Romans in the open field, but they occupied the advantageous positions in the country and strengthened them with mines and walls, in order that they might have places of refuge whenever they should be hard pressed, and might meet together unobserved underground; and they pierced these subterranean passages from above at intervals to let in air and light. Dio's account has been corroborated by

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5568-785: The Venus de Milo . A form of Hellenistic architecture arose which especially emphasized the building of grand monuments and ornate decorations, as exemplified by structures such as the Pergamon Altar . The religious sphere of Greek religion expanded through syncretic facets to include new gods such as the Greco-Egyptian Serapis , eastern deities such as Attis and Cybele , and a syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism in Bactria and Northwest India . Scholars and historians are divided as to which event signals

5742-508: The 749 earthquake . Hippos was built on a flat-topped foothill 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of and 350 metres (1,150 ft) above the Sea of Galilee, 144 metres (472 ft) above sea level, near modern Kibbutz Ein Gev . Besides the fortified city itself, Hippos had two harbor on the Sea of Galilee and a large area of the surrounding hinterland ( Hippos' Territorium ). The city was founded in

5916-507: The Ancient Greek word Hellas ( Ἑλλάς , Hellás ), which was gradually recognized as the name for Greece , from which the early modern 19th century historiographical term Hellenistic was derived. The term "Hellenistic" is to be distinguished from "Hellenic" in that the latter refers to Greece itself, while the former encompasses all the ancient territories of the period that had come under significant Greek influence , particularly

6090-882: The Aramaic patronymic bar Kokhba , meaning "Son of a Star", a reference to the Star Prophecy in Numbers 24:17 : "A star rises from Jacob ". The name Bar Kokhba does not appear in the Talmud but in ecclesiastical sources. Following a series of setbacks, Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britannia , and troops were brought from as far as the Danube . In 133/4, Severus landed in Judea with three legions from Europe (including Legio X Gemina and possibly also Legio IX Hispana ), cohorts of additional legions and between 30 and 50 auxiliary units. The size of

6264-598: The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73), Roman authorities took measures to suppress the rebellious province of Roman Judea . Instead of a procurator , they installed a praetor as a governor and stationed an entire legion , the Legio X Fretensis , in the area. Tensions continued to build up in the wake of the Kitos War , the second large-scale Jewish insurrection in the Eastern Mediterranean during 115–117,

6438-648: The Greco-Bactrian kingdom ). It can be argued that some of the changes across the Macedonian Empire after Alexander's conquests and during the rule of the Diadochi would have occurred without the influence of Greek rule. As mentioned by Peter Green , numerous factors of conquest have been merged under the term Hellenistic period . Specific areas conquered by Alexander's invading army, including Egypt and areas of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia "fell" willingly to conquest and viewed Alexander as more of

6612-585: The Greek colonies in Illyria. Illyrians imported weapons and armor from the ancient Greeks (such as the Illyrian type helmet , originally a Greek type) and also adopted the ornamentation of ancient Macedon on their shields and their war belts (a single one has been found, dated 3rd century BC at modern Selcë e Poshtme , a part of Macedon at the time under Philip V of Macedon ). The Odrysian Kingdom

6786-576: The Hellene ". In 438, when the Empress Eudocia removed the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site, the heads of the community in Galilee issued a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews" which began: "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come!" However, the Christian population of the city saw this as a threat to their primacy, and a riot erupted which chased Jews from

6960-540: The Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece , between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the Roman Empire , as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the Roman conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year, which eliminated the last major Hellenistic kingdom. Its name stems from

7134-601: The Lamian war ) invaded Anatolia . The rebels were supported by Lysimachus , the satrap of Thrace and Ptolemy, the satrap of Egypt. Although Eumenes , satrap of Cappadocia , defeated the rebels in Asia Minor, Perdiccas himself was murdered by his own generals Peithon , Seleucus , and Antigenes (possibly with Ptolemy's aid) during his invasion of Egypt ( c.  21 May to 19 June, 320 BC). Ptolemy came to terms with Perdiccas's murderers, making Peithon and Arrhidaeus regents in his place, but soon these came to

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7308-469: The Mediterranean coast of Provence , France . The first Greek colony in the region was Massalia , which became one of the largest trading ports of Mediterranean by the 4th century BC with 6,000 inhabitants. Massalia was also the local hegemon , controlling various coastal Greek cities like Nice and Agde . The coins minted in Massalia have been found in all parts of Liguro-Celtic Gaul. Celtic coinage

7482-568: The Ptolemaic Kingdom , which might otherwise have been lost, has been preserved in papyrological documents. This is particularly noteworthy given the limited documentation available for their Seleucid counterparts. Ancient Greece had traditionally been a fractious collection of fiercely independent city-states. After the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), Greece had fallen under a Spartan hegemony , in which Sparta

7656-747: The Raeti (15 BCE), and the Pannonian War (c. 12 BCE). Sources indicate that Jewish captives were sold into slavery and sent to various parts of the empire, and the slave market was flooded with Jewish slaves. Jerome reports that following the war, "innumerable people of diverse ages and both sexes were sold at the marketplace of Terebinthus. For this reason it is an accursed thing among the Jews to visit this acclaimed marketplace." In another work, he notes that thousands of people were sold at this market. The 7th-century Chronicon Paschale , drawing on earlier sources, mentions that Hadrian sold Jewish captives "for

7830-588: The Rashidun period invaded Palestine in the 7th century, completing their conquest by 641. Hippos' new Arab rulers allowed the citizens to continue practicing Christianity, a policy then continued by the Umayyad Caliphate . According to archaeologists, the Islamic regime did not pull down the churches but Christian imagery engraved on Byzantine brass bread stamps and chancel screens was covered over with

8004-707: The Roman Republic against the Carthaginian Empire during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). However, Emporion lost its political independence around 195 BC with the establishment of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior and by the 1st century BC had become fully Romanized in culture. The Hellenistic states of Asia and Egypt were run by an occupying imperial elite of Greco-Macedonian administrators and governors propped up by

8178-494: The Senate , did not employ the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors: 'If you and your children are in health, it is well; I and the army are in health.'" Some argue that the exceptional number of preserved Roman veteran diplomas from the late 150s and 160s indicate an unprecedented conscription across the Roman Empire to replenish heavy losses within military legions and auxiliary units between 133 and 135, corresponding to

8352-627: The Syrian wars , over the region of Coele-Syria . Ptolemy IV won the great battle of Raphia (217 BC) against the Seleucids, using native Egyptians trained as phalangites . However these Egyptian soldiers revolted, eventually setting up a native breakaway Egyptian state in the Thebaid between 205 and 186/185 BC, severely weakening the Ptolemaic state. Bar Kokhba%27s revolt Major conflicts The Bar Kokhba revolt ( Hebrew : מֶרֶד בַּר כּוֹכְבָא Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ ‍ )

8526-795: The Western Wall . In 351–352 the Jews of Galilee launched yet another revolt , provoking heavy retribution. The Gallus revolt came during the rising influence of early Christians in the Eastern Roman Empire, under the Constantinian dynasty . In 355, however, the relations with the Roman rulers improved, upon the rise of Emperor Julian , the last of the Constantinian dynasty, who, unlike his predecessors, defied Christianity. In 363, not long before Julian left Antioch to launch his campaign against Sassanian Persia, he ordered

8700-786: The Zinman Institute of Archaeology , University of Haifa ; Jolanta Młynarczyk from the Research Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology, Polish Academy of Sciences ; Mariusz Burdajewicz of the National Museum, Warsaw ; and Mark Schuler from Concordia University , St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. The main areas of excavation were the odeon, the Roman basilica, the North-West Church, the North-East Church and its surrounding insulae , domestic quarters,

8874-535: The " Nesiotic League " of the Cyclades . These federations involved a central government which controlled foreign policy and military affairs, while leaving most of the local governing to the city states , a system termed sympoliteia . In states such as the Achaean league, this also involved the admission of other ethnic groups into the federation with equal rights, in this case, non- Achaeans . The Achean league

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9048-688: The Aegean (204–200 BC) and ignored Roman demands for non-intervention in Greece by invading Attica. In 198 BC, during the Second Macedonian War Philip was decisively defeated at Cynoscephalae by the Roman proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus and Macedon lost all its territories in Greece proper. Southern Greece was now thoroughly brought into the Roman sphere of influence , though it retained nominal autonomy. The end of Antigonid Macedon came when Philip V's son, Perseus,

9222-462: The Athenians in the Chremonidean War , and then against the Achaean League of Aratus of Sicyon . Under the Antigonids, Macedonia was often short on funds, the Pangaeum mines were no longer as productive as under Philip II, the wealth from Alexander's campaigns had been used up and the countryside pillaged by the Gallic invasion . A large number of the Macedonian population had also been resettled abroad by Alexander or had chosen to emigrate to

9396-420: The Great of the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople in AD 330. Though this scope of suggested dates demonstrates a range of academic opinion, a generally accepted date by most of scholarship has been that of 31/30 BC. The word originated from ancient Greek Ἑλληνιστής ( Hellēnistḗs , "one who uses the Greek language"), from Ἑλλάς ( Hellás , "Greece"); as if "Hellenist" + "ic". The idea of

9570-419: The Great , the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. It is likely that Hippos, on a very defensible site along the border lines of the 3rd century BCE, was founded as a border fortress for the Ptolemies. The city of Hippos itself was established by Seleucid colonists, most likely in the middle of the second century BCE. Its full name, Antiochia Hippos ( Latin : Antiocheia ad Hippum ), reflects a Seleucid founding. As

9744-400: The Great died (10 June 323 BC), he left behind a sprawling empire that was composed of many essentially autonomous territories called satrapies . Without a chosen successor, there were immediate disputes among his generals as to who should be king of Macedon. These generals became known as the Diadochi ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Διάδοχοι , Diadokhoi , meaning "Successors"). Meleager and

9918-639: The Greek world, making the endless conflicts between the cities that had marked the 5th and 4th centuries BC seem petty and unimportant. It led to a steady emigration, particularly of the young and ambitious, to the new Greek empires in the east. Many Greeks migrated to Alexandria , Antioch , and the many other new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake, as far away as modern Afghanistan and Pakistan . Independent city states were unable to compete with Hellenistic kingdoms and were usually forced to ally themselves to one of them for defense, giving honors to Hellenistic rulers in return for protection. One example

10092-467: The Greeks during the 8th century BC. In 4th-century BC Sicily the leading Greek city and hegemon was Syracuse . During the Hellenistic period the leading figure in Sicily was Agathocles of Syracuse (361–289 BC) who seized the city with an army of mercenaries in 317 BC. Agathocles extended his power throughout most of the Greek cities in Sicily, fought a long war with the Carthaginians , at one point invading Tunisia in 310 BC and defeating

10266-577: The Hellenistic period breaks off after the battle of Ipsus (301 BC). Another important source, Plutarch 's ( c.  AD 50  – c.  120 ) Parallel Lives although more preoccupied with issues of personal character and morality, outlines the history of important Hellenistic figures. Appian of Alexandria (late 1st century AD–before 165) wrote a history of the Roman empire that includes information of some Hellenistic kingdoms. Other sources include Justin 's (2nd century AD) epitome of Pompeius Trogus ' Historiae Philipicae and

10440-488: The Hellenistic period is Polybius of Megalopolis (c. 200–118), a statesman of the Achaean League until 168 BC when he was forced to go to Rome as a hostage. His Histories eventually grew to a length of forty books, covering the years 220 to 167 BC. The most important source after Polybius is Diodorus Siculus who wrote his Bibliotheca historica between 60 and 30 BC and reproduced some important earlier sources such as Hieronymus, but his account of

10614-425: The Hellenistic period. Inscriptions on stone or metal were commonly erected throughout the Greek world for public display, a practice which originated well before the time of Alexander the Great, but saw substantial expansion during the Hellenistic Period. The majority of these inscriptions are located on the Greek mainland , the Greek islands , and western Asia Minor . While they become increasingly rare towards

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10788-425: The Hellenistic period. It became a center of culture and commerce, its coins were widely circulated and its philosophical schools became one of the best in the Mediterranean. After holding out for one year under siege by Demetrius Poliorcetes (305–304 BC), the Rhodians built the Colossus of Rhodes to commemorate their victory. They retained their independence by the maintenance of a powerful navy, by maintaining

10962-524: The Hellenized Middle East , after the conquests of Alexander the Great . After the Macedonian conquest of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BC and its disintegration shortly thereafter in the Partition of Babylon and subsequent Wars of the Diadochi , Hellenistic kingdoms were established throughout West Asia ( Seleucid Empire , Kingdom of Pergamon ), Northeast Africa ( Ptolemaic Kingdom ) and South Asia ( Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , Indo-Greek Kingdom ). This resulted in an influx of Greek colonists and

11136-450: The Jewish Temple rebuilt in his effort to foster religions other than Christianity. The failure to rebuild the Temple has mostly been ascribed to the dramatic Galilee earthquake of 363 , and traditionally also to the Jews' ambivalence about the project . Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire, though Christian historians of the time ascribed it to divine intervention. Julian's support of Judaism caused Jews to call him "Julian

11310-434: The Jewish rebels who remained after his death were all killed or enslaved within the next year. Roman rule in Judea was not well-received among the Jewish population, especially after the destruction of the Second Temple during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70. The Romans had also continued to maintain a large military presence across the province; pushed unpopular changes in administrative and economic life; constructed

11484-426: The Jews produced defective weapons. In fact, weapons found at sites controlled by the insurgents are identical to those used by the Romans. Bethar was selected as the rebels' headquarters because of its strategic location near Jerusalem, abundant springs, and defensible position. Excavations have revealed fortifications likely built by Bar Kokhba's forces, though determining whether these defenses were constructed at

11658-448: The Jews there were also victims of the revolt. The name of a Roman veteran from the village of Meason in Perea appears on a papyrus that was signed in Caesarea in 151, implying that lands there had been expropriated and given to Roman settlers. A building inscription of the Sixth Legion from the 2nd century was discovered at as-Salt , which is identified as Gadara, one of the principal Jewish settlements in Perea, and provides more proof of

11832-447: The Judaean desert confirm that his original name was Simeon ben Kosiba . The name Bar Kokhba was bestowed by supporters including Rabbi Akiva , who endorsed him as the messiah based on the biblical prophecy "A star ( kokhav ) rises from Jacob." However, this claim was contested by other contemporary sages like Yohanan ben Torta. Seventeen letters discovered in the Judaean desert reveal some details on Bar Kokhba's personality. After

12006-400: The Kitos War. The proximate reasons seem to centre around the construction of a new city, Aelia Capitolina , over the ruins of Jerusalem and the erection of a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount . Until recently, some historians had tried to question the Colonia foundation event as one of the causes of the revolt, suggesting to rather time the Colonia establishment to the aftermath of

12180-410: The Macedonians themselves were looked down upon as semi-barbaric by the rest of the Greeks. However, Macedon controlled a large area and had a relatively strong centralized government, in comparison to most Greek states. Philip II was a strong and expansionist king who took every opportunity to expand Macedonian territory. In 352 BC he annexed Thessaly and Magnesia . In 338 BC, Philip defeated

12354-522: The Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba, they were barred from Jerusalem along with the Jews. The rebellion contributed to the differentiation between early Christianity and Judaism and their eventual clear separation. Roman casualties were heavy; Legio X Fretensis sustained heavy casualties during the revolt, and Legio XXII Deiotariana was disbanded following the revolt, perhaps because of serious losses. Cassius Dio writes "Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war. Therefore, Hadrian, in writing to

12528-521: The Messiah was abstracted and spiritualized, and rabbinical political thought became deeply cautious and conservative. The rebellion was also among the events that helped differentiate early Christianity from Judaism . The Bar Kokhba revolt is named for its leader, Simon bar Kokhba . Since it was the last of three major Jewish–Roman wars , it is also known as the Third Jewish–Roman War or

12702-703: The Mount ), he may have been referring to Hippos, although there have been speculations that he referred to Safed . In addition, a miracle of Jesus recounted in Mark 5 and Luke 8 may also be related to Hippos ( Mark 5, Luke 8 ). See Gergesa for a discussion of the location of this miracle. Catholic mystic Maria Valtorta in her vision-based work " Poem of the Man God " asserted that Jesus Christ visited and preached in Hippos. Hellenistic In classical antiquity ,

12876-611: The Ninth in 120 and lived on for several decades to lead distinguished public careers. It was concluded that the legion was disbanded between 120 and 197, either as a result of fighting the Bar Kokhba revolt, or in Cappadocia (161), or at the Danube (162). Relations between the Jews in the region and the Roman Empire continued to be complicated. Constantine I allowed Jews to mourn their defeat and humiliation annually on Tisha B'Av at

13050-549: The Roman Provincia Syria . Under Roman rule, Hippos was granted a certain degree of autonomy. The city minted its own coins, stamped with the image of a horse in honor of the city's name. Hippos was given to Herod the Great in 27 BCE, and returned to the Province of Syria at his death in 4 BCE. According to Josephus, during this time Hippos, a pagan city, was the "sworn enemy" of the new Jewish city across

13224-667: The Roman army amassed against the rebels was much larger than that commanded by Titus 60 years earlier—nearly one third of the Roman army took part in the campaign against Bar Kokhba. It is estimated that forces from at least 10 legions participated in Severus' campaign in Judea, including Legio X Fretensis , Legio VI Ferrata , Legio III Gallica , Legio III Cyrenaica , Legio II Traiana Fortis , Legio X Gemina , cohorts of Legio V Macedonica , cohorts of Legio XI Claudia , cohorts of Legio XII Fulminata and cohorts of Legio IV Flavia Felix , along with 30–50 auxiliary units, for

13398-527: The Roman authorities resettled the region with a diverse population. This included Roman veterans and immigrants from the western parts of the empire, who settled in Aelia Capitolina and its surroundings, administrative centers, and along main roads. Additionally, immigrants from the coastal plain and neighboring provinces such as Syria, Phoenicia , and Arabia settled in the Judean countryside. In

13572-524: The Roman military presence there. Following the revolt, the Hebrew language disappeared from daily use. Before the revolt, Hebrew was still used as a living language among a very significant part of the Jewish population in this region of the country. In the 3rd century sages no longer knew how to identify the Hebrew names of many plants mentioned in the Mishnah . Only a small number of sages who resided in

13746-490: The Roman-dominated cities on the coastal plain . Most of the villages in Judea's larger region show signs of devastation or abandonment that dates to the Bar Kokhba revolt. Buildings and underground installations carved out beneath or close to towns, such as hiding complexes, burial caves, storage facilities, and field towers, have both been found to have destruction layers and abandonment deposits. Furthermore, there

13920-441: The Romans led Emperor Hadrian to assemble a large army—six full legions with auxiliaries and other elements from up to six additional legions, all under the command of Sextus Julius Severus —and launch an extensive military campaign across Judea in 134, ultimately crushing the revolt. The killing of Bar Kokhba and the subsequent defeat of his rebels yielded disastrous consequences for Judea's Jewish populace, even more so than

14094-495: The Romans scaled back on their crackdown across Judea, but the ban on Jewish entry into Jerusalem remained in place, exempting only those Jews who wished to enter the city for Tisha B'Av. By destroying the association of Jews with Judea and forbidding the practice of the Jewish faith, Hadrian aimed to root out a nation that had inflicted heavy casualties on the Roman Empire. According to Eitan Klein, artistic, epigraphic , and numismatic evidence from post-revolt Judea indicates that

14268-433: The Seleucids took possession of all of Coele-Syria, Hippos grew into a full-fledged polis , a city-state with control over the surrounding countryside. Antiochia Hippos was improved with all the makings of a Greek polis: a temple, a central market area, and other public structures. The availability of water limited the size of Hellenistic Hippos. The citizens relied on rain-collecting cisterns for all their water; this kept

14442-607: The Third Jewish Revolt. Some historians also refer to it as the Second Revolt of Judea, not counting the Diaspora Revolt (115–117), which had only marginally been fought in Judea. While earlier scholars debated whether Bar Kokhba (meaning "son of the star") was the leader's original name and Bar Kosiba (meaning "son of disappointment") a later derogatory term, documents discovered in the 1950s in

14616-466: The accuracy of Dio's depopulation claims, describing his account as "reliable" and "based on contemporaneous documentation." Jewish survivors faced harsh punitive measures from the Romans, who often used social engineering to stabilize conflict zones. In the aftermath of the war, Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and its surroundings. Menahem Mor notes that Jews were also expelled from the districts of Gophna , Herodion , and Aqraba . Additionally,

14790-460: The ancient Egyptian bureaucracy, highly centralized and focused on squeezing as much revenue out of the population as possible through tariffs, excise duties, fines, taxes, and so forth. A whole class of petty officials, tax farmers, clerks, and overseers made this possible. The Egyptian countryside was directly administered by this royal bureaucracy. External possessions such as Cyprus and Cyrene were run by strategoi , military commanders appointed by

14964-483: The beginning of the revolt or later in the conflict remains unresolved. Jewish leaders carefully planned the second revolt to avoid the numerous mistakes that had plagued the first First Jewish–Roman War 60 years earlier. In 132, the revolt, led by Simon bar Kokhba and Elasar , quickly spread from Modi'in across the country, cutting off the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. After Legio X and Legio VI failed to subdue

15138-529: The belief of restoration to come, in the early 7th century the Jews made an alliance with the Sasanian Empire , joining the invasion of Palaestina Prima in 614 to overwhelm the Byzantine garrison, and briefly gained autonomy in Jerusalem. Several archaeological excavations have been performed during the 20th and 21st centuries in ruins of Roman-period Jewish villages across Judea and Samaria, as well in

15312-442: The campaign. Historians disagree on the duration of the Roman campaign following the fall of Betar. While some claim further resistance was broken quickly, others argue that pockets of Jewish rebels continued to hide with their families into the winter months of late 135 and possibly even spring 136. By early 136 however, it is clear that the revolt was defeated. The Babylonian Talmud ( Sanhedrin 93b) says that Bar Kokhba reigned for

15486-498: The city free again. Demetrius now turned his attention to Ptolemy, defeating his fleet at the Battle of Salamis and taking control of Cyprus. In the aftermath of this victory, Antigonus took the title of king ( basileus ) and bestowed it on his son Demetrius Poliorcetes , the rest of the Diadochi soon followed suit. Demetrius continued his campaigns by laying siege to Rhodes and conquering most of Greece in 302 BC, creating

15660-536: The city from supporting a very large population. In the first century BCE, the Hasmonean ruler Alexander Yanai conquered the city. According to the Roman Jewish historian Josephus , the inhabitants were converted to Judaism. In 63 BCE the Roman general Pompey conquered Coele-Syria , including Judea , and ended Hasmonean independence. Hippos was known as one of the Decapolis and was incorporated into

15834-428: The city, except on the day of Tisha B'Av . A further, more lasting punishment was also implemented by the Romans. In an attempt to erase any memory of Judea or Ancient Israel , the name Judaea was dropped from the provincial name, which was renamed Syria Palaestina . Despite such name changes taking place elsewhere, rebellions have never resulted in a nation's name being expunged. After Hadrian's death in 138,

16008-470: The city. During the 5th and 6th centuries, a series of Samaritan revolts broke out across Palaestina Prima . Especially violent were the third and the fourth revolts, which resulted in near annihilation of the Samaritan community. It is likely that the Samaritan revolt of 556 was joined by the Jewish community, which had also suffered brutal suppression of their religion under Emperor Justinian. In

16182-493: The colony of Aelia Capitolina over the destroyed city of Jerusalem ; and erected a place of worship for Jupiter on Jerusalem's Temple Mount , where the Jews' Second Temple had stood. Rabbinic literature and the Church Fathers emphasize the role of Quintus Tineius Rufus , the erstwhile Roman governor of Judea, in provoking the Bar Kokhba revolt. The charismatic and messianic nature of Bar Kokhba may have also been

16356-613: The country, especially in the region of the Faiyum . Alexandria , a major center of Greek culture and trade, became his capital city. As Egypt's first port city, it became the main grain exporter in the Mediterranean. The Egyptians begrudgingly accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt, though the kingdom went through several native revolts. Ptolemy I began to order monetary contributions from

16530-473: The crackdown that had taken place during and after the First Jewish–Roman War. Based on archeological evidence, ancient sources, and contemporary analysis, between 500,000–600,000 Jews are estimated to have been killed in the conflict. Judea was heavily depopulated as a result of the number of Jews killed or expelled by Roman troops, with a significant number of captives sold into slavery. Following

16704-486: The crown. Under Ptolemy II , Callimachus , Apollonius of Rhodes , Theocritus , and a host of other poets including the Alexandrian Pleiad made the city a center of Hellenistic literature. Ptolemy himself was eager to patronise the library, scientific research and individual scholars who lived on the grounds of the library. He and his successors also fought a series of wars with the Seleucids, known as

16878-600: The death of Pyrrhus, Epirus remained a minor power. In 233 BC the Aeacid royal family was deposed and a federal state was set up called the Epirote League . The league was conquered by Rome in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). Antigonus II , a student of Zeno of Citium , spent most of his rule defending Macedon against Epirus and cementing Macedonian power in Greece, first against

17052-490: The defeat of Bar Kokhba's army. Additional finds at Tel Shalem, including a bust of Hadrian, specifically link the site to the period. The theory for a major decisive battle in Tel Shalem implies a significant extension of the area of the rebellion, with Eck suggesting the war encompassed also northern valleys together with Galilee. After losing many of their strongholds, Bar Kokhba and the remnants of his army withdrew to

17226-606: The discovery of hundreds of hiding complexes , created in large numbers in almost every population center. Hideout systems were employed in the Judean hills, the Judean desert, northern Negev, and to some degree also in Galilee, Samaria and Jordan Valley. Many houses utilized underground hideouts, where Judean rebels hoped to withstand Roman superiority by the narrowness of the passages and even ambushes from underground. The cave systems were often interconnected and used as hideouts and for storage and refuge for their families. As of July 2015, some 350 hideout systems have been mapped within

17400-488: The eastern regions, they are not entirely absent there, and they are most notably featured in public buildings and sanctuaries . The content of these inscriptions is diverse, encompassing royal correspondence addressed to cities or individuals, municipal and legal edicts, decrees commemorating rulers, officials, and individuals for their contributions, as well as laws, treaties, religious rulings, and dedications. Despite challenges in their interpretation, inscriptions are often

17574-517: The end of the Hellenistic era. There is a wide chronological range of proposed dates that have included the final conquest of the Greek heartlands by the expansionist Roman Republic in 146 BC following the Achaean War , the final defeat of the Ptolemaic Kingdom at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, the end of the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian in AD 138, and the move by the emperor Constantine

17748-608: The enemy, thereby forfeiting divine protection. The horrendous scene after the city's capture could be best described as a massacre. The Jerusalem Talmud relates that the number of dead in Betar was enormous, that the Romans "went on killing until their horses were submerged in blood to their nostrils." According to a rabbinic midrash , the Romans executed eight leading members of the Sanhedrin (the list of Ten Martyrs includes two earlier rabbis): Rabbi Akiva; Haninah ben Teradion ;

17922-531: The export of Greek culture and language to these new realms, a breadth spanning as far as modern-day India. These new Greek kingdoms were also influenced by regional indigenous cultures, adopting local practices where deemed beneficial, necessary, or convenient. Hellenistic culture thus represents a fusion of the ancient Greek world with that of the Western Asian, Northeastern African, and Southwestern Asian worlds. The consequence of this mixture gave rise to

18096-500: The failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the center of Jewish society shifted from Judea to Galilee . The province of Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina as an intended punishment for the Jews and as a result of the desires of the region’s non-Jewish inhabitants. The Jews were also subjected to a series of religious edicts by the Romans, including an edict that barred all Jews from entering Jerusalem. The Bar Kokhba revolt also had philosophical and religious ramifications; Jewish belief in

18270-416: The field, along with a group of privileged aristocratic companions or friends ( hetairoi , philoi ) which dined and drank with the king and acted as his advisory council. The monarch was also expected to serve as a charitable patron of the people; this public philanthropy could mean building projects and handing out gifts but also promotion of Greek culture and religion. Ptolemy , a somatophylax , one of

18444-415: The final stages of which saw fighting in Judea. Mismanagement of the province during the early 2nd century might well have led to the proximate causes of the revolt, largely bringing governors with clear anti-Jewish sentiments to run the province. Historians have suggested multiple reasons for the sparking of the Bar Kokhba revolt, long-term and proximate. Several elements are believed to have contributed to

18618-581: The fortress of Betar , which subsequently came under siege in the summer of 135. Legio V Macedonica and Legio XI Claudia are said to have taken part in the siege. According to Jewish tradition, the fortress was breached and destroyed on the fast of Tisha B'av , the ninth day of the lunar month Av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbinical literature ascribes the defeat to Bar Kokhba killing his maternal uncle, Rabbi Elazar Hamudaʻi , after suspecting him of collaborating with

18792-464: The growing power and ambition of Antigonus. He began removing and appointing satraps as if he were king and also raided the royal treasuries in Ecbatana , Persepolis and Susa , making off with 25,000 talents . Seleucus was forced to flee to Egypt and Antigonus was soon at war with Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander. He then invaded Phoenicia , laid siege to Tyre , stormed Gaza and began building

18966-400: The huge territories Alexander had conquered became subject to a strong Greek influence ( Hellenization ) for the next two or three centuries, until the rise of Rome in the west, and of Parthia in the east. As the Greek and Levantine cultures mingled, the development of a hybrid Hellenistic culture began, and persisted even when isolated from the main centres of Greek culture (for instance, in

19140-399: The infantry supported the candidacy of Alexander's half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus , while Perdiccas , the leading cavalry commander, supported waiting until the birth of Alexander's child by Roxana . After the infantry stormed the palace of Babylon , a compromise was arranged – Arrhidaeus (as Philip III) should become king and should rule jointly with Roxana's child, assuming that it

19314-513: The interpreter of the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Huspith; Eleazar ben Shammua ; Hanina ben Hakinai ; Jeshbab the Scribe ; Judah ben Dama ; and Judah ben Bava . The date of Akiva's execution is disputed, some dating it to the beginning of the revolt based on the midrash, while others link it to final phases. The rabbinic account describes agonizing tortures: Akiva was flayed with iron combs, Ishmael had

19488-646: The lake, Tiberias . Josephus recounts that during the First Jewish–Roman War of AD 66–70, following the destruction of the Jews in Scythopolis , the Jews of Hippos suffered a massacre. Other Jews from Hippos joined the revolt in Tarichaea . After the Romans put down the Bar Kokhba's revolt , they created the province of Syria Palaestina in 135, of which Hippos was a part. In the early 2nd century CE Hippos reached its peak of prosperity and growth. The city

19662-655: The language of administration and of the nobility. The nobility also adopted Greek fashions in dress , ornament, and military equipment, spreading it to the other tribes. Thracian kings were among the first to be Hellenized . After 278 BC the Odrysians had a strong competitor in the Celtic Kingdom of Tylis ruled by the kings Comontorius and Cavarus , but in 212 BC they conquered their enemies and destroyed their capital. Southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ) and south-eastern Sicily had been colonized by

19836-662: The latest war between Macedon and the Greek leagues ( the Social War of 220–217 BC) to an end, and at this time he controlled all of Greece except Athens, Rhodes and Pergamum. In 215 BC Philip, with his eye on Illyria , formed an alliance with Rome's enemy Hannibal of Carthage , which led to Roman alliances with the Achaean League , Rhodes and Pergamum. The First Macedonian War broke out in 212 BC, and ended inconclusively in 205 BC. Philip continued to wage war against Pergamum and Rhodes for control of

20010-539: The main city gate at the east and a large Byzantine church that had probably been the seat of Hippos' bishop. After the excavations, the Israel Defense Forces used Mount Sussita for the same purpose as the ancient Greeks—as a fortress. It was used as a border defense against Syria until much of the Golan Heights were captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War . In 1964 Mt. Sussita was declared

20184-436: The messiah becoming abstracted and spiritualized. The Talmud refers to Bar Kokhba as "Ben Koziva" ( בֶּן כּוֹזִיבָא , lit.   ' Son of Deception ' ), placing him among the false messiahs . Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that Christians were killed and suffered "all kinds of persecutions" at the hands of rebel Jews when they refused to help Bar Kokhba against the Roman troops. Although Christians regarded Jesus as

20358-501: The mid-second century BCE as Antioch of Hippos ( Ἀντιόχεια τοῦ Ἵππου ) Hippos is Greek for horse and a common name among Seleucid monarchs. In the 5th-7th century Mosaic of Rehob , the site is identified by its Aramaic name, Sussita ( Hebrew : סוסיתא ) also meaning "horse". In Arabic it is Qal'at al-Ḥiṣn or Qal'at al-Ḥuṣn ( قلعة الحصن ) meaning "Fortress of the Horse/Stallion". Alternate spellings include Hippus ,

20532-607: The native population did not always mix; the Greeks moved and brought their own culture, but interaction did not always occur. While a few fragments exist, there are no complete surviving historical works that date to the hundred years following Alexander's death. The works of the major Hellenistic historians Hieronymus of Cardia (who worked under Alexander, Antigonus I and other successors), Duris of Samos and Phylarchus , which were used by surviving sources , are all lost. The earliest and most credible surviving source for

20706-489: The new eastern Greek cities. Up to two-thirds of the population emigrated, and the Macedonian army could only count on a levy of 25,000 men, a significantly smaller force than under Philip II. Antigonus II ruled until his death in 239 BC. His son Demetrius II soon died in 229 BC, leaving a child (Philip V) as king, with the general Antigonus Doson as regent. Doson led Macedon to victory in

20880-399: The numbers to be exaggerations, they nonetheless acknowledge the large scale of the disaster for Judea's Jewish population. Archaeological evidence confirms widespread destruction in Judea, as every village in the region exhibits signs of devastation from the revolt. The majority of Roman-period settlements in Judea that have been excavated exhibit destruction or abandonment layers, indicating

21054-416: The objective was to excavate the streets, public buildings and domestic quarters, as well as the two necropolis located to the south and the southeast of the city. The relationship between the city and the surrounding countryside would be the focus of subsequent digs, especially the area stretching between the city and the lake. A detailed survey of the lake shore to establish the exact location of Hippos' port

21228-406: The only source available for understanding numerous events in Greek history. Papyrus served as the predominant medium for handwritten documents across the Hellenistic world, though its production was confined to Egypt . Due to Egypt's arid climate , papyrus manuscripts was almost exclusively preserved there as well. That being said, the different historical periods are not represented equally in

21402-569: The papyrological documents. Texts from the reign of Ptolemy I are notably scarce, while those from the reign of Ptolemy II are more frequently encountered, this is owing in part to the large quantities of papyri which were stuffed into human and animal mummies during his rule. Papyri have been classified into public and private documents, including literary texts, laws and regulations, official correspondence, petitions , records, and archives or collections of documents belonging to individuals of position and authority. Significant information about

21576-491: The people and, as a result, rewarded cities with high contributions with royal benefaction. This often resulted in the formation of a royal cult within the city. Reservations about this activity slowly dissipated as this worship of mortals was justified by the precedent of the worshipping of Greek heroes. The Ptolemies took on the traditions of the Egyptian Pharaohs , such as marrying their siblings ( Ptolemy II

21750-455: The price of a daily portion of food for a horse." William V. Harris puts the overall number of enslaved captives taken during the revolt at higher than 100,000. Those who were not sold were transported to Gaza for auction. Many others were relocated to Egypt and other regions, significantly increasing the Jewish diaspora . While Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled, there

21924-467: The rebellion; changes in administrative law, the widespread presence of legally-privileged Roman citizens , alterations in agricultural practice with a shift from landowning to sharecropping, the impact of a possible period of economic decline, and an upsurge of nationalism, the latter influenced by similar revolts among the Jewish communities in Egypt, Cyrenaica and Mesopotamia during the reign of Trajan in

22098-473: The rebels, additional reinforcements were dispatched from neighbouring provinces. Gaius Poblicius Marcellus , the legate of Roman Syria , arrived commanding Legio III Gallica , while Titus Haterius Nepos , the governor of Roman Arabia , brought Legio III Cyrenaica . Later on it is proposed by some historians that Legio XXII Deiotariana was sent from Arabia Petraea but was ambushed and massacred on its way to Aelia Capitolina and possibly disbanded as

22272-428: The remnants of his rule, thereby recapturing a rebellious Athens. Meanwhile, Lysimachus took over Ionia , Seleucus took Cilicia , and Ptolemy captured Cyprus . After Cassander's death in c.  298 BC , however, Demetrius, who still maintained a sizable loyal army and fleet, invaded Macedon, seized the Macedonian throne (294 BC) and conquered Thessaly and most of central Greece (293–291 BC). He

22446-461: The revolt as a punishment. However, the 2014 archaeological finding of the Legio X Fretensis inscription in Jerusalem dedicated to Hadrian and dated to 129/130, as well as identification of Colonia Aelia Capitolina struck coins have since been largely accepted as confirmation to the sequence of events depicted in Jewish traditional literature. One interpretation involves the visit in 130 of Hadrian to

22620-428: The revolt prompted a widespread migration of Jews from Judea to coastal cities and Galilee . Eusebius writes "[...] all the families of the Jewish nation have suffered pain worthy of wailing and lamentation because God's hand has struck them, delivering their mother-city over to strange nations, laying their Temple low, and driving them from their country, to serve their enemies in a hostile land." Jerome provides

22794-445: The revolt's suppression, Roman historian Cassius Dio ( c.  155 –235) wrote: 50 of their most important outposts and 985 of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. 580,000 men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out, Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate." While several scholars, such as Peter Schäfer , thought

22968-514: The revolt, demonstrate that pagans of Hellenistic and Roman culture lived there during the Late Roman period. Herodium was excavated by archaeologist Ehud Netzer in the 1980s, publishing results in 1985. According to findings, during the later Bar-Kokhba revolt, complex tunnels were dug, connecting the earlier cisterns with one another. These led from the Herodium fortress to hidden openings, which allowed surprise attacks on Roman units besieging

23142-522: The revolt. Some historians argue that Legio IX Hispana 's disbandment in the mid-2nd century could have also been a result of this war. Previously it had generally been accepted that the Ninth disappeared around 108 CE, possibly suffering its demise in Britain, according to German historian Theodor Mommsen ; but archaeological findings in 2015 from Nijmegen dated to 121 contain the known inscriptions of two senior officers who were deputy commanders of

23316-523: The rise of New Comedy , Alexandrian poetry , translation efforts such as the Septuagint , and the philosophies of Stoicism , Epicureanism , and Pyrrhonism . In science, the works of the mathematician Euclid and the polymath Archimedes are exemplary. Sculpture during this period was characterized by intense emotion and dynamic movement, as seen in sculptural works like the Dying Gaul and

23490-483: The role of in provoking the revolt. The Romans issued a coin inscribed Aelia Capitolina . The Historia Augusta , a text which is problematic when used as a source for historical fact, states tensions rose after Hadrian banned circumcision , referred to as mutilare genitalia , taken to mean brit milah . Were the claim true it has been conjectured that Hadrian, as a Hellenist , would have viewed circumcision as an undesirable form of mutilation . The claim

23664-546: The ruins of Roman villas at Ein Yael, Khirbet er-Ras, Rephaim Valley and Ramat Rachel , and the Tenth Legion's kilns discovered near Giv'at Ram are all indications that the rural area surrounding Aelia Capitolina underwent a romanization process, with Roman citizens and Roman veterans settling in the area during the Late Roman period. Indications for the settlement of Roman veterans in other parts of Judea proper includes

23838-401: The ruins of 140 Jewish villages. Dio also states that the Jews manufactured their own weapons in preparation for the revolt: "The Jews [...] purposely made of poor quality such weapons as they were called upon to furnish, in order that the Romans might reject them and that they themselves might thus have the use of them." However, there is no archaeological evidence to support Dio's claim that

24012-457: The ruins of the Temple . At first sympathetic towards the Jews, Hadrian promised to rebuild the Temple, but the Jews felt betrayed when they found out that he intended to build a temple dedicated to Jupiter. A rabbinic version of this story claims that Hadrian planned on rebuilding the Temple but that a malevolent Samaritan convinced him not to. The reference to a malevolent Samaritan is, however,

24186-476: The seven bodyguards who served as Alexander the Great 's generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour) for his role in helping the Rhodians during the siege of Rhodes . Ptolemy built new cities such as Ptolemais Hermiou in upper Egypt and settled his veterans throughout

24360-408: The skin of his head pulled off slowly, and Haninah was burned at a stake , with wet wool held by a Torah scroll wrapped around his body to prolong his death. Following the fall of Betar, the Roman forces went on a rampage of systematic killing, eliminating all remaining Jewish villages in the region and seeking out the refugees. Legio III Cyrenaica was the main force to execute this last phase of

24534-400: The south still spoke Hebrew. The Jerusalem Talmud and the classic legend midrashes (in which the majority of the acts and stories are in Aramaic ) both demonstrate that Hebrew was used mostly as a literary and artificial language. Hebrew is only found on a small percentage of cemeteries and synagogues. Rabbinical political thought became deeply cautious and conservative, with Jewish belief in

24708-578: The southern Hebron Hills . There were also Jewish communities along the coastal plain, in Caesarea , Beit She'an and on the Golan Heights . The maintenance of Jewish settlement in Palestine became a major concern of the rabbis. They endeavored to halt Jewish dispersal and even banned emigration from Palestine, branding those who settled outside its borders as idolaters. Hadrian promulgated

24882-526: The southern bathhouse, the eastern defensive ditch and fortifications next to it and the necropoleis (burial grounds). From 2012 the excavations were directed by Eisenberg, focusing on the Roman basilica, the Roman-Byzantine southern bathhouse, the north-east insula, the living quarters and the Roman bastion. From 2016, Arleta Kowalewska joined the directorship and the team focuses on the street network, saddle compound and saddle necropolis. In 2010,

25056-407: The spread of Greek culture was not the generalized phenomenon that the term implies. Some areas of the conquered world were more affected by Greek influences than others. The term Hellenistic also implies that the Greek populations were of majority in the areas in which they settled, but in many cases, the Greek settlers were actually the minority among the native populations. The Greek population and

25230-753: The target of imperial subsidies for churches and monasteries, and Christian pilgrims brought additional revenue. Christianity came slowly to Hippos. There is no evidence of any Christian presence before the 4th century. Gradually, the city was Christianized, becoming the seat of a bishop by at least 359. One Bishop Peter of Hippos is listed in surviving records of church councils in 359 and 362. Dedication inscriptions by two deaconess, one in Greek and one in Christian Palestinian Aramaic from nearby ‘Uyūn Umm el-‘Azam stand for Christian presence and their active worship by female clerics who officiated in these churches. The Muslim armies of

25404-497: The term Hellenistic to refer to and define the period when Greek culture spread in the non-Greek world after Alexander's conquest. Following Droysen, Hellenistic and related terms, e.g. Hellenism , have been widely used in various contexts; a notable such use is in Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold , where Hellenism is used in contrast with Hebraism . The major issue with the term Hellenistic lies in its convenience, as

25578-497: The title of king. Athens later allied itself to Ptolemaic Egypt to throw off Macedonian rule, eventually setting up a religious cult for the Ptolemaic kings and naming one of the city's phyles in honour of Ptolemy for his aid against Macedon. In spite of the Ptolemaic monies and fleets backing their endeavors, Athens and Sparta were defeated by Antigonus II during the Chremonidean War (267–261 BC). Athens

25752-605: The tripartite territorial division of the Hellenistic age was in place, with the main Hellenistic powers being Macedon under Demetrius's son Antigonus II Gonatas , the Ptolemaic kingdom under Ptolemy 's son Ptolemy II and the Seleucid empire under Seleucus' son Antiochus I Soter . Epirus was a northwestern Greek kingdom in the western Balkans ruled by the Molossian Aeacidae dynasty. Epirus

25926-427: The vicinity of Jerusalem, villages were depopulated, and arable land owned by Jews was confiscated. In the following centuries, the lack of an alternative population to fill the empty villages led Roman and later Byzantine authorities to seek a different approach to benefit the nobles, and ultimately the church, by constructing estate farms and monasteries on the empty village lands. The Roman legionary tomb at Manahat ,

26100-545: The war against the Spartan king Cleomenes III , and occupied Sparta . Philip V , who came to power when Doson died in 221 BC, was the last Macedonian ruler with both the talent and the opportunity to unite Greece and preserve its independence against the "cloud rising in the west": the ever-increasing power of Rome. He was known as "the darling of Hellas". Under his auspices the Peace of Naupactus (217 BC) brought

26274-421: Was a boy (as it was, becoming Alexander IV ). Perdiccas himself would become regent ( epimeletes ) of the empire, and Meleager his lieutenant. Soon, however, Perdiccas had Meleager and the other infantry leaders murdered and assumed full control. The generals who had supported Perdiccas were rewarded in the partition of Babylon by becoming satraps of the various parts of the empire, but Perdiccas' position

26448-525: Was a continuous small Jewish presence, and Galilee became its religious center. Some of the Judean survivors resettled in Galilee, with some rabbinical families gathering in Sepphoris . The Mishnah and part of the Talmud , central Jewish texts, were composed during the 2nd to 4th centuries in Galilee. Jewish communities continued to live on the edges of Judea, including Eleutheropolis , Ein Gedi and

26622-540: Was a large-scale armed rebellion initiated by the Jews of Judea , led by Simon bar Kokhba , against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Lasting until 135 or early 136, it was the third and final escalation of the Jewish–Roman wars . Like the First Jewish–Roman War and the Second Jewish–Roman War , the Bar Kokhba revolt resulted in a total Jewish defeat; Bar Kokhba was killed by Roman troops at Betar in 135, and

26796-548: Was a union of Thracian tribes under the kings of the powerful Odrysian tribe. Various parts of Thrace were under Macedonian rule under Philip II of Macedon , Alexander the Great , Lysimachus , Ptolemy II , and Philip V but were also often ruled by their own kings. The Thracians and Agrianes were widely used by Alexander as peltasts and light cavalry , forming about one-fifth of his army. The Diadochi also used Thracian mercenaries in their armies and they were also used as colonists. The Odrysians used Greek as

26970-523: Was able to drive out the Macedonians from the Peloponnese and free Corinth, which duly joined the league. One of the few city states who managed to maintain full independence from the control of any Hellenistic kingdom was Rhodes . With a skilled navy to protect its trade fleets from pirates and an ideal strategic position covering the routes from the east into the Aegean, Rhodes prospered during

27144-483: Was also a center of education, where Celts went to learn Greek. A staunch ally of Rome, Massalia retained its independence until it sided with Pompey in 49 BC and was then taken by Caesar's forces . The city of Emporion (modern Empúries ), originally founded by Archaic-period settlers from Phocaea and Massalia in the 6th century BC near the village of Sant Martí d'Empúries (located on an offshore island that forms part of L'Escala , Catalonia , Spain ),

27318-518: Was also planned. In 2015 a large bronze mask, almost without equal for its dimensions and dated between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE, depicting the Greek god Pan was retrieved by archaeologists from the site. In the New Testament , when Jesus mentions a "city set upon a hill" that "cannot be hidden" (one of the metaphors of Salt and Light in the Sermon on

27492-425: Was an ally of Macedon during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander. In 281 Pyrrhus (nicknamed "the eagle", aetos ) invaded southern Italy to aid the city state of Tarentum . Pyrrhus defeated the Romans in the Battle of Heraclea and at the Battle of Asculum . Though victorious, he was forced to retreat due to heavy losses, hence the term " Pyrrhic victory ". Pyrrhus then turned south and invaded Sicily but

27666-533: Was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus ("the thunderbolt"), who had taken refuge at the Seleucid court and then had himself acclaimed as king of Macedon. Ptolemy was killed when Macedon was invaded by Gauls in 279 BC —his head stuck on a spear—and the country fell into anarchy. Antigonus II Gonatas invaded Thrace in the summer of 277 and defeated a large force of 18,000 Gauls. He was quickly hailed as king of Macedon and went on to rule for 35 years. At this point

27840-637: Was assassinated. Succeeding his father, Alexander took over the Persian war himself. During a decade of campaigning, Alexander conquered the whole Persian Empire , overthrew the Persian king Darius III . The conquered lands included Asia Minor , Assyria , the Levant , Egypt , Mesopotamia , Media , Persia , and parts of modern-day Afghanistan , Pakistan , and the steppes of central Asia. The years of constant campaigning had taken their toll, however, and Alexander died in 323 BC. After his death,

28014-576: Was built along a grid pattern, centered around a colonnaded decumanus maximus running east–west through the city as early as the mid-1st century CE. Other monuments included a Kalybe (a shrine to the Emperor ), a theatre , an odeon , a basilica , and new city walls. The most important improvement, however, was the aqueduct , which led water into Hippos from the El-Al stream in the Golan Heights , 24 km long each aqueduct. The water, collected in

28188-519: Was crushed at the Battle of Sellasia (222 BC) by the Achaean league and Macedon, who restored the power of the ephors . Other city states formed federated states in self-defense, such as the Aetolian League ( est. 370 BC), the Achaean League ( est. 280 BC), the Boeotian league , the "Northern League" ( Byzantium , Chalcedon , Heraclea Pontica and Tium ) and

28362-469: Was defeated and captured by the Romans in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). During the Hellenistic period, the importance of Greece proper within the Greek-speaking world declined sharply. The great centers of Hellenistic culture were Alexandria and Antioch , capitals of Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria respectively. The conquests of Alexander greatly widened the horizons of

28536-621: Was defeated in 288 BC when Lysimachus of Thrace and Pyrrhus of Epirus invaded Macedon on two fronts, and quickly carved up the kingdom for themselves. Demetrius fled to central Greece with his mercenaries and began to build support there and in the northern Peloponnese. He once again laid siege to Athens after they turned on him, but then struck a treaty with the Athenians and Ptolemy, which allowed him to cross over to Asia Minor and wage war on Lysimachus' holdings in Ionia , leaving his son Antigonus Gonatas in Greece. After initial successes, he

28710-453: Was forced to surrender to Seleucus in 285 BC and later died in captivity. Lysimachus, who had seized Macedon and Thessaly for himself, was forced into war when Seleucus invaded his territories in Asia Minor and was defeated and killed in 281 BC at the Battle of Corupedium , near Sardis . Seleucus then attempted to conquer Lysimachus' European territories in Thrace and Macedon, but he

28884-463: Was influenced by Greek designs, and Greek letters can be found on various Celtic coins, especially those of Southern France . Traders from Massalia ventured inland deep into France on the Rivers Durance and Rhône , and established overland trade routes deep into Gaul , and to Switzerland and Burgundy . The Hellenistic period saw the Greek alphabet spread into southern Gaul from Massalia (3rd and 2nd centuries BC) and according to Strabo , Massalia

29058-452: Was inhabited by various Illyrian tribes and kingdoms such as the kingdom of the Dalmatae and of the Ardiaei , who often engaged in piracy under Queen Teuta (reigned 231–227 BC). Further inland was the Illyrian Paeonian Kingdom and the tribe of the Agrianes . Illyrians on the coast of the Adriatic were under the effects and influence of Hellenisation and some tribes adopted Greek, becoming bilingual due to their proximity to

29232-426: Was joined by Eumenes) and was supported by Antigonus, Lysimachus and Ptolemy. In 317 BC, Cassander invaded Macedonia, attaining control of Macedon, sentencing Olympias to death and capturing the boy king Alexander IV , and his mother. In Asia, Eumenes was betrayed by his own men after years of campaign and was given up to Antigonus who had him executed. The third war of the Diadochi broke out because of

29406-468: Was pre-eminent but not all-powerful. Spartan hegemony was succeeded by a Theban hegemony after the Battle of Leuctra (371 BC), but after the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) , all of Greece was so weakened that no one state could claim pre-eminence. It was against this backdrop that the ascendancy of Macedon began, under king Philip II . Macedon was located at the periphery of the Greek world, and although its royal family claimed Greek descent,

29580-413: Was reestablished in the 5th century BC with a new city ( neapolis ) on the Iberian mainland . Emporion contained a mixed population of Greek colonists and Iberian natives, and although Livy and Strabo assert that they lived in different quarters , these two groups were eventually integrated. The city became a dominant trading hub and center of Hellenistic civilization in Iberia, eventually siding with

29754-413: Was shaky because, as Arrian writes, "everyone was suspicious of him, and he of them". The first of the Diadochi wars broke out when Perdiccas planned to marry Alexander's sister Cleopatra and began to question Antigonus I Monophthalmus ' leadership in Asia Minor . Antigonus fled for Greece, and then, together with Antipater and Craterus (the satrap of Cilicia who had been in Greece fighting

29928-457: Was the first to adopt this custom), having themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participating in Egyptian religious life. The Ptolemaic ruler cult portrayed the Ptolemies as gods, and temples to the Ptolemies were erected throughout the kingdom. Ptolemy I even created a new god, Serapis , who was a combination of two Egyptian gods: Apis and Osiris, with attributes of Greek gods . Ptolemaic administration was, like

30102-491: Was then occupied by Macedonian troops, and run by Macedonian officials. Sparta remained independent, but it was no longer the leading military power in the Peloponnese . The Spartan king Cleomenes III (235–222 BC) staged a military coup against the conservative ephors and pushed through radical social and land reforms in order to increase the size of the shrinking Spartan citizenry able to provide military service and restore Spartan power. Sparta's bid for supremacy

30276-404: Was unsuccessful and returned to Italy. After the Battle of Beneventum (275 BC) Pyrrhus lost all his Italian holdings and left for Epirus. Pyrrhus then went to war with Macedonia in 275 BC, deposing Antigonus II Gonatas and briefly ruling over Macedonia and Thessaly until 272. Afterwards, he invaded southern Greece and was killed in battle against Argos in 272 BC. After

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