Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1102

 1U78 SYRIA. governor of Syria appointed by Pompey, after having punislied its ruler, the Arabian prince Aretas, for the attacks which he had made upon the province before it had been reduced to order, concluded a treaty with him in b. c. 62. It is to tliis event that the coins of Scaurus refer, bearing the inscrip- tion HEX ARETAS. (Eclvliel, vol. V. p. 131; cf. Dion Cass, xxxvii. 15; Appian. iit/i: 51; Joseph. Ant. xiv 4. § 5, 5. § 1.) Damascus was dependent on the Romans, and sometimes Jiad a Roman garrison (Hieron. in hoi. c. 17; Joseph. Ant. xiv. 11. § 7), though it cannot be doubted that the Arabian Icings were in possession of it, on the condition of paying a tribute. It has ah'eady been remarlced that the city was in the possession of an etlmarch of Aretas in A. 1). 3'J; and it was not till the year 105, when Arabia I'etraea became a province, that Damascus was united with Syria, in the proconsulship of Cor- nelius Pahna. (Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 330.) On the other hand, Judaea appears to have been annexed to the province of Syria immediately after its conquest by Pompey in b. c. 63 (Dion Cass. xxxvii. 15, 16; Eutrop. vi. 14; Liv. Ej). 102; Strab. xvi. p. 762, sq.; Joseph. B. J. i. 7. § 7; Ainm. ]Iarc. xiv. 8. § 12); though it retained its own ad- ministration, with regard especially to the taxes which it paid to the Romans. (Joseph. Aiit. xiv. 4. § 4, B. J. I. 7. § 6.) The race of the Jewish kings ended with Aristobulus, whom Pompey, after the capture of Jerusalem, carried to Rome to adorn his triumph (Appian, Syr. 50; Dion Cass, xxxvii. 16 ; I'lut. Poll)]}. 45; J osej)h. Ant. xiv. 4, &c.) Hyr- canus, the brother of Aristobulus, was left indeed in .Tudaea as chief priest and ethnarch, in which offices he was confirmed by Caesar; but his dignity was only that of a priest and judge. (Dion Cass. I. c; and Joseph. I. c. and xiv. 7. § 2, 10. § 2.) The land, like the province of Syria, was divided for the con- venience of administration into districts or circles of an aristocratic constitution (Joseph. B. J. i. 8. § 5) ; and during the constant state of war in which it was kept either by internal disorders, or by the incur- .sions of the Arabians and Parthians, the presence of Roman troops, and of the governor of the province himself, was almost always necessary. It has been already related [Jerusai.em, Vol. I. p. 26] that Antigonus, the son of Aiistobulus, ob- tained possession of the throne with the assistance of the Parthians in b. c. 40. In the following year the Parthians were expelled from Syria by Ven- tiilius (Dion Cass, xlviii. 39 — 41; Liv. Ejnt. 127); and in b. c. 38 Judaea was conquered by So- sius, Antony's legatus, Antigonus was captured and executed, and Herod, surnamed the Great, was placed upon the throne, which had been promised to Inm two years previously. (Dion Cass. xlix. 19 — 22; Plut. Antoti. 34, sqq.; T&c. Hist. v. 9; Ap- ])ian, B. C. v. 75; Strab. xvi. p. 765.) From this time, Judaea again became a kingdom. With re- gard to the relation of Herod to the Romans we may remark, that a Roman legion was stationed at Je- rusalem to uphold his sovereignty, that the oath of fealty was taken to the emperor, as lord paramount, as well as to the king, and that the absolute de- pendence of the latter was recognised by the pay- ment of a tribute and the providing of subsidiary troops. (Joseph. A7it. xv. 3. § 7, xvii. 2. § 4; Appian, B. C. v. 75.) Herod, therefore, is to be regarded only as a procurator of the emperor, with the title of king. Antony assigned part of the re- venues of Judaea to Cleopatra. (Joseph. J?t/;. xv. SYRIA. 4. §§ 2, 4.) According to an ordinance of Caesar, the places in the jurisdiction of Jerusalem, with the exception of Joppa, had to pay a yearly tribute of a fourth of all agricultural produce, which was to be delivered the following year in Sidon, besides a tenth to be paid to Hyrcanus. (^Ibid. xiv. 10. § 6.) In the seventh, or Sabbath year, however, the tribute was intermitted. Besides this tribute, there was a capitation tax ; and it was for the organising of this tax that the census mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke (ii. 1, 2) was taken in the year of our Saviour's birth, which appears to have been conducted by Herod's officers according to a Roman forma cen- sualis. The division of Judaea among the sons of Herod, and its subsequent history till it was incor- porated in the province of Syria by the emperor Claudius, a. v. 44 (Tac. Ann. xii. 23, IJist. v. 9), have been already narrated [Vol. II. p. 532], as well as the fate of Jerusalem under the emperors Titus and Hadrian. [Vol. II. p. 26, seq.] With regard to Palmyra, the sixth of the dynasties before enumerated, we need here only add to what has been already said [Vol. II. p. 536] that it was united to the province of Syria by Hadrian, and bore from him the name of 'ASpiavri naA^uupa. (Steiih. B. p. 498, ed Meineke; cf. Gruter, p. 86. 8.) But whether it became a colony with the Jus Itali- cum on that occasion or at a later period, cannot be determined. Respecting the administration of the province of Syria, it may be mentioned that the series of Roman governors commences with M. Scaurus, who was left there by Pompey in the year 62 b. c. with the title of quaestor pro praetore. Scaurus was suc- ceeded by two pro-praetores, L. Marcius Philippus, 61 — 60, and Lentulus Marcellinus, 59 — 58 ; wlien, on account of the war with the Arabs, Gabinius was sent there as proconsul, with an army (Appian, S>/i: 51; cf. Joseph, xiv. 4, seq., B. Jud. i. 6 — 8; Eckhel, vol. v. p. 131). We then find the following names; Crassus, 55 — 53; Cassius, his quaestor, 53 — 51; M. Calpurnius Bibulus, proconsul. (Dru- mann, Gesch. Roms. vol. ii. pp. 101, 118 — 120). After the battle of Pharsalus, Caesar gave Syria to Sex. Julius Caesar, b. c. 47, vrho was put to death in the following year by Caecilius Bassus, an adherent of Pompey. (/6. p. 125, iii. p. 768) Bassus re- tained possession of the province till the end of 44, when Cassius seized it, and assumed the title of proconsul. (Cic. ad Fam. xii. 11.) After the battle of Philippi, Antony appointed to it his lieu- tenant, L. Decidius Saxa, b. c. 41, whose overthrow by the Parthians in the following year occasioned the loss of the whole province. (Dion Cass, xlviii. 24; Liv. Epit. 127.) The Parthians, however, were driven out by Ventidius, another of Antony's lieutenants, in the autumn of 39. (Dion Cass. ib. 39 — 43; Liv. ib.; Plut. Ant. 33.) Syria continued to be governed by Antony's officers till his defeat at ■' Actium in 31, namely, C. Sosius, b. c. 38 (by whom, Si as we have said, the throne of Judaea was given to ■ Herod), L. Munatius Plancus, b. c. 35, and L, Bibulus, B. c. 31. In b. c. 30, Octavian intrusted Syria to his legate, Q. Didius. After the division of the provinces between the emperor and senate in b. c. 27, Syria continued to have as governors legati Augusti pro praetore, who were always consulares. (Suet. Tib. 41; Appian, Syr. 51.) The most ac- curate account of the governors of Syria, from b. c. 47 to A. I). 69, will be found in Norisius, Cenola- pkia Piscina. (0])p. vol. iii. pp. 424 — 531.) Their