HOME

Forword
Tomb raiders and treasure hunters
The Mediterranean in Antiquity – a short review
Life in Classical times
Burial customs simplified
Coffins and sarcophagi in many shapes and sizes
Life after death
Burying the dead
The Roman way of death
Houses for the dead
Remembering the dead
Cultural crossroads – the Roman provinces of Syria and Judaea 
A Roman Province
Decapolis and Palmyra – cosmopolitain cities of the East
The Jews
The first Christians
Martyrs and relics
Forgeries

Selected sources
People, places and events
Mythology
Glossary

PEOPLE, PLACES AND EVENTS

Abila (present-day Quwailibeh): One of the towns of the Decapolis in north-western Jordan.

Alexander the Great (reign: 336-323 BC): Macedonian king.

Antioch (present-day Antakia):  A town in southern Turkey founded in 307 BC. Antioch became one of greatest cities of the Roman and Early Byzantine Empire.

Aramaeans  A semi-nomadic group that moved into Syria and Mesopotamia at the end of the 2^nd millennium BC. The Aramaic language can be traced back to the 10^th -8^th century BC, when the Aramaeans began to use the Phoenician alphabet. Aramaic is still spoken in a few areas of the Middle East.

Arabs  Various sedentary and nomadic groups were known as Arabs from the 9^th century BC. In Antiquity the Arab tribes lived on the Arabian peninsula in Mesopotamia and Syria.

Attica  The region around Athens.

Augustus (reign: 27 BC – AD 14): Roman emperor.

Aurelian (reign: AD 270-275): Roman emperor.

Bar Kokhba’s revolt  AD 132 – 135) Shimon Bar Kokhba (‘Son of a star’) led the second major revolt of the Judaean Jews against the Romans.

Beersheba  Town in the Negev desert of Israel.

Byblos (present-day Jbail): A town in northern Lebanon known from the 3^rd millennium BC.

Carthage  The capital of the Western Phoenician realm in today’s Tunisia. Destroyed in 146 BC, it later became a major African metropolis in the Roman Empire.

Clazomenai (present-day Urla): Greek town situated west of Izmir, Turkey.

Constantine (reign: AD 306-337): Roman emperor.

Constantinople (present-day Istanbul): Founded by the Greeks in the 7^th century BC. It was the capital of the East Roman Empire from AD 330 until 395, when it became the capital of Byzantium. Fell to the Turks in 1453.

Corinth  Greek town in the northern Peloponnese.

Decapolis (Gr.: Ten cities): An alliance of cities with a predominantly Greek population, situated in an area which now includes parts of Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and Syria. The Decapolis was probably formed after the Romans took control of the territory in 64-63 BC. It consisted of up to 18 towns, among these: Damaskus (Damas), Kanatha (al Qanawat), Gadara (Umm Qais), Gerasa (Jerash), Hippos (Qal’at al-Hisn), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl), Abila (Quwailibeh), Capitolias (Beit Ras), Philadelphia (Amman), Raphana, Scythopolis (Beth-Shean), Dion.

Ephesus  (Gr. Ephesos): Greek town on the western coast of Turkey, best known for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Epicurus  (341-270 BC): Greek philosopher who founded the Epicurean school.

Etruscans  An Italic group in northern Italy between the 9^th and the 1^st century BC.

Hadrumetum (present-day Sousse): Punic and Roman town in Tunisia.

Hisham Ibn-al-Kalbi (before 747 – 819/821 AD): Early Arab historian.

Homer (8^th – 7^th centuries BC): According to tradition, a Greek poet and author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Jaffa (Lat. Joppe; present-day Tel Aviv): Town on the coast of Israel.

Nabateans  Arab group, based in what is now Jordan, who prospered from the caravan trade. Their capital was Petra. The Nabateans became allies of Roman in 62 BC, and their realm became the Roman province of Arabia in AD 106.

Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD): Roman poet.

Palmyra   Oasis town in the Syrian desert, about 250 km east of Damascus.

Petra  Capital of the Nabateans in southern Jordan. It was made part of the Roman Empire in AD 106.

Petronius  (AD c 14 – 66): Roman politician and writer, most famous for the satire Satyricon.

Phoenicians  A group that originated in the late 2^nd millennium BC. Their core territory was in today’s Lebanon. The Phoenicians founded colonies in Northern Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and Spain.

Pirro Ligorio (1514 - 1583): Italian painter, archaeologist, architect and garden architect.

Pliny the Elder  (AD 23/24 – 79): Roman author, naval and military commander, philosopher and author of Naturalis Historia.

Polybius (c 203 –120 BC): Greek historian.

Probus (reign: AD 276-282): Roman emperor.

Punians (Lat. for Phoenicians): Name given to Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean.

Sassanids: A term generally used for the Fourth Iranian dynasty and the Second Persian Empire (AD 226-251), and the descendants of  Sassan, the high priest of the Temple of Anahita.

Skythopolis (present-day Beth-Shean): Town of the Decapolis in north-western Palestine, founded by the Ptolemeans in the 3^rd century BC.

Suetonius ca AD 69 – ca AD 130): Roman historian.

Theodosius I (reign: AD 379-395): Roman emperor.

Torp, Alf (1853-1916): Norwegian linguist.

Troy: Bronze Age town in western Turkey (see under Mythology)

Villanova The archaeological material culture attributed to Early Iron Age groups that were present in Northern Italy in the 9th and 8th century BC.

Virgil (70-19 BC): Roman poet.

Zenobia (reign: AD 267 – 272): Queen of Palmyra.

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