Pressure Cooker of Dissent 6. Throughout the 1st century of the common era, while the Herodian aristocracy happily danced to the tune of the caesars, the exploitation of the common people intensified. Upon their backs now weighed the priesthood, the landowning elite and the Romans. The stage was set in which rabbis, radicals and rebels would appeal to the despised and neglected masses. On offer was a hero of the people. The Decapolis – Greek civilisation confounds the Jews Urbanization and Hellenization of the Levant followed in the wake of Alexander the Great. The era of the Ptolemies and Seleucids saw many Greek-style cities established along the eastern side of the Jordan river valley. Following the 2nd century BC Maccabean revolt these city-states of the Decapolis (as many as 18 of them, despite the name) came under repeated attacks by the Jewish Hasmonean kings. But then the Romans arrived. Pompey reorganized the towns into a semi-autonomous federation (coins note the year of liberation – 63 BC). Despite being on the imperial frontier and the continued hostility of religious zealots, the federated cities flourished for over three centuries, thanks to the proximity of one of the great trade routes – later rebuilt as the Via Nova Traiana – and abundant local agriculture. Nympheum at Jerash (Gerasa). Impressive ruins include 3 theatres, several temples, 3 bath houses and a hippodrome. Scythopolis (Beth Shean/ Beisan) City of the Scythes, an Iranian people from the Crimea. According to Josephus the largest city of the Decapolis. Gadara (Umm Qais). Renowned for its artists and poets and cynic philosophers. Seven miles from the Sea of Galilee but those suicidal pigs sweated out the distance. Provincia Judaea circa 60 AD Hellenic-Roman civilisation was firmly established in the coastal cities and in towns across Galilee and into the Decapolis. The first Roman road ran from Caesarea to Scythopolis – built in 69 AD by the legion X Fretensis during the Jewish war. Both Trajan and Hadrian extended the road network. The Judaean highlands remained a backwater of peasant farming, Jerusalem itself a centre of religious reaction. Hellenized Jewish kings built cities to honour their Roman masters: Herod built Caesarea and Sebaste (Greek rendering of Augustus); his son Antipas built Tiberias. Philadelphia (Rabbath-Ammon). Ancient capital of the Ammonites, Roman ruins include a 5000-seat theatre and a Temple of Hercules. Abila (Quailibah) Ruins of an extensive underground aqueduct system that brought water to the bath house and nympheum. Capitolias In 2002 archeologists found a 6000 seat amphitheatre. Much of the city remains under a blanket of olive trees and 20 meters of mud. Sources: Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion,The Weight of Three Thousand Years (Pluto, 1997) Michael Grant, Herod the Great (McGraw-Hill, 1971) Neil Faulkner, Apocalypse-The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome AD66-73 (Tempus, 2004) Michael Grant, Jesus (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977) N. Page, The Bible Book (Harper Collins, 2002) J. Packer, D. Williams The Bible Application Handbook (Eagle, 1999)
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 04:54:32 +0000
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