View source for Arabia Petraea

{{Short description|Roman province (106–630s)}}
{{For|the Czech author of the 1907 work "Arabia Petraea" in German|Alois Musil}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
| native_name            = {{lang|la|{{noitalics|{{aut|Provincia Arabia Petraea}}}}}}&nbsp;{{nobold|([[Latin]])}}<br />{{lang|grc|{{Script/Greek|Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας}}}}&nbsp;{{nobold|([[Koine Greek|Greek]])}}<br />{{lang|ar|{{Script/Arabic|العَرَبِيَّة الصَخْرِيِّة}}|rtl=yes}}&nbsp;{{nobold|([[Arabic]])}}
| common_name            = Arabia
| image_map              = Roman Empire - Arabia Petraea (125 AD).svg
| image_map_caption      = Boundaries of Arabia Petraea (red) within the [[Roman Empire]], {{circa|125}}
| era                    = [[Ancient Rome]]
| subdivision            = Province
| year_start             = 106
| year_end               = {{circa|636}}
| p1                     = Nabataean Kingdom
| p2                     = Decapolis
| s1                     = Bilad al-Sham
| capital                = [[Petra]] (first)<br />[[Bosra#History|Bosra]] (last)
| event_start            = [[History of the Romans in Arabia|Roman conquest of Nabataea]]
| event1                 = Creation of [[Palaestina Salutaris]]
| date_event1            = 390
| event_end              = [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]]
| demonym                = {{hlist|[[History of the Arabs|Arab]]|[[Tribes of Arabia|Arabian]]}}
| today                  = <!-- No more than four, so do not fill -->
| conventional_long_name = Province of Arabia Petraea
| status_text            = [[Roman province]]
}}

'''Arabia Petraea''' ({{Literal translation|Rocky Arabia}}) was a [[Roman province]] from the 2nd century to the 7th century. It was established after the [[Roman Empire]] conquered the [[Nabataean Kingdom]] in 106 and existed until the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]] in the 630s. Spanning much of the [[Sinai Peninsula]] and part of the [[Levant]], it was bordered by [[Roman Syria|Syria]] to the north, by [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judaea]] (later [[Syria Palaestina]]) to the west, and by [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]] to the southwest. To the east and southeast of Arabia Petraea was non-Roman territory that the Romans knew as [[Arabia Deserta]]. These two regions, together with a third region in [[South Arabia]] that was called [[Arabia Felix]], accounted for the [[Arabian Peninsula]] in Roman geography.

Annexed by [[Trajan]] ({{Reign|98|117}}), Arabia Petraea was a key province along the [[Limes Arabicus]], which delineated the [[Borders of the Roman Empire|Roman Empire's borders]] throughout the [[Arabian Desert]]. It was also the only province in the [[Near East]] that the Romans did not gain and subsequently lose during Trajan's reign, unlike [[Roman Armenia|Armenia]], [[Assyria (Roman province)|Assyria]], and [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)|Mesopotamia]]. The province's capital city was initially [[Petra]], as it had been under the Nabataeans, but [[Bosra]] later served in this capacity. Most of the province's land was a vast desert that was sparsely populated by nomadic [[Tribes of Arabia|Arab tribes]], though there were several urban settlements closer to the [[Jordan River]].

Though subject to eventual attack and deprivation by the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] and [[Palmyrene Empire|Palmyrenes]], Arabia Petraea witnessed nothing like the constant military incursions of Roman territory in [[Germania]] and [[North Africa]], nor the entrenched cultural presence that defined the provinces of the [[Hellenized East]]. However, this period of consistent and relatively stable Roman rule came to an end in the 7th century, when the province was briefly lost to the [[Sasanian Empire]] during the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]] before being indefinitely lost to the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] during the [[Arab–Byzantine Wars]].

== Geography ==
[[File:Roman Empire 125 political map.svg|thumb|300px|The Roman Empire in the time of [[Hadrian]] (ruled AD 117–138), showing, in western Asia, the [[imperial province]] of Arabia Petraea (SW Syria/Jordan/NW Saudi Arabia/Sinai). A single legion was deployed there in 125 AD.]]
The geographic makeup of Arabia has some variation. It includes the comparatively fertile [[Moab]] plateau, which received 200mm of annual rainfall, at the southernmost tip of which lies [[Petra]] which, along with [[Bostra|Bosra]] (or Busra), together constitute the political foci of the province.

Inhospitability is the norm, however, and along with the desert proper that is the Sinai, the arid [[Negev]], which extends north of the Sinai, is practically such. Along with this are the coastal areas around the [[Red Sea]]; the badlands known as [[Hismā]] that develop to the north of that coast; and the ever-present rocky terrain.

== Administration ==
Most of Arabia's territories were sparsely populated, as urban settlements was concentrated to the north toward the [[Jordan River|Jordan river]] and the region of [[Hauran]]. In addition to [[Petra]], major cities included [[Bosra]], [[Jerash]] (Gerasa), [[Qanawat|Canatha]], [[Daraa|Adraa]], [[Shaqqa|Maximianopolis]], [[Shahba|Philippopolis]] and [[Amman]] (Philadelphia). The only major sea port was Ayla (modern [[Aqaba]]), at the tip of the wide [[Gulf of Aqaba]] at the [[Red Sea]]. 

[[File:View of Petra.jpg|thumb|left|[[Petra]], one of the major cities of Arabian Petra, now designated as a [[World Heritage Site]] by [[UNESCO]]]]

In AD 106, when [[Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus]] was governor of Syria, the part of Arabia under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the Roman Empire as part of Arabia Petraea, and Petra became its capital.  Petra declined rapidly under Roman rule, in large part from the revision of sea-based trade routes. In 363, [[Galilee earthquake of 363|an earthquake]] destroyed many buildings and crippled the vital water management system. The old city of Petra was the capital of the Eastern Roman province of [[Palaestina Salutaris|Palaestina III]] and many churches from the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine period]] were excavated in and around Petra. In one of them, the [[Byzantine Church (Petra)|Byzantine Church]], [[Petra papyri|140 papyri]] were discovered, which contained mainly contracts dated from 530s to 590s, establishing that the city was still flourishing in the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dio Cassius, LXVII. 14, 5}}</ref>

Petra served as the base for [[Legio III Cyrenaica]], and the governor of the province would spend time in both cities, issuing edicts from both.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

=== Urbanism and architecture ===
Across the cities of Arabia Petraea, Roman urban elements were introduced, but their execution varied and was deeply shaped by local traditions. Cities such as Gerasa and Philadelphia adopted Roman features, colonnaded avenues ([[cardo]] and [[decumanus]]), public monuments, and loosely rectilinear plans, yet their construction techniques and architectural decoration remained strongly influenced by regional Near Eastern and Nabataean practice.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Segal |first=Arthur |date=1981 |title=Roman Cities in the Province of Arabia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/989724 |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=108–121 |doi=10.2307/989724 |issn=0037-9808}}</ref> Bostra, the provincial capital, exhibited a different character: its buildings followed Roman civic models but were executed in the local basalt, giving the city a severe and non-classical appearance. Philippopolis stands apart, having been founded according to an idealized Roman colonial plan, with strict orthogonal streets and standardized public buildings laid out from its inception.<ref name=":0" /> Generally, while Roman models became organizing elements, their construction often relied on local craftsmen who modified classical design, proportions, and decoration. The result was a mixture of Roman, Hellenistic, and indigenous Semitic forms rather than a simple cultural replacement.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
=== Roman conquest of Nabataea ===
Before Roman control in 106 AD, the area had been ruled by [[Rabbel II]], last king of the Nabataeans, who had ruled since 70 AD. When he died, the [[Legio III Cyrenaica|Third Cyrenaica legion]] moved north from Egypt into Petra, while the [[Legio VI Ferrata|Sixth Ferrata legion]], a Syrian garrison unit, moved south to occupy Bosra. The conquest of Nabataea can be best described as casual, an act by Trajan to consolidate control of the area before acting on his designs for territory across the [[Tigris]] and eventually into Mesopotamia proper.

There is no evidence of any pretext for the annexation: Rabbel II had an heir by the name of Obodas and though there was little fighting (attested to by the fact that Trajan did not adopt the appellation "Arabicus"), there does seem to have been enough of a defeat to humiliate the Nabataeans.  The two cohorts that eventually found themselves in Arabia had sailed from Egypt to [[Syria (region)|Syria]] in preparation for the action. Apart from some units of the Nabataean royal guard, this seems not to have been strongly resisted, as suggested by the fact that some Nabataean troops served as auxiliary Roman troops shortly after the conquest.

The conquest of Arabia was not officially celebrated until completion of the [[Via Nova Traiana]]. This road extended down the center of the province from Bosra to Aqaba.  It was not until the project was finished that coins, featuring Trajan's bust on the obverse and a camel on the reverse, appeared commemorating the acquisition of Arabia.  These coins were minted until 115, at which time the Roman imperial focus was turning farther eastward.

[[File:Roman Empire Trajan 117AD.png|thumb|upright=1.35|{{legend|#b23938|Trajan control of Arabia until Hegra (actual [[Hegra (Mada'in Salih)|Mada'in Salih]])}}]]

The road linked not only Bosra and Aqaba, which other than being a port does not seem to have held much significance to the imperial government, but also Petra, which sat at the center of the province, between the road's two termini. Though Trajan declared Bosra to be the capital of the province, he also awarded Petra the status of [[metropolis]]{{clarify|date=August 2025}}, as a sign that he agreed about its importance with his successor, Hadrian, who considered it to be dignified and historic.

In the 1960s and 1970s, evidence was discovered that Roman legions occupied [[Hegra (Mada'in Salih)|Mada'in Salih]] under Trajan in the Hijaz mountain area of northeastern Arabia, increasing the extension of the Arabia Petraea province south.<ref>{{cite magazine | last1=Kesting | first1=Piney | title=Well of Good Fortune | url=http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200103/well.of.good.fortune.htm | date=2001 | magazine=[[Saudi Aramco World]] | access-date=March 31, 2016}}</ref>

==== Spread of Greco-Roman influence ====
With Roman conquest came the imposition of Latin and Greek in official discourse. This was standard for a province in Eastern Rome, but Arabia had far less of the history of Hellenization and Romanization than its neighbors, and the Greek language was little used before its introduction by the Romans.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} After the conquest, though, Greek was adopted popularly, as well as officially, practically supplanting Nabataean and Aramaic, as evidenced by inscriptions at [[Umm al Quttain]].{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} The occurrence of Latin in the province was rare and limited to such cases as the tomb inscription of [[Lucius Aninius Sextius Florentinus]], governor in 127, and, somewhat paradoxically, in personal names.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}

Millar makes a case for a Graeco-Roman [[Hellenization]] in Arabia.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} It is an area, after all, that was not significantly hellenized during the rule of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], and the locals originally spoke their native language, not Greek.  So with the introduction of Roman rule, along with many aspects of classic Roman socialization, such as public works and glorification of the military, came an introduction of some Greek cultural and social values.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}  Arabia acclimated to the new culture so fully that it seems the original linguistic groups faded away.  There were scattered Nabataean inscriptions during the period of imperial Roman rule.

The [[Era of Bostra|Era of Bosra]], a year numbering system specific to the province, was introduced. Its year one began on the date corresponding to 22 March 106 AD.<ref>{{citation |title=The Annexation and Initial Garrison of Arabia |author=Glen Bowersock |author-link=Glen Bowersock |journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik |volume=5 |year=1970 |pages=37–47 |jstor=20180208}}.</ref>

=== Late Roman period ===
When [[Avidius Cassius]] rebelled against what he believed was a deceased [[Marcus Aurelius]], he received no support from Arabia province, overlooked by some historians likely due to the fact that Arabia did not have the wealth or political might of Syria. Arabia responded similarly when the governor of Syria, [[Pescennius Niger]], proclaimed himself emperor in 193.{{cn |date= December 2025}}

[[Image:Bosra-Ruins.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bostra|Bosra]], an important centre of trade]]

When [[Septimius Severus]] rose to power and stripped the Syrian city of Antioch of its status as Metropolis for its part in the rebellion and meted out punishment to any others who were unlucky enough to choose the wrong side, the Third Cyrenaica received the honorific "Severiana". In addition, the governor of Arabia, [[Publius Aelius Severianus Maximus]], was allowed to continue in his post in reward for his loyalty. Syria was later split into two and Arabia was expanded to include the [[Lajat]] and [[Jebel Drūz]], rough terrain south of Damascus, and also the birthplace of M. Julius Phillipus, better known as [[Philip the Arab]].{{cn |date= December 2025}}

Severus had enlarged a province that was already huge. He then proceeded to enlarge the empire through the conquest of Mesopotamia.  The transfer of the Leja’ and Jebel Drūz seemed to have been  part of a shrewd series of political acts on the emperor's part to consolidate control of the area before this conquest.  Arabia became the ideological power base for Septemius Severus in the Roman Near East.  The obvious need to mitigate and tame the power of the province of Syria, which had shown itself over and over to be a hotbed of rebellion, was then accomplished in three parts:  The reorganization of Syria into two political units, the reduction of its territory in favor of Arabia, and the marriage of the emperor to the shrewd [[Julia Domna]].{{cn |date= December 2025}}

Arabia became such a symbol of loyalty to Severus and the empire that during his war against [[Clodius Albinus]], in [[Gaul]], Syrian opponents propagated a rumour that the Third Cyrenaica had defected.  That it would matter to an issue in Gallia that a single legion in a backwater province on the other side of the empire would rebel indicates the political sway that Arabia had amassed.  Not a land of significant population, or resources or even strategic position, it had become a bedrock of Roman culture.  That it was an Eastern Roman culture did not seem to dilute this importance in the west.  It is precisely because Arabia had so little that it was able to define itself as Roman and that spurred its loyalty to Imperial Rome.{{cn |date= December 2025}}

In c. 300 CE, the [[Negev]], [[Sinai Peninsula |Sinai]] and southern [[Transjordan region| Transjordan]] were transferred from Arabia Petraea to Syria Palaestina during the [[Diocletian#Territorial units| reforms of Diocletian]] (284–305).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tsafrir |first=Yoram |year=1986 |title=The Transfer of the Negev, Sinai and Southern Transjordan from "Arabia" to "Palaestina" |journal=[[Israel Exploration Journal]] |volume=36 |issue=1/2 |pages=77–86 |issn=0021-2059 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/27926015}}</ref> Arabia after Diocletian became a part of the [[Diocese of the East]], which was part of the [[Praetorian prefecture of the East|Prefecture of Oriens]].{{cn |date= December 2025}}

=== Byzantine period ===
Around 357-358, Syria Palaestina was split in two; southern Palaestina, which included the recently added territories and later became known as [[Palaestina Salutaris]], was separated from the remaining northern territory, which received the name [[Palaestina Prima]].<ref name= YDan>{{Cite journal |last=Dan |first=Yaron |year=1982 |title=Palaestina Salutaris (Tertia) and Its Capital |journal=[[Israel Exploration Journal]] |volume=32 |issue=2/3 |pages=134–135 |jstor=27925836 |quote=The division of Palestine into two provinces, Palestina Prima and Southern Palestine, later to be known as Palaestina Salutaris, took place in 357-358 [...] In 409 we hear for the first time of the three provinces of Palestine: Palaestina Prima, Secunda and Tertia (the former Salutaris).}}</ref> 

As part of the Diocese of the East, the entire region became a frontline in the [[Byzantine–Sassanid Wars]]. In the 5th or 6th century it was transformed into [[Palaestina Salutaris]].{{cn |date= December 2025}}

==== Episcopal sees ====
Ancient episcopal sees of the Roman province of Arabia listed in the ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]'' as [[titular see]]s :<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Adraa]] (Daraa)
* [[Bacatha in Arabia]] (ruins of Khirbet-El-Bascha?)
* [[Bosana (Syria)]] (Busan)
* '''[[Bostra]], the Metropolitan Archbishopric'''
* [[Canatha]]
* [[Constantia in Arabia]] (Buraq)
* [[Chrysopolis in Arabia]]
* [[Dionysias]]
* Erra (Es-Sanamein?, Aere?, Ire?)
* [[Esbus]] (Hesbân)
* Eutyme
* [[Gerasa]] (now Jerash)
* [[Maximianopolis in Arabia]]
* [[Medaba]] (now Madaba)
* [[Neapolis in Arabia]]
* Neila (ruins of Khirbet-En-Nila)
* [[Nawa, Syria|Neve]]
* [[Parembolae in Arabia]]
* [[Phaena]] (Al-Masmiyah)
* [[Philippopolis in Arabia]] (Shahba)
* [[Zorava]] (Ezra')
}}

== See also ==
* [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]]
** [[History of the Romans in Arabia]]
*** [[List of Roman governors of Arabia Petraea]]
* [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references  ==
* {{cite book |last=Bowersock |first=Glen Warren |author-link=Glen Bowersock |title=Roman Arabia |date=1996 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=9780674777552 |edition=4. print}}
* {{cite book |last=Millar |first=Fergus |author-link=Fergus Millar |title=The Roman near east, 31 BC - AD 337: based on Carl Newell Jackson lectures |date=2001 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0674778856 |edition=4. print}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Ball |first=Warwick |author-link=Warwick Ball |title=Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |isbn=978-0415113762 |pages=30–33, 101–105}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Fiema |first=Zbigniew Tomasz |date=1987 |title=The Annexation of Arabia–A General Perspective |journal=Ancient World |volume=XV |issue=1-2 |pages=25-35 |issn=0160-9645}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Segal |first=Arthur |date=1981 |title=Roman Cities in the Province of Arabia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/989724 |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=108–121 |doi=10.2307/989724}}

== External links ==
* [https://archive.today/20140826023220/http://www.vkrp.org/studies/historical/roman-roads/ On the Via Nova Traiana], Virtual Karak Resources Project
* [https://archive.today/20140319183617/http://www.vkrp.org/studies/historical/roman-forts/ On the Limes Arabicus], Virtual Karak Resources Project

{{Roman provinces AD 117}}
{{Late Roman Provinces}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arabia Petraea| ]]
[[Category:100s establishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:630s disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Ancient Levant]]
[[Category:Historical regions of Asia]]
[[Category:History of Palestine (region)]]
[[Category:Jordan in the Roman era]]
[[Category:Late Roman Syria]]
[[Category:Nabataea]]
[[Category:Sinai Peninsula]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 7th century]]