Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

590 21b. syria, palestine and mesopotamia
The Samaritans 6 comprised a much smaller minority, concentrated in the
area around Neopolis (Nablus) and the site of their ancient temple at Mt
Gerazim. In the third century, under the leadership of Baba Rabba, they
had experienced a period of prosperity and religious revival but, like the
Jews, they found the Christian empire of the late fifth and sixth century
increasingly oppressive.
Syria in late antiquity, or at least until the mid sixth century, enjoyed
something of a golden age. True, there were famines and riots, and the lot
of the peasantry was frequently one of toil and indebtedness, but it was
also a period of comparative peace and prosperity and considerable
achievement in intellectual and architectural matters. And if you were to be
asked which part of the ancient world you would like to live in as a peasant,
you could do worse than opt for one of the villages by the great monastery
of St Symeon Stylites, in the northern Syrian hills between Antioch and
Aleppo, in the reign of Anastasius (491–518).
The administrative geography of the area was essentially that of
Diocletian’s reforms, with some later alterations. The whole area was
included within the diocese of Oriens, and the comes Orientis, based at
Antioch, was in theory the leading figure in the civil administration, but by
the sixth century his office was often united with that of the governor of
Syria I, and the provinces were more or less autonomous. The area under
discussion was divided into a number of provinces. From north to south
along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean was Syria I, with its metropolis
at Antioch. In about 425, in the reign of Theodosius II, Syria had been
divided and Syria II established with its capital at Apamea, though this was
sometimes subordinate to Syria I. In about 529, for reasons which are not
clear, Justinian arranged a further division when he created a new small
province of Theodorias with its capital at Laodicea (Lattakia) which incorporated
the small coastal towns of Paltos Gabala (Jeble) and Balaneai
(Banyas) in Syria I and Syrian II. 7
Further south were the two Phoenicias, Phoenicia Maritima (metropolis
Tyre) and, inland from that, Phoenica Libanensis, the capital of which was
Damascus and which stretched far to the east to include Palmyra (Tadmur)
in the heart of the Syrian desert.
From about 425 onwards, Palestine was divided into three provinces,
Palestine I, the metropolis of which was Caesarea and which included most
of the coastal lands as well as Jerusalem and Judaea, and Palestine II, which
was ruled from Scythopolis in the Jordan valley and which covered Galilee
and the Golan. In the south, Palestine III stretched from the Mediterranean
around Gaza eastwards to include the Negev, the southern rift valley and
the hills of Edom. In theory, the capital was at remote Petra but, in prac-
6 There is little recent discussion of the Samaritans in late antiquity but see Crown, Pummer and Tal
(1993); for Samaritan revolts see pp. 593 and 598 below. 7 Malalas p. 448 Bonn.
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