Hadrian’s visit ushered in a golden age for the city, and Gerasa’s population may have touched 25,000 during the late second and early third centuries.Ĭivil disorder in Rome in the 190s heralded the end of the boom.

In 129–130, Gerasa briefly became the centre of the Roman Empire, as Trajan’s successor, Hadrian, wintered in the city in his honour, the Gerasenes built a new monumental arch outside the southern walls, and embarked on major expansion works, including widening of the main street and renovation of temples and public buildings. Suddenly, Gerasa found itself not only close to the provincial capital but also astride the highly lucrative trade routes guarded by the Nabateans. Gerasa gained a link by a branch road to Trajan’s new highway running between Bosra and the Red Sea, while other main roads linked the city with Philadelphia and Pella. In 106, when Emperor Trajan reorganized Roman authority in the region around his new Province of Arabia, Gerasa lost its autonomy and was governed from the provincial capital, Bosra. The century which followed saw unprecedented growth and stability, and it was during the first century AD that the basic town plan as it survives today was laid down: a colonnaded north–south axis cut by two colonnaded side-streets, along with a temple to Zeus (built over the pre-existing temple) fronted by an oval plaza, expansion of the temple to Artemis and construction of the South Theatre. Gerasa and its Decapolis neighbours were “liberated” by the Romans under Pompey in 63 BC and granted autonomy under the higher authority of the Province of Syria. The Roman eraīy the time of Gerasa’s foundation the idea of the Decapolis had emerged.

Very little evidence of this Hellenistic period survives today. Gerasa (the ancient name for Jerash) was founded around 170 BC, the relatively small settlement of that time focused around the Temple of Zeus and the low hill opposite. Set in the fertile hills of Gilead, which is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament as being a populated and cultivated region, the Jerash area has attracted settlement since prehistory: Paleolithic and Neolithic implements have been uncovered nearby, and archeological investigation around the South Gate of the city has revealed evidence of settlement going back to the Middle Bronze Age (around 1600 BC). Known by give-or-take the same name for more than two thousand years, Jerash has a long and colourful history taking in emperors, invading armies and – like much of Jordan – modern reinvention after centuries of abandonment.

Hippodrome chariot races