Editing Decapolis (section)

{{Short description|Group of ten Hellenistic cities in the Levant}}
{{Other uses|Decapolis (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{lang|grc|Δεκάπολις}}
| conventional_long_name = Decapolis
| common_name            = Decapolis
| image_map              = The-Decapolis-map.svg
| map_caption            = The ten cities of Decapolis marked in black italics
| era                    = <!-- [[Roman Empire]], [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]], [[Flavian dynasty]], [[Parthia]] -->
| empire                 = [[Roman Empire]]
| government_type        = Client state
| year_start             = 63 BC
| year_end               = AD 106
| p1                     = Coele-Syria
| p2                     = Hasmonean kingdom
| s1                     = Arabia Petraea
| s2                     = Syria Palaestina
| capital                = 
| common_languages       = [[Koine Greek]], [[Aramaic]], [[Arabic]], [[Latin]], [[Hebrew]]
| religion               = [[Hellenistic religion]], [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial Cult]]
| event_end              = [[Trajan]]'s annexation of [[Arabia Petrea]]
| event_start            = [[Pompey]]'s conquest of Syria
| today                  = [[Israel]]<br/>[[Jordan]]<br/>[[Syria]]
}}
{{coord|32.7167|N|35.8000|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

The '''Decapolis''' (Greek: {{langx|grc|Δεκάπολις|Dekápolis|Ten Cities|label=none}}) was a group of ten Greek [[Hellenization|Hellenistic]] cities on the eastern frontier of the Greek and late [[Roman Empire]] in the [[Southern Levant]] in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], between [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judaea]], [[Iturea]], [[Nabataean Kingdom|Nabataea]], and [[Roman Syria|Syria]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=536}}</ref>

The Decapolis was a center of [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]]  [[Culture of ancient Rome|culture]] in a region which was otherwise populated by [[Jews]], Arab [[Nabataeans]] and [[Arameans]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kropp|first1=Andreas|last2=Mohammad|first2=Qasim|date=2006|title=Dion of the Decapolis: Tell al-Ash'arīin southern Syria in the light of ancient documents and recent discoveries|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/lev.2006.38.1.125|journal=Levant|volume=38|issue=1|pages=125–144|doi=10.1179/lev.2006.38.1.125|s2cid=162405924 |issn=0075-8914|quote=The Decapolis was a peculiar agglomeration of Hellenized cities placed between Jewish Palestine, Nabatean Arabia and the Hauran.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The cities formed a group because of their [[Greek language|language]], [[Culture of Greece|culture]], [[Hellenistic religion|religion]], location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous [[city-state]] dependent on Rome. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars{{who|date=July 2023}} believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.

In the time of the Emperor [[Trajan]], the cities were incorporated into the provinces of [[Roman Syria|Syria]] and [[Arabia Petraea]]; several cities were later placed in [[Syria Palaestina]] and [[Palaestina Secunda]]. The Decapolis region is located in modern-day [[Jordan]] (Philadelphia, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara), [[Israel]] (Scythopolis and Hippos) and [[Syria]] (Raphana, Dion, Canatha and Damascus).