Editing Jerash (section)

===Roman period===
[[File:Jerash - colonnaded street.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3| Colonnaded Street]]

With the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] conquest of the area in 63 BC, the short-lived Jewish rule of Gerasa came to an end.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Starr |first=Joshua |date=1934 |title=A New Jewish Source for Gerasa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3259883 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=167–169 |doi=10.2307/3259883 |jstor=3259883 |issn=0021-9231|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Pompey]] attached the city to the [[Decapolis]], a league of Hellenistic cities that enjoyed considerable autonomy under Roman protection. The historian [[Josephus]] mentions the city as being principally inhabited by Syrians, and also having a small [[Jews|Jewish]] community.<ref>Josephus, ''De Bello Judaico'' ([[Wars of the Jews]]) II, 457 (''Wars of the Jews'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D457 2.18.1]) and ''De Bello Judaico'' (Wars of the Jews) II, 477 (''Wars of the Jews'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D477 2.18.5].</ref><ref name=":5" /> During the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], Gerasa was among the few non-Jewish cities in the region not to kill or imprison its Jewish residents, and its residents even escorted any Jews who wanted to leave to the border.<ref name=":4" /> 

Gerasa was the birthplace of the mathematician [[Nicomachus]] of Gerasa ({{langx|el|Νικόμαχος}}) ({{Circa|60|120 AD}}).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Taran|first1=L.|editor1-last=Gillispie|editor1-first=Charles C.|title=Dictionary of Scientific Biography|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofscie04gill|chapter-url-access=registration|date=1970|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|edition=1st|chapter=Nicomachus of Gerasa|isbn=9780684101149}}</ref> It has been proposed to identify it as Geresh, a place mentioned by Josephus as the birthplace of Jewish [[Zealots|Zealot]] leader [[Simon bar Giora]], but other scholars identify it with modern-day [[Jurish]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Klein2009">Klein, E, 2009, "Jewish Settlement in the Toparchy of Acraba during the Second Temple Period - The Archaeological Evidence", in: Y. Eshel (ed.), Judea and Samaria Research Studies, Volume 18, Ariel, pp. 177-200 (Hebrew).</ref>

In the second half of the 1st century AD, the city of Gerasa achieved great prosperity. In AD 106, Geras was absorbed into the Roman province of [[Arabia (province)|Arabia]], which included the cities of [[Philadelphia (Amman)|Philadelphia]] (modern day [[Amman]]), [[Petra]] and [[Bostra]]. The Romans ensured security and peace in this area, which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and encouraged civic building activity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Borgia |first1=E. |title=Jordan: Past and Present: Petra, Jerash, Amman |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}</ref> Emperor [[Trajan]] constructed roads throughout the province, and more trade came to Jerash. Emperor [[Hadrian]] visited Gerasa in AD 129–130, and the triumphal arch known as the [[Arch of Hadrian (Jerash)|Arch of Hadrian]] was built to celebrate this occasion.<ref name="Mashriq" />