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Hadrian in Palestine, 129/130 A. D.
Author(s): William F. StinespringReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 59, No. 3 (Sep., 1939), pp. 360-365Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/594691.
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HADRIAN
IN PALESTINE,
129/130
A.
D.
WILLIAM F.
STINESPRING
DUKE
UNIVERSITY
SCHOLARS
egretfully
admit
that
the chronology
of Hadrian's
reign
in
general and
his
journeys
in particular
is still uncertain.'
With
regard
to Palestine,
Diirr
2
proposed
that the
Emperor
vis-
ited that
country
and Egypt
first
in September
117, shortly
after
his
accession in
Antioch
on August
11; but von
Rohden
in Pauly-
Wissowa
3
called
this hypothesis
weder nachzuweisen
noch
wahrscheinlich,
and von
Rohden's
opinion
has been
widely
ac-
cepted.
Recently,
however,
Professor
William
Dodge Gray
has
strongly supported
Diirr,4 proposing
that
Hadrian visited
Jeru-
salem
in
117, decided
then
to refound
the city, and
actually
had
the work started
immediately,
although
it soon
languished
and
was
not taken
up
again
until the
Emperor's
next
visit in
129/130.
The only bearing
of
this hypothesis
on
the
present paper,
as will
be
seen below, is in regardto the time of Hadrian's decision to refound
Jerusalem
as
Aelia
Capitolina.
It is
an
uncontested
fact that
Hadrian
visited
Palestine
in
129/130,
whether
he had
been
there before
or not. There are
cer-
tain fixed points
in his
itinerary,
but the order
of visitation
is
obscure.
Von Rohden
makes the
following suggestions:
Hadrian
apparently
(there
is
no certain evidence)
5spent
the winter
of
1
See, e.g., the footnote to the article Hadrian in Encyc. Brit., 14th
ed.
Webster's
there
is an
error
for
Weber's,
i. e. Wilhelm
Weber,
Untersuchungen
zur
Geschichte
des
Kaisers
Hadrianus,
Leipzig,
1907.
2
J.
Dtirr,
Die
Reisen
des
Kaisers Hadrian,
Vienna,
1881.
P
.
von
Rohden,
Aelius
(64)
P. Aelius
Hadrianus,
Paulys
Real-
Encyclopddie
der
classischen
Altertumswissenschaft,
herausgegeben
von
Georg
Wissowa,
I
(Stuttgart,
1894),
cols.
493-520.
OW.
D. Gray,
The
Founding
of Aelia Capitolina
and the
Chronology
of
the Jewish
War
under Hadrian,
AJSL
39
(July
1923)
248-256
and
New
Light
on
the
Early
Reign
of
Hadrian,
AJSL
40
(Oct.
1923)
14-29.
b
Op. cit. (Pauly-Wissowa, I) cols. 509-511. See further
George
Mac-
donald,
The
Pseudo-autonomous
Coinage
of
Antioch,
Numismatic
Chronicle
(1904)
127 ff.,
where
a
certain
amount
of
proof
is adduced
from
coins
that
Hadrian
spent
a
part
of
the
winter
of
129/139
in
Antioch.
Weber
(op.
cit. 234,
n. 843) wrongly
quotes
the
title
of this
article
as
The pseudonomous
[sic]
Coinage
of
Antioch.
360
8/11/2019 Hadrian in Palestine, 129
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Hadrian in Palestine, 129/130
A.
D.
361
129/130 in
Antioch, Syria; in the early
spring
of 130 he
set
out
for the
south;
he visited Jerusalem and decided
to
refound
it
as
Aelia
Capitolina;
he passed on to Gaza, where a
new
era, beginning
in 129/130 was established in his honor; we
find
him
next
in
Petra,
which henceforth called itself
'AWptv
HIEpa; a coin of Alexandria
dated
in
his fourteenth year (Aug. 29,
129-Aug. 28, 130)
makes
it
certain that he
was in Egypt by August 130; he could not have got
there much earlier.
SchUrer lists
three points of
datable evidence
underlying
this
reconstruction:
(1) an inscription
from
Palmyra
of
the
year
130/131 mentioning a visit of Hadrian shortly before.7 (2) the
coinage
of
Gaza
attesting
the new Hadrianic
era; (3)
the
single
Alexandrian coin
commemorating
Hadrian's
presence
and dated
in
his 14th year,
alongside
a
greater
number
of coins dated
in
his fifteenth
year. The scarcity of the issue of
the fourteenth year
suggests that
the coinage began late in that
year. Inscriptions
from
Thebes
8
attesting the presence of the
Emperor in that city
in
November
130 support the conclusion
that he could not have
arrived in Egypt long before.
Schiirer
mentions
among
the
undatable traces of iadrian in
Palestine
temples
named
after him in
Caesarea
and
Tiberias,
a
Hadrianic
festival
(7ravv7yvptL)
n
Gaza and the addition to the
name
of
Petra
mentioned above. To these must be added most of
the
chronologically uncertain statements of the ancient literary
authorities,
including
Dio
Cassius.9
As
an
important addition
to
these data
inscriptions found at
Jerash, ancient Gerasa,
in
Trans-Jordan
should receive attention.
Excavations have
been carried on there for
some years by a joint
expedition of
Yale University and the American Schools of Oriental
Research. A
final publication of all available material has recently
appeared.10
During the
spring of 1934, while the writer
was in charge of the
6
Emil
Schlirer,
Geschichte des
jiidischen
Volkes
im
Zeitalter Jesu
Christi,
3rd-4th eds.,
Leipzig (1909)
I
680f.
7
R.
Cagnat,
Inscriptiones
Graecae
ad
Res
Romanas
Pertinentes III
(Paris,
1906)
no. 1054.
8Ibid.
I
(Paris,
1911)
nos. 1187-1188.
9lxix. 12-14
(epitome of
Xiphilinus);
convenient
translation
in B. W.
Henderson,
Life
and
Principate
of Emp.
Hadrian,
London
(1923) 216
f.
10
Gerasa,
City
of the
Decapolis, edited
by
C.
H.
Kraeling,
New
Haven,
1938.
8/11/2019 Hadrian in Palestine, 129
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362
William
F.
Stinespring
work,
the
dedicatory
inscription
of the Triumphal
Arch
was
brought
to light.
The
text
of
this
inscription
reads
as follows:
11
aya~j/ rVXn?
1.
vrEp
a)T-qptas
-AVTOKpaTOpOs
Kacrapos,
?Eoi
TpadavoZ
Hap@uoi
vtoi,
OFcoZ
NCpova
viwvoi,
Tpaiavoi
'MAptavoi
2.
:EfeacTTOv,
'ApXLepCo';
MeyhrTov,
8,4pXLKrjs
Ctovcr1aS
TO
X,
VTaTOV
To yn
7raTpo'
7raTp 0o%
Kat
TVX7P
Kat
aouLov7)S
ToZ
3.
arviravro'&
avTov
OxKOV--
,?
7rogXs
'AvtoXECWv
WV
7rpos
nj
Xpvaopo'
a
niv
7rpo'TEpov
rPpaarqviv
(K
8taGKqp
4)Xaovtov
4. 'Aypirrov
T7V
7rvX-qv
cAv
Optac.l/39 E7ovs
t39p'
The value
of this
inscription
for the
present
purpose
lies
first
of all in
the
fact
that
it
establishes
beyond
doubt
that
Hadrian
visited
Jerash
in
the
year
192
of that
city's
era,
i.
e.,
between
autumn
129
and
autumn
130.12
Since
his
fourteenth
tribunician
authority
did
not
begin
until December
10, 129,
that
year
is
practically
ruled
out.
As
Rostovtzeff
points
out,'3
this
visit
might
have
been
inferred
from three
inscriptions
previously
found;14
indeed, Weber
5
had already inferred it in 1907 from one inscrip-
tion
published
by
Lucas. '
Nevertheless,
Cheesman's
guess
of
132/133
as the
date
for
the
Equites
Sin
gulares
inscription
had
disturbed
the
picture.
This inscription
relates
that
the
Equites
Singulares
Imperatoris
(emperor's
personal bodyguard)
spent
a
winter
at
Gerasa;
the date,
unfortunately,
is
missing.
Now
we
can
combine
the
Equites
and Triumphal
Arch inscriptions,
and
assert
with
some
confidence
that Hadrian's
bodyguard
spent
the
winter
of 129/130 at Gerasa.
11
For
initial
publications
see
Stinespring,
The
Inscription
of
the
Triumphal
Arch
at
Jerash,
BASOR
56
15
f.;
and Rostovtzeff,
L'In-
scription
de
1'Arc
de
Triomphe
de
Djerasch,
Academie
des
Inscr.
et
Belles-Let.,
Comptes
Rendus (1934)
264-272.
See
now
the
discussion
by
C.
B.
Welles
in
Gerasa
401
f.
12
See
McCown,
The
Calendar
and
Era
of
Gerasa,
Transactions
of
the
American
Philological
Association
64
(1933)
77-88.
18
Op.
cit.,
267
f.
14H. Lucas, Repertorium der griechischen Inschriften aus Gerasa,
Mittheilungen
und
Nachrichten
des
Deutschen
Palistina-Vereins
(1901)
68,
no.
54;
A.
H.
M.
Jones, Inscriptions
from
Jerash,
Journal
of
Roman
Studies
18 (1928)
158,
no.
17;
G.
L.
Cheesman,
An
Inscription
of
the
Equites
Singularis
Imperatoris
from Gerasa,
JRS
4
(1914)
13-16.
15
Op.
cit.,
238
ff.
1
See
note
14.
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Hadrian in
Palestine,
129/130
A. D.
363
Where
was the
emperor at this time? Von Rohden
in
Pauly-
Wissowa
says at the end of his discussion of year 129: Den
Winter
129/130
wird
Hadrian
wahrscheinlich
17
in
Antiochia
zugebracht
haben.
McCown,18
aking
note of
the
fact that Gerasa
had
changed it
name
'
to
Antioch
on the
Chrysorhoas
and
that
the
emperor's
personal
bodyguard had wintered
there, pro-
poses
that
Hadrian
himself
stayed there,
rather than at the me-
tropolis of
northern Syria.
However, the
evidence
to make this
certain
is
lacking. It
is
probable that
Hadrian
would have
pre-
ferred
the
metropolis
to the
provincial
town.
So
apparently
Rostovtzeff
20
believes, for he suggests that the bodyguard came to
Gerasa ahead of
the
emperor
in
order to
prepare
for
his
coming.
The
Gerasenes
could
hardly have
furnished
suitable
quarters
and
honors
on
short notice.
Nevertheless, it is
plain
that
Hadrian had a
very
kindly
feeling
for the
little Antioch on
the
Chrysorhoas. The
Equites
in-
scription
refers to
it as
hiera
et
asylos
et
autonomos
and the
dedi-
cation of
the
Triumphal
Arch has
the
tone of
people
fully con-
scious of imperial favor and wishing wholeheartedly to retain it.
The
building of
this
massive arch
of
three
gateways,
almost
as
imposing as
the later
one of
Constantine
in
Rome, must
have
been
a
big
undertaking for
this
comparatively
small
community, but
the
people
probably
felt
that the
occasion
justified
unusual effort.
Unless we
accept
the
hypothesis
of
Gray
(following
DUrr)
that
Hadrian
had
already
in
117
decided to
remake
Jerusalem,
it
is
natural
to
suppose
that
the
decision
was
arrived at
during
the
visit of 130. The Emperor reflected upon the loyalty of the people
of
Gerasa,
Petra,
Tiberias,
Caesarea,
and
Gaza.
He also
recalled
the fact
that
these
places
had
colonnaded
streets, baths,
temples,
and
the other
external
appurtenances
of
Roman
culture.
Perhaps
the
very
acts
of
looking
at
classical
architecture and
observing
sacrifices
to
Jupiter
would
eventually give
even
this
stiff-necked
people
of
Jerusalem a
Roman
soul.21
Construction
was
started
17
Italics
mine.
1
C. C. McCown, New Historical Items from Jerash Inscriptions,
JPOS 16
75
f.
19
Probably in
the
time
of
Antiochus III
(the
Great);
see my
reasons
for
this
dating
in
AJA
40
273; see
also
Kraeling in
Gerasa
30
ff.
20
Op.
cit. 268.
Cf. also
Macdonald, op.
cit.
129.
21
For
a
discussion of
Hadrian's
feeling
of
a
mission
to
Romanize
the
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Hadrian
in
Palestine,
129/130
A.
D.
365
sium,
but where he
was
just
before,
no one has told us.
By
Ara-
bia
(Ger.
Arabien)
is
meant
practically
what
is now
officially
called
Trans-Jordan,
including the towns of
Gerasa,
Philadelphia,
and
Petra.
It is
possible
that
the
Emperor
went to
Pelusium
more
or
less
directly
from
Petra via
Aila
(site
near modern
'Aqabah)
27
and
across
Sinai;
or he
may
have
gone
back
to Gaza28
via
the
Negeb
route before
entering Egypt.
Weber
29
would
consider
the
visit
to the coast towns of
Berytus,
Sidon,
and
Tyre
as
having
come
later,
and
proposes
instead
that
the
imperial
party came
through
the interior from
Damascus
to
Bostra, thence to Philadelphia via Gerasa. The visit to Philadel-
phia is
attested
by
a
milestone
(COIL,
II, 14168).
From
Phila-
delphia,
says
Weber,
Hadrian
went
directly
to Jerusalem.
(No
support
is
offered
for this
statement and
it
appears
to
be a mere
conjecture). Jerusalem
was ordered
to be
rebuilt
as
Aelia
Capi-
tolina.
Then from
Jerusalem Hadrian
made a
special
trip
to
Petra, going
directly
to Petra
and
coming
back
again
to
Jerusalem,
whence he
journeyed to Gaza and
so
on to
Egypt.
It is hard to disprove this itinerary proposed by Weber, but
equally
hard
to
prove
it. The
passage from
eastern to
western
Palestine or
vice versa
three
times
seems
unnecessary
and
a
bit con-
fusing.
However,
it is
quite
possible
that
Weber,
as
against Dirr
and
von
Rohden, is
right about
Hadrian's
entering
the
country
through
Bostra.30
Rostovtzeff
1
thinks
so, and
the present
writer
has
been
favorably
inclined
to this view
for
some
time.
Admitting,
then,
this
point
of
Weber's
and
ruling
out for
the
moment
von
Rohden's idea
that the
Emperor
finished
his
visit
on the
western
side
of
the
Jordan
before
crossing
over,
there
remains
one
alterna-
tive;
namely,
that
Hadrian
came
first
to
the
eastern
side
(modern
Trans-Jordan)
and
completed
his
visit
there
before
crossing
to
Palestine
proper.
In
other
words,
Bostra,
Gerasa,
Philadelphia,
and Petra could
have
been visited
in
order
as
the first
stage of the
Palestinian tour.
Then with
a
certain
amount
of
retracing,
Jeru-
salem,
and
doubtless
other
Cis-Jordanian
towns,
would
follow,
with
Gaza
as
the
last
important
stopping place
before the
entry into
Egypt.
27
Recently
explored
by
the
American
School
of
Oriental
Research
in
Jerusalem;
see AAASOR
15 46
f.
28
Gregorovius,
op.
cit.
118.
29
Op.
cit. 239-245.
80
Ibid.
239
and
DUrr,
op.
cit.
63,
n.
356.
I
Op.
cit.
268.