ABSTRACT
Syria was one of the great sources of wealth in the Roman Empire, and was a prime source of soldiers, goods, gods, and merchants. As a geographical region Syria was comparable with Italy, Spain, Gaul, or Asia Minor in importance, though in size it was smaller than any of these. After ad 98 the emperors came from Spain and Gaul and Africa for the next century and more – and then for a short time from Syria – and the imperial administrators were increasingly likely to come from a land other than Italy. The Roman poet Juvenal objected to the presence of Syrians in the city of Rome, claiming that the Orontes was emptying into the Tiber; it is a scathing comment, and his accuracy is questionable, but he was not wrong to see that Syria and Syrians were having a powerful effect.
