ABSTRACT
Roman civilization spread rapidly through many of Rome’s eastern territories, and with Romanization came all the major amenities and diversions of Roman life, including baths, theatres and stadiums. Under Roman rule, hundreds of towns and cities were built from scratch, or refounded on the sites of earlier settlements, especially in Asia Minor, Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Roman military veterans as well as local peoples provided populations for these rapidly developing urban centres and village communities, in accordance with a Romanization programme particularly associated with Julius Caesar, and subsequently with his nephew, the emperor Augustus. e cities and smaller settlements, both old and new, were connected by a much upgraded road network. Major features of this were the north-south Via Maris (‘e Way of the Sea’) which linked Egypt with Palestine and coastal Syria, the Via Nova Traiana, the former King’s Highway which linked the Gulf of ‘Aqaba to Damascus, and a west-east route that connected Damascus with the Euphrates via Palmyra.
