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Posted by Vince on 2/4/2009, 12:22 am, in reply to "Read those Encycolpedia Entries again, Vince."
According to this wikipedia article ....
[ The names of the traditional Ten Cities of the Decapolis come from the Roman historian Pliny the Elder (N.H. 5.16.74). They are:
1. Gerasa (Jerash) in Jordan
2. Scythopolis (Beth-Shean) in Israel, the only city on the western side of the Jordan River
3. Hippos (Hippus or Sussita) in Israel
4. Gadara (Umm Qais) in Jordan
5. Pella (East of Irbid) in Jordan
6. Philadelphia, modern day Amman, the capital of Jordan
7. Dion (Capitolias) in Jordan
8. Canatha (Qanawat) in Syria
9. Raphana (Abila) in Jordan
10. Damascus, the capital of modern Syria; Damascus was considerably north of the others and so is sometimes thought to have been an "honorary" member. ]
So, let's merge 2 maps of the region to see where these cities actually lie
As you can see, Dion, Canatha and Damascus all fall outside the boundaries of Decapolis, as shown .... with Damascus being W-A-Y out of bounds.
So-o ..... Pompey would NOT have set up a region that had 3 cities outside of it, 'sort of' belonging to it. This sounds very much like the product of natural political evolution that was already established. Pompey obviously would have tried to exploit the arrangement though, as best possible.
That little piece of information from your link ....
[ The Decapolis survived until the 2nd century CE when Emperor Trajan added new provinces in the region to the Roman Empire.
Consequently the Decapolis cities were re-classified as part of different Roman provinces, Syria, Palestina, Secunda and Arabia.]
is rather interesting ..... because ..... it includes the region of Nabataea.
Aretas was king of Nabataea.
Yet, Paul talks about going to "Arabia" .... (huh?)
Looks to me like some kinda Freudian slip there, giving away a scribal error since there WAS NO Arabia existent yet, at the time Paul was supposed to have lived. That came later, in the time of Trajan.
Yet, it's possible that Aretas had some kind of agreement with Damascus to swap troops with them. What better way of keeping a federation fresh and flourishing than to do soldier exchange?
-Vince
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