Aelia Capitolina

Abstract

After the sacking of the Herodian Jerusalem in 70 ce, the city came under direct Roman rule. The Jewish residents were killed or exiled, the city destroyed, and a military camp of the Tenth Roman Legion Fretensis was established on a part of the ruins. Around 130 ce, Emperor Hadrian founded in place of the ruined Jewish city Jerusalem, a colony named Aelia Capitolina, in honor of his clan and the Capitoline Triad. After dismantling the remnants of the Herodian city and its magnificent Temple, the Romans rebuilt the city according to classical orthogonal design. The new city was smaller in size and different in shape relative to the former settlement. From the limited historical sources, we learn that Aelia Capitolina was divided into seven quarters, covering some one hundred hectares and comprised a number of major structures. The new city was characterized by parallel straight streets that cross each other on the cardinal axis, a layout that still forms the basis for the Old City today. The major streets were colonnaded and dotted with triumphal arches and monumental buildings. Though an issue of scholarly debate, it seems that the Tenth Legion’s camp was located in the southwestern part of the city, integrating the three extant Herodian three towers and a portion of the western city wall into its defenses. Furthermore, the Temple Mount enclosure, too large to be destroyed, was rebuilt by the Romans, and incorporated in the new city, as a civic or religious center. The expulsion of the Jewish inhabitants left Aelia Capitolina lightly populated, a situation only partially rectified by the encouragement of settlement by veterans and their families, together with Hellenic groups living in Provincia Palaestina.