Jerash

1 · POSITION

Jerash, ancient Gerasa, in northern Jordan, was a city of the Decapolis, the league of cities that shared a Greek culture and governed themselves under Rome. Its colonnaded main street still stands, paved with its original stones. The register holds it as a Roman provincial city on the King’s Highway built for commerce and for visitors. [1]

2 · A HELLENISTIC CITY UNDER ROME

Its early history is debated; it belongs to the Hellenistic world that followed Alexander, and grew on fertile land, reliable water and trade routes. Rome annexed the region in the first century BC, and membership of the Decapolis gave the city stability and a place in the imperial networks. [1]

3 · THE STREET AND THE FORUM

The Cardo Maximus was the city’s commercial and social street. The curved Oval Forum joins it to the temples on the heights — Zeus beside a great theatre, and to the north Artemis, the city’s patron. An arch was raised for the emperor Hadrian’s visit of 129–130. [1]

4 · THE END

The earthquake of 749 did more than any conquest to bring the city down, and it is the earthquake’s ruin that the visitor now walks through. [1]

5 · ⚑ CANDOUR

⚑ Only one source was read, and it gives no length for the street, no count of theatres and no date of rediscovery. The city’s place on the King’s Highway is the register’s link. [1]