ARAM, 23 (2011) 35-62. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.23.0.2959651 THE FOUNDATION OF ROMAN CAPITOLIAS A Hypothesis Mr. JULIAN M.C. BOWSHER1 (Museum of London Archaeology) INTRODUCTION The town of Beit Ras in northern Jordan is the site of the ancient city of Capitolias. The identification and geographical location of Capitolias was deter- mined in the 19th century. According to numismatic data, the city was “founded” in 97/98 AD. However, it remains an enigma since no one appears to have addressed the questions of why and when Capitolias, as a Roman city, came into being. This paper will concentrate on the Roman city of Capitolias, re-examining the known sources as well as analysing the broader geographic, economic, political, military, and religious elements. These factors will be brought together to produce a hypothesis covering the why and when. This introduction will begin with a review of early accounts of the site and the history of its identifica- tion with Capitolias, before examining its foundation. Historiography The first known (western) description of the site of Beit Ras was by Ulrich Jasper Seetzen who was there in the spring of 1806. He noted that “… from some ancient remains of architecture [it] appears to have been once a consider- able town.” but he was unable to identify it.2 J.L. Burckhardt travelled in the area in 1812 and although he did not manage to visit the site, he was told that at Beit er Ras the “ruins were of large extent, that there were no columns standing, but that large ones were lying upon the ground”. Burckhardt did not have any idea of its identification either for he had in fact been searching for the site of Capitolias elsewhere.3 J.S. Buckingham passed by to the west of the site 1 This hypothesis has been in my mind for nearly 20 years and I am grateful to ARAM for finally providing an incentive to finish this paper. I am indebted to Cherie Lenzen for many early discussions on the site and an initial draft was kindly read by her, Philip Freeman and Rebecca Foote which resulted in many suggestions and corrections. At the ARAM Decapolis conference in 2008 I benefitted from further fruitful discussions with Lucinda Dirwen. Andreas Kropp, Bernhard Lucke and Nadine Riedl. 2 Seetzen 1810, 29-30; 1854, I, 371-372. 3 Burckhardt 1822, 269, 266. 994097_ARAM_23_04_Bowsher.indd4097_ARAM_23_04_Bowsher.indd 3535 88/02/13/02/13 115:565:56 36 THE FOUNDATION OF ROMAN CAPITOLIAS in 1816 merely noting that it was an inhabited hamlet “where there are said to be considerable ruins and caverns.”4. The earliest identification of the site with Capitolias appears to have been made by Cornelius van de Velde during his travels in 1851-52.5 Selah Merrill visited the site for two hours in April 1876 and decided that “Beit er Ras, – “house of the head”, … no doubt corresponds to Capitolias in the Roman period.” He went on to describe its situation on “the slopes and summits of two or three low hills” and its extensive ruins: “The public buildings were numer- ous and imposing, but are now mere piles of ruins.” He described some of the ruins such as vaults with roads and architectural fragments as well as noting inscriptions in Nabataean and Greek.6 The first detailed description of the site was by Gottleib Schumacher in 18907 to whom I shall have recourse later. The two American explorers Libbey and Hoskins visited the site in 1902. They accepted the identification with Capitolias, but their short account is rather effusive in its description, speaking of “a huge arch” and “the mass of public buildings, whose wealth of columns, carved capitals, ornamental work, and massive walls speak eloquently of the ancient richness and influence of this incomparable site.”8. The identification of Beit Ras with Capitolias is not only made on the basis of the ruins and its possible etymology. The site clearly cor- responds with the position of Capitolias on the Tabula Peutingerana, marked with distances from other known sites. Exploration Tombs at the site were investigated by German scholars at the beginning of the 20th century.9 The American archaeologist C.C. McCown explored various areas around the site in the 1930s10 as did Nelson Glueck11 and later Siegfried Mittmann.12 Further tombs in the vicinity have been excavated over a number of years.13 A more comprehensive programme of survey and excavation was launched by Cherie Lenzen in 1984.14 The Department of Antiquities of Jordan 4 Buckingham 1821, 411. 5 van de Velde 1858a; 1858b, 302. 6 Merrill, S. 1881, Across the Jordan. London. pp. 296-8. An inscription found by Merrill at the site was published four years later; Allen 1885, 202, no.25. 7 Schumacher 1890, 154-168. 8 Libbey & Hoskins 1905, 172-173. 9 Thomsen 1910; Reuter 1911, 53-54. 10 McCown 1932; 1936. 11 Glueck 1951, 114-118. 12 Mittmann 1970, 169-173. 13 McCown 1942; Zayadine 1976; Melhem 1994; Ta’ani, H. 1995a. 14 See bibliographic entries for Lenzen in Lichtenberger 2003, 114-27. An important contri- bution to the historiography of the site are the oral sources collected by Lenzen 1995. 994097_ARAM_23_04_Bowsher.indd4097_ARAM_23_04_Bowsher.indd 3636 88/02/13/02/13 115:565:56 J.M.C. BOWSHER 37 began further investigations in 2000 and, in the spring of 2002 an ancient theatre was discovered on the north-western slopes of the site, hidden by many metres of hillwash.15 BEFORE THE CITY Gilead, within which Beit Ras lies, has a long Biblical history, and survey work over the wider area has provided much evidence of early activity.16 The natural prominence of Beit Ras, within this terrain, has long attracted speculation on an ancient identity. At the beginning of the 20th century, Hölscher identified it with Mizpeh, the home of Jeptha (Judges 11:11, 29, 34) and thus at the centre of Jewish occupation in the area.17 Survey and excavation at the site itself has failed to produce any pre- Hellenistic material, and this identification is most unlikely.18 El-Meidan, a small site half a kilometre to the south-east of Beit Ras, has produced Early and Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery,19 but there are no other traces of early material within the immediate vicinity. Slightly farther afield, Mittman found pottery of Middle and Late Bronze Age and Iron Age date at es-Zafaran, Dabulya, Shris and Samuqa.20 The largest earlier site in the vicinity is, of course, Irbid, tentatively identified with the Biblical Beth Arbel (Hosea 10.14), which has revealed substantial Bronze Age and Iron Age remains.21 The highest point at Beit Ras, Tell el-Khudr at its western end, lies at 614 metres above mean sea level and extensively commands the surrounding terrain.22 Hellenistic pottery was found, albeit residually, on the surface23 and a watchtower here is a logical assumption. However, the archaeological results (to date) have not provided any evidence for any occupation earlier than Roman. No evidence for such a watchtower thesis exists but later Roman structures, 15 Karasneh & al-Rousan 2002. Lucke however, suggests that the hillwash covering was largely present in the 5th and 6th centuries AD, Lucke this volume. 16 Note the surveys of Glueck 1951, and Mittmann 1970. 17 Holscher 1906, 140. Mizpeh was almost certainly the same as Ramoth Mizpah of Josiah 13:26. The argument continued with the identification of Mizpeh – Mispa becoming the Maspha of I Maccabees 5.35 and even corrupting into Malle of Josephus Ant Jud XII.8.3(340). Neverthe- less, the identification with Beit Ras was cautiously accepted by Abel 1923, 516-7. 18 See Mittmann 1970, 217 where Mizpa is identified with el-Misrefe to the south. However he does not equate this with Ramath-Mizpa which he could not locate, pp. 235-42. 19 Glueck 1951, 116, no.43. 20 Mittman 1970, 26 no.54, 28 no.58, 28 no.59, 29 no.61. 21 Glueck 1951, 153-4; Lenzen & McQuitty 1988, 268; Lenzen & Knauf 1988. 22 El-Khudr is not, of course, a tell in the archaeological sense, but used locally to mean a ‘high point’. 23 Lenzen & Knauf 1987, 24; Lenzen & McQuitty 1988, 269. 994097_ARAM_23_04_Bowsher.indd4097_ARAM_23_04_Bowsher.indd 3737 88/02/13/02/13 115:565:56 38 THE FOUNDATION OF ROMAN CAPITOLIAS founded on bedrock,24 may have involved the clearance of earlier remains. Pos- sible Hellenistic watchtowers have been identified near Beit Ras25 and Hellenistic forts have been found on high points around Pella to the south-west.26 A garrison at Gerasa to the south, has also been suggested.27 These, however, are sites with archaeologically attested settlement pre-dating the Hellenistic period. Never- theless Henri Seyrig suggested that at Capitolias, like Gerasa, there may have been a Hellenistic presence associated with the activities of the Macedonian general Perdiccas, consolidating Gilead on the orders of Alexander the Great.28 Well known coins minted in Capitolias in the late 2nd century AD carry inscrip- tions describing Alexander as the genarches of the Capitolians.29 That is, he was regarded as the “ancestor” of the people, rather than the founder of the city as claimed on coins of nearby Gerasa.30 Nevertheless the second century AD was a period when many cities in the area proclaimed a Hellenistic ancestry, much of which may have been fictional, in order to express political and cul- tural loyalty to the Roman regime.31 The population of northern Gilead appears to have been mixed. A long- standing Jewish population was said to have withdrawn across the Jordan after the victories of Judas Maccabeus in the 160s BC.32 There are also references to a Nabataean presence in the area, complemented now by archaeological material.33 A Nabataean funerary inscription has been found at Beit Ras but not in situ, and as its date is also disputed it can no longer be used to postulate a pre Roman Nabataean occupation at the site.34 However, similar inscriptions have been found at Umm Qeis (Gadara) to the north-west, Dera’a (Adraha) to the east and Husn to the south.35 Graffiti at the nearby site of el-Meidan, thought by McCown to represent a typical Nabataean tomb has been rightly doubted by Sartre.36 Nevertheless, Meshorer has pointed out that the standing veiled Tyche depicted on 2nd century AD coins from Capitolias is reminiscent of representa- tions on Nabataean coins.37 24 Lenzen & Knauf 1987, 28.