Shahba Mosaics
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Shahba Mosaics
Shahba ( ar, شَهْبَا / ALA-LC: ''Shahbā'') is a city located south of Damascus in the Jabal el Druze in As-Suwayda Governorate of Syria, but formerly in the Roman province of Arabia Petraea. Known in Late Antiquity as Philippopolis (in Arabia), the city was the seat of a Bishopric (see below), which remains a Latin titular see. History Roman history The oasis settlement now named Shahba had been the native hamlet of the Roman emperor Philip the Arab. After Philip became emperor in 244 CE, he dedicated himself to rebuilding the little community as a '' colonia''. The contemporary community that was replaced with the new construction was so insignificant that one author states that the city can be considered to have been built on virgin soil, making it the last of the Roman cities founded in the East. The city was renamed Philippopolis (a name with homonyms) in dedication to the emperor, who is said to have wanted to turn his native city into a replica of Rome hers ...
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Governorates Of Syria
Syria is a unitary state, but for administrative purposes, it is divided into fourteen governorates, also called provinces or counties in English (Arabic ''muḥāfaẓāt'', singular '' muḥāfaẓah''). The governorates are divided into sixty-five districts (''manāṭiq'', singular '' minṭaqah''), which are further divided into subdistricts (''nawāḥī'', singular '' nāḥiyah''). The ''nawāḥī'' contain villages, which are the smallest administrative units. Each governorate is headed by a governor, appointed by the president, subject to cabinet approval. The governor is responsible for administration, health, social services, education, tourism, public works, transportation, domestic trade, agriculture, industry, civil defense, and maintenance of law and order in the governorate. The minister of local administration works closely with each governor to coordinate and supervise local development projects. The governor is assisted by a provincial council, all of who ...
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Colonia (Roman)
A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''. Characteristics Under the Roman Republic, which had no standing army, bodies of their own citizens were planted in conquered towns as a kind of garrison. There were two types: * Roman colonies, ''coloniae civium Romanorum'' or ''coloniae maritimae'', as they were often built near the sea, e.g. Ostia (350 BC) and Rimini (268 BC). The colonists consisted of about three hundred Roman families and were given a small plot of land so were probably small business owners. * Latin colonies (''coloniae Latinae'') were considerably larger than Roman colonies. They were military strongholds near or in enemy territory. The colonists were given large estates up to 35 hectares. They lost their citizenship which they could regain if they returned to Rome. Af ...
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Insula (building)
In Roman architecture, an ''insula'' (Latin for "island", plural ''insulae'') was one of two things: either a kind of apartment building, or a city block. This article deals with the former definition, that of a type of building. ''Insulae'' housed most of the urban citizen population of ancient Rome's massive population ranging from 800,000 to 1 million inhabitants in the early imperial period. Residents of an ''insula'' included ordinary people of lower- or middle-class status (the ''plebeians'') and all but the wealthiest from the upper-middle class (the ''equites''). The traditional elite and the very wealthy lived in a ''domus'', a large single-family residence, but the two kinds of housing were intermingled in the city and not segregated into separate neighborhoods. The ground-level floor of the ''insula'' was used for ''tabernae'', shops and businesses, with living spaces above. Like modern apartment buildings, an ''insula'' might have a name, usually referring to the ow ...
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Decumanus Maximus
In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of a particular city was the Decumanus Maximus, or most often simply "the Decumanus". In the rectangular street grid of the typical Roman city plan, the decumanus was crossed by the perpendicular cardo, a north–south street. In a military camp, the decumanus connected the Porta Praetoria (closest to the enemy) to the Porta Decumana (away from the enemy). In the center – called '' groma'' – of a city or castrum, the Decumanus Maximus crossed the perpendicular ''Cardo Maximus'', the primary north–south road. The Forum was normally located close to this intersection of the Decumanus Maximus and the Cardo Maximus. Etymology ''Decumanus'' or ''decimanus'' was the Latin word for 'tenth'. This name is said to come from the fact that the ''via decumana'' or ''decimana'' (the ''tenth'') separated the Tenth Cohort from the Ninth in the legionary enc ...
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Cardo
A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street. Etymology The ''cardo maximus'' was the "hinge" or axis of the city, derived from Greek καρδίᾱ, kardia ("heart") and as such was generally lined with shops and vendors, and served as a hub of economic life. Most Roman cities also had a Decumanus Maximus, an east–west street that served as a secondary main street. Due to varying geography, in some cities the Decumanus is the main street and the Cardo is secondary, but in general the Cardo maximus served as the primary street. The Forum was normally located at, or close to, the intersection of the Decumanus and the Cardo. Examples Apamea, Syria The Cardo Maximus of Apamea, Syria ran through the centre of the city directly from North to South, linked the principal gates of t ...
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Hegemony
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. In the 19th century, ''hegemony'' denoted the "social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu" and "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society". In cultural imperialism, the leader state dictates the internal politics and the Society, societal character of the subordinate states that constitute the hegemonic sphere of influence, either by an internal, sponsored government or by an external, installed government. The term ''hegemonism'' denoted the geopolitical and the cultural predominance of one country over other countries, e.g. the hegemony of the Great power, Great Powers established with European colonialism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. I ...
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Nabateans
The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Peninsula, Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Petra, Raqmu (present-day Petra, Jordan)—gave the name ''Nabatene'' ( grc, Ναβατηνή, translit=Nabatēnḗ) to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. The Nabateans emerged as a distinct civilization and political entity between the 4th and 2nd centuries BCE,Taylor, Jane (2001). ''Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans''. London: I.B.Tauris. pp. 14, 17, 30, 31. . Retrieved 8 July 2016. with Nabataean Kingdom, their kingdom centered around a loosely controlled trading network that brought considerable wealth and influence across the ancient world. Described as fiercely independent by cont ...
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Basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name to the architectural form of the basilica. Originally, a basilica was an ancient Roman public building, where courts were held, as well as serving other official and public functions. Basilicas are typically rectangular buildings with a central nave flanked by two or more longitudinal aisles, with the roof at two levels, being higher in the centre over the nave to admit a clerestory and lower over the side-aisles. An apse at one end, or less frequently at both ends or on the side, usually contained the raised tribunal occupied by the Roman magistrates. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the forum and often opposite a temple in imperial-era forums. Basilicas were also built in private residences an ...
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Basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial planet, rocky planet or natural satellite, moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt is chemically equivalent to slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of volcanism on Venus, Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar mare, lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars. Molten basalt lava has a low viscosity due to its relatively low silica content (between 45% and 52%), resulting in rapidly moving lava flo ...
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Roman Theatre (structure)
Roman theatres derive from and are part of the overall evolution of earlier Greek theatres. Indeed, much of the architectural influence the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings. However, Roman theatres have specific differences, such as generally being built upon their own foundations instead of earthen works or a hillside and being completely enclosed on all sides. Buildings Roman theatres were built in all areas of the Empire, from Spain to the Middle East. Because of the Romans' ability to influence local architecture, we see numerous theatres around the world with uniquely Roman attributes. Similarities exist between the theatres and amphitheaters of ancient Rome. They were constructed out of the same material, Roman concrete, and provided a place for the public to go and see numerous events. However, they are two entirely different structures, with specific layouts that lend to the different events they held. Amp ...
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Thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome. Most Roman cities had at least one – if not many – such buildings, which were centers not only for bathing, but socializing and reading as well. Bathhouses were also provided for wealthy private Roman villa, villas, domus, town houses, and castra, forts. They were supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream, or within cities by aqueduct (watercourse), aqueduct. The water would be heated by fire then channelled into the caldarium (hot bathing room). The design of baths is discussed by Vitruvius in ''De architectura'(V.10) Terminology '','' '','' '','' and may all be translated as 'bath' or 'baths', though Latin sources distinguish among these terms. or , derived from the Greek language, G ...
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Triumphal Arch
A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be mounted or which bears commemorative inscriptions. The main structure is often decorated with carvings, sculpted reliefs, and dedications. More elaborate triumphal arches may have multiple archways. Triumphal arches are one of the most influential and distinctive types of architecture associated with ancient Rome. Thought to have been invented by the Romans, the Roman triumphal arch was used to commemorate victorious generals or significant public events such as the founding of new colonies, the construction of a road or bridge, the death of a member of the imperial family or the ascension of a new emperor. The survival of great Roman triumphal arches such as the Arch of Ti ...
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