Livias

Livias (Talmudic Hebrew: בית רמתה‎, Beit Ramata; Βηθαραμθα, Betharamtha[1] Beth-Haram, Betharan)[2] was a city in Transjordan in Classical Antiquity. In the writings of Josephus (English translation), the name is transcribed as Julias.[3]

Not to be confused with Julias (Gaulonitis).
The site of Tall el-Hammam

Location

The traditional location of the Roman city is at Tell er-Rameh, a small hill rising in the plain beyond Jordan, about twelve miles from Jericho.[4] However, evidence from the Tell el-Hammam excavations including a large Roman bath complex (thermae 35x50m), several hot springs, aqueduct, Byzantine church mosaic nearby, Roman coins, Roman glass, and Roman pottery raises questions about this identification.[5]


It has been proposed that, while Tell er-Rameh was the commercial and residential center of Livias, the area around Tall el-Hammam, which grew in the Early Roman period, was the administrative epicenter of the city.[6] Archaeological evidence from Shuneh al-Janubiyyah has shown the existence of a church in the diocese, dating from the sixth-eighth centuries.[7] A third Byzantine church was discovered between Tall Kafrayn and Tell el-Hammam (2.6 km/ 1.6 m) to the west of Tell el-Hammam) with a large mosaic floor, now being used as a Muslim cemetery.[8]

Josephus (AD 37–ca. 100) and others describe Livias as a city (πόλις polis) of Perea,[9] and specifically differentiate it from a small town (πόλίχνη polichnē) or from its surrounding fourteen villages (κώμας kōmas). [10]

A directional reference is the fifth milestone N of Livias located at Bethnambris (Bethnamaris; Bethnamran) [11] or Tall Nimrin (TMP 749034E, 3532378N). According to Eusebius' Onomasticon, Livias is five Rm (7.5 km/ 4.7 m) south of Tall Nimrin.[12]

These directional references, together with a statement provided by Theodosius that "the city of Livias is across the Jordan, twelve [Roman] miles [17.75 km/ 11 m] from Jericho" (Wilkinson)[13] to the east, provide east/west and north/south co-ordinates that when triangulated place Livias at Tall el-Hammam.[14]

History

Under the name of Betharan, Livias is twice mentioned in the Bible.[15]

At about 80 BC, Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus captured the city from the King of the Arabs;[16] it was then called Betharamphtha (Hebrew: בית רמתה). According to the historian Josephus, in the 1st century AD, Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, fortified the city with strong walls and called it Livias after the wife of Augustus, whose name was Livia.[17] Nero gave it with its fourteen villages to Agrippa II.[18] In the First Jewish-Roman War the Roman general Placidus captured it in 68,[19][20] and the town was used to resettle deserters who had joined the Roman ranks.[21] After the revolt was quelled, the area was returned to Agrippa. He died without heir, and his territories were annexed to Judaea province. In later reorganizations of Roman provinces, it was included in Syria Palaestina (135), Palaestina (286) and Palaestina Prima (425), never gaining a colonia status.

In the time of Eusebius and St. Jerome the natives still called it Bethramtha.[20]

Bishopric

Livias was an episcopal see, a suffragan of the diocese Caesarea in Palaestina. Le Quien[22] mentions three bishops:

No longer a residential bishopric, Livias is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[23]

Notes
  1. Josephus, Antiquities 18.2.1. (18.26); ibid. The Jewish War 2.4.2. (2.57); Jerusalem Talmud (Shevi'it 9:2)
  2. Josephus A.J. 13:27
  3. Josephus, Antiquities 18.2.1. (18.26)
  4. Morris Jastrow and Frants Buhl, “Beth–Aram,” Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, N.Y.: Funk & Wagnalls, 1906), 119; Siméon Vailhé, “Livias,” trans. Mario Anello, Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, N.Y.: Appleton Company, 1910), 9:315; William F. Albright, “The Jordan Valley in the Bronze Age,” Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 6 (1925 1924): 49 (JSTOR 3768510); Nelson Glueck, “Some Ancient Towns in the Plains of Moab,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 91 (1943): 11 (JSTOR 3219054); Kay Prag, “A Walk in the Wadi Hesban,” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 123 (1991): 60–61; Herbert Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba. An Introductory Guide, Palaestina Antiqua 7 (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1992), 39; Estee Dvorjetski, Leisure, Pleasure, and Healing: Spa Culture and Medicine in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean, Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 116 (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 202; Parker, S., R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies. "Places: 697697 (Livias)". Pleiades. Retrieved August 22, 2014.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
  5. Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 178–200.
  6. Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 178–200.
  7. Piccirillo, Michele. "The Christian Sanctuaries in Transjordan, part 07". Franciscan Archaeological Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  8. Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 195.
  9. Josephus A.J. 20.29; B.J. 2.168; 2.252; see also Theodosius Theodosius 19.1
  10. Josephus A.J. 20.29; B.J. 4.438
  11. Numbers 32:36
  12. Eusebius Onomasticon 44; see also Jerome 45
  13. Theodosius Topografia 19
  14. Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 178–200.
  15. Numbers 32:36; Joshua 13:27
  16. Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 14.1.4., Perseus Project AJ14.1.4, .
  17. Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 18.2.1., Perseus Project AJ18.2.1, .. Josephus. The Jewish War. 2.9.1., Perseus Project BJ2.9.1, .
  18. Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 20.8.4., Perseus Project AJ20.8.4, .
  19. Josephus. The Jewish War. 4.7.6., Perseus Project BJ4.7.6, .
  20. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Livias" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  21. Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War) 4.7.6 (4.437)
  22. Le Quien, Michel (1740). Oriens Christianus, in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus: quo exhibentur ecclesiæ, patriarchæ, cæterique præsules totius Orientis. Tomus tertius, Ecclesiam Maronitarum, Patriarchatum Hierosolymitanum, & quotquot fuerunt Ritûs Latini tam Patriarchæ quàm inferiores Præsules in quatuor Patriarchatibus & in Oriente universo, complectens (in Latin). Paris: Ex Typographia Regia. cols. 655–658. OCLC 955922748.
  23. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 918

See also
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