Tiberias

SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Tiberias (subject)
ANCIENT SOURCES: see Tiberias (sources)

Tiberias (modern Tiberias, Israel) was a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Overview

The city of Tiberias was founded around 20 CE by Herod Antipas as capital of his realm, and named in honor of Roman Emperor Tiberius. The new city, placed on a major trade route linking Syria with Egypt, attracted a large Jewish and non-Jewish population.

Tiberias was the first Jewish polis to be granted large autonomy, under a Hellenistic constitution. The presence of Herod Antipas' palace on the acropolis, its market, its fishing industry, as well as the vicinity to hot springs, made quickly the "Jewish" Tiberias rival the "pagan" Hippos as the most important urban center on the lake. Many Jews became to refer to the Sea of Galilee as the Sea of Tiberias.

Herod Agrippa succeeded Herod Antipas as ruler of Tiberias. When Agrippa died in 44 CE a Roman procurator was set over the city. In 54 the name of emperor Claudius was added to the city, that came to be known as Tiberias Claudiupolis. In 61 CE the city was annexed to the kingdom of Herod Agrippa II and then separated from Galilee.

During the Jewish War Tiberias fell into the hands of the rebels (led by Josephus) and Herod's palace was destroyed, but at the arrival of the Romans in 67 CE the city voluntarily opened its gates and was thus spared destruction. The city returned under Herod Agrippa II's possession until his death. Afterward it came once more under direct Roman rule

After the Bar Kokhba revolt, Tiberias became one of the major Jewish (and Rabbinic) centers in the land of Israel, likely the place of composition of the Mishnah under Judah haNasi around 200 CE.

Tiberias in ancient sources

See Tiberias (sources)

Tiberias in Scholarship

Most of Roman Tiberias was destroyed by wars, earthquakes, abandonment, and the continuous redevelopment of the town that has never ceased to be inhabited until the present. However, significant remains of the Roman town still exist and are visible in the recently established Tiberias Archaeological Park.

The most conspicuous monument is the Roman Theater. Its remains have been excavated and reconstructed, under the direction of Izhar Hirshfeld and Yossi Stefanski. Build in the 1st century, and significantly enlarged in the second-third century, the Theater had a seating capacity of 7,000 people.