Syria Palaestina, also known as Palestinian Syria, was a Roman province established in the early 2nd century CE, encompassing the region of the southern Levant along the eastern Mediterranean coast. This province was formed by merging parts of the former Roman provinces of Judaea and Syria, extending from the borders of Phoenicia in the north to Egypt in the south, and inland to the northwest of Arabia. The name Syria Palaestina derived from the ancient Greco-Roman term for the area, which had been in use since at least the 5th century BCE, as referenced by the historian Herodotus to describe the southern portion of Syria including Palestine.
The province was officially created around 135 CE following the suppression of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE), the last major Jewish-Roman war. The revolt, led by Simon bar Kokhba, was a widespread uprising against Roman rule in Judaea, triggered in part by Emperor Hadrian's plans to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina and his ban on circumcision. After the revolt's defeat, which resulted in massive destruction—including the razing of nearly 1,000 villages and the deaths of over half a million people—Hadrian implemented punitive measures to eradicate Jewish national identity and connection to the land.
One such measure was the renaming of the province of Judaea to Syria Palaestina. This change, documented by historians like Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History, aimed to de-Judaize the region by invoking the name of the ancient Philistines, biblical enemies of the Israelites, thereby severing symbolic ties to Jewish history. Jews were subsequently barred from entering Jerusalem except on one day a year, and the Jewish population in Judaea proper was nearly exterminated, though communities persisted in Galilee and Samaria. Tiberias in Galilee became the new seat of the Jewish patriarchs.
The name Syria Palaestina was not entirely novel; it built on earlier usages. Herodotus in the 5th century BCE referred to the area as part of the Achaemenid Empire's fifth satrapy, including Phoenicia, Cyprus, and "that part of Syria called Palestine." Assyrian records from the 8th century BCE used terms like Palashtu or Pilistu, and Egyptian texts from the 12th century BCE mentioned Peleset for related peoples or lands. However, during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods, the term Palestine was not commonly used in official contexts; Judaea was preferred by writers like Philo and Josephus, and it does not appear in the New Testament.
Syria Palaestina was larger than the traditional district of Judaea, incorporating coastal areas from Gaza to Caesarea Maritima, inland regions like Galilee and Samaria, and extending eastward. Under the Tetrarchy (293–305 CE), it was further subdivided into three provinces: Palaestina Prima (including Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee, with Caesarea Maritima as capital), Palaestina Secunda (northern areas like Scythopolis), and Palaestina Salutaris (southern Negev and parts of Sinai, later called Palaestina Tertia). These divisions persisted into the Byzantine Empire until around 390 CE, when Syria Palaestina was reorganized.
The province was governed by a consular legate under Hadrian, later by praetorian prefects. It featured major Roman cities like Aelia Capitolina (formerly Jerusalem), Neapolis (modern Nablus), and Caesarea Maritima. The population was diverse, including surviving Jews, Samaritans, pagans, and early Christians, with Greek and Latin as administrative languages.
The name Syria Palaestina endured beyond the Roman period. In the Byzantine Empire, the subdivisions retained the Palestine nomenclature. Following the Muslim conquest in the 7th century CE, the region was organized as the military district of Jund Filastin, preserving the name in Arabic as Filastin. This continuity influenced later usages, including during the Ottoman Empire (1516–1918) and the British Mandate (1920–1948), where Palestine became a standard geographic term for the area.
Scholars debate the renaming's intent: while punitive de-Judaization is the dominant view, some, like David Jacobson, suggest it was practical, reflecting the province's expanded territory and ancient regional associations. No Hellenistic coins or inscriptions use Palestine officially before the Roman renaming, underscoring its revival under Hadrian.
Sources consulted include historical analyses from Wikipedia: Syria Palaestina, Britannica: Roman Palestine, and Wikipedia: Timeline of the name Palestine.