Today one of the best examples of Roman Temple architecture is in Lebanon at the ruins of Baalbek. The Roman temple sites in Lebanon can be divided into three main groups. First, the Bekaa valley north of the
Beirut-
Damascus road. Second, the area south of the same road, including the
Wadi al-Taym and the western flank of
Mount Hermon. Third, the area west of a line drawn along the ridge of
Mount Lebanon. In the coastal area of Lebanon there are not many
Roman ruins.
Agrippa greatly favoured the city of Berytus, and adorned it with a splendid theatre and amphitheatre, beside baths and porticoes, inaugurating them with games and spectacles of every kind, including shows of gladiators. In two hundred and fifty years – from
Augustus to
Philip the Arab – were made all the Roman temples, with a very similar design: they show the golden era of Roman rule in Lebanon. In the first century the worldwide famous temples in the area of Heliopolis (actual Baalbek) started to be built, using the nearby quarries with famous
"Monoliths". The
Temple of Jupiter in Heliopolis (in a complex area called even
Sanctuary of Heliopolitan Zeus) was the biggest pagan temple in the classical world. The presence of a huge quarry was one of the reasons for the Roman decision to create a huge "Great Court" of a big pagan temple complex in this mountain site, located at nearly 1100 meters of altitude and on the eastern
Borders of the Roman Empire: it took three centuries to create this colossal
Roman paganism's temple complex. Under
Constantine the Great Christianity was declared officially the religion of the Roman empire and the pagan Temples started to be neglected. Later the Byzantines used some materials from the abandoned temples
The Aftermath of the Roman Invasion in Phoenicia Post-63 BCE, the Phoenician culture and its traits seemed to have disappeared. It is hypothesized that the Phoenician 'disappearance' stems from the fact that the Phoenicians were getting absorbed by the Greco-Roman culture.The word "Phoenician" was simply just a word of past tense that showed a person or place that was once its own civilization before the Romans. The Phoenician language, culture, religion, ethnicity, and political standings were not viable enough to give a person/place the name of Phoenician, as these traits were washed away. However, experts will argue over the fact that the Phoenicians are not a "...reflection or inversion of Greek and Roman civilization but in relation to it." Christianity flooded Ancient Lebanon in hopes of guiding the people to assimilate to the Roman beliefs. The Phoenician gods and goddesses were eliminated from the force of Christianity. The people and the cities had to abide by the Christian teachings. Most of the Mediterranean sea regions relied heavily on the Gadir administration, known to be located in the South of the Iberian Peninsula and now situated in the city of Cádiz, Spain, this metropolis was the most important connection throughout the Western Mediterranean. However, the Gadir administration was overtaken by the Romans, where they implemented its organizational structures of Roman empire into Phoenicia and the other regions as part of the former administration. In recent years, experts and archeologists excavated multiple burial places, or
necropolises, in the city of Cádiz that helped Roman Empire decent. These discoveries are predicted to be from the 1 BCE to 1 CE and 4 CE to 1 CE. These grave cites were Roman but they displayed a distinctive likeness with a Phoenician burial. Scholars have made the prediction that these burial cities were performed by the Bomans but the individuals buried are of Phoenician descent. The Roman citizenship became universal across their conquered lands, and a result of this, as described previously, Beirut would become the most famous Roman Law School. "By 250, and likely earlier, there was no Phoenician "people," only Romans living in the provinces called Phoenice." The regions that were known to be "Phoenician" were given new names that were pseudo-ethnonyms, this did not cut the geographical regions off completely from Phoenicia, but gave it loose ties to the former region. The grave held grave goods that showed Phoenician habits, but also held exotic objects that are from abroad regions. The Phoenicians were not the only ones feeling this Roman wave of over them, the Greeks were enduring the influence of the Romans, too. These Mediterranean regions were trying their hardest to combat the "co-opted nation", to hold against this, the nations had to make it known of their assertion to not be overcome; and to promote cultural difference, this is to distinguish the homeland culture from the push of Romans beliefs. The city of
Emesa, in the third and fourth century, was labeled as a Phoenician city from ancient literature. However, it was found that Emesa was not Phoenician, and instead labeled as Arab. There were no signs of the city being of Phoenician descent, as the language was not spoken there. Excavations found in Emesa are inscribed in Greek, and some in Latin. The city was annexed by Syria, then broke off and became a part of Syria Phoenice. From here on, the city was given a foundation of Roman imperialism. It is seen thought that Emesa was in association with Phoenicia. The overall strike through the Phoenician label to bear the characteristics of Roman became a regular activity in the region during this time.
Carthage and the Roman Empire As Rome heads west across the Mediterranean Sea, they come across
Carthage, modern-day Tunisia. Some think of ancient Carthage to have been their own empire, founded by
Dido, where the region exhibited strength and power amongst its neighbors. In 317 BCE, tyrant
Agathocles came to power in ancient
Syracuse, a city in Sicily. Agathocles "...filled the cities of Sicily with outrage and slaughter" In the history of Sicily, there had never been a Tyrant like him, his abuse and brutality gave him power over the people. With Agathocles being granted complete and absolute control of Sicily, he took his army of thousands and continued to control the rest of the most prominent cities in Sicily. With word of this tyrant scavenging through his own cities, Carthage became afraid of what would happen to their armies that they held in Sicily. Carthage then sent their forces over to Sicily to restrain Agathocles conquest to destroy their strongholds. Unfortunately, this did not go in the favor of the Carthaginians, and in return, Agathocles drew up plans to rid the remaining Carthaginians in Sicily. The tyrant made an elite army and planned to set sail for Africa to attack Carthage. The Carthaginians ended up defeating Agathocles. The Syracusan army was weakened, putting the tyrant in a panic. He made a secret plan to save himself and a few of his closest men, word got around of this betrayal to his men and he was arrested. However, he managed to escape and flee from the army. The betrayed troops of Agathocles decided to make peace with Carthage. Agathocles tried to get revenge, with the little he had left. Agathocles was killed using poison in 289 BCE. This prompted for Sicily and Carthage to draft treaties to maintain compliance with one another. However, in 279 BCE, their fourth treaty was drawn, it established mutual aid and. defense against a common enemy,
Pyrruhus, King of Epirus. Pyrruhus settled in Sicily and quickly made the island of Sicily his own territory. Sicily and Carthage defeated Pyrruhus and his army, drawing him out of Sicily. After this defeat, Carthage landed itself in the horizon of Rome. Thus, began the
First Punic War, from 264 BCE to 241 BCE, the war was ended with yet again, another treaty stating that Sicily was now of Rome's possession and a payment was demanded due to the damages from the war. This left Carthage desperate as the only option for expansion was Spain, but Spain was already secured. The
Second Punic Wars (218 BCE to 202 BCE) struck Carthage and Rome following the assassination of
Hasdrubal, where
Hannibal prompted this war. Carthage fought Rome on the basis of the burdensome demands and lack of peace that the treaties were supposed to impose. In the end, the Carthaginian Army was destroyed, and endured even more debt, and "... had to undertake never to go to war without the consent of Rome." After all of this, the
Third Punic War arose. The war resulted in Rome ultimately ending Carthage and destroying the city, once again. The Carthaginian territory became a province of Rome. Unlike, the Phoenicians, who lost their culture, the Carthaginian language, religion, and culture was preserved for years after the defeat. It is true that Carthage lost the Punic Wars to Rome; however Rome allowed Carthage and other African cities were given the label of free cities and became formal cities of the Roman Empire. Rome made this decision because Carthage and their allies were once loyal allies to the empire. Therefore, the Punic world was able to live on. ==Gallery==