Karak Resources Project

When did the Romans build the Via Nova and why was it built at that time? For several hundred years prior to the Roman incursion into the Transjordan, the region was dominated by the Nabataeans – the people responsible for building the magnificent and well-known tombs at Petra. When the last Nabataean king, Rabbel II, died without an heir in 106 AD, the Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117) added the Nabataean land to Perea and the Decapolis cities already controlled by Rome, and formed a new administrative district called Arabia Petraea. Construction, or perhaps more accurately, reconstruction of a military road on the older route of the king’s highway began almost immediately. However the earliest milestones so far identified date to between 111 and 114, some 5 to 8 years after the Roman invasion.

The milestone inscriptions, like later historical accounts, declare that Trajan reduced Arabia to 'provincial condition', redacta in formam provinciae. The gap between the Roman takeover and this declaration is consistent with evidence from coins dating from 111 that state Arabia had been acquired rather than captured (adquisita not capta). Some military action by the Romans was probably required in 106, but the character and nature of the acquisition are still debated by historians today – as are the reason for the lack of milestone inscriptions before 111 describing the Roman annexation.

In this regard, it is important to note that inscriptions on milestones and coins were two key advertising forms in a world that lacked most modern forms of media.

One suggestion for the delay is the theory that Trajan made a decision to keep a Roman (military) presence in Arabia for the foreseeable future at some point after the initial annexation. If so, milestone inscriptions on the nearly finished road would have been useful to advertise that decision. Another theory is that Trajan deliberately waited until 111 to make public declarations via inscriptions, coins, etc. because he wanted to present the annexation as a fait accompli. In either case, Trajan clearly wanted firm consolidation of this new territory before he began his great campaign in 114-115 against the Parthians to the east. Equally clear is that completion of the Via Nova was an important step in that consolidation process.

Why was the Via Nova important for the Romans? With the completion of the Via Nova in about 114, there was a “superhighway” running for about 400 km or 257 miles from the new provincial capital at Bostra, to Aila/Aquaba on the gulf. This route was gradually garrisoned and fortified with various legionary camps, forts, and watchtowers as explained in the Roman forts case study. This New Road became part of the larger trade and travel system that linked all parts of eastern Roman Empire. At its southern end at Aila it joined with other land and sea routes that led to southern Arabia and Egypt. KIn the north, main branch roads led from Philadelphia and Bostra to the Decapolis cities of Gerasa (Jerash), Scythopolis (Beisan), Capitolias (Beit Ras), Damascus, and elsewhere. These routes, in turn, connected with other major Roman roads that linked Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, most notably the Via Maris.