Location: 87 km South of Damascus, As-Suwayda Governorate Map
Known for: home town of Roman emperor Phillip the Arab
Shahba aka Philippopolis is situated 87 km South of Damascus, As-Suwayda Governorate in Syria. Shahba became known as a home town for future Roman emperor who became known as Phillip the Arab.
The original name of the city that developed from an oasis is
unknown. An inscription from the time of Marcus Aurelius proves that
Shahba belonged to the province of Syria in the 2nd century;
However, in the 3rd century (possibly during the provincial reform
of Septimius Severus) the town was added to the province of Arabia.
Her name at this time is not known and no other sources from the era
before 244 exist. However, it has been considered that the later
name Shahba contains elements of the original place name.
When the Arab-born Philippus became emperor, he renamed the city
Philippopolis and, soon after taking office, began to rebuild it
into an exemplary Roman-style colonia. It is therefore assumed that
the place was his hometown. He gave the city the right to mint its
own coins and a local calendar (city era) was introduced. In
addition, the road from Bostra to Damascus was routed via
Philippopolis. The city had the typical rectangular shape of ancient
planned settlements and was crossed by two streets that met at right
angles, the Cardo and the Decumanus. It thus clearly represented the
type of Roman city in stark contrast to the other cities in the
region, which predominantly had a more confusing, naturally
developed street network. A city wall with four large and two
smaller gates delimited the area. An exedra building and a temple
were found in a square in the west of the city. The latter is called
Philippeion, but served to worship a god named Marinus (apparently
the deified father of Philip). In addition, remains of a theater
building, a building that was probably used as a temple (of which
only the pillars of the Propylon remain) and a large thermal baths
area with an aqueduct have been preserved. A square in the center of
the city is interpreted as a forum, the basilica to the west of it
as a center of imperial cult. Aerial photographs also revealed a
stadium.
Philip's energetic push for the establishment of a
completely new city bearing his name is interpreted as a political
message of great symbolic value. With this package of measures, the
emperor appears to have attempted to subsequently enhance his
provincial origins, which were often perceived as exotic in the
empire. At the same time, however, it represented a demonstration of
Roman power and culture in the border province of Arabia, which was
probably aimed at both the local population and the nearby Sassanid
Empire as Rome's great rival.
When Philip died after only
five years of reign, construction work was stopped. The ruins that
remain today date almost entirely from the mid-3rd century and
entire planned city districts were not completed. The city's coinage
also apparently stopped. Nevertheless, the place remained populated:
a councilor (member of the Bule) is documented in an inscription
from the 3rd century, and a Hormisdas for the year 451 and a
Basilios for 552/553 are attested as bishops of the city.
In
later Arab times the city received its current name. Based on the
inscriptions found there, William Henry Waddington was able to prove
in 1870 that Shahba was actually ancient Philippopolis.
An early Christian symbol of a fish or "iχθύς" in Greek is an acronym for Χριστός, Θεοu Υiός, Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior). In time of pagan persecutions this was the only to evade capture and certain death.
Around 300, the city became the suffragan diocese of the metropolitan
archbishop of Bostra (now Bosra), the capital of the Roman province of
Arabia Petraea, under the authority of the Antiochian Patriarchate. In
this capacity he is mentioned in the Byzantine Notitiae Episcopatuum of
the 6th century.
Two bishops are historically documented:
Hormisdas intervened at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Vasily, the
mention dates back to 553.
Around the year 1000, under Muslim
rule, the city had a titular Catholic see, which was suppressed as a
valid see, but nominally retained (or later restored) as the Latin
Titular bishopric of Philippopolis Curiata; in 1926 renamed Filippopoli
d'Arabia). In 1933 it was renamed Philippopolis in Arabia (not to be
confused with Philippopolis in Thrace - now Bulgarian Plovdiv).
It has been empty for decades, having the following officials, mostly
corresponding to the episcopal (lowest) rank, with the exception of
archbishops:
Titular Archbishop: Henri de Villars (1652-1663.05.27)
as Coadjutor Archbishop of Vienna (France) (1652-1663.05.27); the next
succeeded as Metropolitan Archbishop of Vienna (1663.05.27 - death
1693.12.27)
Troiano Acquaviva d'Aragona (1729.04.18 - 1730.08.14) as
prefect of the prefecture of the Holy Apostolic Palaces (1729.07.06 -
?); later appointed titular archbishop of Larisa (1730.08.14 -
1732.10.01), appointed cardinal priest of St. Chirico e Giulitta
(1732.11.17 - 1733.01.19), transferred to Cardinal-Priest S. Cecilia
(1733.01.19 - 1747.03.20 death), Metropolitan Archbishop of Monreale
(Sicily, Italy) (1739.05.04 - 1747.03.20), Camerlengo Sacred College of
Cardinals (1744.02.03 - resigned 1745.01.25)
Giovanni Battista Giampe
(1740.12.19 - 1764.05.10), without valid prelature
José Tomas
Mazarraza y Rivas (1885.02.21 - death 1907.03.11) as Apostolic
Administrator of the Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain) (1885.03.27 -
1907.03.11)
George Gauthier (1912.06.28 - 1923.04.05) as Auxiliary
Bishop of the Archdiocese of Montreal (Quebec, Canada) (1912.06.28 -
1923.04.05) and Apostolic Administrator of Montreal (1921.10.18 -
1939.09.20); then appointed Titular Archbishop of Farona (1923.04.05 -
1939.09.20) as coadjutor of the Archbishop of Montreal (1923.04.05 -
1939.09.20), succeeding Metropolitan Archbishop of Montreal (1939.09.20
- death 1940.08.31)
Titular Archbishop: Ignacy Maria Dubovsky
(Lithuanian) (1925.06.01 - death 1953.03.10) as emeritus (and
promotion); formerly Apostolic Administrator of the Kamenets-Podolsk
Diocese (Ukraine) (1916.10.16 - 1918) and Bishop of Lutsk and Zhitomir
(Ukraine) (1916.10.16 - 1925.06.01)
Antonio Ravagli (1955.07.04 -
1960.08.30) as coadjutor bishop of Larino (Italy) (1955.07.04 - 1959)
and as coadjutor bishop of Modigliana (Italy) (1959-1960.08.30); then
succeeded as Bishop of Modigliana (1960.08.30 - 1970.04.30), as well as
auxiliary bishop of Faenza (Italy) (1967-1970.04.30), then titular
bishop of Montecorvino (1970.04.30 - 1981.12.14) as auxiliary bishop of
the Archdiocese Florence (Florence, Italy) (1970.04.30 - death
1981.12.14)
Giovanni Colombo (1960.10.25 - 1963.08.10) as Auxiliary
Bishop of Milan (Milan, Italy) (1960.10.25 - 1963.08.10); then he was
replaced by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan (1963.08.10 -
resignation 1979.12.29), appointed cardinal priest of St. Silvestro and
Martino ai Monti (1965.02.25 - death 1992.05.20).
Shahba has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).