Dium or Dion () or Dia (Δία)

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, ''Ant. Iud.'', 13.393 was a city in ancient

Coele-Syria Coele-Syria () was a region of Syria in classical antiquity. The term originally referred to the "hollow" Beqaa Valley between the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges, but sometimes it was applied to a broader area of the region of Sy ...

mentioned by numerous ancient writers. According to

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

, the city was a foundation of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, and named after the city Dium in

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

. It was also wrongly called Pella by some ancient writers.

Location

Dium is mostly identified with Tell el-Ash'ari from the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 2594 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra G ...

in southwestern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

(see :fr:Tell al-Achari at French Wikipedia). Some associate Dium with Aidoun south of Irbid. Some other have identified it falsely the later Capitolias, now Beit Ras in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. The location of Dium is therefore not proven with certainty. According to Ptolemy, the city was positioned between

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

and Gadara which are both in Jordan, and quite close to it; but its latitude was quite uncertain.

in his retelling of Pompey's march through the area, says he came from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

via Dium to Pella, thus putting Dium to the north of Pella. The Ruins of Tell Ashari fulfill the concept of a small greek City positioned at a Mount and around it. A Theatre high above the yarmouk river ravine is unfortunately due to the civil war in a really bad condition. At this time now, all facts speek fo
Tell Ashari as Dion
of the Decapolis. As a small Remark is to notice that beside of the probably military fortress city of Raphana all other Decapolis Cities (also some others before unmentioned but positioned within the Decapolis region) were after the second century A.D. also episcopal Sees. But Dium (not to confuse with Dionysias/ As Suweida), which was normally inside the protected territories of these days, was not an episcopal see.

Historical sources

Stephanus notes that the city's water was unhealthy. Little is known about the history of the city. Like most of the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

cities in that region, it was subjugated to the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

under

Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( , English: "Alexander Jannaios", usually Latinised to "Alexander Jannaeus"; ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. ...

, who conquered the town, which was then conquered by

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

and its freedom restored in 62 BCE.

, ''Ant. Iud.'' 14.74 ''et seq.'' The coins of Dium are from the Pompeian era.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

count the city as among the

Decapolis The Decapolis (Greek: ) was a group of ten Greek Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Greek and late Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the Jordan ...

References

{{reflist Populated places in Coele-Syria Former populated places in Jordan Former populated places in Syria Hellenistic colonies Cities founded by Alexander the Great Roman towns and cities in Syria Roman towns and cities in Jordan Lost ancient cities and towns Decapolis