Syria I or Syria Prima ("First Syria", in el, Πρώτη Συρία, ''Prṓtē Suríā'') was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

province, formed c. 415 out of Syria Coele. The province survived until the

Muslim conquest of Syria The Muslim conquest of the Levant ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...

in the 630s.

History

Syria I emerged out of Syria Coele, which during the reign of Antiochus III was one of the four satrapies in its region that included Phoenicia, Idumea, and an unknown territory that included Palestine. The Syria Coele region along the Euphrates was separated to form the province of ''

Euphratensis Euphratensis (Latin for " Euphratean"; grc-gre, Εὑφρατησία, ''Euphratēsía''), fully Augusta Euphratensis, was a late Roman and then Byzantine province in Syrian region, part of the Byzantine Diocese of the East. History Sometime be ...

''. After c. 415 ''Syria Coele'' was further subdivided into ''Syria I'' (or ''Syria Prima''), with the capital remaining at

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

, and ''Syria II'' (''Syria Secunda'') or ''Syria Salutaris'', with capital at Apamea on the Orontes. In 528,

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

carved out the small coastal province '' Theodorias'' out of territory from both provinces. The region remained one of the most important provinces of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. It was governed by a Consularis based in Antioch. Syria Prima was occupied by the Sasanians between 609 and 628, then recovered by the emperor

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt ...

, but lost again to the advancing Muslims after the

Battle of Yarmouk The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636 ...

and the fall of Antioch.

References

Late Roman provinces Provinces of the Byzantine Empire Justinian I 410s establishments 5th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire States and territories disestablished in the 7th century 7th-century disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire Byzantine Syria {{Byzantine-geo-stub