Roman Syria was an early Roman province annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BCE by Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War following the defeat of the King of Armenia, Tigranes the Great, who had become the protector of the Seleucid Empire.
Following the partition of the Herodian kingdom into the Tetrarchy in 4 BCE, it was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria annexing the northern tetrarch's territory: Iturea and Trachonitis. By the late 2nd century, the province was divided into Coele Syria and Syria Phoenice.
Provincia Syria
thumb|The ancient city of [[Palmyra was an important trading center and possibly Roman Syria's most prosperous city|alt=]]
thumb|250px|The [[Roman Empire in the time of Hadrian (ruled 117–138 AD), showing, in western Asia, the imperial province of Syria, with four legions deployed in 125 AD. (During the Principate)]]
Syria was annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC, when Pompey the Great had the Seleucid king Antiochus XIII Asiaticus executed and deposed his successor Philip II Philoromaeus. Pompey appointed Marcus Aemilius Scaurus to the post of governor of Syria.
Following the fall of the Roman Republic and its transformation into the Roman Empire, Syria became a Roman imperial province, governed by a legatus (legate). During the early empire, the Roman army in Syria accounted for three legions with auxiliaries who defended the border with Parthia.
In 6 AD, Emperor Augustus deposed the ethnarch Herod Archelaus and united Judea, Samaria and Idumea into the Roman province of Judea; such province was placed under the direct authority of the Legate of Syria Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, who appointed Coponius as Prefect of Judea. Following the death of Herod Philip II (34 AD) and the removal of Herod Antipas (39 AD) Ituraea, Trachonitis, Galilee and Perea were also transferred under the jurisdiction of the province of Syria.
From 37 to 41 AD, much of the southern region was separated from Syria and transformed into a client kingdom under Herod Agrippa I. After Agrippa's death, his kingdom was gradually re-absorbed into the Roman Empire, until it was officially transformed into a Roman province following the death of Herod Agrippa II.
Syrian province forces were directly engaged in the First Jewish–Roman War of 66–70 AD. In 66 AD, Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, brought the Syrian army, based on Legio XII Fulminata, reinforced by auxiliary troops, to restore order in Judaea and quell the revolt. The legion, however, was ambushed and destroyed by Jewish rebels at the Battle of Beth Horon, a result that shocked the Roman leadership. The future emperor Vespasian was then put in charge of subduing the Jewish revolt. In the summer of 69, Vespasian, with the Syrian units supporting him, launched his bid to become Roman emperor. He defeated his rival Vitellius and ruled as emperor for ten years when he was succeeded by his son Titus.
Based on an inscription recovered from Dor in 1948, Gargilius Antiquus was known to have been the governor of a province in the eastern part of the Empire, possibly Syria, between his consulate and governing Asia. In November 2016, an inscription in Greek was recovered off the coast of Dor by Haifa University underwater archaeologists, which attests that Antiquus was governor of the province of Judea between 120 and 130, possibly prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt.
As related by Theodor Mommsen,
Aftermath
Division into Coele Syria and Syria Phoenice
Septimius Severus divided the province of Syria proper into Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice, with Antioch and Tyre as their respective provincial capitals.
As related by Theodor Mommsen,