The word “Decapolis” comes from the Greek for “ten cities” — and for a traveller in Jordan, it functions as a kind of treasure map. Four of those cities are accessible today within a single country, each offering a different lens on the Roman world that dominated this region from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD.
The Decapolis was not a formal political unit. It was a loose association of Hellenised, semi-autonomous cities on the eastern fringe of the Roman Empire, linked by shared cultural identity, trade routes, and the privileges of self-governance within the Roman provincial system. The cities could mint their own coins, maintain their own civic institutions, and operate largely independently of provincial governors — though they remained subject to Roman military protection and ultimately to Roman law.
For travellers based in Amman, visiting all four Jordanian Decapolis cities is achievable within two to three days of driving. It is one of the most coherent archaeological routes in the country.
The Decapolis in its Roman context
To understand what the Decapolis was, it helps to understand the Roman Empire’s eastern frontier in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. Rome’s power in the east was not uniform — it controlled territory through a mixture of direct rule (provinces governed by Roman officials), client kingdoms (local rulers who acknowledged Roman supremacy), and allied states (cities and territories with varying degrees of autonomy).
The region east of the Jordan River — Transjordan, as we call it today — was a complex mosaic. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled the south (Petra as capital). Various Jewish political entities controlled the west. Semi-independent city-states with Hellenistic character were scattered across the north and east. It was from these city-states that the Decapolis emerged.
The precise origin of the Decapolis as a formal grouping is debated. Pompey’s reorganisation of the eastern provinces in 63 BC, when Rome took direct control of the region from the Hasmonaean Jewish kingdom, is often cited as the moment when the Decapolis cities were formally recognised as a group with specific rights. Each city was granted self-governance rights (ius italicum in some cases — the most prestigious form of Roman civic status) and the right to mint its own coinage.
What united them was not a formal political constitution but a shared cultural identity: Greek language, Hellenistic urban planning (colonnaded streets, theatres, temples, gymnasiums), and a certain civic pride that distinguished them from the more purely agricultural hinterland around them.
What was the Decapolis?
The earliest references to the Decapolis as a group come from the 1st century AD — Pliny the Elder lists ten cities in his Natural History (77 AD), though the list varies in other ancient sources. The conventional ten include:
- Gerasa (Jerash, Jordan)
- Gadara (Umm Qais, Jordan)
- Pella (Pella/Tabaqat Fahl, Jordan)
- Philadelphia (Amman, Jordan)
- Damascus (Syria)
- Scythopolis (Beit She’an, Israel)
- Hippos (Susita, Israel)
- Raphana (uncertain location, probably Syria)
- Dion (uncertain, possibly Capitolias/Beit Ras in northern Jordan)
- Canatha (Qanawat, Syria)
The list changed over time — ancient sources are inconsistent and some cities were added or dropped as political circumstances changed. What united them was Hellenistic urban culture: colonnaded streets, theatres, temples, baths, gymnasiums, and the Greek language.
The Decapolis cities were positioned along the major trade routes of the region. Control of these routes — linking Egypt to Mesopotamia, and the Arabian interior to the Mediterranean coast — was fundamental to their prosperity.
The four Jordanian Decapolis cities
Jerash (ancient Gerasa)
Jerash is the jewel of the Jordanian Decapolis — one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities anywhere in the world. The urban plan is intact: a colonnaded main street, two theatres, a hippodrome, a unique oval plaza, multiple temples (including the magnificent Temple of Artemis), and dozens of smaller monuments. Unlike many sites in the region, Jerash was buried by earthquakes and sediment rather than demolished, and emerged from excavation largely complete.
Visiting Jerash takes a minimum of 3–4 hours. The South Theatre, the Oval Plaza, and the Temple of Artemis are the essential monuments. For a full guide, see /guides/jerash-complete-guide/.
Distance from Amman: 50 km, about 50 minutes.
Umm Qais (ancient Gadara)
Gadara was famous in antiquity as a city of philosophers and poets — a cultivated provincial capital known for intellectual life as much as for trade. Today Umm Qais offers a different but compelling experience: ruins of black basalt (rather than the white limestone of Jerash) partially embedded in an Ottoman village, with a panoramic view from the ridge that takes in the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, and the Jordan Valley.
The black basalt theatre is Gadara’s most striking monument. The colonnaded street and mausoleums round out the visit. Allow 2–3 hours. See /guides/umm-qais-guide/.
Distance from Amman: 110 km, about 1 hour 45 minutes.
Pella (Tabaqat Fahl)
Pella is the most archaeologically complex of the four — a tell (occupation mound) built up over 6,000 years of continuous habitation from the Chalcolithic period through the Ottoman era. The Decapolis-period Roman structures are visible but less dramatic than at Jerash or Umm Qais. What Pella offers instead is archaeological depth: Bronze Age destruction layers, Egyptian administrative connections, Hellenistic urbanism, Roman civic buildings, Byzantine churches, and Mamluk fortification all in one mound.
This is a site for visitors with an interest in the full sweep of Levantine history, not just the Roman period. Allow 2 hours. See /guides/pella-guide/.
Distance from Amman: 130 km, about 2 hours.
Amman (ancient Philadelphia)
Ancient Philadelphia — the Roman name for Amman, given to it by Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 3rd century BC — is the southernmost of the Jordanian Decapolis cities and the one most thoroughly overlaid by the modern city. The Roman theatre, the odeon, the nymphaeum, and the monumental Temple of Hercules on the citadel are all survivals of the ancient city embedded within the modern urban fabric.
The Roman Theatre (seating 6,000) and the Citadel are the essential sites. See /guides/roman-theatre-amman/ and /guides/citadel-amman-guide/.
Distance from itself: You are already there.
How to visit all four Jordanian Decapolis cities
Option 1: Two-day drive from Amman
Day 1: Amman (Citadel + Roman Theatre in the morning) → Jerash (afternoon, 50 km north). Day 2: Drive from Amman north to Umm Qais (1h45), visit 2–3 hours, then south to Pella (40 km), visit 2 hours, return to Amman.
This is a compact and satisfying route. The total driving is manageable, and you see the full range from the urban sophistication of Philadelphia to the rural remoteness of Pella.
Option 2: One long day, Jerash + Umm Qais only
The most commonly done combination. Drive Amman → Jerash (morning, 3–4 hours) → Umm Qais (afternoon, 2 hours, 60 km northwest of Jerash) → back to Amman. This is a full day (10–12 hours) but achievable.
Option 3: Three days including Pella and the Jordan Valley
Add a third day driving south from Pella through the Jordan Valley floor toward the Dead Sea, incorporating the baptism site at Bethany and the Dead Sea resort area. See /itineraries/jordan-7-days/.
Guided tours of multiple Decapolis sites
Several GYG operators offer combination north Jordan tours covering multiple Decapolis sites:
Private north Jordan tour: Jerash, Ajloun and Umm Qais from Amman Private tour: Jerash, Ajloun Castle or Umm Qais from AmmanThe archaeology of the Jordanian Decapolis: what survives and why
The survival of Decapolis-period monuments in Jordan varies dramatically between cities, and the reasons are instructive.
Jerash (Gerasa): The extraordinary survival at Jerash is partly geological and partly historical. The site was effectively abandoned after the 8th-century earthquakes and subsequent centuries of reduced occupation — it was not built over by a large modern city. The Roman monuments were buried rather than demolished, and the dry climate preserved the archaeology. When systematic excavation began in the early 20th century, the city emerged in remarkable condition.
Amman (Philadelphia): The opposite situation. Amman has been continuously occupied and expanded — from Roman city to Byzantine bishopric to Umayyad administrative centre to Ottoman garrison town to modern capital of 4 million people. Most of the Roman city is buried under the modern city. Only the hilltop monuments (the Citadel’s Temple of Hercules and Umayyad Palace) and the valley monuments (the Roman Theatre and Odeon, protected by their natural hollow) survive accessible.
Umm Qais (Gadara): Partly excavated, partly under the Ottoman village, and partly awaiting future excavation. The black basalt material of Gadara is more resistant to reuse than limestone (it is harder to work), which helped preserve the theatre from being quarried for building material.
Pella: The tell (occupation mound) preserved the stratigraphy but made above-ground monuments largely invisible. The site is still being excavated and significant areas remain to be investigated.
The Decapolis and early Christianity
The Decapolis appears several times in the New Testament, and the historical geography matters for understanding those references.
Mark 5:1–20 records Jesus casting out demons called “Legion” from a man living among the tombs in the “country of the Gerasenes” — a reference to Gerasa (Jerash) or its territory. Mark 7:31 records Jesus passing through “the region of the Decapolis.” Matthew 4:25 lists crowds from the Decapolis among those following Jesus.
These references indicate that the Decapolis cities were culturally accessible to a Jewish teacher from Galilee — part of the same broader social world, even if culturally and religiously distinct. The early spread of Christianity through the Decapolis cities is documented archaeologically by the Byzantine churches built in all four Jordanian Decapolis cities from the 4th century onward.
The Decapolis cities outside Jordan
For context, the six Decapolis cities not in Jordan:
Damascus (Syria) — Still inhabited, though Roman structures are buried beneath the medieval city. The Street Called Straight (mentioned in Acts 9:11) corresponds to the ancient Roman cardo.
Scythopolis / Beit She’an (Israel) — The largest and best-preserved Decapolis city outside Jordan. The excavated lower city has extensive Roman monuments and is worth a dedicated visit from the Israeli side.
Hippos / Susita (Israel) — On the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee; partially excavated with good views from the ridge.
Raphana, Dion, Canatha — Less certain locations; some in Syria and currently inaccessible.
Coins: reading the Decapolis cities from the palm of your hand
One of the most direct windows into Decapolis civic pride is the coinage each city minted. Roman provincial cities with the right to mint their own coins — and all four Jordanian Decapolis cities had this right — used their coins as miniature billboards, displaying their patron deities, their city’s symbols, and often their civic titles.
Gerasa (Jerash) minted coins showing the goddess Tyche (Fortune) with a city crown — the personification of the city itself. Gadara (Umm Qais) used Zeus, Poseidon, and the city founder figure. Philadelphia (Amman) showed Tyche and Zeus. Pella used Tyche and various agricultural symbols.
These coins are not common tourist-market items but they appear in Jordan Archaeological Museum collections and in the small site museums. The Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman (on the Citadel) has a good numismatic collection including Decapolis period coins. Examining one — even in a display case — makes the civic identity of these cities tangible in a way that column stumps and excavated walls sometimes do not.
Why the Decapolis matters
The Decapolis represents something specific in the ancient world: the accommodation of Hellenistic urban culture within the Roman imperial system, in a region where older Semitic and Arabian cultures (Nabataean, Jewish, Aramaic) were simultaneously present. The cities were cosmopolitan — Greek, Roman, Semitic, and Jewish populations coexisted within them. Early Christianity spread through these cities: the New Testament records Jesus preaching in the Decapolis region.
For Jordan, the Decapolis sites provide a layer of history that is distinct from the Nabataean heritage of Petra and the Islamic heritage of the desert castles. Understanding this layer — Greek language, Roman planning, Hellenistic civic culture — helps make sense of the remarkable cultural complexity of a country the size of Indiana.
Frequently asked questions about the Decapolis in Jordan
What does Decapolis mean?
Decapolis means “ten cities” in Greek. The name refers to a loose association of Hellenised, semi-autonomous cities in the eastern Roman world, mainly in the Transjordan and Syria region, operating under Roman protection from approximately the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD.
Were all ten Decapolis cities in Jordan?
No. Four are in modern Jordan (Jerash, Umm Qais, Pella, Amman). The others include Damascus (Syria), Beit She’an/Scythopolis (Israel), Hippos/Susita (Israel), and others with less certain locations.
Is Petra part of the Decapolis?
No. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom, which was a separate political entity from the Decapolis. The Nabataean kingdom was annexed by Rome in 106 AD and became the province of Arabia, but Petra itself was never a Decapolis city.
Can I do a Decapolis tour without a car?
You can reach Jerash and Amman by public bus from Amman. Umm Qais requires a combination of bus to Irbid and then local transport. Pella is difficult without a car. For a comprehensive Decapolis visit, a private car or guided tour is strongly recommended.
Is the Jordan Pass useful for the Decapolis cities?
Yes. The Jordan Pass covers entry to Jerash, Umm Qais, Pella, the Amman Citadel, and the Roman Theatre. If you are visiting Jordan for at least 3 nights and plan to see multiple sites, the Pass is almost certainly cost-effective. See /guides/jordan-pass-guide/.
Plan your visit
The Decapolis route is the backbone of northern Jordan exploration. Build it into /itineraries/jordan-7-days/ or /itineraries/jordan-10-days/ for the full experience. Start at the /destinations/north-jordan/ hub for an overview of the region. The /guides/nabataean-civilization/ guide provides the parallel story of Jordan’s other great ancient civilisation, the Nabataeans — a useful counterpoint to the Roman Decapolis narrative.
Private full day: Umm Qais and Pella from Amman