Sepphoris
Sepphoris, also known as Tzippori, is an ancient city located in the lower Galilean hills of Israel, approximately four miles north of Nazareth. Historically significant, it served as the capital of Galilee during the Jewish Hasmonaean kingdom and later became a central administrative hub after Julius Pompey’s conquest. The city experienced several changes in control and designation, including being named Autocratoris by Herod Antipas and later Neronias under Emperor Nero, reflecting its evolving political landscape. During the First Jewish Revolt, it was the largest city in Galilee and served as a headquarters for the historian and rebel Josephus.
In addition to its political importance, Sepphoris was a center of Jewish scholarship, particularly during the time of Judah I ha-Nasi. The city underwent further transformation under Roman rule, becoming known as Diocaesarea and hosting significant cultural and religious developments, including the construction of a church authorized by Emperor Constantine I. Archaeological discoveries, such as a Roman theater and aqueduct, highlight its historical and architectural significance. Today, Sepphoris is recognized for its rich heritage and remains a point of interest for those exploring ancient Jewish and Roman history in the region.
Sepphoris
later Autocratoris and Neronias and Irenopolis and Diocaesarea (Zippori)
A city of Israel, in the lower Galilean hills four miles north of Nazareth. In the Jewish (Hasmonaean) kingdom, Sepphoris was the capital of Galilee; and an attempt by Ptolemy IX Soter II Lathyrus of Egypt (116–80 BC) to acquire it forcibly from Alexander I Jannaeus proved a failure. After the conquest of Judaea by Pompey the Great, the town became the capital of one of the five districts into which he divided the country. In 38 the youthful Herod the Great retook it from Parthian invaders during a snowstorm.
After his death (4 BC) Sepphoris, with its armory, was seized by the rebel Judas, the son of Ezekias, but was reoccupied and burned to the ground by the Roman governor of Syria, Publius Quinctilius Varus. Herod's son Herod Antipas (4 BC–AD 39), when he became prince (tetrarch) of Galilee and Paraea, built a new city that he endowed with fortifications and a royal palace, and redesignated Autocratoris (Imperatoria); although the name did not last long, and he later established his principal residence at Tiberias instead (AD 19/20). However, Sepphoris regained its position as capital of Galilee under the Jewish prince Marcus Agrippa I, who after the accession of the emperor Nero (54) renamed it Neronias, adding the further appellation of Irenopolis (Peace City) when Nero closed the Temple of Janus at Rome (64) to celebrate empire-wide peace.
During the First Jewish Revolt (63–73), when Sepphoris was described as the largest city of Galilee, it became the headquarters of Josephus, the (unwilling) rebel leader and future historian, who twice subsequently had to reclaim its allegiance by force. At the request of the inhabitants, he provided the city with new fortifications: but they threw him out and admitted a Roman garrison, which was reinforced by the Roman governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus. Then Sepphoris welcomed the imperial general (subsequently emperor) Vespasian, who confirmed and renewed its garrison.
Local monetary issues under Trajan (98–117) celebrated some imperial gift (edoken), and in the time of Hadrian the city assumed yet another designation, Diocaesarea (City of Zeus, from 130 at latest). Under his successor Antoninus Pius (138–61), moneyers depicted a temple of Zeus, Hera and Athena—the Capitoline Triad—on its coinage. Meanwhile, as the center of Jewish habitation and religious life moved northward to Galilee, Judah I ha-Nasi `the Prince’ (135–219) transferred his residence from Beth-Shearim to Sepphoris-Diocaesarea, which became a renowned center of Hebrew scholarship. In 252 it served the quasi-independent Roman commander Odenathus of Palmyra as the place of imprisonment for the captured daughters of Mar Samuel, the late head of the Jewish academy at Nehardea on the Euphrates. In the later empire Sepphoris-Diocaesarea remained a military center, and Constantine I the Great (306–37) authorized a Christian convert named Joseph to build a church in the city, which subsequently became an episcopal see. A Roman theater and aqueduct have been found outside the walls.