decapolis Summary and Overview

DECAP'OLIS (ten cities), a region noticed three times in the Bible. Matt 4:25; Map of Decapolis. (From Schaff's "New Testament Commentary.") Mark 5:20; Mark 7:31 It lay near the Sea of Galilee probably on both sides of the Jordan. The cities were rebuilt by the Romans about b.c. 65; but as other cities grew up, writers are not agreed as to the names of the ten cities. Pliny gives them as follows: Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, Damascus. Six are deserted, and none have many inhabitants except Damascus.

Thrice mentioned in Scripture: Mark 5:20, which shows that it was around Gadara (Mark 7:31; Matthew 4:25). A district containing ten cities, rebuilt, colonized, and granted special privileges by Rome 65 B.C. Other cities afterward receiving similar privileges cause confusion as to which are the original ten; probably Scythopolis (W. of Jordan), Hippos, Gadara, Philadelphia, Pella, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Damascus, Raphana (all E. of Jordan). The region once so populous is now almost without inhabitants, except a few living in savagery amidst the ruins and cavern tombs of Scythopolis, Gadara, and Canatha.