Annexation of the Nabataean Kingdom — Arabia Petraea
The Nabataean kingdom was an Arab state centred on the remarkable rock-cut city of Petra in modern Jordan. For two centuries it had prospered as a client state on Rome's southeastern frontier, controlling the overland spice and incense trade from Arabia Felix. The last Nabataean king Rabbel II died in 106 CE. Whether Trajan moved immediately on Rabbel's death by prior arrangement, or whether Rabbel had actually bequeathed his kingdom to Rome, is debated. What is clear is that there was no military resistance. Cornelius Palma moved in from Syria; a simultaneous approach from Egypt completed the occupation. There was no war. The new province of Arabia Petraea was administered from Bostra (modern Busra ash-Sham in Syria). Trajan built the Via Traiana Nova connecting Bostra to the Red Sea at Aqaba — a road that served both military and commercial purposes. Petra gradually declined as sea routes through the Red Sea replaced overland caravan routes. The city still housed a bishop in the Byzantine period, but by the Arab conquest of the 7th century CE it was largely abandoned.
- Year: 106 CE
- Category: Political
