Aelia Capitolina

Aelia Capitolina was a Roman colonia founded in 129–130 CE on the ruins of Jerusalem during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. Its establishment marked a decisive transformation of the ancient Jewish city, replacing the religious and cultural landscape of Second Temple Jerusalem with a Roman pagan settlement dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus. For centuries the city stood as a symbol of Roman authority in the region, shaping its urban design, population makeup, and religious identity. The foundation of Aelia Capitolina played a pivotal role in the political tensions that culminated in the Bar Kokhba revolt and influenced the later Christian and Islamic character of Jerusalem.

Background and Naming

The name Aelia derived from Hadrian’s family name, the gens Aelia, while Capitolina signified the dedication of the new colony to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. This reorientation of Jerusalem towards Roman civic and religious traditions was deliberate: a temple to Jupiter was erected, and the city’s layout was remodelled according to Roman urban principles. The Latin name Aelia later influenced the early Arabic term Īlyā’, used for Jerusalem during the Umayyad period.
The new colonia was populated by Roman legionaries, veterans, and migrants from other parts of the empire. Jews were prohibited from entering the city except on a single day each year—Tisha B’Av—marking the destruction of the Second Temple. The ban persisted until the Muslim conquest in 636.

Founding and Historical Context

Hadrian visited Judaea in 129–130 CE and found Jerusalem still devastated from the siege of 70 CE. His decision to rebuild the city as a Roman colony was interpreted in antiquity and by modern historians as a political act aimed at suppressing Jewish identity and nationalism. Ancient sources disagree about whether the foundation of Aelia Capitolina caused or followed the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE), but archaeological evidence—including coins minted for the new colony predating the uprising—supports the view that the establishment preceded the revolt.
Writers such as Cassius Dio considered the foundation, especially the construction of a pagan temple on the former Temple Mount, a major catalyst for rebellion. Others, such as Eusebius, interpreted the foundation as a punitive measure imposed after Jewish defeat. Most modern scholarship views Hadrian’s urban and religious policies as deliberate attempts to prevent renewed resistance, including the wider measures that accompanied the city’s transformation.

Urban Planning and Layout

Aelia Capitolina was rebuilt on a Roman urban grid, with colonnaded streets, monumental gateways, and public forums. The city was laid out using a modified form of the Hippodamian plan, adjusted to the topography of Jerusalem’s hills and valleys.
Key features included:

• Cardo Maximus, the principal north–south street, running along the western hill.
• Decumanus Maximus, the main east–west street, diverted to avoid the Temple Mount.
• Secondary eastern cardo, descending through the Tyropoeon Valley.
• Tetrapylons, marking intersections of the major streets.
• A semicircular piazza near Damascus Gate, the site of a monumental column that gave the gate its Arabic name, Bab al-‘Amud (“Gate of the Column”).

Much of this street pattern survives in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Roman thoroughfares, originally broad and lined with shops and colonnades, have been narrowed by later building encroachments.
The rebuilt city lacked defensive walls and was instead guarded by a detachment from Legio X Fretensis, encamped across the western hill and tasked with enforcing the Jewish exclusion.

Public Buildings and Forums

Hadrian established the main western forum at the junction of the cardo and decumanus, near the present-day Muristan. Adjacent to it he constructed the Temple of Venus, later removed or incorporated into the foundations of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the fourth century.
To the north-east, part of the Struthion Pool was vaulted over to create a paved esplanade forming the eastern forum. An elaborate triple-arched entrance—later known as the Ecce Homo arch—served as an approach to this complex. Substantial remains of these constructions can still be seen beneath the Convent of the Sisters of Zion.

Cultural and Religious Transformation

The foundation of Aelia Capitolina marked a decisive shift in the city’s cultural character. Archaeological evidence shows a clear adoption of Roman customs: pork consumption became widespread, figurative art appeared frequently, and Jewish religious installations such as mikva’ot and stone vessels vanished. Statues, inscriptions, and temples emphasised the city’s pagan orientation.
The exclusion of Jews, combined with the settlement of Roman veterans and immigrants from western provinces, reshaped the city’s demographic composition. Jewish Christians were also affected by the ban, and their communities shifted to villages outside the city walls.

Later Development and Legacy

Aelia Capitolina remained a relatively small provincial town for much of the Roman period, with an estimated population of about 4,000. Its significance changed dramatically in the early fourth century when Constantine legalised Christianity and sponsored the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This transformed the city into a Christian pilgrimage centre during the Byzantine era.
The name “Aelia” continued in use into the early Islamic period, but gradually fell out of favour as Jerusalem regained prominence under new religious and political authorities. Despite its modest size, Aelia Capitolina played a crucial role in shaping the later urban, religious, and symbolic identity of Jerusalem, bridging the transition from the Roman imperial city to the Christian and Islamic spiritual centre recognised across the world today.