[[Image:Madaba map.jpg|thumb|150px|The [[Madaba Map]] depiction of sixth-century [[Jerusalem]] has the ''[[Cardo]] Maximus'', the town’s main street, beginning at the northern gate, today's [[Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls|Damascus Gate]], and traversing the city in a straight line from north to south to [[Nea Church]].]]

'''''Aelia Capitolina''''' ([[Latin language|Latin]] in full: ''Colonia Aelia Capitolina'') was a city built by the emperor [[Hadrian]] in the year [[131]], and occupied by a [[Roman colony]], on the site of [[Jerusalem]], which was in ruins when he visited his dominion known as [[Syria Palæstina]].

"Aelia" came from Hadrian's ''[[Roman naming convention|nomen gentile]]'', ''[[Aelius]]'', while "Capitolina" meant that the new city was dedicated to ''[[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] [[Capitoline Hill|Capitolinus]]'', to whom a temple was built on the site of the [[Jewish temple]]. The establishment of ''Aelia Capitolina'' resulted in the failed [[Bar Kokhba's revolt]] of [[132]]-[[135]]. Jews were forbidden to live in the city. Roman enforcement of this prohibition continued through the fourth century. The city was without walls, protected by a light garrison of the [[Legio X Fretensis|Tenth Legion]], during the Late Roman Period. The detachment at [[Jerusalem]], which apparently encamped all over the city’s western hill, was responsible for preventing [[Jew]]s from returning to the city.

The urban plan of Aelia Capitolina was that of a typical [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] town wherein main thoroughfares crisscrossed the [[Urban planning|urban grid]] lengthwise and widthwise.

The original thoroughfare, flanked by rows of columns and shops, was about 73 [[Foot (unit of length)|feet]] (22 [[meter]]s) wide (roughly the equivalent of a present-day six lane highway). The Hadrianic [[Cardo]] Maximus of Aelia terminated somewhere in the area of the present David Street.

The Latin name "Aelia" is the source of the Arabic term Iliya (إلياء), an early Islamic name for Jerusalem.

{{1911}}

== See also ==
*[[Judea]]
*[[Iudaea Province]]
*[[Palestine]]
*[[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]
*[[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]
*[[Names of Jerusalem]]


[[Category:Archaeological sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Nerva-Antonine Dynasty]]
[[Category:Ancient Jewish Roman history]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Israel]]
[[Category:History of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:131 establishments]]
[[Category:Settlements established in the 2nd century]]

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