Palaestina Secunda
| Provincia Palaestina Secunda ἐπαρχία Δευτέρα Παλαιστίνης | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province of the Diocese of the East, Byzantine Empire | |||||||||
| 390–636 | |||||||||
Byzantine Palestine in the 5th century | |||||||||
| Capital | Scythopolis | ||||||||
| Historical era | Late Antiquity | ||||||||
• division of the Roman Empire | 390 | ||||||||
• Jewish revolt and Persian occupation | 614–625 | ||||||||
| 636 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Israel Jordan Palestine Syria | ||||||||
Palaestina Secunda or Palaestina II was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 390, until its conquest by the Muslim armies in 634–636. Palaestina Secunda, a part of the Diocese of the East, roughly comprised inland Galilee, the Jezreel (Yizrael) Valley, Bet Shean Valley, and the corresponding area of Transjordan (parts of the former Decapolis, with the southern territories of the Golan plateau and the bishopric of Pella south of the Yarmuk River), with its capital in Scythopolis (Bet Shean). The province experienced the rise of Christianity under the Byzantines, but was also a thriving center of Judaism, after the Jews had been driven out of Judea by the Romans as a result of their 1st- and 2nd-century revolts.