Ioudaia

Ioudaia, also rendered Judaea in Latin and Greek sources (Greek: Ioudaía), is the name given to the ancient Jewish homeland in the southern Levant. In historical usage it covers the territory of the biblical land of Judah and the subsequent Kingdom of Judea, and later the Roman province established in the region. The term survives in classical inscriptions and literature as a geographic and political designation.

Geography and scope of control varied over time. In antiquity it lay along the Judaean Mountains, with the coastal plain to the west and the Dead Sea to the east. Its core centers included Jerusalem and the surrounding hill country. Under different rulers the province’s borders shifted, at times extending to parts of the Galilee and adjacent regions.

Administrative and political history. The region originated as the Hasmonean Kingdom, which became a client state under Rome after 63 BCE. In 6 CE it was reorganized as the Roman province of Judaea, governed by a Roman prefect or procurator and, for a period, by a royal client tier under Herod the Great and his successors. The Great Jewish Revolt (66–70 CE) culminated in the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple. After subsequent conquests, the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) led to further reorganization, and Hadrian renamed the province Syria Palaestina, with boundaries adjusted and Jerusalem not serving as the provincial capital.

Legacy and usage. The name Ioudaia appears in ancient sources and scholarly works to denote the historical Jewish territory and its political unit within the Roman Empire. Its geographical area influenced later Byzantine and regional administrations, and in modern scholarship it is used to discuss the historical land of Judah and its governance in antiquity.