in a.d. 6 it was restored to the direct rule of Roman governors.
Meanwhile a rising Roman general, Octavian, had van- quished Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the naval battle of Actium (31 B.C.), had passed through Syria and been welcomed by provincials desperately longing for a stable government and had received from the Roman senate the rank of emperor and the title Augustus Caesar. During Augustus's imperial rule Syria was fully incorporated into the Roman provincial system, under which native com- munities suffered but little restriction in the exercise of their autonomy. They retained their own religion, language and customs. The Romans took upon themselves the responsi- bility for their protection, afforded by garrison legions of Italian troops. In lieu of military service tribute was exacted from the native population. The Roman governors, who exercised general supervision over provincial affairs, were normally appointed for short periods and received no pay, but made themselves wealthy by farming out taxes and other oppressive methods.
By the time Augustus became emperor, the Romans and their subject peoples had virtually harmonized the Greek and Latin civilizations. Greek remained the cultural language of the eastern provinces and Aramaean the ver- nacular, but Latin became the official language of adminis- tration. The Greeks were weak on the political and organizational side, which was exactly where the Romans were strong. The Romans were rather poor in the artistic and philosophic field, where the Greeks were rich. Thus did Hellenism, strengthened and enriched under the Roman aegis, continue its sway over Syria. Under Roman protec- tion the land remained secure from c barbarian' peril ; Syrian Greek city life, with its characteristic political forms, round of festivities, amusements and intellectual exercise, moved on as before. Such local dynasties as were suffered by the mighty Romans to persist — in Judaea, Petra, Palmyra and
