The city of Hippos, now an archaeological site in northeastern Israel, was known in Roman times as one of the so-called Decapolis, or groups of ten cities in Jordan, Israel and Syria, which were considered centres of Greek and Roman culture.
Hippos was a thriving city centre, authorized to mint its own coins, bearing the emblem of the horse on one side. The city was completely Christian and prospered when in 363 CE there was a great earthquake. Scientists know about it because of the numerous skeletons found and crushed under a collapsed roof in the northern section of the Basilica – the largest building in the city.
