With the exception of a brief period in 36–30 BC, when Mark Antony gave the region to Ptolemaic Egypt, Phoenicia remained part of the province of Syria thereafter.

[1] The province was much larger than the area traditionally called Phoenicia: for example, cities like Emesa[a] and Palmyra[b] and the base of the Legio III Gallica[c] in Raphanaea[d] were now subject to the governor who resided in Tyre.

[2] After the death of the 2nd century Roman emperor Commodus, a civil war erupted, in which Berytus, and Sidon supported Pescennius Niger.

[3] However, Niger lost the civil war, and Septimius Severus decided to show his gratitude for Tyre's support by making it the capital of Phoenice.

Ulpian, a native of Tyre, states that the grant of colonial status to Heliopolis resulted from this civil war.

[4] Elagabalus (r. 218–222) later raised his native Emesa to co-capital, and the two cities rivalled each other as the head of the province until its division in the 4th century.

This deliberate invocation of the legendary connection between Tyre and Carthage, celebrated in the Aeneid, was reflected in several significant projects.

Notably, Lepcis Magna, his birthplace, was richly adorned and linked to the city of Tyre through coins[6] and inscriptions.

These efforts not only served to elevate his imperial authority and family heritage but also bolstered Phoenician identity in the newly formed province of Phoenice.

[7] Achillius I was referred to as the hegemon of Phoenice in a letter written to introduce Theophanes Scholasticus, a bureaucrat traveling from Egypt to Antioch between 317 and 324.

[10] He is notably remembered for discovering in hiding Arsenius, a Melitian bishop, whose hand was falsely claimed by Eusebius' faction to have been used by Athanasius for magical rites after murdering its owner.

One letter featured a traditional depiction of Phoenicia’s natural and cultural wealth, praising the region’s fertility, seasonal harmony, temples, and the production of purple dye.

[21] Libanius frequently sought favors from the governors;[22] an example of this is a letter from 360 AD, in which he asks for Phoenician huntsmen to participate in a civic entertainment event in Antioch.

He rose to prominence during the reign of Emperor Constantius II, and according to the orator Libanius, Dulcitius was characterized by a love of wealth.

This arrangement, restored by Salutius, Julian’s praetorian prefect, reversed a salary cut imposed by Helpidius.

[51] During 365, Tyre and Sidon alongside several other coastal cities were damaged by a tsunami caused by the Crete earthquake.

Proculus, a native of Lycia, marked his tenure with a significant inscription above Berytus, commemorating the construction of a road through the mountains.

A native of Caria, Eustathius had little interest in the civil service or legal profession, leading him to study rhetoric in Athens.

This policy appears to have been continued during the third century AD, as seen in the case of Aurelian raising the garrisons of Phoenice to the normal strength of two legions.

[74] During the fourth-century abundant crops of grain, wine, oil, and other products were attributed to the cities of Berytus, Byblos, Tyre, and Sarepta.

[75] Further evidence of agricultural production near Berytus is found in the fourth-century journal of the bureaucrat Theophanes, who traveled between Antioch and Egypt from 317 to 324 AD.

In Berytus, Theophanes noted buying two types of bread ("pure white" for officials amongst his party and "coarse" for the servants), as well as grapes, figs, pumpkins or squashes, peaches, apricots, and cleaning supplies such as natron, bath oil, and soap.

[77] During the reign of the Emperor Philip I the Arab (244-249 CE), bronze coins were struck at Heliopolis in honour of the legions Fifth Macedonia and Eighth Augusta.