Litbrature. — The chief authorities are Tacitus, Historice bk. i. ; Plutarch, Galba (ed. E. G. Hardy, London, 1890) ; Suetonius, Galba; Dio Cassius, Ixiii.-lxiv., etc., and inscrip- tions. The facts are given most succinctly in P. de Rohden and H. Dessau, Prosopographia Imperii Romani scec. i. ii. Hi., liars iii., Berlin, 1808, p. 284 ff. (no. 723). See also the relevant p.'irtsof the modern Histories of the Roman Empire (V. Duruy [Eiig. tr., London, 1S83-SG], J. B. Bury (do. 1S93], etc.) ; A. von Domaszewski, Gesch. der rijmischen Kaiser, Leipzig, 1909, ii. 79-85 ; E. G. Hardy, Studies in Roman History, London, 1906, pp. 295-334 (a valuable comparison of the leading ancient authorities), also 2nd series of the same work, do. 1909, pp. 130-157. A. SOUTER.
GALILEE.— Galilee is seldom mentioned in the NT outside the Gospels. The only references are in the early chapters of Acts (1" 53^ 9^1 10" 13^^). Most of the apostles belonged to this northern province (1" 13^^- Judas, the leader of an agita- tion in the days of the enrolment of Quirinius, is described as 'of Galilee' (5"). After Saul's con- version, peace descended upon the Christians in Galilee, as well as in Judaea and Samaria (9^'). Walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, their numbers greatly increased.
1. The name. — The name 'Galilee' is derived from the Heb. '?'':; (Galil), through the Gr. TaXiXaia and the Lat. Galilcea. The Hebrew word, denot- ing 'ring' or 'circle,' was used geographically to describe a 'circuit' of towns and villages. As applied to this particular district in north-western Palestine, the form used is either ^''rjn, ' the district' (Jos 20^ 2F-, 1 K 9'i, 2 K 15^3, 1 Ch 6''^), or D^i-in h% 'district of the nations' (Is 9'). Given originally to the highlands on the extreme northern border, this nanie gradually extended itself southwards over the hill-country till it reached and eventually included the Plain of Esdraelon (G. A. Smith,
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GALILEE
HGHL*, pp. 379 and 415). For the most part, however, Esdraelon seems to have been a frontier or arena of battle, rather than an actual part of Galilee.
2. The boundaries. — The natural boundaries of Galilee never agreed with its political frontiers. The natural limits are Esdraelon, the Mediterranean Sea, the Jordan valley, and the gorge of the river Litany. But the actual borders have shifted from time to time. At the period of widest extension, they may be set down as the Kasiniiyeh or Litany gorge on the N., the southern edge of Esdraelon on the S., Phoenicia (which always belonged to Gentiles) on the W., and the Upper Jordan (with its two lakes) on the E. These boundaries, exclud- ing Carmel and the area of the lakes, enclosed a province about 50 miles long by 25 to 35 miles broad — an area of about 1600 square miles. Within these limits lay 'a region of mountain, hill, and plain, the most diversified and attractive in Palestine' (Masterman, Studies in Galilee, p. 4).
3. The divisions. — Josephus {IB J ill. iii. 1) gives the divisions, in his time, as two, called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. The ■\Iishna [Shebuth ix. 12) states that the province contained ' the upper, the lower, and the valley.' The latter are certainly the natural divisions. The mountains separate very clearlj* into a higher northern and a lower southern group, and the ' valley ' is the valley of the Upper Jordan.
(a) Upper Galilee is less easily characterized phj'sically than Lower. ' It appears to the casual observer a confused mass of tumbled mountains, to which not even the map can give an orderly view' (Masterman, p. 11). It is in reality 'a series of plateaus, with a double water-parting, and sur- rounded by hills from 2000 to 4000 feet' (G. A. Smith, HGHU; p. 416). The central point is Jebel Jermak (3934 ft.), the highest mountain in western Palestine. The scantier water supply of Upper Galilee is compensated for by the copiousness of the dew-fall throughout the later summer months.
(6) Lower Galilee is easier to describe. It con- sists of parallel ranges of hills, all below 2000 ft., running from W. to E., with broad fertile valleys between. The whole region is of great natural fertility, owing to abundance of water, rich volcanic soil, the gentleness of the slopes, and the openness of the plains. The great roads of the pro\'ince cross this lower hill-country. The dividing-line between Upper and Lower Galilee is the range of mountains running right across the country along the northern edge of the Plain of Rameh.
(c) The Valley consists of the Upper Jordan and its two lakes, Huleh and Gennesaret. The river, taking its rise from springs and streams in the neighbourhood of Banias and Tel-el-Kadi, flows south in a steadily deepening channel, through Huleh, till it empties itself into the Sea of Genne- saret, at a depth of 689 ft. below sea-level. It has fallen to this depth in about 19 miles. Six miles north of the lake, the river is crossed by the ' Bridge of tlie daughters of Jacob,' on the famous Via Maris of the Middle Ages, the principal thoroughfare be- tween Damascus and the Mediterranean ports. The Lake of Galilee could never be sutticiently praised by the Jewish Rabbis. They said that Jahweh had (;reated seven seas, and of these liad chosen the Sea of Gennesaret as His special delight. It liad rich alluvial pLains on tlie north and south, a belt of populous and flourishing cities round its border, abundance of lish in its depths, and a climate that attracted both workers and pleasure-seekers to its shores. At the beginning of the Christian era, it presented a reproduction in miniature of the rich life and varied activities of the province as a wliole.