Timeless Urban Safety: The Treatise of Roman-Byzantine Palestine

In 2001, Architect Besim S. Hakim published on the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians the paper titled “Julian of Ascalon’s Treatise of Construction and Design Rules from Sixth-Century Palestine”. Twenty-four years later, Julian of Ascalon’s Treatise and the research paper still provide valuable insights for town planners and safety professionals.

Julian of Ascalon

Julian of Ascalon, an architect from the coastal city of Ascalon (now Ashkelon, Israel), flourished during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527–565 CE). The treatise, dating back to approximately 531–533 CE, corresponds to a period when Justinian implemented legal reforms, notably the influential Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law).

Historical Context

During the Byzantine Empire, Palestine was divided into three administrative sectors:

Palestina Prima. This province (capital: Caesarea) included the coastal cities such as Ascalon, Gaza, Jaffa, and extended inland to include Jewish-majority towns like Tiberias and Scythopolis. It generally covered central-southern Palestine, stretching from the Mediterranean coast and including much of what was previously Judea and Samaria.

Palestina Secunda. This province covered the northern and eastern portions of Palestine. It included areas with prominent cities such as Tyre and Gerasa, and encompass the Galilee as well as parts of the Decapolis.

Palestina Tertia or Salutaris (healthful). Centered on Petra, this province comprised the southernmost regions, including the Negev, southern Jordan, and sometimes extended toward eastern and southern desert areas.

Ascalon (the city of Julian of Ascalon’s treatise) was part of Palestina Prima. Greek was the official administrative and legal language, used in government, legislation, and elite culture, especially after the fourth century.

Julian of Ascalon’s treatise was composed in Greek, reflecting its status as the legal and technical “lingua franca” of the Byzantine administration in the region.

While Greek predominated in urban centres and among the elite, the majority of the population also spoke local languages such as Aramaic/Syriac, Hebrew (especially among Jewish communities).

Some residual Latin was used in certain circles, reflecting older Roman traditions. Consequently, Late Antique Palestine was highly multilingual.

Design Rules from Sixth-Century Palestine

Julian of Ascalon’ Treatise, written in the sixth century in Palestine, is a landmark document that provides detailed rules for construction, design, and urban management, uniquely reflecting both the historical context of Byzantine rule and a sophisticated understanding of safety and neighbourly equity. Its principles still offer important lessons for present-day Palestine, particularly regarding safe urban development and the protection of collective welfare.

Ascalon itself, a city with millennia of continuous habitation, was renowned for architectural beauty and flourishing urban life, especially in the relatively peaceful eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire during this period.

Ascalon’s urban elite were engaged in trading and land management, often advocating for regulatory measures that would preserve city aesthetics and control detrimental changes in urban growth.

Native legal culture was influenced by Roman law and earlier Near Eastern traditions, with Julian likely connected to the Beirut law school—a major center of Roman legal study.

His treatise reflects both imperial law (top-down regulations) and evolving local customs (bottom-up, neighbor-driven solutions).

Notably, the treatise’s longevity is remarkable: it influenced Byzantine cities for nearly 1400 years and survived in various legal compendia well into the modern era, particularly in Greece and the Balkans.

Safety and Damage Prevention in the Treatise

At its core, Julian’s treatise aims to minimize harm that could arise from urban change—especially from construction activities, new land uses, or introducing hazardous or offensive trades. He organizes building rules into several technical categories:

• Land Use. Rules covering the placement and operation of potentially hazardous facilities such as baths, kilns, and workshops. These stipulate minimum distances to prevent fire, smoke, odors, and vibrations from damaging adjacent properties (e.g., baths should be set back 20–30 cubits depending on nearby buildings and prevailing winds). 
• Socially Undesirable Uses. Restrictions on taverns, stables, brothels, and similar establishments, often specifying setbacks or prohibiting certain activities in towns to preserve public order and hygiene. 
• Views and Aesthetics. Stipulations to preserve sea views, gardens, and public artworks, examining direct and indirect sight lines and specifying setbacks from windows and balconies to maintain privacy and prevent moral harm through overlooking or crowding. 
• Neighborly Equity. Rules ensuring fairness in changing building heights, shared wall structures, and the opening of windows or doors—often requiring written notification or proportional cost sharing for repairs or modifications that affect neighbors. 
• Drainage and Planting. Guidelines for managing rainwater and waste water drainage, and for planting trees and gardens so that roots do not invade or damage adjacent properties. 

Julian’s technical rationale focuses on safeguarding both the material and social integrity of the urban environment, preventing fire spread, structural harm, and deterioration of living conditions from incompatible land uses. Many rules adjust for building height, window placement, and the specific activity proposed, acknowledging both physical risk and cultural values.

Relevance to Contemporary Palestinian Context

In the area of antique Palestine, today cities face challenges of dense construction and rapid urban change. Julian of Ascalon’s treatise—while shaped by Byzantine realities—holds contemporary relevance. In fact:

• Fire and Hazard Management: Julian’s insistence on setbacks for hazardous workshops, ovens, and baths directly parallels today’s fire risk management in tightly-packed neighborhoods, underscoring the importance of regulatory distances and site selection for potential sources of fire or pollution.
• Neighbourly Rights and Urban Equity: Julian’s attention to the balance between private initiative and collective welfare (through setbacks, rights to views, and shared responsibilities) resonates with challenges faced in heritage districts and mixed-use developments. 
• Legal Innovation and Adaptability: Julian’s model proposes pathways for integrating contemporary international building codes with adaptive, community-driven practices that are crucial for Palestinian localities. By harmonizing prescriptive imperial rules with local customs, this approach facilitates the integration of international standards with local needs and preferences. 
• Protection of Public Space and Aesthetics: His attention to views, artistic heritage, and the uplift of communal spirit align with efforts to preserve cultural sites and historic buildings amid modernization and redevelopment across Palestinian cities. 
• Conflict Resolution: Mechanisms for resolving disputes (written assurances, proportional responsibility) offer examples for structuring mediation in property and building conflicts today.

Practical Examples: Common Patterns of Intervention

Julian of Ascalon’s Treatise regulatory concepts find direct application today. Real-world examples include:

• Fire Setbacks & Hazardous Usage
  Modern city zoning still mirrors Julian’s rule that hazardous facilities (like workshops with open flames, bakeries, or kilns) be placed at a prescribed distance from residences. In downtown Jerusalem and old Cairo, safety regulations now require buffer zones and non-combustible barriers around new restaurants or bakeries in historic districts. This reduces accidental fires and smoke damage, directly echoing the treatise’s proportional setbacks for baths and workshops.
• Neighborly Rights for Wall Openings
  The treatise described written notification and consent for window additions above a neighbor’s property—a concept now revived in UNESCO buffer regulations in places like Bethlehem and Acre. Today, when owners wish to change window or door openings in party walls of heritage buildings, municipal authorities demand neighbor consent and technical review, to safeguard privacy, minimize dispute, and — especially in seismic and fire-prone areas — ensure that new openings don’t undermine the shared wall’s integrity or fire safety.

Ultimately, this study illuminates both the persistence and adaptability of safety-focused building laws through centuries, offering a valuable model for present-day practitioners and policymakers aiming to protect lives, heritage, and urban stability in Palestine and beyond.