Aelia Capitolina is Hadrian’s rebuilt city of Jerusalem, which he named after himself and Capitoline Jupiter, whose cult was now established on the Temple Mount. Numismatic evidence indicates that Hadrian undertook the refoundation of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina before 132 CE, thereby causing or contributing to the outbreak of the Bar-Kokhba revolt.

Scholarly consensus long believed that Hadrianic Jerusalem corresponds roughly with the area of the modern Old City, as reflected on the sixth-century Madaba mosaic map. This consensus was shattered by Nahman Avigad’s 1969–1978 excavations in the Jewish Quarter, which indicated that there was little or no occupation in the southern part of the Old City in the period of Aelia Capitolina. Instead, most of the remains associated with Aelia Capitolina are concentrated in the northern half of the modern Old City. I propose that Hadrianic Jerusalem comprised the northern half of the Old City and the area to its north, up to the line of the so-called “Third Wall,” which served as Aelia’s north wall (regardless of whether this wall was originally constructed in the first century). The monumental Hadrianic gateway and plaza at the site of the Damascus Gate marks the center of Aelia Capitolina, and not the northern entrance to the city as is generally assumed.

Moreover, the Tenth Legion was stationed in Aelia Capitolina until ca. 300 CE. The recently published pottery from the legionary kiln works at Binyanei Ha’uma provides valuable information about the legionaries. It also has important ramifications for the identification of remains associated with Aelia Capitolina, including the controversial and elusive location of this legion’s camp.