The city flourished under the Nabateans until 106 CE when the Roman Emperor Trajan claimed Petra and much of the region for Rome. Rome added its own architectural contributions to Petra. They built an outdoor theater, lined streets with colonnades, and constructed churches as Christianity grew and expanded.

No, the Romans did not build Petra; it was built by the Nabataeans, a nomadic Arab people, starting around the 4th century BC. The Nabataeans carved the city’s magnificent temples and tombs directly into the rose-red sandstone cliffs of southern Jordan. However, the Romans played a major role in its later history. In 106 AD, the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, turning Petra into the capital of the province of Arabia Petraea. During this period, the Romans added their own architectural layers to the city, including the colonnaded street, a large theater, and several triumphal arches. So, while the iconic rock-cut facades like The Treasury are Nabataean masterpieces, much of the urban city center visible today reflects Roman engineering and town planning, representing a unique fusion of Middle Eastern and Greco-Roman styles.