Bosra rises out of a plain of black volcanic rock in the south of Syria, near the Jordanian border, and everything in it is built of basalt: the Roman theatre, the Nabataean-era streets, the mosques and the houses that people still lived in. It was the capital of the Roman province of Arabia, and later a major stop on the caravan routes between Damascus and the Arabian Peninsula. UNESCO listed the ancient city in 1980.
The theatre is the astonishment. Dating from the second century AD, it seats around fifteen thousand people and survives with its stage building largely intact, because in the Middle Ages it was turned into a fortress, with towers added around it, and that protected it from being quarried. Nearby is the Mosque of Omar, said to be one of the oldest in the Islamic world, and the Cathedral ruins that tell of the city's Christian centuries. Tradition holds that the young Muhammad met the monk Bahira here on a caravan journey, though historians treat the story with care.
Riding in is flat and open, through the Hauran plain, a granary of wheat and barley since Roman times, with dark stone walls dividing the fields. The road surfaces vary and the sun in summer is fierce, so mornings are far better. Spring turns the plain green and sprinkles it with red poppies, while in winter the wind from the east is cold. Sabha, the nearest larger town, and the villages around Bosra offer basic services.
Be realistic about the situation: Syria has been through years of conflict, and Bosra was damaged in the fighting. Conditions, access and safety have changed over time, so any rider thinking of this region should check current official advice carefully before planning a visit. If you do go, or if you are following the story from afar, the lesson of the place is the same: a city that survived Rome, Byzantium, the Crusades and earthquakes has more resilience than most.