 Beirut's school of law was widely known at the time.Two of Rome's most famous jurists, Papinian and Ulpian, both natives of Phoenicia, taught at the law school under the Severan emperors.Furthermore, The city of Heliopolis was made a "colonia" by Septimius Severus in 193 AD, having been part of the territory of Berytus on the Phoenician coast since 15 BC.