THE NABATAEAN KINGDOM

The Nabataean Kingdom was an Arabic political state of the Nabataeans which existed during classical antiquity and was annexed by the Roman Empire in 106 CE.
Located between the Sinai Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula, its Northern neighbor was the Kingdom of Judea, and its South Western neighbor was Ptolemaic Egypt. Its capital was the City of Petra in Jordan, and it included the Towns of Bostra, Mada'in Saleh, and Nitzana.
Petra, in Jordan, was a wealthy Trading Town, located at a convergence of several important Trade Routes. One of them was the Incense Route which was based around the production of both Myrrh and Frankincense in Southern Arabia, and ran through Mada'in Saleh to Petra. From here the aromatics were distributed throughout the Mediterranean Region.
Nabataeans origin date from a time when they were nomadic pastoralists in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula during Achaemenid Persian Rule, around the 4th century BC.
The Nabataeans were allied of the 1st Hasmoneans in their struggles against the Seleucid monarchs. The Hasmonean Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions. Between 140 and 116 BC, the Dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea. From 110 BC, with the Seleucid Empire disintegrating, the Judean Dynasty became fully independent.
The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid Dynasty, which existed from 312 BC to 63 BC. It was founded by Seleu-Cus I Nicator following the division of the Macedonian Empire created by Alexander the Great. Seleucus received Babylonia and, from there, expanded his dominions to include much of Alexander's Near Eastern territories. At the height of its power, it included Central Ana-Tolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what is now Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic Culture that maintained the preeminence of Greek customs where a Greek political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population of the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by immigration from Greece.
The Nabataeans then became rivals of the Judaean Dynasty, inviting  Pompey's intervention in Judea. He was a military leader of the Roman Republic. He came form a wealthy family, and his father had been the 1st to establish the family among the Roman nobility.
Many Nabataeans were forcefully converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean  king Alexander Jan-Naeus. It was this King who, after putting down a local rebellion, invaded a occupied the Nabataeans Towns of Moab and Gilead and imposed a tribute of an unspecified amount.
Obodas I, the successor of Ar-Etas II, from whom he inherited the War with the Judeans of the Hasmonean Kingdom, defeated the Judeans around 93 BC on the Golan Height (a region of the Levant). He ambushed the Judean king Alexander Jan-Naeus near Gadara, just East of the Sea of Galilee. Using camel cavalry, he forced Jan-Naeus into a Valley where he completed the ambush thereby getting revenge for the Nabataeans' loss of Gaza. Moab and Gilead, two mountains East of the Dead Sea and the Jordan were returned. 
Around 86 BC the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus XII Dionysus invaded Nabatea. Both Antiochus and Obodas were killed but the invaders were defeated. He was succeded by his brother Ar-Etas III.
Under the reign of Ar-Etas III (87-62 BC) the Kingdom of the Nabataeans reached its territorial zenith, but was defeated by a Roman army under the command of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. The Roman army besieged Petra, but eventually a compromise was negotiated. Paying a tribute, Ar-Etas III received the formal recognition by the Roman Republic.
The Nabataeans then saw their territory itself slowly being surrounded by the expanding Roman Empire, which conquered Egypt and annexed Hasmonean Judea. While the Nabataeans managed to preserve its formal independence, it became a client kingdom under the influence of Rome.
In 106 CE, during the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan, the last king of the Nabataean Kingdom Rabbel II Soter died. After the dead of his father, Malichus II, Ar-Rab-Bel still a child, ascended to the throne. His mother, Shaqilath, assumed control of the government in the early years. Shaqilath was the daughter of Ar-Etas IV. She ruled jointly with her husband-brother Malichus II (40-70 CE). Copper and silver coins where she is depicted with her husband and coins of her with her son have been found dated with the reigning years to the left of the queen. Ar-Rab-Bel gave himself the title "Soter" meaning the "Savior of the People."
Trajan (27 January, 98 - 8 August, 117) is best known for his extensive public building program, which reshaped the city of Rome. He faced no resistance and conquered the Nabataean Kingdom on 22 March 106 CE. It became the Roman Province of Ar-Abia Petraea, with Bosra becoming its provincial capital. By 107 CE Roman legions were stationed in the area around Petra and Bosra.  His conquest of Dacia (Regions of modern Romania) enriched the empire greatly, as the new province possessed many valuable gold mines. However, its exposed position North of the Danube made it susceptible to attack on 3 sides, and was later abandoned by Emperor Aurelian. His campaigns expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extend. In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was succeded by his adopted son Hadrian.
Trade seems to have largely continued thanks to the Nabataeans' undiminished talent for trading.
Under Hadrian (24 January,76 - 10 July,138 CE) a Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 CE, known for building Hadrian's Wall, marked the Northern limit of Britannia. He ignored most of the Nabatean terrotory. Hadrian came from a family with centuries-old roots in Hispania. His predecessor, Trajan, was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father. Trajan did not officially designate an heir, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death.
A century later, during the reign of Alexander Severus, the local issue of coinage came to an end. There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing to a sudden change in political ways, such as an invasion by the Neo-Persian Power under the Sassanid Empire.
The city of Palmyra, for a time the capital of the breakaway Palmyrene Empire (130-270 CE), grew in importance and attracted the Arabian Trade away from Petra. Palmyra is an ancient city in the present day Syria. The city was first documented in the early 2nd millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires. The city grew wealthy from Trade Caravans. They were, like the Nabataeans, recognized merchants. They established colonies along the Silk Road and operated throughout the Roman Empire. Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel and the distinctive Tower Tombs. The Palmyrenes were a mix of Amorites, Arameans, and Arabs. They spoke Palmyrene, a dialect of Aramaic; Greek was used for commercial and diplomatic purposes. The city's inhabitants worshiped local deities and Mesopotamian and Arab gods.