Qanawat was a city of great importance during the Roman period. In the year 60 B.C., the Romans named it one of the Decapolis league of commercial cities of which Damascus was the chief city. Its importance explains the richness of its ruins, which are among the most interesting in the whole Jabal Al-Arab region. Here can be found two palaces built by the Romans in approximately the second century. These basilica shaped buildings grouped around an atrium were adopted in the fourth through the fifth centuries by Christians. The ruined tower at the corner of one of the buildings is most probably the remains of a late addition to the Christian church. The tower is typical of the embellishments added to the Churches in northern Syria. The Christians having used much of the original classical stoneware, the buildings are beautifully decorated.

Today in Qanawat the visitor can also see the remains of a Roman mausoleum, a small theater with nine rows of seats, a water fountain and a temple of Helios; a lesser version of the temples at Palmyra and Baalbeck. On the side there is also another temple from the second century dedicated to Zeus.

In the Jabal Al-Arab region 90 kilometers south-east of Damascus, Shahba stands in an oasis of orchards and vineyards. Shahba renowned as the birthplace of the Syrian Emperor Philip, who ruled the Roman Empire between 244 and 249 A.D. To honour him, the city bore the name Philipopolis during the Roman period. Returning the honor, Philip took a personal interest in the city and designed it in the Roman style. Thus, the city surrounded by a great wall contains numerous palaces and temples, public baths, a theater and triumphal arches. 

Visitors to the Shahba museum can see the immense mosaic panels representing ancient Greek myths and the God of wine and fertility, Dionysus, the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, and the legendary poet and musician Orpheus.

Remains of the city temple (Philipon), some public baths, parts of the old wall and its four gates, as well as the two intersecting thoroughfares and the Roman canal can still be seen in the town.