The Ghassanids were a group of Hellenized and later Romanized South
Arabian Christian tribes who eventually merged with Greek-speaking Early
Christian communities.

It is said that the Ghassanids came from the city with a dam.  One year
there was so much rain that the dam was carried away by the ensuing
flood. Thus the people there had to leave. The inhabitants emigrated
seeking to live in less arid lands and became scattered far and wide.

The Romans found a powerful ally in the new coming Arabs. The
Ghassanids were the buffer zone against the Lakhmids penetrating Roman
territory. More accurately the kings can be described as phylarchs,
native rulers of subject frontier states.
