Philip () was born in around 204. He got the name "Philip the Arab" ( or ). (The "Chronicon Paschale", a Greek chronicle, and the Latin historian Aurelius Victor each have different dates for Philip's birth.) He was the son of Julius Marinus. Philip was probably born in the city he later named Philippopolis, in the Roman province of Arabia Petraea (now the city of Shahba, Syria).