The Bible Commentaries and Others: Caesarea

Caesarea

CAESAREA (PLACE) [Gk kaisareia (καισαρεια)]. A seaport located ca. 50 km N of Tel Aviv and ca. 45 km S of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast (M.R. 140212); also known as Caesarea Maritima or Caesarea Palestinae.

A. Caesarea’s History

For millennia before any permanent occuption occurred, the future site of Caesarea Maritima had been used as a roadstead for maritime trade between Egypt and the Levant. The founder of the first known settlement at the site was a Sidonian king named Strato, who lived during the 4th century b.c.e. His trading station came to be known as Strato’s Tower.

The original village may have been located ca. 300 m N of the subsequent Crusader fortifications. It probably included a small harbor, private houses, some official buildings, magazines for storage, and perhaps a lighthouse or watchtower that may have given the settlement its name. Adjacent to the fertile Plain of Sharon, the site provided an excellent maritime outlet for the agricultural abundance of the region.

In 259 b.c.e., when the region had passed under Ptolemaic control, an Egyptian official named Zeno arrived at the site to inspect the estates and manage the financial interests of his employer, Apollonius, and his king, Ptolemy Philadelphus. His visit, recorded in the so-called Zeno papyrus, provides the first mention of Strato’s Tower or of the site of Caesarea itself.

Near the end of the 2d century b.c.e., a petty ruler named Zoilus seized Strato’s Tower and the nearby city of Dor 12 km to the north. He transformed the coastal trading settlement into a fortified port city—a political imperative considering his tenuous hold on these coastal enclaves and the rise of the Hasmonean dynasty. In addition, he expanded his port’s harbor capacity by creating an artificial, protected anchorage in the lee (N) of the site’s highest promontory. This facility, which was literally carved from the coast and then flooded, augmented a harbor to the north that had served the original settlement. Both basins were now enclosed within the city walls, consistent with the tradition of harbor construction of the Hellenistic age.

Zoilus held Strato’s Tower until it was taken by Alexander Jannaeus in 103 b.c.e. Its fate after this date is not clear, although its fortunes clearly declined. It had fallen into a ruinous state by the time of Herod the Great (40–4 b.c.e.).

Having survived the tumultuous last years of the Roman civil wars, Herod continued as Rome’s client king of Judea. A successful meeting with Octavian (later Augustus Caesar) led to reconfirmation of his status and to a grant of additional territory which included the coastal region embracing the ruins of Strato’s Tower.

Herod decided to build a major international port in his newly acquired land to foster several policy goals. A grand city built in the style of a Roman provincial capital and named for his imperial patron would be a tangible demonstration of his loyalty and would manifest his commitment to the traditions of Rome. In addition, Herod, who was a Jew and who would eventually rebuild the Second Temple in Jerusalem, could show his sympathy and support for his non-Jewish subjects through the construction of a great Greco-Roman urban center complete with pagan temples and other structures (a theater, hippodrome, and amphitheater) that were inimical to his Jewish constituency. This ambitious building program was a gentile counterpoint to his rebuiding of the Jewish temple.

Herod’s dream for Caesarea had an economic dimension as well. He hoped that this port, with its great harbor complex called Sebastos, would challenge and perhaps supplant Alexandria as the great emporium of the eastern Mediterranean. Finally, the erection of such an elegant city from the ruins of Strato’s Tower would confirm Herod’s place in history as a great statesman and master builder. With so much at stake, work on the new city proceeded rapidly. In little more than a decade (ca. 22–10/9 b.c.e.), the city was completed and dedicated with spectacular games, with the Sebastos harbor complex finished perhaps a few years earlier. See Fig. CAE.01.

The primary source for Herodian Caesarea is the ancient historian Flavius Josephus (JW 1.408–14; Ant. 15.331–41). Although not a contemporary of the king, he knew Caesarea and its history well. We are fortunate to have not only his description of Herod’s city at its inception but also an account of the actual building of the Outer Basin of Sebastos as well—a literary description that is unique in ancient texts.

From its inception, Caesarea contained all the principal architectural elements that distinguished contemporary pagan cities—a theater, temples, elaborate sewer and water systems, paved streets installed on the typical orthogonal urban design, etc.—plus some unique features as well. Josephus mentions that Herod erected a grand temple to Augustus and Roma that dominated the harbor and provided a monumental landmark for incoming ships. From archaeological data uncovered, we now know that it was constructed on an artificial podium adjacent to the earlier Inner Basin that itself had been refurbished, perhaps to serve as a limited-use royal harbor or a protected anchorage for Herod’s fleet.

Josephus’ description of the construction of the Outer Basin, long judged by many scholars as an exercise in inflated prose or even a conscious exaggeration, has been proven largely correct by recent underwater excavations. When completed, this facility was an engineering marvel of the age, incorporating such sophisticated and modern features as a siltation control system that used flushing channels, the extensive use of hydraulic concrete (a building substance that was poured liquid into the sea to harden in situ), and certain design elements to mitigate damage from wave energy.

This facility was but one element of the city’s elaborate harbor complex known as Sebastos, or Portus Augusti (as it is identified on coins from the Roman occuption of Caesarea). Sebastos consisted of four harbors: the Inner Basin and Outer Basin that were connected by a channel, the South Bay anchorage, and the North Harbor (the original Hellenistic facility restored by Herod). Each may have had a distinct purpose. Their total working area was far greater than the immediate economic needs of the city or the Plain of Sharon required. Herod clearly planned for his seaport to assume a premier role in the maritime affairs of the Roman world. Caesarea was intended to be a major transshipment point on the busy maritime trade routes leading to Rome from the east. Although his city never surpassed Alexandria, it did achieve an international prominence and importance commensurate with Herod’s dream.

Upon his death in 4 b.c.e., one of Herod’s surviving sons, Archelaus, received his throne. Archelaus was judged incompetent by Augustus and was removed from power in a.d. 6. His kingdom, including Caesarea, was then absorbed by the Romans into their empire, and the new province was henceforth known as Judea. Herod’s seaport became the new provincial capital. When Judea entered the empire, the Romans took a census in the country, directed from Caesarea, to determine tax liabilities. This was the same census recorded in Luke 2:2 (contrast Matt 2:1).

The city figured prominently in the history of the early Church as recorded in the book of Acts. Philip, a deacon in the Jerusalem church, first brought Christianity to Caesarea (Acts 8:4–40). Pontius Pilate, who presided at Jesus’ trial, governed Judea as prefect from this provincial capital. An important step toward fulfilling Christianity’s destiny as a world religion occurred at Caesarea when Peter there converted the first gentile, Cornelius the centurion (10:3–48). Paul, who earlier had been safely spirited away to Tarsus from Caesarea (9:29–30), was imprisoned for two years (a.d. 57–59) in Caesarea before being sent to Rome for trial (Acts 23–26). Although incarcerated, he was not isolated from the rest of the Christian community. Caesarea’s central position on the major maritime routes of the Roman Empire provided him with ample opportunity to continue his epistolary activities. Following these events, however, our knowledge of Caesarea’s Christian history dims until the 3d century.

Caesarea also played an important role in the First Jewish War (a.d. 66–70). Events in the city triggered the onset of hostilities. Nearly 20,000 Jews were slaughtered at Caesarea in one hour. Vespasian, then his son Titus (after Vespasian had been declared emperor of Rome at Caesarea by his legions), conducted the war from there. Over 10,000 soldiers were quartered in the city at one point in the war. When the war was over, Titus held victory games in the amphitheater. There 2500 Jewish prisoners of war were forced to fight to their deaths as gladiators. Vespasian honored Caesarea’s loyalty by refounding the city as a Roman colony, Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea.

The emperor Hadrian, who visited the city at least once during his extensive imperial travels, patronized the city on a grand scale. Among the public works attributed to him are a new temple, a second aqueduct, and possibly the construction of a permanent stone hippodrome. Later emperors favored the city as well. New titles and honors accrued as time passed until the city achieved its most glorious (and ponderous!) recognition under Trebonianus Gallus (a.d. 251–53): Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Felix Concordia Caesarea Metropolis Provinciae Syriae Palaestinae.

Throughout the centuries of Rome’s rule, the city prospered on many levels, enjoying the benefits of its role as provincial capital and busy international seaport. Its geopolitical importance, its local prosperity, and its cosmopolitan character as a leading Mediterranean seaport attracted numerous intellectuals and religious leaders. It evolved into one of the leading centers for religious study in the Roman world.

By the beginning of the 3d century, the Jewish population had recovered from the disasters of two wars with Rome (the second in a.d. 132–35) and had grown once again to a considerable size. Prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Hoshaya, Rabbi Abbahu, and Rabbi Isaac Hapaha, taught and issued legal decisions at Caesarea. Their contributions to both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds loom large. The scholar Origen came to Caesarea in a.d. 231 and almost single-handedly turned the city into a center of Christian learning. During the next two decades he amassed a huge library that attracted serious scholars and students. His efforts were continued by Pamphilus, who educated another generation of Christians at Caesarea.

During the great persecution of Christians (a.d. 303–13), numerous individuals died as martyrs for their faith at Caesarea. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote On the Martyrs of Palestine in 311 to describe their sufferings. Slightly earlier, he had written the Ecclesiastical History, the first history of the Christian Church. Both works were subsequently revised.

As the Byzantine era dawned with the personal conversion of Constantine and the subsequent Christianizing of the Roman world, Caesarea became an even more important Christian center. As a provincial capital (a role it continued to play during the Byzantine era as well), its bishop, bearing the additional title of metropolitan, exercised a leadership role in the Christian Holy Land. This prestige and influence enjoyed by Caesarea’s metropolitan bishops engendered a great rivalry with the bishops of Jerusalem until the issue was resolved in Jerusalem’s favor in a.d. 451.

The city became a regular stop on Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Numerous imperial visitors, including St. Helena, mother of Constantine, and famous churchmen like St. Jerome, visited Caesarea during its Byzantine era. Jerome’s stay was prolonged because he took advantage of the city’s famous library.

The prosperity of the city ebbed and flowed during the 4th–7th centuries, reflecting both international and local conditions. Sometime in the late 4th century the city walls were extended to incorporate an expanded population and another aqueduct was constructed. Although its prosperity extended into the 5th century, Caesarea eventually declined, a victim of the general forces at work in that tumultuous century as well as of local drought and religious tensions.

Procopius of Gaza (not to be confused with Procopius of Caesarea, the famous historian of the era of Justinian [a.d. 527–65]), wrote of the restoration of the harbor under Anastasius (probably after a.d. 502) and the subsequent return of prosperity to the city and the region it served. In the reign of Justinian an ambitious rebuilding program was undertaken throughout Caesarea. It is quite likely that the city reached its greatest population during the last years of his reign. Perhaps as many as 150,000 people lived there, making this city one of the largest in the Mediterranean world.

With the dawn of the 7th century, Caesarea’s fortunes changed again. The city surrendered without major resistance to the Persians in 614 and was held by them until 627–28 when the emperor Heraclius destroyed the Persian Empire and recovered the occupied territories. Only six years later, the first Muslim army invaded Palestine. Caesarea was first attacked in 634. With its defenses revitalized by Heraclius and its ability to be resupplied by the sea, it withstood Arab attacks until 640 or 641. It only fell then because a Jew named Joseph led the Muslim besiegers into the city through a water “conduit,” either the Byzantine aqueduct (described by archaeologists as the low-level aqueduct) or a sewer.

Many inhabitants fled, contributing to Caesarea’s decline as a city. In addition, the geopolitical realities of the Mediterranean world changed with the Arab conquest. Caesarea no longer was on the major sea lanes of E–W trade. Its harbors, now allowed to decline because they were no longer required, served only local coastal trade. The economic ramifications were significant.

Caesarea survived, but as a less grand settlement. It lost its international and cosmopolitan urbanity and became an agricultural center on the fringes of a desert empire and a ribat, or coast guard station. It gained renown for its produce, its impregnable walls, its fountains, and its Great Mosque, constructed on the same podium where Herod’s temple to Augustus and Roma had stood centuries before.

The advent of the Crusades saw another shift of fortunes. Although not taken in the first military actions in the Holy Land, Caesarea soon thereafter came under Western control. In May 1101, Frankish knights under Baldwin I supported by a Genoese fleet assaulted and took the Arab city. One of the prizes of war was a green cut-glass chalice, found in the Great Mosque and thought to be the Holy Grail. It was taken by the Genoese to their city where it still forms part of the treasury of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo.

During the next two centuries the city retrenched again and became a fortified settlement of slightly more than 12 hectares. See Fig. CAE.02. Its history was tumultuous, as it changed hands several times during this period. The fortifications that distinguish the site today were completed in 1252. King Louis IX himself worked on these walls after his failed efforts to take Egypt in the Sixth Crusade. Ultimately, these Crusader fortifications proved insufficient: the Mamluk sultan Baybars, ruler of Egypt, took the city in 1265 after a siege of six days, and the defenders were allowed to evacuate the city. In 1291, as the Crusaders were finally expelled from the Holy Land, Caesarea, along with other coastal fortresses, was destroyed to prevent any Christians from ever again gaining a foothold in the Holy Land.

From that point to the late 19th century, the site was abandoned. Nature reclaimed much of it, but ancient Caesarea was never forgotten. In 1882 a small village of Bosnian Muslims was settled within its ruins by the Ottoman Empire. A small settlement developed within the precinct of the old Crusader city and survived until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Kibbutz Sdot Yam was founded on the site in 1940. Since 1954 the Caesarea Development Corporation has built more than 400 homes on a tract of land NE of the Crusader fortifications. The Department of Antiquities and the National Parks Authority have actively encouraged tourism at this site by promoting excavations by various national and international expeditions and by restoring numerous archaeological monuments. Caesarea annually attracts large numbers of visitors from throughout the world.

B. Archaeology at Caesarea

Various travelers visited Caesarea before the 20th century and left impressionistic records of their observations. The first scientific account of the site, however, was not produced until 1873 by C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchner, who spent six days exploring the ruins. Actual excavations did not commence until 1951 after agricultural workers from Kibbutz Sdot Yam uncovered an imperial porphyry statue on what is now called the Byzantine esplanade. S. Yeivin, then director of the Israeli Department of Antiquities, conducted that first exploration.

In the next two decades, various excavations were carried out. Beginning in 1959, the Missione Archeologica Italiana, under the direction of A. Calderini, succeeded by L. Crema and A. Frova, carried out six seasons of field work. Several of the site’s most important monuments—the aqueduct, the N wall of the Herodian or Hellenistic city, and the theater—were excavated by this team. Their final report was the first significant treatment of the archaeological evidence of Caesarea (Frova 1965).

In 1960, A. Negev and G. Foerster of Hebrew University, assisted by A. Wegman of Kibbutz Sdot Yam, began field work on behalf of the Israeli National Parks Authority. They excavated and restored the Crusader fortifications and many buildings within them. In 1960, one of the first underwater explorations of a submerged terrestrial site, in this case the ruins of the Outer Basin of Sebastos, was conducted by an American-Israeli team headed by E. A. Link. In 1962, M. Avi-Yonah, also of Hebrew University, excavated a synagogue located N of the Crusader fortifications and some adjacent structures.

In 1971, a consortium of universities and colleges known as the Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima (JECM), headed by R. J. Bull of Drew University, began field work at various sites in the ancient city. This group has worked at the site intermittently since then (Bull 1982; Bull et al. 1986). Another team from Hebrew University, directed by D. Bahat, E. Netzer, and L. Levine, excavated an important Byzantine building within the N sector of the Crusader fortifications and explored the promontory where Professor Netzer thinks Herod the Great’s palace was located (see Levine 1975a; 1975b; Levine and Netzer 1986).

In 1980, another international consortium was formed to carry out maritime excavations at Caesarea. This group, known as the Caesarea Ancient Harbour Excavation Project (CAHEP), is headed by A. Raban of the University of Haifa and codirected by R. L. Hohlfelder of the University of Colorado, R. L. Vann of the University of Maryland, and R. Stieglitz of Rutgers University, Newark. (J. P. Oleson of Victoria University was a codirector until 1985.) CAHEP resumed Link’s underwater explorations and began investigating various coastal structures relating to the ancient harbors of Caesarea (see bibliography).

Despite the considerable archaeological effort since 1951, only a small part of Caesarea has been explored. At this writing, JECM has completed its last season of field work and will continue to work on final publication of its explorations. CAHEP is continuing its marine archaeological investigations. In 1989 a new land archaeological team, the Caesarea Land Excavation Project (CLEP), began field work on the temple podium and on the Byzantine fortifications. This consortium, headed by Professor K. G. Holum, plans to conduct field work in these and other areas of the city. In June 1989 the Israel Antiquities Authority announced that it would accelerate its efforts to excavate and restore Herod’s city.

Bibliography

Blakely, J. A. 1987. The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima Excavation Reports Vol. 4. Lewiston, NY.

Bull, R. J. 1982. Caesarea Maritima—The Search for Herod’s City. BARev 8/3: 24–40.

Bull, R. J., et al. 1986. The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima: Ninth Season, 1980. BASORSup 24: 31–55.

Frova, A., et al. 1965. Scavi di Caesarea Maritima. Milan.

Hohlfelder, R. L. 1981. Coin Finds: A Conspectus. BASOR 244: 46–51.

———. 1982. Caesarea beneath the Sea. BARev 8/3: 43–47.

———. 1983a. The Caesarea Coastline Before Herod: Some Preliminary Observations. BASOR 252: 67–68.

———. 1983b. Caesarea Maritima. AJA 87/2: 191–92.

———. 1984a. Caesarea Maritima in Late Antiquity: An Introduction to the Numismatic Evidence. Pp. 261–85 in Ancient Coins of the Graeco-Roman World, ed. W. Heckel and R. Sullivan. Waterloo, Ontario.

———. 1984b. Caesarea Maritima. AJA 88/2: 225–26.

———. 1985. Byzantine Coin Finds from the Sea: A Glimpse of Caesarea Maritima’s Later History. Pp. 179–84 in Harbour Archaeology. B.A.R. International Series 257. Ed. A. Raban. Oxford.

———. 1987. Herod the Great’s City on the Sea. National Geographic 171/2: 260–79.

———. 1989. Caesarea Maritima, Israel. Pp. 132–36 in International Perspective on Cultural Parks. Mesa Verde, CO.

Hohlfelder, R. L., and Oleson, J. P. 1980. Sebastos, the Harbor Complex of Caesarea Maritima, Israel: The Preliminary Report of the 1978 Underwater Explorations. Pp. 765–79 in Oceanography: The Past, ed. M. Sears and D. Merriman. New York.

Hohlfelder, R. L., et al. 1983. Sebastos Herod’s Harbor at Caesarea Maritima. BA 46/3: 133–43.

Holum, K. G.; Hohlfelder, R. L.; Bull, R. J.; and Raban, A. 1988. King Herod’s Dream—Caesarea on the Sea. New York.

Levine, L. 1975a. Caesarea under Roman Rule. Leiden.

———. 1975b. Roman Caesarea: An Archaeological-Topographical Study. Qedem 2. Jerusalem.

Levine, L., and Netzer, E. 1986. Excavations at Caesarea Maritima 1975, 1976, 1979—Final Report. Qedem 21. Jerusalem.

Negev, A. 1963. The Palimpsest of Caesarea Maritima. London Illustrated News. 2 November, 728–31.

Oleson, J. P. 1984. The Caesarea Ancient Harbor Excavation Project (C.A.H.E.P.)—May 21–June 30, 1984. Old World Archaeology Newsletter 13/2: 9–11.

———. 1985. Herod and Vitruvius: Preliminary Thoughts on Harbour Engineering at Sebastos, the Harbour of Caesarea Maritima. Pp. 165–72 in Harbour Archaeology. B.A.R. International Series 257. Ed. Raban. Oxford.

Oleson, J. P., et al. 1984. The Caesarea Ancient Harbor Excavation Project (C.A.H.E.P.): Preliminary Report on the 1980–1983 Seasons. JFA 11: 281–305.

Raban, A. 1984a. Caesarea Maritima, 1984. RB 91/2: 246–52.

———. 1984b. Caesarea Harbor Excavation Project, 1984. IEJ 34: 274–76.

———. 1985a. Marine Archaeology in Israel. Oceanus 28/1: 59–65.

———. 1985b. Caesarea Maritima 1983–1984. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 14/1: 155–77.

———. 1989. The Harbours of Caesarea Maritima. Vol. l. BAR International Series 491. Oxford.

Raban, A., and Hohlfelder, R. L. 1981. The Ancient Harbors of Caesarea Maritima. Arch 34/2: 56–60.

Ringel, J. 1975. Césarée de Palestine. Paris.

Roller, D. 1982a. The Wilfred Laurier University Survey of Northeastern Caesarea Maritima. Levant 14: 90–103.

———. 1982b. The Northern Plain of Sharon in the Hellenistic Period. BASOR 247: 43–52.

———. 1983. The Problem of the Location of Straton’s Tower. BASOR 252: 61–66.

Vann, R. L. 1983. News from the Field: Herod’s Harbor Construction Recovered Underwater. BARev 9/3: 10–14.

Robert L. Hohlfelder

Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1:798). New York: Doubleday.

Caesarea — (Palestinae), a city on the shore of the Mediterranean, on the great road from Tyre to Egypt, about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem, at the northern extremity of the plain of Sharon. It was built by Herod the Great (B.C. 10), who named it after Caesar Augustus, hence called Caesarea Sebaste (Gr. Sebastos = “Augustus”), on the site of an old town called “Strato’s Tower.” It was the capital of the Roman province of Judaea, the seat of the governors or procurators, and the headquarters of the Roman troops. It was the great Gentile city of Palestine, with a spacious artificial harbour. It was adorned with many buildings of great splendour, after the manner of the Roman cities of the West. Here Cornelius the centurion was converted through the instrumentality of Peter (Acts 10:1, 24), and thus for the first time the door of faith was opened to the Gentiles. Philip the evangelist resided here with his four daughters (21:8). From this place Saul sailed for his native Tarsus when forced to flee from Jerusalem (9:30), and here he landed when returning from his second missionary journey (18:22). He remained as a prisoner here for two years before his voyage to Rome (Acts 24:27; 25:1, 4, 6, 13). Here on a “set day,” when games were celebrated in the theatre in honour of the emperor Claudius, Herod Agrippa I, appeared among the people in great pomp, and in the midst of the idolatrous homage paid to him was suddenly smitten by an angel, and carried out a dying man. He was “eaten of worms” (12:19–23), thus perishing by the same loathsome disease as his granfather, Herod the Great. It still retains its ancient name Kaiseriyeh, but is now desolate. “The present inhabitants of the ruins are snakes, scorpions, lizards, wild boars, and jackals.” It is described as the most desolate city of all Palestine.

Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

CAESAREA City named in honor of Augustus Caesar, built by Herod the Great from 22 to 10 bc. The 8,000-acre (3,240-hectare) site lies 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of modern Haifa, in the beautiful plain of Sharon on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. Known as Caesarea Maritima, it became the administrative center of the country throughout the period of Roman occupation. Three Roman governors of Palestine lived there: Felix (Acts 24), Festus (25:1, 4–6, 13), and Pontius Pilate, who visited Jerusalem on special occasions (as in Jn 19). Archaeologists found Pilate’s name carved in stone in the theater at Caesarea.

Caesarea served as the major seaport of Judea in NT times. Since the southern Palestinian coastline lacked a good harbor, Herod created one by building two huge breakwaters that could shelter ships from Mediterranean storms.

A Roman officer named Cornelius was converted to Christianity in Caesarea (Acts 10:1, 24). Later, the apostle Peter visited Philip, a prominent Christian leader who lived there (21:8). Paul spent more than two years in prison in Caesarea (24:27–25:1) and embarked from there on his journey to Rome (ch 27). In ad 70 Roman general Titus returned to Caesarea after conquering Jerusalem, as did Flavius Silva in ad 73 after defeating the fortress cities of Masada and Herodium (both in eastern Judea).

Continuous excavations since 1971 have added to the wealth of information about Caesarea. Herod built a high-level aqueduct to bring freshwater from Mt Carmel to Caesarea; the water originated from springs to the northeast and traveled in an underground aqueduct to Mt Carmel. A smaller aqueduct brought brackish water from a spring north of the city for irrigation. Large sewers (mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus), flushed by the action of the sea, have been found running under the city. A 30,000-seat hippodrome (racetrack) lay on the east side of the city. It appears to have been built in the second century ad but was destroyed during the Muslim invasion of 640, along with a large archives building on the coast. Excavation of the archives building produced several inscriptions on its mosaic floors, among which were two quotations of the Greek text of Romans 13:3. Still lying beneath the ground and visible only in infrared photography is a large amphitheater northwest of the hippodrome.

Excavations in 1976 produced the first evidence of Strato’s Tower, the Hellenistic site near which Herod built Caesarea, according to Josephus. A small synagogue was excavated north of a large fort built at the Herodian harbor during the Crusades. The harbor area contained many stone storerooms; although 7 have been entered, as many as 73 may still lie unexcavated. One storeroom was reused by the Roman legions as a Mithraeum (a cultic center dedicated to the Persian god Mithras), the only one ever found in Palestine. The city of Caesarea was not rebuilt after its destruction by Muslims in the 13th century.

Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (243). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

CAESARE´A (sē-sa-rēʹa; “pertaining to Caesar”).

Caesarea Maritima (i.e., “Caesarea by the sea”). This Caesarea, so called to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi—or simply Caesarea—was situated on the coast of Palestine on the great road from Tyre to Egypt, and about halfway between Joppa and Dora (Josephus Wars 1.21.5), or about twenty-seven miles S of Haifa. The distance from Jerusalem is given by Josephus (Ant. 13.11.2; Wars 1.3.5) as six hundred stadia; the actual distance in a direct line is forty-seven miles. Philip stopped at Caesarea at the close of his preaching tour (Acts 8:40). Paul, to avoid Grecians who wished to kill him, was taken to Caesarea before embarking for Tarsus (9:30). Here dwelt Cornelius the centurion, to whom Peter came and preached (10:1; 11:11), and to this city Herod (which see) resorted after the miraculous deliverance of Peter from prison (12:19). Later Paul visited Caesarea several times (18:22; 21:8, 16) and was sent there by the Roman commander at Jerusalem to be heard by Felix (23:23, 33; 25:1–14); and from Caesarea he started on his journey to Rome (27:1).

Although small excavations were conducted at Caesarea in 1945, 1951, and 1956, large-scale archaeological work did not begin there until 1959. In that year A. Frova launched the Italian Archaeological Mission dig at the theater (1959–63), where he found an inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate and the emperor Tiberius. The theater has been restored and is used periodically for musical and dramatic performances.

In 1960 the Edwin A. Link Underwater Archaeological Expedition explored the harbor area and plotted the breakwaters. Since 1980 an international consortium of four universities, headed by the Israel Center for Maritime Studies and directed by Avner Raban, has been working on the harbor of Caesarea. The effort is called the Caesarea Ancient Harbor Excavation Project. The project has been conducting a survey and excavation that has provided important new information on Roman harbor design and construction. Two immense breakwaters were constructed to frame outer and inner basins. Hydraulic concrete was used in a sophisticated way, and sluice gates and subsidiary breakwater provided protection against siltation.

During the years 1960–62, A. Negev excavated on behalf of the National Parks Authority in the Crusader town. The Crusader fortifications of the thirteenth century a.d. and the great moat were uncovered, as were remains of the temple Herod built in honor of Augustus, and part of the Roman pier. A consortium of twenty-two American, Canadian, and Israeli universities, under the direction of Dr. Robert Bull of Drew University, contributed talent and money to uncover the ancient site in an ongoing project that began in 1970. Since that time teams have worked at the site every season, exploring the water system and excavating houses, the gate area, and the aqueducts. Two aqueducts and a Mithras shrine (the first in Palestine) have been uncovered and work has been done on the second-century a.d. hippodrome. Caesarea was a great city, and it is only beginning to emerge from the sand dunes. Population estimates run as high as 250,000, and it is judged to have occupied an area half the size of Manhattan Island.

Caesarea Philippi (sē-sa-rē˒a fi-lip´i; “Caesarea of Philip”). A town in the northern part of Palestine, about 120 miles from Jerusalem, 50 from Damascus, and 30 from Tyre, near the foot of Mt. Hermon. It was first a Canaanite sanctuary for the worship of Baal; perhaps Baal-hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1 Chron. 5:23). It was called by the Greeks Paneas because of its cavern, which reminded them of similar places dedicated to the worship of the god Pan. In 20 b.c. Herod the Great received the whole district from Augustus and dedicated a temple to the emperor. Herod Philip enlarged it and called it Caesarea Philippi to distinguish it from his father’s on the seacoast. It was the northern limit of Christ’s travels in the Holy Land (Matt. 16:13; Mark 8:27). The site of Caesarea is Banias, a paltry village. h.f.v.

bibliography: Caesarea. E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (1965), pp. 72–76; M. Avi-Yonah, ed., Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (1975), 1:270–85.

Caesarea Philippi. J. H. Kitchen, Holy Fields (1955), pp. 45–47.

Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.

CAESAREA. This magnificent city, built by Herod the Great on the site of Strato’s Tower, stood on the Mediterranean shore 37 km S of Mt Carmel and about 100 km NW of Jerusalem. Named in honour of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, it was the Roman metropolis of Judaea and the official residence both of the Herodian kings and the Roman procurators. It stood on the great caravan route between Tyre and Egypt, and was thus a busy commercial centre for inland trade. But Caesarea was also a celebrated maritime trading-centre, due largely to the construction of elaborate stone breakwaters N and S of the harbour.

The city was lavishly adorned with palaces, public buildings and an enormous amphitheatre, dominated by Herod’s huge temple dedicated to Caesar and Rome. Archaeologists have found ruins of Herod’s structures beneath later houses and fortresses. Herod’s aqueduct, bringing fresh water 9 km from springs in the hills, still stands. In the theatre was found the only known inscription of Pontius Pilate.

Like other NT Mediterranean communities, Caesarea had a mixed population, making for inevitable clashes between Jews and Gentiles. When Pilate was procurator of Judaea he occupied the governor’s residence in Caesarea. Philip, the evangelist and deacon, brought Christianity to his home city, and subsequently entertained Paul and his companions (Acts 21:8). Paul departed from Caesarea on his way to Tarsus, having escaped his Jewish enemies in Damascus (Acts 9:30). Caesarea was the abode of the centurion Cornelius and the locale of his conversion (Acts 10:1, 24; 11:11).At Caesarea Peter gained greater insight into the nature of the divine kingdom by realizing that God had disrupted the barriers between Gentile and Jewish believers (Acts 10:35), and had dispensed with such classifications as ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’.

Paul landed at Caesarea when returning from his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 18:22; 21:8). Paul’s fateful decision to visit Jerusalem was made here also (Acts 21:13), and it was to Caesarea that he was sent for trial by Felix (Acts 23:23–33) before being imprisoned for 2 years. Paul made his defence before Festus and Agrippa in Caesarea, and sailed from there in chains when sent by Festus to Rome on his own appeal (Acts 25:11).

Bibliography. L. I. Levine, 3, 1975; NEAEHL, pp. 270–291; R. L. Hohlfelder, ABD 1, pp. 798-803. a.r.m.

r.k.h.

Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (153). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

Caesarea (ses-uh-reeʹuh), a seaport on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean between the ancient cities of Dor and Jaffa, originally a small fortified Phoenician anchorage named Strabo’s Tower. In the year 63 b.c., Pompey added the area, together with other towns on the seashore, to the Roman province of Syria. Mark Antony gave it to Cleopatra VII, but when Octavian (Augustus) won the battle of Actium, he gave the small town to Herod the Great (30 b.c.). Herod built a magnificent new city and port on the site and named it Caesarea Maritima in honor of Octavian, now Caesar Augustus. The harbor complex was given the name Limen Sebastos by Herod (Sebastos being the Greek form of Augustus).

Caesarea was the capital of Roman government in Palestine for over six hundred years, serving as the seat of the Roman governors of the province of Judea and headquarters for the Roman legions stationed in the province. The great Jewish war against Rome began here with an uprising by the Jews in a.d. 66, and ‘Judaea Capta’ coins were minted here to commemorate their defeat. Vespasian (a.d. 69-79), proclaimed emperor by his legions while at Caesarea, raised the city to the rank of a Roman colony.

According to Acts, Christianity was preached in Caesarea by Philip (8:40) and Peter (10:1-11:18; cf. 15:7-9), the latter being responsible for the conversion of the Roman centurion Cornelius. Limen Sebastos was the port of arrival and departure for several of Paul’s journeys according to Acts (Acts 9:30; 18:22; 21:8; 27:1-2). Paul was brought to Caesarea in custody from Jerusalem (Acts 23:23-35) to stand trial before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa II (Acts 24-26).

Excavations at Caesarea Maritima have revealed streets, palaces, public buildings, a temple, a hippodrome, a theater, and a spacious sewer system from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Marine archaeologists exploring the port have discovered the immense size of the harbor and some of the Roman mole forming the ancient breakwater.

Following the Islamic invasion of the seventh century, Caesarea declined rapidly, but Louis IX of France built a short-lived Crusader fortress at the site of the ancient harbor. See also Cornelius; Herod; Paul; Peter; Philip. M.K.M.

Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (148). San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Caesarea (Gk. Kaisáreia)

Caesarea Maritima (1399.2115), a major Greek and Roman port city on the Mediterranean ca.40 km. (25 mi.) N of Tel Aviv; known also as Caesarea Palestinae, “Caesarea of Palestine.” Herod the Great built it between 22 and 10/9 b.c.e., on the site of an earlier Phoenician and Greek town called Straton’s Tower, naming his new foundation for the Emperor Caesar Augustus. As Josephus described it (BJ 1.408–15), Caesarea was an up-to-date Hellenistic city with markets, theaters, streets on a grid plan, and especially a capacious harbor, likewise named for Augustus (Gk. Sebastós), with artificial moles that protected vessels from powerful coastal storms and currents.

When the Romans annexed Judea in 6 c.e., Caesarea became headquarters of the Roman governors, including Pontius Pilate. Vespasian, acclaimed emperor there in 69, refounded Caesarea as a Roman colony, the first in the province, and it remained metropolis of Palestine and center of the Roman administration to the end of antiquity. Its zenith in population and influence was in the early Christian and Byzantine periods, the 3rd through 5th centuries, when Caesarea was metropolitan see of Palestine and celebrated for biblical scholarship. Origen and Eusebius taught there and created and tended a famous library. In 640/41 the city succumbed to an Arab siege. In the 10th and 11th centuries Muslim Qaisariyyah was a prosperous commercial and agricultural town, much smaller, though, than the ancient city, and in the 12th and 13th centuries it continued as center of a Crusader principality. Destroyed by the Muslims in 1265 and 1278, the site lay mostly abandoned until resettled in 1884 by Bosnian Muslim refugees, of whom a small community survived there until the 1940s.

Caesarea is prominent in the Acts of the Apostles as a principal urban setting of primitive Christianity. Paul sailed from there at the beginning of his mission and landed at Caesarea’s harbor before going up to Jerusalem (Acts 9:30; 18:22). Philip the evangelist apparently brought Christianity to Caesarea soon after the Crucifixion, and years later he and four grown daughters, apparently a nucleus of the Caesarea community, hosted Paul (6:5; 21:8). Arrested by the Roman authorities ca. 60, Paul was kept in arrest at Caesarea by the governor Felix until judged by the next governor Festus and sent from there on to Rome (23:33–27:1). In the meantime, Peter had also brought the Christian message to Caesarea, where he was hosted in the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion (Acts 10). Around this man and his household apparently formed the earliest Gentile Christian community anywhere.

The site was never lost, but only recently have archaeologists explored large tracts of it. Israeli and international teams have explored the harbors extensively, where Herod’s engineers used hydraulic concrete, imported from Italy, to build the moles. Beneath the streets was an elaborate system of sewers and drains, as Josephus described. The Herodian theater has been excavated, and more recently the amphitheater on the coast where Herod sponsored chariot races when he dedicated the city. On the temple platform, above the harbor on its eastern side, was Herod’s temple of Augustus, which had colossal statues of the goddess Roma and Augustus as a god. To the south, jutting into the sea, was the promontory palace, undoubtedly the praetorium of the Roman governors mentioned in Acts, where Paul lay in prison and defended himself before the authorities. Current excavation beneath later levels holds promise of revealing physical remains of the urban setting that first nourished primitive Christianity.

Bibliography. K. G. Holum, R. L. Hohlfelder, R. J. Bull, and A. Raban, King Herod’s Dream: Caesarea on the Sea (New York, 1988); K. G. Holum, A. Raban, and J. Patrich, ed., Caesarea Papers II: Herod’s Temple, the Later Harbor, Byzantine Praetorium and Warehouses, the Gold Coin Hoard, and Other Studies. Journal of Roman Archaeology Sup (forthcoming); A. Raban and K. G. Holum, eds., Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective after Two Millennia. DMOA 21 (Leiden, 1996) (with bibliog.); R. L. Vann, ed., Caesara Papers: Straton’s Tower, Herod’s Harbour, and Roman and Byzantine Caesarea. Journal of Roman Archaeology Sup 5 (Ann Arbor, 1992).

Kenneth G. Holum

Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (206). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.