For the article relating to town north of this ancient port, see Caesarea.
For other places with the same name, see Caesarea
(disambiguation).
Caesarea Maritima (Greek: Parálios Kaisáreia,
Παράλιος Καισάρεια) was one of four Roman colonies for veterans
in the Syria-Phoenicia region created by the Roman Empire.[1] The ancient
Caesarea Maritima (or Caesarea Palestinae[2]) city and harbor was built by Herod
the Great about 25–13 BC. The city had been populated through the late Roman
and Byzantine era. Its ruins lie on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, about
halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, on the site of Pyrgos
Stratonos (“Straton’s Tower”).[3]
1 Historical characteristics
CaesareaMaritimawasnamedinhonorofAugustusCae-sar[2] The city was
described in detail by the 1st-century Roman Jewish historian Josephus.[4] The
city became the seat of the Roman prefect soon after its foundation. Caesarea
was the “administrative capital” beginning in 6
AD.[5] This city is the location of the 1961 discovery of the
Pilate Stone, the only archaeological item that men-tions the Roman prefect
Pontius Pilate, by whose order Jesus was crucified.[6]
The emperor Vespasian raised its status to that of a Colonia,
with the name Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea. After the destruction of
Jerusalem in 70 AD, Caesarea was the provincial capital of the Judaea
Province, before the change of name to Syria Palaestina in 134
AD, shortly before the Bar Kokhba revolt.[7] In
Byzantine times, Caesarea remained the capital, with
briefinterruptionofPersianandJewishconquestbetween 614 and 625. In the 630s,
Arab Muslim armies had taken control of the region, keeping Caesarea as its
administra-tive center. In the early 8th century, the Umayyad caliph Suleiman
transferred the seat of government of the Jund Filastin from Caesarea to Ramla.
2 Roman era
Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea,
with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. In the year 6 BC, Caesarea became
the civilian and mili
tary capital of Iudaea Province and the official residence of the
Roman procurators and governors, Pontius Pilatus, praefectus and Antonius Felix.
In the year 30 BCE the (Phoenician) vil-lage was awarded to
Herod, who built a large
port city at the site, and called it “Caesarea” in honor of his
patron Octavian Augustus Cae-sar….The city transformed rapidly into a great
commercial center, and by the year 6 BCE be-came the headquarters of the Roman
govern-ment in Palestine. Since Caesarea had no rivers or springs, drinking
water for the prospering Roman and Byzantine city was brought via a unique
high-level aqueduct, originating at the nearby Shuni springs, some 7.5 km
northeast of Caesarea….Caesarea served as a base for the Roman legions who
quelled the Great Revolt thateruptedin66BCE,anditwasherethattheir commanding
general Vespasian was declared Caesar. After the destruction of Jerusalem,
Caesarea became the most important city in the country: Pagans, Samaritans,
Jews and Chris-tians lived here in the third and fourth centuries CE.[8]
Josephus describes the harbor as being as large as the one at
Piraeus, the major harbor of Athens.[9][10] Remains of theprincipalbuildingserectedbyHerodandthemedieval
town are still visible today, including the city walls, the castle and a
Crusader cathedral and church. Caesarea grew rapidly, becoming the largest city
in Judea, with an estimated population of 125,000 over an urban area of 3.7
square kilometres (1.4 sq mi). In 66, the desecra-tion of the local synagogue
led to the disastrous Jewish revolt.[11]
This city is the location of the 1961 discovery of the Pilate
Stone, the only archaeological item that mentions the Roman prefect Pontius
Pilate, by whose order Jesus was crucified.[6][12] It is likely that Pilate used
it as a base, and only went to Jerusalem when needed.[13]
In69,VespasiandeclareditacolonyandrenameditColo-nia Prima Flavia
Augusta Caesarea. In 70, after the Jew-ish revolt was suppressed, games were
held here to cel-ebrate the victory of Titus. Many Jewish captives were brought
to Caesarea Maritima and 2,500 were slaugh-tered in gladiatorial games.[14]
After the revolt of Simon bar Kokhba in 132 AD, which ended with
the destruction of Jerusalem and expulsion of Jews, Caesarea became the capital
of the new Roman province of Palaestina Prima.
2.1 Christian hub
See also: Early centers of Christianity § Caesarea and Bishop of
Caesarea
According to the Acts of the Apostles, Caesarea was first
introduced to Christianity by Philip the Deacon,[15] who
laterhadahousethereinwhichhegavehospitalitytoPaul the Apostle.[16] It was there
that Peter the Apostle came and baptized Cornelius the Centurion and his
house-hold, the first time Christian baptism was conferred on Gentiles.[17]
Paul’s first missionary journey. When newly converted Paul the Apostle was in
danger in Jerusalem, the Christians there accompanied him to Caesarea and sent
him off to his native Tarsus.[18] He visited Caesarea
betweenhissecondandthirdmissionaryjourneys,[19] and later, as mentioned, stayed
several days there with Philip the Deacon. Later still, he was a prisoner there
for two years before being sent to Rome.[20]
In the 3rd century, Origen wrote his Hexapla and other
exegeticalandtheologicalworkswhilelivinginCaesarea. The Nicene Creed may have
originated in Caesarea.
As the capital of the province, Caesarea was also the
metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt
after the destruction in the year 70. In 451, however, the Council of Chalcedon
estab-lished Jerusalem as a patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its
three subordinate metropolitan sees.
The Apostolic Constitutions says that the first Bishop of
Caesarea was Zacchaeus the Publican, followed by Cor-nelius (possibly Cornelius
the Centurion) and Theophilus (possibly the address of the Gospel of Luke).[21]
The first bishops considered historically attested are those men-tioned by the early
church historian Eusebius of Cae-sarea, himself a bishop of the see in the 4th
century. He speaks of a Theophilus who was bishop in the 10th year of Commodus
(c. 189),[22] of a Theoctistus (216–258), a
short-livedDomnusandaTheotecnus,[23] andanAgapius
(?–306). Among the participants in the Synod of Ancyra in 314
was a bishop of Caesarea named Agricolaus, who may have been the immediate
predecessor of Eusebius, who does not mention him, or who may have been bishop
ofadifferentCaesarea. TheimmediatesuccessorsofEu-sebius were Acacius (340–366)
and Gelasius of Caesarea (367–372, 380–395). The latter was ousted by the
semi-ArianEuzoiusbetween373and379. Lequiengivesmuch information about all of
these and about later bishops of
Caesarea.[24]
2.2 Buildings from 6th century
The main church, a martyrion (martyr’s shrine) was built in the
6th century and sited directly upon the podium that had supported a Roman
temple, as was a widespread Christian practice. Throughout the Empire,
prominently-sited pagan temples were rarely left unconsecrated to Christianity:
intimetheMartyrion’ssitewasre-occupied, this time by a mosque. The Martyrion
was an octagon, richly re-paved and surrounded by small radiating en-closures.
Archaeologists have recovered some foliate capitals that included
representations of the Cross.
An elaborate government structure contained a basilica with an
apse, where magistrates would have sat, for the structure was used as a hall of
justice, as fragments of in-scriptions detailing the fees that court clerks
might claim attest. Awell-preserved6th-centurymosaicgoldandcol-ored glass table
patterned with crosses and rosettes was found in 2005.[25][26]
2.3 Theological library
Main article: Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima
Through Origen and especially the scholarly presbyter Pamphilus
of Caesarea, an avid collector of books of Scripture, the theological school of
Caesarea won a repu-tation for having the most extensive ecclesiastical library
of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts: Gregory Nazianzus, Basil
the Great, Jerome and others came to study there. The Caesarean text-type is
recog-nized by scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types. The
collections of the library suffered during the persecutions under the Emperor
Diocletian, but were re-paired subsequently by bishops of Caesarea.[27] It was
noted in the 6th century, but Henry Barclay Swete[28] was of the opinion that
it probably did not long survive the capture of Caesarea by the Saracens in
638, though a modern historian would attribute more destruction to its previous
capture by the Sassanid Persians (in 614).
2.4 Roman Sebastos harbor When it was built in the 1st
century BC, Sebastos Harbor rankedasthelargestartificialharborbuiltintheopensea,
enclosing around 100,000 m2.[29][30][31] King Herod built
the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BC,[32]
andin10/9BChededicatedthecityandharbortoCaesar
(sebastosisGreekforAugustus).[33]
Thepaceofconstruc-tionwasimpressiveconsideringsizeandcomplexity. The
breakwaters were made of lime and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into
an underwater concrete. Herod im-ported over 24,000 m3 pozzolana from Pozzuoli,
Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the 500 meter long on the
southandthe275meterlongonthenorth.[34] Ashipment of this size would have required
at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each.[32] Herod also had 12,000 m3 of kurkar
quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m3 of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana.
Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms
fortheplacementofconcreteunderwater. Onetechnique
wastodrivestakesintothegroundtomakeaboxandthen fill it with pozzolana concrete
bit by bit.[30] However, this method required many divers to hammer the planks
to the stakes underwater and large quantities of pozzolana were necessary.
Another technique was a double plank-ing method used in the northern
breakwater. On land, carpenters would construct a box with beams and frames
ontheinside anda watertight, double-plankedwallon the outside. This double wall
was built with a 23 cm (9 in) gap between the inner and outer layer.[35]
Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to
seabecauseofthewatertightspacebetweentheinnerand outer walls. Once it was
floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and
the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners.
The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime
mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose above sea level.[35]
Onthesouthernbreakwater,bargeconstructionwasused. The southern
side of Sebastos was much more exposed
thanthenorthernside,requiringsturdierbreakwaters. In-stead of using the double
planked method filled with rub-ble, the architects sank barges filled with layers
of poz-zolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes
without lids, and were constructed us-ing mortise and tenon joints, the same
technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges
were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana con-crete and floated out to their
position. With alternating layers, pozzolana based and lime based concretes
were hand placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface.[35]
At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive
harborsofitstime. Ithadbeenconstructedonacoastthat had no natural harbors and
served as an important com-mercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra’s
harbor at Alexandria. Josephus wrote: “Although the location was generally
unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the diffi-culties so well that the solidity
of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed
fin-ished off without impediment.”[36] However, there were underlying problems
that led to its demise. Studies of
the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the con-crete
was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient
Italian ports. For unknown rea-sons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as
well to the kurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Ital-ian
harbors.[34] Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that
the lime was of poor quality and
strippedoutofthemixturebystrongwavesbeforeitcould set.[34] Also, large lumps of
lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the
mixture was not mixed thoroughly.[34] However, stability would not have been
seriously affected if the harbor had not been constructed over a geological
fault line that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on
the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed.[36]
Also, studies of seabed deposits at Cae-sarea have shown that a tsunami struck
the area some-time during the 1st or 2nd century CE.[37] Although it is unknown
if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbor, it is known
that by the 6th century the harbor was unusable and today the jetties lie more
than 5 meters underwater.[38]
3 Arab conquest
The Byzantine Empire declined in the 7th century and Caesarea
was raided by the Sassanid Persians early in that century. Then, in 638, the
city, still the capital of Byzantine Palestine and an important commercial and
maritime center, was taken by the Muslims, allegedly through the betrayal of a
certain Yusef, who conducted a party of troops of Muawiyah through a “secret
tun-nel”, perhaps the extensive Byzantine sewers, into the city.[39] The
Persian historian al-Baladhuri, who offers the earliest Muslim account, merely
states that the city was “reduced”.[40][41][42] The 7th-century Coptic bishop
John of Nikiû, mentions “the horrors committed in the city of
Caesarea in Palestine”.[43]
4 Crusader era
Under Arab rule, the city walls remained, but within them the
population dwindled and agriculture crept in among the ruins. By the 9th
century there was a substan-tial colony of Frankish settlers established by
Emperor Charlemagne to facilitate Latin pilgrimages. When Baldwin I took the
city in 1101/2, during the First Cru-sade, it was still very rich. A legend
grew up that in this city was discovered the Holy Grail around which so much
lore accrued in the next two centuries. The city was strongly refortified and
rebuilt by the Crusaders. A lordship was created there, as was one of the four
arch-bishoprics in the kingdom. A list of thirty-six Latin bish-ops, from 1101
to 1496 has been reassembled by 19th century historians; the most famous of
these is proba-bly Heraclius. Saladin retook the city in 1187; it was
recaptured by the Crusaders in 1191, and finally lost by them in 1265, this time
to the Mamluks, who en-sured that there would be no more battling over the
site— where the harbor has silted in anyway—by razing the for-tifications, in
line with their practice in other formerly-Crusader coastal cities. The Latin
archbishopric of Cae-sarea in Palestina, no longer a residential bishopric, is
today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[44]
The Orthodox Church of Antioch likewise consider Cae-sarea a
titular see, to which Ignatius Samaan, Auxiliary Bishop in Venezuela of the
Archdiocese of Mexico, was appointed in 2011.[45] Since 1965, the holder of the
tit-ular see within the Melkite Catholic Church is Hilarion Capucci.[44]
5 Archaeology and reconstruction
Archaeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s un-covered
remains from many periods, in particular, a complex of Crusader fortifications
and a Roman theatre. Other buildings include a temple dedicated to Caesar; a
hippodrome rebuilt in the 2nd century as a more con-ventional theater; the
Tiberieum, which has a limestone block with a dedicatory inscription.[6] This
is the only ar-chaeologicalfindwithaninscriptionmentioningthename “Pontius
Pilatus”; a double aqueduct that brought water from springs at the foot of
Mount Carmel; a boundary wall; and a 200 ft (60 m) wide moat protecting the
har-bour to the south and west. The harbor was the largest on the eastern
Mediterranean coast. Work directed by Robert Bull of Drew University is still
in the process of publicationwhilemorerecentworkintheharbordirected by Robert
Hohlfelder *U of Colorado, John Oleson of the U of Victoria, and the late Avner
Raban has been largely published. Caesarea has recently become the site
ofwhatbillsitselfastheworld’sfirstunderwatermuseum, where 36 points of interest
on four marked underwater trailsthroughtheancientharborcanbeexploredbydivers
equipped with waterproof maps.
Since 2000 the site of Caesarea Maritima is included in the
“Tentative List of World Heritage Places” of the
UNESCO.
6 See also
• List of megalithic sites
7 References
[1] Butcher, 2003, p. 230
[2] “Cæsarea Palestinæ”. New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
[3] Raban and Holum, 1996, p. 54
[4] Jewish Antiquities XV.331ff; The Jewish War I.408ff
[5] A History of the Jewish People, H.H. Ben-Sasson editor,
1976, page 247: “When Judea was converted into a Ro-man province [in6 CE,
page246], the Romans movedthe governmental residence and military headquarters
from Jerusalem to Caesarea.
[6] Reed, 2002, p. 18
[7] Shimon Applebaum (1989) Judaea in Hellenistic and Ro-man
Times: Historical and Archaeological Essays Brill Archive, ISBN 90-04-08821-0 p
123
[8] UNESCO tentative list:Caesarea
[9] name=”George Menachery, 1987 in Kodungallur, City of St.
Thomas, Azhikode, 1987 ChapterII note 19 quotes
the National Geographic article: Robert L. Hohifelder, “Caesarea
Maritima, Herod the Great’s City on the Sea”.
TheNationalGeographic,171/2,Feb.,1987,pp.260-279. 2000 years ago, Caesarea
Maritima welcomed ships to its harbour called Sebastos. Featuring innovative
design and hydraulic concrete, this building feat set a standard for harbours
to come. A monumental work, city and harbour were constructed on an unstable
storm-battered shore, at a site lacking a protective cape or bay. The project
chal-lenged Rome’s most skilled engineers. Hydraulic con-crete blocks, some
weighing 50 short tons (45 t) anchored the north breakwater of the artificial
harbour…Caesarea Maritima, rival to Alexandria in the Eastern trade, a city
worthy to be named for Herod’s patron, Caesar Augustus, master of the Roman
world, in view of its opulence and magnificence.
[10] http://www.indianchristianity.com/html/Books12.htm accessed
August 31,2015
[11] http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/
caesarea-history.htm accessed September 17, 2007
[12] Studying the historical Jesus: evaluations of the state of
current research by Bruce Chilton, Craig A. Evans 1998 ISBN 90-04-11142-5 page
465
[13] Historical Dictionary of Jesus by Daniel J. Harrington 2010
ISBN 0-8108-7667-1 page 32
[14] Kasher, Aryeh (1990) Jews and Hellenistic Cities in
Eretz-Israel: Relations of the Jews in Eretz-Israel with the Hel-lenistic
Cities During the Second Temple Period (332 BCE-
70CE) Mohr Siebeck, ISBN 3-16-145241-0, p 311
[15] Acts 8:40
[16] Acts 21:8–10
[17] Acts 10:1-11:18
[18] Acts 9:30
[19] 18:22
[20] Acts 23:23, 25:1-13
[21] newadvent.org’s Apostolic Constitutions Book VII, 46
[22] Church History V,22
[23] Church History VII,14
[24] Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor
Patriarcha-tus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. III, coll. 529-574, 1285-1290]
[25] Unique glass mosaic unveiled after restoration in Caesarea
[26]
[27] Jerome, “Epistles” xxxiv
[28] Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek, pp 74-75.
[29] name=”George Menachery, 1987 in Kodungallur, City of St.
Thomas, Azhikode, 1987 quotes the National Ge-ographic article: Robert L.
Hohifelder, “Caesarea Mar-itima, Herod the Great’s City on the Sea”. The
Na-tional Geographic, 171/2, Feb., 1987, pp.260-279. 2000 years ago, Caesarea
Maritima welcomed ships to its har-bour called Sebastos. Featuring innovative
design and hy-draulic concrete, this building feat set a standard for har-bours
to come. A monumental work, city and harbour were constructed on an unstable
storm-battered shore, at a site lacking a protective cape or bay. The project
chal-lengedRome’smostskilledengineers. Hydraulicconcrete blocks, some weighing
50 tons anchored the north break-water of the artificial harbour…Caesarea
Maritima, rival to Alexandria in the Eastern trade, a city worthy to be
namedforHerod’spatron, CaesarAugustus, masterofthe Roman world, in view of its
opulence and magnificence.
[30] Hohfelder, R. 2007. “Constructing the Harbour of Cae-sarea
Palaestina, Israel: New Evidence from ROMA-CONS Field Campaign of October
2005.” International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36:409-415
[31] Votruba, G. 2007. “Imported Building Materials of Se-bastos
Harbour, Israel.” International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36:325-335.
[32] Votruba, G., 2007, Imported building materials of Sebas-tos
Harbour, Israel, International Journal of Nautical Ar-chaeology 36: 325-335.
[33] Raban, A., 1992. Sebastos: the royal harbour at Cae-sarea
Maritima – a short-lived giant, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
21: 111-124.
[34] Hohfelder, R. 2007. “Constructing the Harbour of Cae-sarea
Palaestina, Israel: New Evidence from ROMA-CONS Field Campaign of October
2005.” International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36:409-415.
[35] Brandon, C., 1996, Cements, Concrete, and Settling Barges
at Sebastos: Comparisons with Other Roman
Har-borExamplesandtheDescriptionsofVitruvius, Caesarea Maritima: A
Retrospective after Two Millennia, 25-40.
[36] Holum, K. 1988. King Herod’s Dream: Caesarea on the Sea.
New York: Norton.
[37] Reinhardt,E.,Goodman,B.,Boyce,J.,Lopez,G.,Hengs-tum, P.,
Rink, W., Mart, Y., Raban, A. 2006. “The
Tsunamiof13DecemberA.D.115andtheDestructionof Herod the Great’s Harbor at
Caesarea Maritima, Israel.” Geology 34:1061-1064.
[38] Raban, A., 1992, Sebastos: the royal harbour at Caesarea
Maritima – a short-lived giant, International Journal of
Nautical Archaeology 21: 111-124
[39] Meyers,1999, p. 380ff
[40] The archaeological stratum representing the destruction is
analyzed in the PhD dissertation of Cherie Joyce Lentzen, The Byzantine/Islamic
Occupation of Caesarea Maritima
asEvidencedThroughthePottery(DrewUniversity1983), noted by Meyer 1999:381 note
23.
[41] Al-Baladhuri, 1916, pp. 216−219
[42] Meyers, 1999, p 380
[43] Quoted in Meyers, 1999, p. 381
[44] AnnuarioPontificio2013(LibreriaEditriceVaticana2013 ISBN
978-88-209-9070-1), p. 867
[45]
Biografía
