Caesarea

Caesarea was a city built by Herod the Great between 22 and 10 BC and named in honor of Augustus Caesar. It covered about 3,240 hectares (8,000 acres) and stood on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of modern Haifa, in the plain of Sharon.

Caesarea Maritima was another name for this city. It became the administrative center of the country. This happened during the period when Rome occupied Israel. Three Roman governors of Palestine lived there:

Felix (Acts 24),

Festus (25:1, 4–6, 13), and

Pontius Pilate.

Pilate visited Jerusalem on special occasions (see John 19). Archaeologists found an inscription bearing Pilate’s name in the theater at Caesarea.

Caesarea was the major seaport of Judea in New Testament times. The southern Palestinian coastline lacked a good harbor. So, Herod created one by building two huge breakwaters. These could protect ships from storms on the Mediterranean Sea.

A Roman officer named Cornelius converted to Christianity in Caesarea (Acts 10:1, 24). Later, the apostle Peter visited Philip. He was a deacon, evangelist, and prominent Christian leader who lived there (21:8). Paul spent more than two years in prison in Caesarea (24:27–25:1). Then he sailed from there on his journey to Rome (chapter 27).

In AD 70, the Roman general Titus returned to Caesarea after conquering Jerusalem. In AD 73, Roman general Flavius Silva went there after defeating the fortress cities of Masada and Herodium. Both of these cities were in eastern Judea.

Excavations carried out since 1971 have greatly increased knowledge of Caesarea.

Herod built a high-level aqueduct to bring fresh water from Mount Carmel to the city. The water came from springs northeast of Caesarea and traveled through an underground channel to Mount Carmel. A smaller aqueduct carried slightly salty water from a spring north of the city for irrigation.

Archaeologists have also found large sewers beneath the city. The Jewish historian Josephus mentioned these sewers, which were flushed by the movement of the sea.

A hippodrome, or racetrack, stood on the east side of the city and could hold about 30,000 people. It was probably built in the second century AD. It was destroyed during the Muslim conquest in AD 640, along with a large government records building near the coast. Excavations of the records building uncovered several inscriptions in its mosaic floors. Two of them quoted the Greek text of Romans 13:3. A large amphitheater also lies northwest of the hippodrome. It remains underground and has been seen only through infrared photography.

Excavations in 1976 uncovered the first evidence of Strato’s Tower. According to Josephus, this was the Hellenistic settlement near which Herod built Caesarea.

Archaeologists also uncovered a small synagogue north of a large Crusader fort near the harbor built by Herod. The harbor area contained many stone storerooms. Seven have been entered, but as many as 73 may still remain unexcavated.

One storeroom was later reused by Roman soldiers as a Mithraeum, a center for the worship of the Persian god Mithras. It is the only Mithraeum found in Palestine.

Caesarea was not rebuilt after Muslim forces destroyed the city in the thirteenth century.

See also Herod, Herodian Family.