Caesaria

C7 on the Map.

Caesarea (in Palestine): Qeisariyeh [Qeisari]. This ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine was the capital of the Roman province of Judea for about 600 years. It was given the name Caesarea maritima and Caesarea Palaestina to distinguish it from the other cities with the same name Caesarea. During the mid third century B.C. the Phoenicians built a small fortified coastal station here which they called Strato's Tower (Straton was the Greek form of a Sidonian king). In 96 B.C. was captured by the Hasmonean Alexander Jannaeus, and thus it became a Jewish community, but after the Roman General Pompey conquered Palestine in 66 B.C. Strato's Tower became a non-Jewish city.

Later Augustus allotted the city to Herod who rebuilt it into a new city in 10 B.C. in honor of Augustus. It became the administrative centre of the Roman procurators of the province of Judea, and was the headquarters of the Roman legions. During the first century A.D. most of its inhabitants were Syrian Greeks, but many wealthy Jews lived there. Caesarea became the chief port of Palestine and is mentioned many times in the book of Acts (9:30; 18:22; 21:8). Philip the evangelist minister here, and Peter preached to gentiles in the home of the Centurion, Cornelius. Because Caesarea was the residence of the procurator, it was also the place of Paul's trial (Acts 23:23 ff). He was a prisoner there for two years (Acts 27:1).

Later Caesarea became a famous church center and in the third-fourth centuries, the church fathers, origin and Eusebius, taught in its school and its library (from this library came the edition of the Bible known as the Hexapla. It is interesting that Jerome said that he saw the original Heb. version of Matthews Gospels there.

They have been extensive excavations in this ancient city which are still going on today, much of which are underwater explorations. The ancient amphitheatre was restored and is being used today, more discoveries include: the city wall, hippodrome, a paved square with huge statues, the remains of a synagogue and churches, and many inscriptions including the first recorded discovery of a reference to Pontius Pilate and Nazareth.

Acts 8:40; 10:1; 18, 22; 23:23, 33; 25:6, 13.

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