Caesarea(cesarea)
Summary
A magnificent harbor city on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine built by Herod the Great and named in honor of Augustus Caesar, serving as the Roman administrative capital of Judaea.
☩Construction by Herod
Herod the Great built Caesarea over a period of ten years on the site of an older settlement called Strato's Tower. The city was named Caesarea Sebaste in honor of Emperor Augustus, and is sometimes called Caesarea Palestinae or Maritime Caesarea to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi. Herod lavished tremendous expense on the project, constructing a harbor equal in size to the Piraeus of Athens by sinking massive stones fifty by eighteen by nine feet into twenty fathoms of water. The city featured a theater, amphitheater, temples, palaces, and an elaborate system of sewers.
☩Location and Importance
Caesarea was situated on the coast of Palestine on the great road from Tyre to Egypt, about halfway between Joppa and Dora. The distance from Jerusalem was approximately seventy miles, which soldiers could cover in two days via Antipatris. Tacitus described it as 'the head of Judaea,' and it served as the official residence of the Roman procurators including Felix and Festus. The city had a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles, with ongoing disputes about civic precedence that eventually contributed to the outbreak of the Jewish war.
☩Biblical Events
Philip the deacon resided at Caesarea with his four prophesying daughters. Here Peter opened the door to the Gentiles through the conversion of the centurion Cornelius and his household. Herod Agrippa I was struck down and died in the amphitheater his grandfather built. Paul sailed from Caesarea to Tarsus when fleeing Jerusalem, landed there after his second and third missionary journeys, and was imprisoned there for two years before his voyage to Rome.
☩Later History
After Jerusalem's destruction in A.D. 70, Caesarea became the spiritual metropolis of Palestine. Vespasian was first declared emperor there, and he raised it to the rank of a Roman colony. The city became famous as the birthplace and bishopric of Eusebius, the church historian, and was notable for the constancy of its martyrs during persecutions. It was finally destroyed by Sultan Bibars in 1265 and remains in ruins today, known in Arabic as Kaisariyeh.
Related Verses18 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Caesarea," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Caesarea," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Caesarea," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Caesarea," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 5.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Caesarea," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 6.George Morrish, "Caesarea," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).