![]() ![]() Titus here celebrated the birthday of his brother Domitian by setting 2,500 Jews to fight with beasts in the amphitheater. Here Vespasian was hailed emperor by his soldiers. Terrible cruelties were practiced on the Jews under Felix and Florus. Riots between Gentiles and Jews in Caesarea gave rise to the war (BJ, II, xiii, 7. Thrice Paul passed through Caesarea ( Acts 9:30 Acts 18:22 Acts 21:8) hither he was sent under guard from Jerusalem to escape danger from the Jews ( Acts 23:23) and here he was imprisoned till his final departure for Rome. To Caesarea Peter was sent to minister to the Roman centurion Cornelius ( Acts 10). Here dwelt Philip the Evangelist ( Acts 8:40 Acts 21:8). It passed into the hands of Agrippa I and here he miserably died ( Acts 12:19, 23). It became the residence of the Roman procurator. The work was done in ten or twelve years. A promenade and dwellings for mariners were also provided. Part was surmounted by a wall and towers. The mighty breakwater was constructed by letting down stones 50 x 18 x 9 ft. The whole coast line, indeed, is singularly ill-fitted for the formation of harbors. It was of excellent workmanship, and all the more remarkable because the place itself was not suitable for such noble structures. But "the greatest and most laborious work of all" was a magnificent harbor "always free from the waves of the sea," which Josephus says was not less than the Piraeus: this however is an exaggeration. He erected sumptuous palaces and public buildings, a theater, and amphitheater with prospect to the sea while a spacious system of sewers under the city secured cleanliness and health. With his usual magnificence Herod lavished adornments on the city. It was built by Herod the Great on the site of Strato's Tower (Ant., XIII, xi, 2 XV, ix, 6), and the name Caesarea Sebaste was given it in honor of Augustus (ibid., XVI, v, 1). The ancient name in the Arabic form Qaisariyeh still clings to the ruins on the sea shore, about 30 miles North of Jaffa. ![]()
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