The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima.

• Author: Eliav, Yaron Z.
• Position: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima: The Joint Expeditions to Caesarea Maritima Excavation Reports, vol. 5 - Ramat Hanadiv Excavations: Final Reports of the 1984-1998 Season - Book Review

The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima. The Joint Expeditions to Caesarea Maritima Excavation Reports, vol. 5. By CLAYTON MILES LEHMANN and KENNETH G. HOLUM. Boston: AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, 2000.

Ramat Hanadiv Excavations: Final Reports of the 1984-1998 Season. Edited by YIZHAR HIRSCHFELD. Jerusalem: ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY, 2000.

Caesarea Maritima has been a subject of intense interest to modern historians since the 1940s when systematic archaeological excavations began in the area. The city was founded by King Herod, the Jewish-Idumaean ruler who presided over a local Roman client kingdom in Palestine from 37 to 4 B.C. (The Roman senate appointed him in 40 B.C., but it took him three additional years to gain control over the territory.) Occupying the site of the Phoenician-Hellenistic port town of Straton Tower, Caesarea was a success story from the start. Herod's practically limitless financial resources, personal inclination toward Graeco-Roman culture, and architectural aspirations, combined with a superb geographical location at the heart of the eastern Mediterranean seashore, resulted in a thriving metropolis.

Soon after its formation the city became the seat of the Roman praefecti; later, the emperor Vespasian (r. A.D. 69-79) elevated its judicial status to that of a colonia. After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Romans established Caesarea as the provincial capital, a status it retained until the early eighth century, when the Umayyad caliph Suleiman moved the seat of the government to the newly built city of Ramla.

Eyewitnesses such as the first-century Jewish historian Josephus and the fourth-century local bishop and church historian Eusebius, have provided vivid accounts of Caesarea's urban texture; they describe the customary orthogonal grid that traversed its landscape and an amalgamation of architectural gems--bathhouses, theaters, markets, palaces, temples, and above all a state-of-the-art harbor that adorned its space and sustained its prosperity. Like many coastal cities, Caesarea encompassed a colorful blend of nationalities and religions; Jews rubbed shoulders (and at times exchanged blows) with local hellenized Phoenicians, Syrians, Greek immigrants and merchants, Roman soldiers, and other dignitaries. Later, in the third and fourth centuries, a steadily growing Christian community hosted an important academy and library with scholars such as Origen, Pamphilus, and Eusebius...