Caesarea

Caesarea, seaport of ancient Palestine, on the coast of Samaria, north of Joppa (modern Tel Aviv-Yafo). Founded about 22 bc by the Judaean king Herod the Great, it was named in honour of the Roman emperor Augustus and is derived from his imperial title of caesar. Herod provided the city with an amphitheatre, a number of imposing temples and public buildings, excellent water-supply and drainage systems, and a magnificent harbour, protected by a breakwater. Ruins of some of these structures, including the breakwater, survive. According to the New Testament (see Acts 10), it was at Caesarea that the disciple Peter converted Cornelius, the first Gentile to accept Christianity. In ad 66, on the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against Roman rule, the citizens of Caesarea vigorously supported the revolutionary cause. Most of the Jewish inhabitants were massacred after the Romans re-established their authority in the city, which the Roman general Vespasian chose as his headquarters during the subsequent fighting. In July 69, while at Caesarea, Vespasian was proclaimed emperor of the Roman Empire by his troops. Following the fall of Jerusalem in 70, Caesarea was made capital of Roman Palestine. Later, as an episcopal see, the city was an important centre in the development of the Church. About 232 the Christian teacher and theologian Origen founded a school there. After 638, when Caesarea fell to the Muslims, the city declined. It was captured and plundered (1102) by troops under Baldwin I, ruler of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem and a leader of the First Crusade. In 1265 Caesarea was razed by the Mameluke sultan of Egypt, Baybars I. The site of the ancient city is occupied by Sedot Yam, in modern Israel.