Caesarea Maritima: Difference between revisions

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The site was first settled in the 4th century BCE as a [[Phoenicia|Phoenician colony]] and trading village known as '''[[Abdashtart I|Straton's]] Tower'''<ref name=Routledge>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|title=The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus|first=Craig A.|last=Evans|date=14 January 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317722243 |via=Google Books}}</ref> after the ruler of [[Sidon]]. It was enlarged in the 1st century BCE under [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean rule]], and in 63 BCE, when the [[Roman Republic]] annexed the region, it was declared an autonomous city. It was then significantly enlarged in the Roman period by the Judaean client king [[Herod I]], who established a new harbour and dedicated the town and its port to [[Caesar Augustus]] as ''Caesarea''.

During the early Roman period, Caesarea became the seat of the [[Procurator (ancient Rome)|Roman procurators]] in the region.<ref>"Founded in the years 22-10 or 9 B.C. by Herod the Great, close to the ruins of a small [[Phoenicia|Phoenician naval station]] named Strato's Tower (''Stratonos Pyrgos'', ''Turns Stratonis''), which flourished during the 3d to 1st c. B.C. This small harbor was situated on the N part of the site. Herod dedicated the new town and its port (''limen Sebastos'') to [[Caesar Augustus]]. During the Early Roman period, Caesarea was the seat of the [[Procurator (ancient Rome)|Roman procurators]] of the province of Judea. [[Vespasian]], proclaimed emperor at Caesarea, raised it to the rank of ''Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta'', and later [[Alexander Severus]] raised it to the rank of ''Metropolis Provinciae Syriae Palestinae''." A. Negev, "CAESAREA MARITIMA Palestine, Israel" in: Richard Stillwell et al. (eds.), ''The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'' (1976).</ref><ref>Isaac, B.H., ''The Near East Under Roman Rule: Selected Papers'' (Brill, 1997), p. 15</ref> It later became the provincial capital of the [[Iudaea Province|Roman province of Judaea]], Roman [[Syria Palaestina]] and Byzantine [[Palaestina Prima]] provinces. The city was populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries CE and became an important [[early center of Christianity|early centre of Christianity]] during the Byzantine period. Its importance may have waned starting during the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Muslim conquest]] of 640 in the early Middle Ages.<ref name=Hansen/> After being re-fortified by Muslim rulers in the 11th century, it was conquered by the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusaders]], who strengthened and made it into an important port, and was finally [[slighted]] by the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] in 1265.

 

 

==Name==