HISTORY OF CAESAREA BACK

Caesarea made a modest entry into history as a small anchorage built by the Phoenicians in the middle of the 3rd century BCE. They called it Straton's Tower.

At the end of the 2nd century BCE it was incorporated into the Hasmonaean kingdom by Alexander Jannai. When Pompey captured Jerusalem, Caesarea was still a place of limited importance. It rose to greatness under Herod who took twelve years, from 22 BCE, to build the port city he named in honour of Caesar Augustus. He built palaces, a temple, an amphitheatre, public buildings, a market place and a deep sea harbour.

Writing 50 years later, the historian Josephus enthused over the buildings, ``all constructed in a style worthy of the name which the city bore''. Caesarea became one of the leading maritime cities. Such was its splendour that in 6 CE it became the seat of the Roman procurators of Judaea.

In 66 CE violence broke out between Caesarea's Jewish and Syrian communities, sparking the nationwide Jewish revolt against the Romans. The Roman victors brought many Jewish captives to be fed to the lions here while the rest were shipped to slavery in Rome. Vespasian gave it the status of a Roman colony.

With Jerusalem razed, Caesarea became the capital of Palestine for almost 500 years. Jews gradually returned.

Excavations close to the aqueduct show remains of a synagogue and tombstones from the 2nd to the 4th centuries. In the 12th century Benjamin of Tudela reported about 200 Jews living in Caesarea.

It also figured in the development of early Christianity. It was here that St. Peter baptised the centurion (Acts 10), and that St. Paul was imprisoned (Acts 23) and it was from Caesarea that St. Paul set sail for Rome (Acts 27). In the 3rd century the scholar Origen established the famous school of Caesarea. The tradition was continued by his renowned pupil, Eusebius.

With the Arab conquest in 640 the town declined in importance and Herod's splendid harbour decayed. In 1101 it fell to the Crusaders and in 1187 to Saladin. It changed hands a number of times, returning to Christian domination in 1228.

Louis IX's ``impregnable'' walls were raised in 1251 but Caesarea was taken by Sultan Beibars in 1291, and destroyed by the Mamelukes. In 1884, a fishing village was founded on the site by Muslim refugees from Bosnia. It was later taken over by the Arabs and abandoned in 1948.

The area was developed with the help of the Rothschilds, and it has become a leading resort area and retreat for the affluent.