Page 50 - Advanced Bible Geography ebook

Caesarea Maritima

Starting about 25 BC, Herod the Great built a brand-new city on the Mediterranean coastline.
Completed in 12 years, Caesarea was modeled after the great cities of the Roman Empire. Herod named
it for the emperor and built a temple overlooking his manmade port that honored Caesar as the “son of
the gods.” Peter met Cornelius, a Roman centurion, here (Acts 10). Paul was held prisoner here for two
years (Acts 24:27). And many of Paul’s missionary journeys either started or ended in Herod’s port.

Toward the end of his life, Herod fell ill and died of what historians claimed was a terribly painful,
wasting disease. It consumed his body. But even as he faced the end of his life, he used violence to
enforce his decrees and protect his throne.

Two examples from the last weeks of his life emphasize Herod’s violent temper and constant paranoia.
In the first case, a golden eagle had been hung over the entrance to the Temple. Religious Jews
considered that to be a direct violation of the teaching in the Bible. Two popular Jewish rabbis, Judas
and Matthias, incited their pupils to remove the eagle. Herod had them all arrested and then burned
alive.

In the second case, during the last days of his life, Herod executed his oldest son in a fit of rage and
suspicion. That son had spent years convincing his father that two of his stepbrothers were plotting his
murder, leading to their own executions several years earlier. The older he got, the more paranoid
Herod became.

Therefore, when the magi visited Jerusalem on their way to see the infant Jesus, the promised “king” of
Israel, it’s not surprising how Herod reacted. When he realized he’d been deceived, Herod gave the
order to slaughter all the infant boys “in Bethlehem and its vicinity” (Matthew 2:16). Herod apparently
died shortly after Jesus was born, probably about 2 BC.

One of Herod’s sons, Archelaus, lived through his father’s madness and became the new ruler of
Jerusalem. Archelaus inherited the fury over his father’s decision to burn Judas, Matthias and their
students. When a crowd threatened to riot on the Temple Mount the next Passover, Archelaus had
Roman soldiers storm the area. Three thousand people were killed, and Archelaus was soon removed
from power by Rome.

Herod was buried in the Herodium, his palace-fortress not far from Bethlehem. Two more sons were
given areas to rule by the Romans. Antipas was assigned the Galilee region. He appears multiple times in
the Gospels, including on the last day of Jesus life. In that meeting, Jesus refused to speak to Antipas
(Luke 23:7-9). Herod’s son Philip was named Tetrarch of a region in the north, including the area known
today as the Golan Heights. Philip renamed a pagan city in the north “Caesarea Philippi” after both the
emperor and himself. Perhaps no eviler city existed in all of Israel while Jesus was alive, but it was there
that Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (See Matthew 16:13-16.)

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