Page 109 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 95
for opus sectile – panels inlaid with colorful pieces of cut stone that form geometric
and floral patterns, as well as crosses inlaid with gemstones. These large panels were
intended to decorate floors and walls of this palatial mansion; they were popular
in the Late Roman period. In the northern part of this insula were found three
corridor-type warehouses arranged side by side on a north-south axis.

North of this area the same expedition uncovered in its entirety another luxu-
rious urban villa with a bath and a private privy (Figs. 99–100a–f; the excavators
erroneously identified the entire complex as
a public bath house). This was a very
spacious mansion with a private
bath house. In the fifth
and sixth centuries,

a
Fig. 99
The northern palatial mansion,
proposed reconstruction. Aerial
view, from the northeast

Fig. 100a
The northern palatial mansion,
plan with cross-sections
marked