Page 115 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 101

A staircase leads down from the courtyard westward to the hall in whose Fig. 109
southern wall rectangular niches were built (Fig. 107). It was suggested that this
was the dressing room for the bath, but since each of the three bathing units has its Plan of the five phases of the
own entry room that could serve this purpose, it is more likely that cupboards were starting gates (carceres).
placed in the niches for a different purpose. Apparently, at a later stage, they were Phase I – The Herodian period
adapted to serve as mangers for animals. (with three sub-phases);
Phase II – The time of Trajan-
From here one may proceed to a lower apsidal hall roofed by four pairs of arches Hadrian;
(Fig. 108), above which was set the reception hall of the palatial mansion, and from Phase III – The time of Septimius
there to return to the arena of the hippo-stadium. Nearby, one can discern a round Severus
well from which water was drawn that flowed through pipes to the large water
container that provided the water for the bathhouse fountain of the Byzantine
governor’s palace (see below).

Phase Ia

Lookout from the Starting Gates (Fig. 109) Phase Ib
Phase Ic
The starting gates (carceres) for the horses and chariot races, at the
northern end of the arena, were built of kurkar stone, similar to other Phase II
parts of the structure, and coated with white plaster. More than half of the
stalls on the eastern side were exposed in a section some 30 m wide; those Phase III
on the western side were eroded by the sea. It is reasonable to assume that
they were similar and symmetrically arranged. Three phases were discerned 0 30 m
in the layout of the starting gates. Phase I, with three sub-phases, stems
from the Second Temple period; Phase II – from the time of Trajan (98–
117) or the early days of Hadrian (117–138); and Phase III – from the
era of Septimus Severus or after him. The structure was shortened later
and ceased to be used for chariot races. In Phases I and II the carceres had

Fig. 110a The starting gate piers, view to the south. Fig. 110b The piers of the carceres, looking northeast.
a In the lower part of the photo, carceres of b Reconstructed Phase II carceres and beneath
Phase II; in its center – Phase III them – Phase I stalls