Page 117 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 103

and such was their style throughout the entire Herodian period. Such a racecourse Fig. 112a–b
precluded any possibility for the existence throughout this entire phase of a
continuous physical barrier (euripus) along the middle of the arena, as there was in A view of the starting gates.
the Circus Maximus in Rome. Reconstruction of the course
of the chariot races:
In October 70, Titus held here celebrations in honor of the eighteenth birthday a. Phase I (left) – Olympic-
of his brother Domitian (in time also an emperor), at which over 2,500 of his
Jewish captives were slaughtered in horrible ways, a kind of Roman amusement: style races
being forced to fight with wild beasts, in man-to-man sword duels, or being burnt b. Phases II, III (right) –
on a stake. Later the starting gates of sub-phase Ic were dismantled, and from their
stones a massive c. 1.5 m thick wall was built, which buried beneath it the lower races in the style of the
parts of the stalls. The arena was thus converted into a vast walled enclosure. One Circus Maximus, Rome
may link this physical change to the end of the Jewish revolt that same year, and
the imprisonment by Titus of many captives of war for an entire winter in this
walled compound, as is documented by Flavius Josephus.

Phase II stalls were built over the lower course of this wall, while raising the
height of the arena. The width of each stall in this phase was 3 m and the height
of the vault above – c. 4.5 m. The stalls of Phase III, whose pilasters were more
massive, were moved some 3 m south of the Phase II stalls. The width of each stall
was now 3.5 m. Also in this phase, the ceiling was vaulted (Fig. 111c). A bronze
statue of a charioteer driving a chariot may have stood above the structure of Phase

ab