Page 118 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

104 Archaeological Review
Fig. 113a–b
Fragments of an arm and two
fingers holding reins, bronze.
Probably the remains of a
statue of a charioteer driving from the closer turning post – the meta secunda – westward. This indicates a starting
a chariot
Fig. 114a–b
(Opposite page)
a. The architectural complex
south of the Crusader
Wall and the streets
between them: the palace
of the Byzantine governor,
the warehouse complex,
and the northern palatial
mansion. Aerial photo
from the east
b. The warehouse complex,
plan
II or III stalls. In the excavations fragments of an arm and a number of fingers
holding reins were found (Fig. 113a–b).
The stalls of Phases II and III took a radial layout in relation to the long axis of
the arena (Fig. 122b), and are oriented toward the starting line, which was marked
run in radial tracks, as customary in the Circus Maximus and the Roman world in
general. In order to allow the chariots to accelerate sufficiently until reaching the
starting line, located not far, the elevation of the arena at the stalls was raised in
these phases to 3.20–3.40 m above sea level [a.s.l.]. Beyond the starting line, the
arena remained at more or less the original elevation.
At a lower level than that of the stalls of Phase I, stone foundations were found
of older stalls, probably wooden, arranged radially, and fitted to an arena level of
1.55–1.62 m a.s.l. – an intermediary level of packed arena fill (the elevation of
the arena at the time of the structure’s inauguration was 2.2 m a.s.l.). This was
a provisional structure apparently connected to an episode that preceded the
celebrations of the city’s dedication – perhaps the visit of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa,
the friend and chief aide to Emperor Augustus, to Herod in Caesarea in 15 BCE,
when the installation was still under construction, five years before its inauguration.
The Warehouse Complex (Figs. 114a–b–115)
A paved street – decumanus S2 – leads from the Starting Gates to the entrance of the
warehouse complex, which stretches along the southern side of the street, between
it and the villa to the south. Here there are six vast warehouses that probably
belonged to the owner of the villa. The main part of the complex was excavated by
the University of Haifa expedition, led by Joseph Patrich. Its construction is dated
to c. 500 CE.
The complex was bordered on its western side by a wall decorated with attached
pilasters, and in time an additional building with rooms arranged around a courtyard