Page 183 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

Glossary

Amalfi An Italian commercial city on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast in the Salerno Bay

south of Naples.

amphitheater Literally: a structure with spectator seats surrounding a central space; an oval

arena used for gladiator combats and hunting spectacles, which were popular

in the Roman world.

amphora A large-capacity pottery jar with two handles near its neck.

architrave, frieze, and cornice An arrangement of horizontal molded beams placed on columns in Greek and

Roman architecture.

boss The central element protruding from the surface of a stone whose edges were

rough cut around.

carceres Starting gates for horses and chariot races in a hippodrome or circus.

cardo maximus The main north-south street in a Roman city.

cardo A north-south street in a Roman city.

cavea Seating arrangements in a stadium or theater.

circus An arena for chariot races in the Roman Empire.

cist grave A coffin-like grave built in the ground or rock-cut.

cloister A courtyard surrounded by porticos that is located beside a church or

monastery in European countries.

curia Roman city council, similar to the boule of the Greek or Hellenistic city.

decumanus maximus The main east-west street in a Roman city.

decumanus An east-west street in a Roman city.

dux An army commander of a province or a group of provinces after the reform by

Emperor Diocletian (284–305 CE).

engaged column A column embedded in a wall and projecting in part from it.

genius A guiding spirit.

Hadrianeum A temple for the imperial cult of Hadrian, such as the one in Caesarea.

headers and stretchers Technique for building walls in which in each course the stones are laid with

the narrow side (header) or long side (stretcher), alternately, facing outward.

hippodrome Greek for circus.

hippo-stadium A multi-purpose entertainment structure combining a stadium and a

hippodrome. Accordingly, it served both for athletic contests and other arena

entertainments, as well as for horse and chariot races.

hoplites Soldiers armed with a helmet and armor, bearing a long spear in the phalanx

of the Hellenistic army.

hypocaust A raised floor on pilae stacks, beneath which flowed hot air for heating a room

or hall, common in Roman baths.

insula Literally: island, block of houses; a built-up urban section surrounded by

streets and serving as the basic unit in urban planning.

kastron Fortress and barrack. In Caesarea – the name of the compound surrounded by

a wall that encompassed the Roman theater during the Byzantine period.

kurkar A local calcareous sandstone from which the structures of Caesarea were

built.

limen kleistos A walled harbor. Here used to designate a built or quarried harbor closed within

the coast line. Harbors of this type were common in the Hellenistic period.

ludus, ludon School or barracks for training gladiators which included a small arena.

meta prima The turning post further from the starting gates in the arena for chariot races

in a hippodrome or circus.

meta secunda The turning post closer to the starting gates in the arena for chariot races in a

hippodrome or circus.

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