Page 32 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

18 Historical Review

centuries as kenishta d'maradatha (synagogue of the revolt), that is, the synagogue
because of which the revolt erupted.

In time, after the revolt began, the governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus, after
advancing from Ptolemais to Caesarea, sent a cavalry detachment to the Narbata
district, where it killed many of its residents, looted their property, and burned their
villages.

At the end of Felix’s governorship of Caesarea and in the beginning of that of
Porcius Festus (60–62), the imprisonment and trial of the Apostle Paul took place
in the governor’s jail.

Fig. 17 Paul in Caesarea

Plan of Herod’s palace, The apostle Paul was held in prison in Caesarea for two years (c. 58–60 CE). This occurred
which also served as the at the end of his third missionary journey to the Gentiles. He was arrested in Jerusalem on
praetorium of the Roman Shavuot in 58 CE and brought to Caesarea in chains and under heavy guard. In Caesarea
governors he was handed over to procurator Felix (c. 52–60 CE), who confined him in the governor’s
palace known as “Herod’s Praetorium.” Paul was put under lenient arrest, which permitted
visits and services by his acquaintances, under the watchful eye of a centurion. Confined
together with Paul was a Christian named Aristarchus; he was served by the evangelist
Luke, a Gentile convert, who had witnessed what Paul had undergone in Jerusalem and
Caesarea. Governor Felix summoned Paul to present his claims to him many times, in the
hope of obtaining from him a bribe in exchange for his release. Taking part at one of these
sessions was Felix’s wife Drusilla – a beautiful Jewish princess, the daughter of Agrippa I
and sister of Agrippa II. The trial was resumed only after two years, when Felix’s term as
governor ended and the coming of Porcius Festus (c. 60–62 CE). About two weeks after
his arrival, sitting on the judgment platform, Festus ordered that Paul be brought before
him. A Jewish delegation that came from Jerusalem presented the accusations, and Paul
defended himself. He refused a proposal to be tried before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem in