Page 36 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich
P. 36
22 Historical Review
in Caesarea, where he continued to serve as a teacher and extremely prolific
writer. He laid the foundations for the development of later Christian theology,
regarding both the trinity and the nature of Christ. Religious persecution in the
early fourth century was detrimental to this community, but soon afterwards, when
Christianity became a legal religion of the Roman Empire, the Christian community
of Caesarea recovered swiftly. The pagan community also maintained intellectual
activity in the framework of the school of rhetoric and law in Caesarea, in which
the Hellenistic culture was preserved. About one-third of the city’s citizens were
Samaritans, who also served in the governor’s administration, but we know little
about them.
The leaders of the Greek/Syrian population of the city assuredly integrated
well into the new provincial and municipal administration. The administrative
language in the entire province was Latin, which was also the tongue of the
social elite in the city. Vespasian exempted the residents of Caesarea from the
poll tax (tributum capitis) and Titus extended the exemption to land tax (tributum
soli) as well. This land tax exemption applied to all the territorium of the city.
Fig. 20 New Building Projects
The tetrapylon with four faces In addition to the erection of a new government compound for the financial
(quadrifrons) of the Roman procurator, Vespasian turned a large synagogue with many seats into an odeum – a
city Gerasa in the Hashemite hall for poetry readings, which was also used for other city needs. Considerable
kingdom of Jordan momentum began in the city in the time of Hadrian, who certainly did not forgo
the capital when he visited this part of the Empire in 130 CE. One may possibly
attribute to this period a number of large building projects that
indicate the expansion of the city beyond the Herodian city
wall: the wall in the east disappeared and was incorporated
into the colonnade of a street that replaced the Herodian
“wall street”. Instead of the eastern gate in the wall
a tetrapylon was built (Fig. 20). Caesarea’s tetrapylon
became famous throughout the entire East.
Caesarea’s Tetrapylon and the Glory of
the City
“So Caesarea too, like them (Antioch and Tyre), is
quite a pleasant city, and rich in everything, and
remarkable in many ways in terms of its urban
plan. Indeed, its tetrapylon is famous everywhere
because it presents a special and extraordinary
look” (Expositio totius mundi et gentium xxiv, 26,
p. 160, trans. Leah Di Segni).
