Page 38 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

24 Historical Review

Fig. 23 0 10 cm

Marble statue of a youth in imitation of marble incrustation. The seating arrangement was raised as was the
that adorned the financial orchestra, which was marble-paved. In the fourth century, Caesarea became famous
procurator’s palace for its mime and pantomime artists in the entire Mediterranean basin. The theater
and other public structures were adorned with statues (Figs. 23–26).

Temples and Cult

The emperor’s cult was held in public, accompanied by a street procession and games
in the entertainment installations. Beside the temple of Augustus – the Sebasteion –
and the Hadrianeum, Caesarea had other pagan temples, about which one can learn
from the city’s coins and from statues found in it (even though not every statue of
a god attests to the existence of a cult, since statues were also used for decoration;
Figs. 24a–d). Another source of information is provided by engraved gems that were
set in rings and other jewelry. These, unlike official coins, were made to underscore
a personal cult and not necessarily an official municipal cult. Particularly striking
on the city’s coins is the trio Tyche/Astarte/Isis, Dionysus (Fig. 25), and Demeter,
who were known as the “Caesarea triad.” Other gods appearing on city coins (and
other objects) were Serapis, Poseidon, and Apollo. Perhaps for some of them, a
cult had been dedicated already in the Herodian era. Aesclapios, who appears on
the Louvre Cup, is not depicted on the city coins though his daughter Hygieia is.
Both of them, father and daughter, appear among the Roman statues and gems.
Especially prominent was the cult of the goddess Tyche/Isis, which apparently
began in Hellenistic Straton’s Tower. The site at which a large statue of her was
discovered was probably the location of her temple (Fig. 26).