Page 92 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

78 Archaeological Review Among the inscriptions that were discovered by
the Italian expedition in the theater was a dedicatory
Fig. 73 inscription in Greek as fulfillment of a vow by a comedian
The wall of the citadel from Antioch, Syria, to a god whose name was not
(kastron) and its towers preserved, perhaps Dionysus. It is attributed to the first
surrounding the theater to third century. A better known inscription that was
Fig. 74a–c uncovered there is the dedicatory inscription, in Latin,
Scattered architectural of a Tiberieum on behalf of Pontius Pilate, the prefect of
elements in the garden to Judaea (Fig. 16, above, p. 15). It was incised on a kurkar
the west of the theater slab found incorporated in secondary use in steps installed
a during a refurbishing carried out in the fourth century.
The Tiberieum mentioned in it was probably an altar or
a small temple dedicated to Tiberius. Another opinion
holds that this was the name of a lighthouse, parallel
to Drusus tower in the harbor, far from here (Emperor Tiberius was Drusus’ older
brother). Behind the theater was a semicircular plaza surrounded by columns.
The theater ceased to function in the fifth century. In the sixth, it was surrounded
by a wall with round towers and came to serve as a citadel (kastron) for the garrison
in the city (Fig. 73). Many architectural elements have been concentrated in the
area between the theater and the wall of the citadel surrounding it, in the direction
of the sea; they are made of marble, granite and kurkar (Fig. 74a–c). Not all of them
originate from the excavations of the theater.