Caesarea
The town was built by the infamous King Herod about 25-13 BCE, serving as the administrative center of Judea after the siege of Jerusalem. Pontius Pilate governed from the city, and it is also where Paul was imprisoned for two years before departing to Rome. It also developed a reputation across the Roman world for its beauty and the majesty of it construction. Josephus describes that in its construction,
“the king triumphed over nature and constructed a harbor larger than the Piraeus…Notwithstanding the totally recalcitrant nature of the site, he grappled with the difficulties so successfully, that the solidity of his masonry defied the sea, while its beauty was such as if no obstacle had existed.”
