Caesarea Excavations 1993-98: The Byzantine Praetorium, Warehouses and The Carceres (Starting Gates) of the Hippodrome.

During my 1993-98 excavations at Caesarea a large complex of buildings was uncovered, in some places two stories high, extending over more than 8000sqm, and comprising two entire  urban blocks (insulae). Latin and Greek inscriptions indicate that during the Roman period the complex served as the palace (praetorium) of the financial procurator - the highest financial official of the province of Judaea / Syria Palaestina, and during the Byzantine period it served as the praetorium of the Byzantine governor of Palaestina Prima. It is a unique complex in the archaeology of Israel; its development reflects not only the urban development of the city, but also the administrative history of the province, since Caesarea served as its capital during the Roman-Byzantine period. But its significance extend even beyond the bounds of this province, bearing evidence on various facets of the provincial administration in the entire Roman and Byzantine empire. Structures adjacent to the palace on the south and east were associated with it, forming together the government compound of Caesarea.

Noteworthy is a complex of six warehouses comprising the second urban insula, extending to the south of the palace. Examination of the finds indicated that these 4^th century structures were associated with the food supply for the local population. Basic foodstuff like corn, oil and wine were stored therein to guarantee adequate supply under restrained prices.

In the southwest sector of the excavated area was exposed the carceres  (starting gates) of the Herodian hippodrome, extending along the seashore. The starting gates are telling us about the sort of chariot racing that took place in the hippodrome. These were Hellenistic in character, in the tradition of Olympia, up to year 70, and Roman in character thereafter. The re-foundation of Caesarea as a Roman colony by Vespasian was thus expressed in excessive Romanization.

Other than the impressive architecture, a wealth of small finds, of all sorts, was retrieved from the excavated area.

The area excavated - ca. 8.000sqm - comprised two entire urban blocks (insulae), and two others, which were only partially uncovered. The four insulae were separated from each other by two intersecting streets - a cardo and a decumanus (plans of the excavated area are attached). The NW insula served since the last quarter of the first century CE (ca. 70 CE) as the palace (praetorium) of the financial procurator of the Roman province of Judaea, that became Syria Palaestina under Hadrian. The financial procurator was the highest financial official in the province, in charge of taxation and financial administration. In the Byzantine period this palace became the praetorium of the governor. These identifications are suggested by the Latin and Greek inscriptions. This complex should not be confused with Herod’s palace, that became the praetorium of the Roman governor - the Legatus Augusti pro praetore during the 1^st-3^rd centuries CE. This complex, exposed by several expeditions during the eighties and until the present, is located ca. 300m farther to the south.

The SW insula  was a complex of six warehouses constructed in the fourth century, for the storage of local foodstuffs - corn, oil and wine. It seems that these warehouses were associated with the governor’s palace. The two other insulae, located in the eastern part of the excavated area, and only partially exposed, seem to be associated as well with the government compound.

In the NW insula - the palace/praetorium - the public-administrative wing was entirely exposed. It comprised an audience hall constructed over a lower story of four vaults, and surrounded by various offices. Greek inscriptions indicate that the audience hall served as a law-court of the Byzantine governor. A complex of seven rooms on its NE corner, exposed in the seventies by the Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima headed by R. Bull, had served as a provincial tax revenue office according to the evidence of the Greek inscriptions found therein. A second hall, to the N of the audience hall, served as an archive, as is suggested by typical square niches in its wall, installed to hold wooden cupboards (armaria).

The bath house of the palace extended on its NW corner. Its cold room, paved and revetted in marble, was entirely exposed. Parts of the heated rooms were exposed as well. The private wing, that served as the residency, seems to have occupied the N part of the insula. It was severely damaged in the Arab and Crusader periods, due to the construction of the city wall and moat. Presently it is buried under a modern dirt road.

We are dealing with a unique architectural complex of great significance as is suggested by the inscriptions, and its state of preservation is remarkable.

In the southwest sector of the excavated area was uncovered another significant architectural complex - the starting gates (carceres ) of the Herodian Hippodrome. The racing course (arena) and seats of this 300m long structure were exposed by the IAA expedition farther to the south, along the seashore. Three principal phases and more sub-phases make this complex the best known in the entire Roman world. These phases are telling us about the sort of chariot racing that took place in the hippodrome, being Hellenistic in character, in the tradition of Olympia, up to year 70, and thereafter Roman, in the tradition of the Circus Maximus at Rome. The re-foundation of Caesarea as a Roman colony by Vespasian was thus expressed in excessive Romanization.

Preliminary reports and studies

Book:

Preliminary report on the 1993-1998 excavations: Caesarea Papers 2: Herod's Temple, The Provincial Governor's Praetorium and Granaries, The Later Harbor, A Gold Coin Hoard, and Other Studies, edited by K. G. Holum A. Raban and J. Patrich. [The Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplement Series Number 35], Portsmouth, Rhode Island 1999.

Articles:

J. Patrich,

1996. “Warehouses and Granaries in Caesarea Maritima,” in: A. Raban & K. G. Holum (eds.), Caesrea Maritima - Retrospective After two Millennia, Brill-Leiden, pp. 146-76.

1998. “The Caesarea Excavations Project – March 1992-June 1994, Combined Caesarea Excavations (A),” Excavations and Surveys in Israel 17 (1998), pp. 50-57.

1998.  "Urban Ruralization in Provincia Palaestina: The Demise of the Byzantine Praetorium at Caesarea," Twenty Fourth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference Abstracts, University of Kentucky, p. 41.

1998.    Cesárea Marítima, in: Marc Mayer and Isabel Roda (eds.), Ciudades Antiguas del Mediterráneo, Barcelona, pp. 302-304.

1999. "The warehouse complex and governor’s palace (areas KK, CC, and NN, May 1993‑December 1995),” in: Caesarea Papers 2 [The Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplement Series, Number 35], edited by Kenneth G. Holum, A. Raban and J. Patrich. Portsmouth, Rhode Island, pp. 70-108.

1999. "Caesarea Maritima: the Provincial Capital of Judaea Palaestina and its Praetoria," Abstracts of the 1999 Roman Archaeology Conference, University of Durham, p. 26.

2000. “A Government Compound in Roman-Byzantine Caesarea”, in Proceedings of the Twelfth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Division B, History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem, pp. 35*-44* (English section).

2000. "A Chapel of St. Paul at Caesarea Maritima?" Liber Annuus 50 (2000), pp. 363-382.

 2001.   "Urban Space in Caesarea Maritima, Israel," in:  J. W. Eadie and T. Burns (eds), Urban Centers and Rural Contexts, Michigan State University Press 2001, pp. 77 - 110.

2001. "The Carceres of the Herodian Hippodrome/Stadium at Caesarea Maritima, Israel," Journal of Roman Archaeology 14, pp. 269-283.

2001. "Césarée. Une chapelle dédiée à saint Paul?", Le Monde de la Bible 136 (2001), p. 57.

2001. "Neue Erkenntnisse bei Ausgrabungen in Cäsarea am Meer: Ein zweites Prätorium in Cäsarea; Neue frühchristliche Funde aus Cäsarea, Welt und Umwelt der Bibel 6/21 (2001), pp. 76-77.

2002. "Herod's Hippodrome/Stadium at Caesarea and the Games Conducted Therein," L.V. Rutgers (ed.), What has Athens to Do with Jerusalem. Essays in Honor of Gideon Foerster, P. Peeters, Leuven 2002, pp. 29-68.

2002. "The Martyrs of Caesarea: the urban context" Liber Annuus 52 (2002).

2002. "Herod's Theater in Jerusalem - a new proposal," Israel Exploration Journal 52 (2002), pp. 231-239.

2002. "Four Christian Objects from Caesarea Maritima," Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology 1 (2002), pp. 21-32.

2003. "Herod's Hippodrome/Stadium at Caesarea in the Context of Greek and Roman Contests and Spectacles," VeZoth-LeYehudah [Yehudah Ben Porath Festschrift], ed. by E. Reiner and Y. Ben Arie, Yad Yizhak Ben Zvi, Jerusalem, pp. 119-166 (Hebrew).

T. Avner, “Early Byzantine Wall Paintings from Caesarea,” in: K. G. Holum, A. Raban and J. Patrich (eds.), Caesarea Papers 2 [The Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplement Series, Number 35], (Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1999) 109-128.

J. W. Nesbitt, "Byzantine lead seals from the vicinity of the governor's palace and warehouses (areas CC and KK), in: Kenneth G. Holum, A. Raban and J. Patrich, Caesarea Papers 2 [The Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplement Series, Number 35], (Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1999) 129-135.

C. R. Cope, "Faunal remains and butchery practices from Byzantine and Islamic contexts (1993-94 seasons), in: Kenneth G. Holum, A. Raban and J. Patrich, Caesarea Papers 2 [The Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplement Series, Number 35], (Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1999) 405-417.