Caesarea Maritima

This is a south-north aerial view of the ancient port-city Caesarea Maritima, one of King Herod’s most extravagant building projects (22-10 BCE). It was built in honor of Caesar Augustus, and became the capital of Roman Judaea around 6 CE. The eastern Mediterranean lacks a natural harbor, so Herod imported massive stones and built a wave breaker (part of which can be seen protruding from the beach in the upper third of the picture) which supported an artificial enclosed port. This port dramatically increased the revenue flowing into Herod’s kingdom and rivaled the famous ports of Alexandria and Athens. Herod also made Caesarea the epicenter of Greco-Roman culture in Israel. At the bottom of the image, one can see the remains of the ancient theater (circular structure). Just to the left, jutting out into the ocean, was Herod’s palace. A race track follows the coast north, and leads up to the location where a temple to Augustus once stood. This overlooked the main harbor. At the top of the image, one can see the end of the aqueduct that brought fresh water from a spring near the base of Mount Carmel, which was 7 miles away, a remarkable feat of engineering.