Judea: Did you mean...?

Zacchaeus was a tax collector in the city of Jericho during the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth (20s-30s CE). 'Zacchaeus' means "pure" or "innocent" in Greek. The story of Zacchaeus became a popular teaching lesson in early Christianity. He...

The Book of Amos is a prophetic book of the Hebrew Bible largely dating to the 8th century BCE and considered to be scripture by modern-day Jews and Christians. The work chronicles the visions that the ancient author of this book believed...

Titus Flavius Josephus (36-100 CE), the Jewish historian, is the main source for understanding Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. In the last decades of the 1st century CE, he wrote The Jewish War, the Antiquities of the Jews, Against...

Eusebius Pamphili (aka Eusebius of Caesarea, 260-340 CE) was a Christian historian, exegete, and polemicist. He became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima in 314 CE and served as court bishop during the reign of Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE...

The Roman legions of Syria served as a buffer, protecting the Roman Empire not only externally from such threats as Parthia and the Sasanian Empire but also internally during the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE and the Bar-Kochba Revolt (132-135...

In his description of Caesarea Maritima, Flavius Josephus mentions a theater and amphitheater. With several restorations through the years, the theater, as it commands a view of the sea, is still used today. About 1 kilometer south of Herod's...

As Caesarea Maritima was a center of sporting events in the Mediterranean world, Herod the Great assigned this building to host games every five years, which likely included wrestling, boxing matches, gymnastic events, and possibly gladiatorial...

Home to one of the most popular ancient sports, chariot racing, the hippodrome at Caesarea Maritima was one of the main structures in the city. Dating to the 2nd century CE, it is located along the coast south of the theater. Its perimeter...

As the city of Caesarea Maritima was built on an east-west axis, with the temple in between the city and Herod's harbor, the magnificent Cardo Maximus set the tone for those getting to their desired destinations. A wide street impressively...

A model of the lavish renovation of the Temple of Jerusalem carried out by Herod the Great in the second half of the 1st century BCE. (Israel Museum, Jerusalem)