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 lined with columns on both sides, pedestrians were able to walk in the shade of luxurious colonnaded sidewalks paved with mosaics.
As the street system of Caesarea followed a standard Hippodamian grid plan of twelve narrower decumani and four wide cardines, the Cardo Maximus was 16 meters (54 ft) wide and almost 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) long. To put it into perspective, a typical Roman road would have been around 7 meters (23 ft) wide. The 350 columns (certainly of the ornate Corinthian type that adorned the temple) that lined either side of the Cardo, following standard Roman practice, would have been spaced 4.6 meters (15 ft) apart, while their heights would have been over 6 meters (20 ft).
Using archaeological reports by Ehud Netzer, Barbara Burrell, Kenneth Holum, Robert Bull, and others, along with Flavius Josephus' eyewitness descriptions, the image you see is part of the collaborative work of Lithodomos and Patrick Scott Smith.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
A., P. S. S. M. (2026, March 31). Cardo Maximus, Caesarea Maritima. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/21686/cardo-maximus-caesarea-maritima/
Chicago Style
A., Patrick Scott Smith, M.. "Cardo Maximus, Caesarea Maritima." World History Encyclopedia, March 31, 2026. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/21686/cardo-maximus-caesarea-maritima/.
MLA Style
A., Patrick Scott Smith, M.. "Cardo Maximus, Caesarea Maritima." World History Encyclopedia, 31 Mar 2026, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/21686/cardo-maximus-caesarea-maritima/.
