Other Caesareas

The Romans loved to name places "Caesarea" and there were doubtless countless villages and hamlets named Caesarea-something-or-other throughout the Empire. Other than Caesarea of Cappadocia, here are a few of the other well-known Caesareas...

Caesarea Palestinae was a city in northern Judea on the cost of the Mediterranean Sea. Formery an old Phonecian port, Herod the Great made the city his capital, renovating it extensively along Roman lines and renaming it Caesarea after his Roman patrons. In later times the city was an important Byzantine port and a Crusader citadel. The city is frequently mentioned in the New Testament, and was the home of Christian historian Eusebius of Caesarea and the birthplace of Byzantine historian Procopius. Today the site is abandoned, with only ruins remaining, but is still known by its ancient name, now spelled "Kaiseriyeh."

Caesarea Philipi was a city in northern Palestine at the foot of Mount Hermon. It was built by Philip the Tetrarch in the 1st century AD on the site of an old center for the worship of Pan. The modern name of the city is Baniyas.

Caesarea Mauretanensis was the capital of the Roman province of Mauritania in northwestern Africa, and was the birthplace of Latin gramarian Priscian. Today the town is called Cherchel.

Caesarea Augusta was a town in Roman Spain, so named in honor of the Emperor Augustus. Echoes of the Roman name can still be heard in the town's modern name, as it is now the Spanish city of Zaragoza.