That Capernaum was a place of some wealth and consequence in the time of our Saviour may be inferred from the expostulation addressed to it, when he upbraided the other cities wherein most of his mighty works were done:--"Wo unto thee, Chorazin! Wo unto thee, Bethsaida! And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell." But the history of all the towns on the lake of Genesareth has been covered with a cloud which it is now impossible to penetrate; and nothing, accordingly, is more difficult than to determine the situations occupied, even during the latter period of the Roman ascendency, by some of the principal places on which the emperors lavished their wealth and taste. Bethsaida was converted by Herod from an insignificant village into the dignity and grandeur of a city, named Julias, in compliment to the daughter of Augustus. At the present moment, however, no traces remain to point out the line of its walls or the foundations of its palaces. Genesareth has in like manner disappeared; or if there be any relics of the town which once gave its name to the inland sea whose shore it adorned, they are so indistinct and ambiguous as not to merit the notice of the traveller. Tarachea is represented by the hamlet of Sumuk, and the ruins of Chorazin are imagined to meet the eye somewhere on the opposite coast; but, upon the whole, the denunciation uttered against the unbelieving cities of Galilee has been literally fulfilled, as they are now brought down to the lowest pitch of obscurity and oblivion.[145] Tiberias is the only place on the Sea of Galilee which retains any marks of its ancient importance. It is understood to cover the ground formerly occupied by a town of a much remoter age, and of which some traces can still be distinguished on the beach, a little to the southward of the present walls. History relates that it was built by Herod the Tetrarch, and dedicated to the Emperor Tiberius, his patron, although there prevails, at the same time, an obscure tradition, that the new city owed its foundation entirely to the imperial pleasure, and was named by him who commanded it to be erected. Josephus notices the additional circumstance, which of itself gives great probability to the opinion of its being established on the ruins of an older town, that, as many sepulchres were removed in order to make room for the Roman structures, the Jews could hardly be induced to occupy houses which, according to their notions, were legally impure. Adrichomius considers Tiberias to be the Chinneroth of the Hebrews; and says, that it was captured by Benhadad, king of Syria, who destroyed it, and was in after-ages restored by Herod; who surrounded it with walls, and adorned it with magnificent buildings. The old Jewish city, whatever was its name, probably owed its existence to the fame of its hot baths,--an origin to which many temples, and even the cities belonging to them, may be traced.