The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of JerusalemJosephus, Flavius
Religion
The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem
Josephus, Flavius
Jews -- History
7. There were also a great number of arches, where the mariners dwelt;
and all the places before them round about was a large valley, or walk,
for a quay [or landing-place] to those that came on shore; but the
entrance was on the north, because the north wind was there the most
gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the haven were on each side
three great Colossi, supported by pillars, where those Colossi that are
on your left hand as you sail into the port are supported by a solid
tower; but those on the right hand are supported by two upright stones
joined together, which stones were larger than that tower which was on
the other side of the entrance. Now there were continual edifices joined
to the haven, which were also themselves of white stone; and to this
haven did the narrow streets of the city lead, and were built at equal
distances one from another. And over against the mouth of the haven,
upon an elevation, there was a temple for Caesar, which was excellent
both in beauty and largeness; and therein was a Colossus of Caesar, not
less than that of Jupiter Olympius, which it was made to resemble.
The other Colossus of Rome was equal to that of Juno at Argos. So he
dedicated the city to the province, and the haven to the sailors there;
but the honor of the building he ascribed to Caesar, 34 and named it
Cesarea accordingly.
8. He also built the other edifices, the amphitheater, and theater, and
market-place, in a manner agreeable to that denomination; and appointed
games every fifth year, and called them, in like manner, Caesar's
Games; and he first himself proposed the largest prizes upon the hundred
ninety-second olympiad; in which not only the victors themselves, but
those that came next to them, and even those that came in the third
place, were partakers of his royal bounty. He also rebuilt Anthedon,
a city that lay on the coast, and had been demolished in the wars, and
named it Agrippeum. Moreover, he had so very great a kindness for his
friend Agrippa, that he had his name engraved upon that gate which he
had himself erected in the temple.
9. Herod was also a lover of his father, if any other person ever was
so; for he made a monument for his father, even that city which he built
in the finest plain that was in his kingdom, and which had rivers and
trees in abundance, and named it Antipatris. He also built a wall about
a citadel that lay above Jericho, and was a very strong and very
fine building, and dedicated it to his mother, and called it Cypros.
Moreover, he dedicated a tower that was at Jerusalem, and called it
by the name of his brother Phasaelus, whose structure, largeness, and
magnificence we shall describe hereafter. He also built another city in
the valley that leads northward from Jericho, and named it Phasaelis.
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