One Big Mediterranean Village

Many Christians overlook Caesarea when they visit Israel. Caesarea is very interesting, but lets face it; when you have a limited amount of time and you came all that way for a religious experience, you can't afford to waste time. The bottom line is that Caesarea is about Rome, not about Jesus.





The Roman Empire was something new and different in this neck of the woods. (That’s why it's called the 'Classic Period' and not 'Ancient History'.) It's not as if the Romans were imaginative or inventive. Romans weren't original. They conquered other people and hijacked their resources and ideas and civilizations, and by fusing those cultures they produced a new society. The sea had always served as a barrier, a natural defense between nations, but once it was a Roman sea, the Mediterranean was transformed into a conduit of goods and information connecting diverse cultures from the farthest corners of the known world. Perhaps not today's 'global village', but certainly one big 'Mediterranean village' and the only village around.

When you think about it, it's odd that Rome left such a significant mark on little far away Israel. Yet by far there are more Roman ruins and artifacts here than from any period before or after. Even the sites most identified with the holy land are actually Roman. The Wailing Wall – Roman; Al Aqsa, on a Roman built forum. So how did Rome come into ownership of the land of Israel?

To answer that, one must understand family dynamics. When my little brother Barry and I were kids we would fight over stuff. The rule was that if we took it to my mom, then no matter what it was, no matter who was right, my mom got it. That's how we learned to always settle things between ourselves and to never bother my mom.

In 67 B.C. the Hasmoneans ruled Judea. Two Hasmonean princes with funny names, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, got into a big fight over which one would get to be the king. Their mom was deceased, so the boys unwisely took the matter to the next best thing - Pompey, the Roman governor of nearby Syria. Naturally Pompey knew all about my mom's rule, so since the kids couldn't play nice, Pompey (in the name of Rome) got the kingdom.

Pompey let his good friend Antipater the Idumean administrate Judea. Antipater had been a pagan, but converted to Judaism, so the Romans figured it was a good fit. Jewish enough to relate to the Judeans, but pagan enough to serve his Roman masters.

Antipater was succeeded by his son Herod the Great, so called to tell him from his little known cousin, Herod the Loser. Herod (the Great) was determined to integrate his new kingdom with Rome's Mediterranean Village, and to do this he needed a deep sea harbor. The only problem was that the east Mediterranean coast running north from the mouth of the Nile until modern day Haifa is devoid of natural harbors. Until then, all the ports in ancient land of Israel had simply been river inlets to the sea.

Not one to be thwarted by geology, Herod chose a most unlikely site. As a rule of thumb, all cities in ancient times were founded near fertile land in order to feed the population, a source of water and on a site that can be easily defended. Herod picked a flat spot of beach real estate surrounded by sand dunes to build the city he would call Caesarea.

Most histories claim that Herod built Caesarea. This is not true. Herod was much too busy in his palace cooking up schemes to murder his family and baby Jesus. Slaves and Roman engineers built Caesarea. Using the latest in Roman technology, they built breakwaters out into the sea laying cement that sets underwater, producing Sebastos, the largest artificial harbor in the Mediterranean. The city was to be a hub of commerce, so lack of nearby farmland was not an issue – they would buy food. Diverting subterranean water reservoirs with a system of shafts and tunnels in the Carmel mountains 20 miles away, they were able to flood a dammed up coastal plain of almost 2000 acres, thus producing enough pressure to transport water by gravitation in aqueducts to the city center. As for fortifications, Caesarea's defense was a good offence – a staging point for legions to crush any potential threat.

Romans weren't all work and no play. An amphitheater large enough to hold horse races (seating an estimated 5000 spectators) was built along the beach, and a theater added to the south, facing the sea (Later to be abandoned; the view is breathtaking, but in the afternoons until sundown the audience is blinded by the setting sun. Eventually a new one had to be built facing north. Wonder what became of the architect responsible for that snafu….) Herod's palace was built on a promontory jutting out into the sea, complete with swimming pool surrounded by a portico. The palace was located so as to be within visual contact with the port, amphitheater and theater. Much like a laptop, the king and Roman procurators that succeeded him could monitor their investments in real time, or flip over to the latest diversion – all from the comfort of home.

Caesarea was a modern concept and it worked. The only major port on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean and on the crossroads of the Via Maris, it funneled goods from east to west, and legions from west to east. Within a century it replaced Jerusalem as capital of 'Provincia Palesina" after Jewish Judea had been crushed.

With trade flourishing in the Mediterranean and an efficient network of roads, there was a revolution in communications – suddenly people on opposite sides of the empire were only a message away.

CaesarChat, 33 A.D.

Tiberius wrote: Hey, PP - what's up?
(2 months later)
Pontius Pilate wrote: Not much, Tibi. Galilean noob says he's Messiah. lol
(2 months later)
Tiberius wrote: Messiah???
(2 months later)
Pontius Pilate wrote: Jewish king lol
(2 months later)
Tiberius wrote: kill him
(2 months later)
Pontius Pilate wrote: did that, but he's alive again lol
(2 months later)
Tiberius wrote: OMG
(2 months later)
Pontius Pilate wrote: U reckon?

A dedication carved in limestone was found in the theater mentioning Pontius Pilate, one of the few pieces of physical evidence supporting the story told in the New Testament. But this is only a subtle hint to the role Caesarea played in the Christian story. It was from here that the baton was passed from an underground sect of Jews to the nations.
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Saint Peter was sleeping on the roof one day (As one who lives in sunny Israel, I find that in itself a miracle.) when an angel appeared and laid out a spread of clam chowder, fried shrimp, sizzling bacon and cheese burgers - all yummy, none Glatt kosher. "Dig in," commands the angel. (I often go up on my roof hoping to see this angel, but it seems his appearances are limited to Reform Rabbis.) Obviously, there was only one thing to do after a miracle like this – go report it to Cornelius, the Roman commandant in Caesarea. It took no more than putting tref on the menu to convince Cornelius to convert to Christianity, and the rest is history.

Caesarea was the launching point of Christianity. From here the apostle Paul set out to spread the gospel, where he preached to Agrippa, and where he was imprisoned and wrote his epistles until sent to Rome.

If Jesus would have arrived at any time prior or any place other than Rome's Mediterranean village, his message would have stagnated in a local Judean backwater. But ironically, the very empire that sought to suppress the new faith facilitated it. Christianity traveled the same arteries of commerce that sustained Rome, new congregations networked on Imperial lines of communication, and words could never have been more convincing that the living object lessons of martyrs in the arenas, produced and directed by Rome.

So while Israel is the cradle of Christianity, the Mediterranean village was its playground. In Caesarea you see the port from where the word was spread to every nation, the courts where saints defended their faith and the arena where they paid the price. It's all there.

If you want to understand Christ, you have to see Israel; if you want to understand Christianity, go to Caesarea.

Transfiguration

In Israel where half the enlisted men are women, the old cliché "I ran into an old army buddy" doesn't always mean a reunion of brothers. Once upon a Yom Kippur, I was a young Israeli soldier pulling guard duty on a base near Haifa. Left behind while our comrades were fasting with their families, we unhappy few sat at the gate to pass the time. A girl (soldier) became the center of attention. And not (only) because of her feminine wiles - which would only be natural, her being the only female stuck on base with a bunch of lonely young men. No, she had something much more interesting, more mysterious, going for her. She had Jesus.

Her name was Melody. Between snacks, a few self appointed defenders of the Jewish faith were poking fun, although not successfully, as their ignorance of her faith, not to mention their own, was painfully obvious. Nonplussed by her tormentors, Melody was radiant, even cheerful. Maybe that's why I remember her 25 years later. Her warmth. Heat.

I grew up in the Church. I'd heard it all before, and it left me cold. For me, Christianity was an institution, churches, theology, rules. So her message wasn't new to me, but I was impressed by her delivery.

25 years later, Melody is a guide to Christian holy places. Naturally, I was curious. Is she still a believer? No, she laughed, but it’s a good living.

She met us at the Catholic Church on Mount Tabor. No trouble finding it. You can't miss it; it's just next door to the Greek Orthodox church. Mount Tabor is where 'The Church' claims Jesus took Peter, James and John to witness His transfiguration, which was a cosmic coming out of the closet, with Moses and Elijah making a cameo appearance. The disciples, who had always suspected that Jesus had divine tendencies, were nevertheless taken back.

Peter was psyched. "Hey Jesus, lets build three tabernacles up here for You and your friends!"
Jesus was less than excited about the idea. "I don't know…."
But Peter was on a roll. "You're right. Why think small? Tabernacles won't do. We'll build a huge church right here on top of the mountain. People will see it for miles around and come from far and wide, from all over the world! Just think of the tourist income! Think what it will do for the local economy!"
Jesus: "Peter, you're starting to sound like Judas."
Moses (to Jesus): "What's going on? Nobody said anything about this when they told me to come down here!"
Peter: "If we make the church big enough, visitors will be able to celebrate mass!"
Moses: "Mass?"
Jesus had heard enough. "We're finished here, guys. Let's go!"
Moses and Elijah headed on up to heaven while Jesus hustled His favorite disciples back to join the others – but not before reminding them to keep His little secret. Peter promptly posted it on his blog.

Melody says that Mount Hermon looks like a more likely candidate than Tabor for the mountain where Jesus was transfigured, but the Catholic Church owns real estate on Mt. Tabor, so that's where they built the Church of the Transfiguration. Inspired by St. Peter, the Italian architect Antonio Barlucci designed the church to appear like three (very fancy) tabernacles, with two small ones on either side of a big one (for Jesus, of course). The ceiling over the sanctuary is inlayed with alabaster to create an effect of heavenly light streaming down on the worshipers celebrating mass, but has been covered with a lead dome because the alabaster roof turned out to be leaky.

The village of Cana is where Jesus performed His first miracle by turning ordinary water into fine wine. Today the locals turn cheap hooch into tourist dollars. The Roman Catholic church is right across the alley from the Greek Orthodox one. The reason that you find so many holy sites with Catholic and Orthodox churches next to each other isn't because Greeks and Catholics like each other so much; it's more like McDonalds and Burger King setting up shop in the same food court at the mall. Pure and simple, its good ol' fashioned American competition.

In Nazareth, St. Gabriel's (Greek Orthodox) marks the place where Mary became the first virgin in history to test positive with a home pregnancy kit. Unlike Catholics, who clutter their churches with statues, Greek Orthodox churches have icons. Icons are simply 2 dimensional versions of Catholic images which can best described as saints who have been run over by a steamroller. These icons have nothing whatsoever to do with the icons you see on the Internet. Everyone knows that images on the net are creations of the Geek Orthodox Church.

The Catholic Church of the Annunciation is a short walk down Main Street from (you guessed it) the Greek Orthodox establishment. Its all about Mary at Annunciation. It reminds me of the joke about the proverbial fat girl in 3rd grade – she was so big that no matter where you sat in the classroom, you ended up sitting next to the fat girl. Melody pointed out the Mary mosaics on the walls,

Mary statues on the walls,

Mary in the fountain,

Mary on the door, and so on. You can't avoid Mary at Annunciation. (They also worship Jesus. He's the baby being cradled by some of the Marys.)

Melody finished the day at a rather neglected church crammed between vendors' stalls in the market which (they say) is the synagogue where Jesus prayed. It was the only place we visited where I thawed a little. Maybe because it wasn't just another grand monument to human creativity and endeavor; maybe because it was the only place that took us back to Jesus' Jewish roots.

Churches still leave me cold, but in 25 years I've warmed to Jesus. So it’s a bit ironic meeting Melody again. "Back then, I loved the story about a God who loves us so much," she recalls. "I wanted it to be true, so I believed it." Now she's not sure if Jesus ever existed. Still, when she talks about churches and their stories, its with warmth. I guess she's just a warm person.

When we started the day on Mount Tabor, Melody explained that "transfiguration" is a change in perception, how someone is percieved, not a change in being. Jesus didn't take on a different form on the mountain, rather his disciples saw Him for who He is. For 25 years Melody had existed in my mind as the glowing, red hot follower of the Messiah. But Melody isn't a memory, and in the course of that day she was transfigured back into person. A person with a life, a human being who's on a journey and has yet to arrive. But for at least for now, I see her for who she is.

A lot of things change in the space of a life time, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that after 2000 years the Church that erupted with a simple, beautiful story about God's love has frozen solid into an icy institution carved by men. I don't think that Jesus has been transformed by the Church, but there has been a definite change in how He is presented and perceived.

Kind of like a transfiguration in reverse.

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