Caesarea, Councils of

Caesarea, Councils Of.

Several councils have been held at this place. The most important are, I, in 334, an Arian council, against Athanasius; 2, in 358, in which Cyril (q.v.). bishop of Jerusalem, was deposed. Smith, Tables of Church Hist.; Landon, Manual of Councils.

2. CAESARCA PHILIPPI, or "Cesarea of Philip" (Καισάρεια ἡ Φιλίππου, so Joseph. Ant. 20:8, 4; War, 3:8, 7; 2, 1; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 7:17), as having been in later times much enlarged and beautified by Philip the tetrarch (Joseph. Ant. 18:2, 1; War, 2:9, 1), who called it Caesarea in honor of Tiberius the emperor, adding the cognomen of Philippi to distinguish it from Ceesarea of Palestine. It was also known as CESAREA- PANEAS (Καισάρεια Πανεάς or Πανιάς, Joseph. Ant. 18:2, 3; War, 2:9, 1; Ptolemy, 5:15, 21; Pliny, 5:15, 15; Sozomen, 5:21; on coins, K. ὑπὸ Πανείῳ or πρὸς Πανείω; in Steph. Byz. incorrectly πρὸς τῇ Πανειάδι), or simply Panias (Πανεάς, Πανιάς, or Πανειάς, Hierocl. p. 716), its original name (Joseph. Ant. 15:10, 3; comp. Pliny, 5:15; IHavatg in Cedren. p. 305; Samar. פניאס); from the adjoining mountain Panius (Πάνιον or Πανεῖον), which, with the spring therein, was dedicated to the heathen Pan (Philostorg. 7:3), and which latter name has alone been retained in the present name Banias (Burckhardt, 1:90; comp. Targ. Jonath. on Nu 34:11); being, according to many, no other than the early LAISH SEE LAISH (q.v.) of Dan (Jg 18:7,29), or LESHEM SEE LESHEM (Jos 19:47; comp. Theodoret, Quecst. in Judic. 26). Caesarea Philippi is mentioned only in the first two Gospels (Mt 16:13; Mr 8:27), and in accounts of the same transactions. The story of the early Christian writers that the woman healed of the issue of blood, and supposed to have been named Berenice, lived at this place, rests on no foundation (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 7:18; Sozom. 5:21; Theophan. Chronogr. 41; Phot. Cod. 271, p. 823). SEE SHEPHAM.

This city lay about 120 miles north from Jerusalem, and a day and a half's journey from Damascus, at the springs of the Jordan, and near the foot of Isbel Shrik, or the Prince's Mount, a lofty branch of Lebanon, forming in that direction the boundary between Palestine and Syria Proper. Here Herod the Great erected a temple to Augustus (Joseph. Ant. 15:10, 3; ccmp. War, 1:21, 3). Panium became part of the territory of Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, who enlarged and embellished the town, and called it Caesarea Philippi, partly after his own name and partly after that of the emperor (Ant. 18:2, 1; War, 2:9, 1). Agrippa II followed in the same course of flattery, and called the place Nercnias (Ant. 20:9, 4). Josephus seems to imply (Life, 13) that many heathens resided here. Titus exhibited gladiatorial shows at Caesarea Philippi after the downfall of Jerusalem, in which the Jewish prisoners were compelled to fight like gladiators, and numbers perished in the inhuman contests (War, 7:2, 1). The old name was not lost. Coins of Caesarea Paneas continued through the reigns of many emperors. Under the simple name of Paneas it was the seat of a Greek bishopric in the period of the great councils (the second bishop being present at the Council of Nicc, and the last at the Council of Chalcedon in 451), and of a Latin bishopric of Phoenicia during subsequent Christian occupancy, when it was called B-Inas. "During the Crusades," says Dr. Robinson, "it was the scene of various changes and conflicts. It first came into the possession of the Christians in 1129, along with the fortress on the adjacent mountain, being delivered over to them by its Israelite governor, after their unsuccessful attempt upon Damascus in behalf of that sect. The city and castle were given as a fief to the Knight Rayner Brus. 'In 1132, during the absence of Rayner, Banias was taken, after a short assault, by the Sultan Ismail of Damascus. It was recaptured by the Franks, aided by the Damascenes themselves. In 1139 the temporal control was restored to Rayner Brus, and the city made a Latin bishopric, under the jurisdiction of the ArchBishop of Tyre" (Researches, 3:360).

The site is still called Eanias, the first name having here, as in other cases, survived the second. It has now dwindled into a paltry and insignificant village, whose mean and destitute condition contrasts strikingly with the rich and luxuriant character of the surrounding country. Yet many remains of ancient architecture are found in the neighborhood, bearing testimony to the former grandeur of the place, although it is difficult to trace the site of the splendid temple erected here in honor of Augustus. The place itself is remarkable in its physical and picturesque characteristics, as well as in its historical associations. It was at the easternmost and most important of the two recognized sources of the Jordan, the other being at Tell el-Kady. The spring rises, and the city was built, on a limestone terrace in a valley at the base of Mount Hermon. On the north-east side of the present village, the river, held to be the principal source of the Jordan, issues from a spacious cavern under a wall of rock. Around this source are many hewn stones. In the face of the cliff, directly over the cavern and in other parts, several niches have been cut, apparently to receive statues. Each of these niches had once an inscription; and one of them, copied by Burckhardt, appears to have been a dedication by a priest of Pan. The situation is unique, combining in an unusual degree the elements of grandeur and beauty. It nestles in its recess at the southern base of the mighty Hermon, which towers in majesty to an elevation of 7000 or 8000 feet above. The abundant waters of the glorious fountain spread over the terrace luxuriant fertility and the graceful interchange of copse, lawn, and waving fields (Robinson, Later Bib. Res. p. 404).

About three miles north-east of Banias are the re. mains of an immense ancient castle, covering one of the spurs of Lebanon, about fifteen hundred feet above the plain and city. It is enclosed by walls of immense strength and thickness, and must have been an almost impregnable fortress. It is of Saracenic architecture; but many of the fine bevelled stones with which the noble round towers are constructed must have belonged to a far more ancient edifice. This castle received the name of es-Subeibeh about the time of the Crusades, perhaps from the half-gipsy Arab tribe of the same name that still inhabit the vicinity. A short distance east of this castle there is a very ancient ruin, surrounded by a thick grove of venerable oaks. There are also ruins west of Banias, consisting of columns, capitals, and foundations of buildings, together with canals that formerly conveyed the water of the brook now crossed by a stone bridge. Above the fountain are Greek inscriptions in the rock, confirming the testimony of Josephus that Agrippa adorned Banias with royal liberality, and also sustaining the ancient statements that the fountain was held sacred to Pan (Biblioth. Sacra, 1846, p. 194). See Reland, Palcest. p. 918 sq.; Eckhel, Doctr. Numbers 3:339 sq.; Burckhardt, Syria, p. 37 sq.; Buckingham, 2:314 sq.; Thomson, Land: and Book, 1:344 sq.; Schwarz, Palest. p. 144; Mod. Traveller, p. 327 sq., Am. ed.; Bamlmer, Palast. p. 215; Wilson, Lands of Bible, 2:175 sq.; Porter, Damascus, 1:307 sq.