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Sebastus

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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Secchi, Pablo Marini

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The port of CÆSAREA on the Mediterranean Sea. Cæsarea itself, which Herod hadmade an important seaport, received its name in honor of Julius Cæsar, while the harbor proper was called "Sebastus" as a tribute to the Emperor Augustus (Greek, Σεβαστός; Josephus, "Ant." 17:5, § 1; idem, "B. J." 1:31, § 3); the inscription "Cæsarea at the Port of Sebastus" appears on the coins of Nero. The city is called also simply Kαισαρεία Σεβάστη; but the name "Sebastus" is never found as the designation of an independent city. Consequently the phrase καισαρεῑς καὶ Σεβαστηνοί ("Ant." 19:9, § 1) does not denote "the inhabitants of Cæsarea and Sebastus," as Grätz ("Gesch." 4th ed., 3:353) assumed, but the civil population of Cäsarea and the military troops, which latter were called "Sebasteni."