Marinus of Caesarea

Marinus of Caesarea was a Roman soldier and a Christian martyr.

Life

A soldier in a Roman legion, Marinus was promoted to the position of centurion. Before he was able to assume the post, a rival claimed that before a centurion could accept the post, he was to offer a sacrifice to the emperor, according to ancient law. Marinus, who until that point was a secret Christian, professed his true faith, and explained that it prevented him from offering this sacrifice. Marinus was then given three hours to change his decision. He went to a local church to speak with the bishop, who went by the name of Theotecnus. After meditating on the Gospels, Marinus returned to the legion and refused to make the sacrifice. He was then beheaded.

After his death

The remains of Marinus were buried by a Roman senator, Asterius of Caesarea.

References

Caesarea

Caesarea (Hebrew: קֵיסָרְיָה, Kesariya; Arabic: قيسارية‎, Qaysaria; Greek: Καισάρεια) is a town in Israel located mid-way between Tel Aviv and Haifa (45 km), on the Israeli coastal plain near the city of Hadera. Modern Caesarea as of December 2007 had a population of 4,500 people. It is the only Israeli locality managed by a private organization, the Caesarea Development Corporation, and also one of the most populous localities not recognized as a local council. It lies under the jurisdiction of the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council.

The town was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as the port city Caesarea Maritima. It served as an administrative center of Judaea Province of the Roman Empire, and later the capital of the Byzantine Palaestina Prima province during the classic period. Following the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, in which it was the last city to fall to the Arabs, the city had an Arab majority until Crusader conquest. It was abandoned after the Mamluk conquest. It was re-populated in 1884 by Bosniak immigrants, who settled in a small fishing village. In 1940, kibbutz Sdot Yam was established next to the village. In February 1948 the village was conquered by a Palmach unit commanded by Yitzhak Rabin, its people already having fled following an attack by the Stern Gang. In 1952, a Jewish town of Caesarea was established near the ruins of the old city, which were made into the national park of Caesarea Maritima.

Caesarea (disambiguation)

Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title "Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire :