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Roman Dor
Historical Outline
The recorded history of Dor under Roman rule starts in 63 B.C.E. when it is mentioned in a list of towns granted autonomy by Pompeius (Josephus, Antiquities XIV 4:4). Though the town must have been inhabited continuously, geographical treatises of the mid-first century C.E. refer to it as abandoned (e.g., Pliny, Historia Naturalis V:17) or neglect to mention it at all. Dor is mentioned in connection with an incident of religious repression of the gentile population against the local Jewish minority in 41 C.E. (Josephus, Antiquities XIX 6:3). From this source it may be inferred that Dor was part of the province of Syria, rather than of Judea. During the great Jewish revolt of 66 - 70 C.E. the Romans kept Jewish hostages at Dor, which they must have regarded as a safe haven from the rebels (Josephus, Life VIII). It is noted both by Pausanias and Claudios Ptolemaios in the second century C.E. as one of the ports of Phoenicia. A dedicatory inscription to a Roman governor of Syria dated 119-132 C.E. corroborates that the town was part of that province. Dor is never mentioned in any historical document again as a city and both Eusebius (273 - 340 C.E.) and St. Jerome (390 C.E.) refer to it as ruined.
The coins provide a complementary source for the fortunes of the town at that time - both those found at the site and coins minted at Dor and found elsewhere. This evidence reveals two periods of great economic activity - a short one just following the re-establishment of the town by Pompeius (63 to c. 33 B.C.E.), and a much more vigorous and sustained one from 64 C.E. to the Severan period. The last known coins to be minted at Dor are dated to 211/212 C.E. As for coins found at Dor - though they span the entire Roman period, they are especially numerous from c. 60 C.E. to about 235. Coins from after the mid-third century are rare, and are almost invariably surface finds. From all of the above it can be deduced that the decline of urban occupation on the tell should be placed at about 230 C.E.
Compared to other Roman cities, Dor was a small provincial town. In particular, it is overshadowed by its nearest neighbor, Caesarea. Indeed, the building of an artificial deep water harbor there by Herod the Great starting 37 B.C.E. may have been the beginning of the end for Dor. Although Caesarea was in another province (Judea, later renamed Provincia Palaestina) there just was no economic justification for two major harbors just 15 KM (10 miles) apart. The modern port facilities in Caesarea won out.
It should not be inferred, however, that Roman remains are missing at Dor. Indeed, in this period the town reached its greatest extent. The Hellenistic walls around the tell were disused early in the period, and the town spread to the plain below, reaching a size of some 15 hectares (vs. nearly 100 hectares of Caesarea at its widest extent). It had every amenity Roman citizens were accustomed to, including mosaics and frescos in some of its wealthy homes, paved streets, public squares, running water brought by an aqueduct from Bir Tata in the Carmel hills, a central sewage system, at least one bath-house, a theatre, and impressive temples to the city gods.
Archaeological results
Area A
Local phase 1: meager remains - section of Persian- Roman street I leading from area B to area C.
Area B2
Local phases 1-2 (strata I-II):
This area was almost exclusively concerned with the Roman period.
Large tracts of the entrance to the [upper] city and regions to the west and south
of it were uncovered.
In this period, the mound was unfortified. As the city had grown by then to
incorporate a lower town beyond the tell, such a fortification would have been
superfluous. Over the old
Hellenistic wall and gate a wide, open 'piazza' was built. Several column drums found on the
pavement may indicate a colonnade around this piazza - much like
the entrance to contemporary Gerasa. Two of the main streets of the
city intersect in this piazza. 'Street I' leads from the piazza
northwards, and was followed through areas
B1,
A and
C. On the opposite (south)
end of the piazza, the same street continues toward the southern harbor.
At the west end of the piazza starts the main E-W street, or
decumanus of the city. The
same street was traced through to area G,
in the center of the mound, where it intersected by the main N-S street - the
cardo, and probably went all the way to the main gate of the temple in
area F.
South of the gate piazza, and east of street I, was found a large Peristyle house.
Wheelmarks in the wide entryway to this structure indicate that carts or chariots were
driven from the street into the peristyle and vice versa.
Thus this structure may have been used as an inn or perhaps as barracks. Opposite it,
on the west side of the street, are foundations to a very similar structure.
To the latter structure was added, in phase 1, another peristyle (or perhaps a
basilical hall) with an opus-sectile floor. Finally, at the
intersection of street I
with the decumanus, was a long structure that might have been a stoa.
Also remarkable for this area are the various Roman water-systems.
Just south of the city-gate and piazza was the terminus of an aqueduct. It brought
fresh water from springs at Bir Tata, some 12 km. to the east, in the Wadi Milh pass
through the Carmel range.
At the terminus is a solid concrete foundation, possibly for a 'Castelum'
(water-tower) - from which water was distributed throughout the city
in clay pipes. Also found, underneath the decumanus, was the
central sewer (Cloaca Maxima) draining out of the city.
Area C
Strata I-II (local phases C0/2, C1/1, C2/2a-c): These mark the last use of the three insulae. The two streets - street I, between C0 and C1 (traced through areas A B and C) and street II, between insulae C0 and C2 - were paved and connected to a central drainage system. A section of the lower city at the foot of the mound also dates to this period.
Area D1
Local phase 1: probably consisted of residential insulae, though not much remained beyond foundations. Some plastered pools suggest some sort of water-related industries in some of the rooms. The southernmost E-W street, with its sewer, crossed the area and continued eastwards to area D2. Many sculpted architectural elements belonging to earlier (i.e. Hellenistic) edifices were found reused in the walls of this phase.
Area D2
Local phases 1-2: Two phases of house remains, comprising parts of three
insulae, criss-crossed by
two streets - the southernmost E-W street, and the main N-S street,
the cardo which bisects the town, leading from the southern
harbor to area G.
One insula (the southwestern one) seems to be occupied by elegant
residences, some with mosaic floors.
In the northeast insula (the main excavation area), a residential
structure seems to be replaced by a larger, more public one. The third
insula (the southeastern one) has
industrial installations of indeterminate use.
Area E
The main find in this area is a Roman bathhouse.
Area F
Phases 1-2: Our investigations have shown that far from Garstang's attribution of precinct F to early Hellenistic times, the construction of the precinct dates late in the Roman period. An early Roman street (phase 2) with residential insulae on either side, is replaced in phase 1 with the monumental construction of the temple precinct and its approaches.
While molded architectural fragments found in the precinct and around it permit the reconstruction of the order (Ionic) and size of the structure, the only in situ walls belong to the sub-structure of the building. Thus any reconstruction of it would be conjectural. Garstang's conception of it, however, as a south-facing prostyle temple on a high podium, cannot be reconciled with present evidence.
The main structure appears to be a three-sided podium, connected to the tell on its eastern (long) side, but towering over the rocky beach on the north, south and west. A perambulatory passage around this podium, on a lower level, could be reached via a system of staircases and retaining walls on the south and north edges. A possible reconstruction is as a Levantine-style open-air sanctuary (bamah), perhaps surrounded by stoas on three sides.
Area G
Local phases 1-2: Immediately below the surface, excavation hit an extensive stone pavement of a wide open piazza dating to the Roman period, which marks the intersection of the cardo leading from here to area D2 and the decumanus, which was traced from here to area B. Towards the west, it is aligned with the central entrance to the temenos in area F. Nothing has remained of the superstructure of buildings around this piazza, but massive cement foundations indicate large structures (perhaps colonnades) around it.
Area H
Phases 1-2: As in other areas, two Roman phases were
found. As in area F,
it is the later of the two that the temple podium belongs with. None of the
superstructure for this phase (1) remains. It consists of constructional fills and
a series of foundations/retaining walls associated with the approach to temple H.
Buried under the entry-ramp to the temple is the earlier Roman insula, consisting of
shops and apparently well-to-do residences. Built on the western slope of the mound,
right above the beach, and completely buried by the massive filling operations of the
temple podium, their preservation is extraordinary - the western half of the building
stands two stories high.