Antipatris

Antipatris was a city rebuilt by Herod the Great on an ancient site and named in honor of his father Antipater. Located at the foot of the Judean hills where the coastal plain begins, on the road from Jerusalem northward to Caesarea Maritima, it occupied a strategically important position controlling passage between the hill country and the coast. The site is associated with ancient Aphek and the modern location of Ras el-Ain.

Antipatris appears in the New Testament in the account of Paul's transfer under military escort from Jerusalem to Caesarea for his hearing before the procurator Felix (Acts 23:31). The soldiers accompanying Paul traveled through the night to reach Antipatris and then returned to Jerusalem, while the cavalry continued with Paul to Caesarea. The city thus appears in a single but vivid biblical episode as a way-station on one of the most important roads in Roman Palestine.