The ancient city of Кейсария was built by King Ирод Великий primarily as an expression of gratitude to the Roman emperor Октавиан Август for returning to the Jews the lands they had previously lost. Therefore, almost everything in Кейсария was made in the Roman style, according to Roman standards and architectural canons.
During excavations carried out here in the 20th century, walls, streets, a theater, a palace, a hippodrome, and other structures were uncovered, which once formed the unique architectural ensemble of a majestic city.
When visiting Кейсария on a tour, you cannot help but notice the paved square where the remains of two gigantic statues - one of marble and one of porphyry - are displayed. These statues were discovered in 1951 completely by accident: local tractor drivers literally stumbled upon them.
The statues have no heads, and there is a particular reason for that. The fact is that they were installed in honor of Roman emperors, and those changed one another in office quite often. Constantly erecting new monuments was too expensive, so their heads were simply removed and replaced with new ones bearing the likeness of the next emperor. Such frugal rationalism in art led to the heads ultimately being lost. Nevertheless, even without heads, the elements of the sculptures look quite impressive.
