At the northwest corner of the Temple Mount, Herod erected a massive fortress that he named the Antonia, in honor of Mark Antony (indicating that it was built before the battle of Actium in 31 B. C.E.). The fortress, which was garrisoned with gentile soldiers, sat on a natural high point overlooking the Temple Mount. Herod knew that he was not liked by the Jewish population, and he considered the masses of pilgrims on the Temple Mount as a source of potential unrest.
7.17 Lithostratos pavement. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.
The Antonia was a deterrent (message to the Jews: you are being watched!), and housed troops to quell any uprisings or trouble.
Although Josephus provides a description of the Antonia, its dimensions have been the subject of debate. Today, the area where the Antonia was located is bisected by a road called the Via Dolorosa, which runs parallel to the northern side of the Temple Mount. The Via Dolorosa (Italian for "Way of Sorrow") is so called because, according to Christian tradition, this is the route along which
Jesus carried his cross, beginning with his sentencing by Pontius Pilate and ending with his crucifixion and burial (now enshrined within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher). A convent called the Church of the Sisters of Zion lies along the north side of the Via Dolorosa today. During the construction of the convent in the late nineteenth century, a series of ancient remains came to light. The remains consist of large pools or cisterns called the Struthion (Greek for “sparrow") Pools, which are overlaid by a stone pavement (today identified as the Lithostratos pavement), and a monumental, triple-arched gateway sitting on top of the pavement (today called the arch of Ecce Homo). The pavement and arched gateway are identified with places where, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus was sentenced by Pontius Pilate and clothed with a purple robe and a crown of thorns:
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement (lithostratos). (John 19:13; NRSV)
So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man [ecce homo]!" (John 19:5; NRSV)
These remains were long thought to be part of the Antonia, with the pools used for water storage inside the fortress, the pavement belonging to an inner courtyard, and the arched gateway providing access to the fortress. If these remains were part of the Antonia, there would be no contradiction with Christian tradition, as the Antonia was built more than half a century before Jesus' death. However, scholars now agree that the Antonia was much smaller than previously thought, and did not extend to the area north of the Via Dolorosa, thereby excluding the remains in the Church of the Sisters of Zion. Furthermore, only the Struthion pools antedate 70 C. E., and they were located in an open moat outside the Antonia fortress. The arch and pavement were part of a forum that the emperor Hadrian established on this spot in the second century C. E. (see Chapter 13). The so-called Lithostratos pavement and arch of Ecce Homo cannot be identified with the places mentioned by John because they did not exist in the time of Jesus.
Today, the Via Dolorosa begins on the north side of the Temple Mount because, according to modern Christian tradition, this is where Jesus took up the cross after being sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate. In other words, modern Christian tradition identifies the Antonia as the place where Jesus was sentenced to death. However, the Gospel accounts mention the praetorium, not the Antonia: “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium" (Matt. 27:27). The praetorium — the palace of the Roman governor in Jerusalem — was Herod's palace, not the Antonia fortress. Therefore, Jesus was sentenced to death and took up the cross not in the area to the north of the Temple Mount,
7.18 Arch of Ecce Homo. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLandPictures. com.
But on the western side of the city. This means that the route walked by Jesus is different from the one walked by modern pilgrims (the Via Dolorosa). Today's route is based on a relatively late Christian tradition.
World History
