Caesarea Maritima (Greek: Parálios Kaisáreia, Παράλιος Καισάρεια) was one of four Roman colonies for veterans in the Syria-Phoenicia region created by the Roman Empire. The ancient Caesarea Maritima (or Caesarea Palestinae) city and harbor was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BC. The city had been populated through the late Roman and Byzantine era. Its ruins lie on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, about halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, on the site of Pyrgos Stratonos ("Straton's Tower").