Cæsarea] built by Herod the Great on the site of an insignificant town called Strato's Tower, and renamed Caesarea Augusta in honour of his patron Augustus. There was a theatre, an amphitheatre, a royal palace, and a temple containing images of Augustus and of Rome. The majority of the inhabitants were Greek, but Jews enjoyed equal rights. At this time Cæsarea was the capital of the Roman province, and the residence of the governor.
Cornelius, a centurion] A legion consisted of about 6,000 men, and was divided into ten cohorts, each commanded by a tribune (or chiliarch, see Acts 21:31). A cohort was divided into six centuries, each commanded by a centurion. Centurions were men who had risen from the ranks, and were therefore, as a rule, men of capacity and good character: cp. Luke 7:5.
The Italian band] rather, 'cohort.' In the smaller provinces legions were not stationed, and therefore St. Luke is doubtless right in saying that there was only a cohort of Roman soldiers at Cæsarea. The men were recruited in Italy, and were probably Roman citizens.