Moshe Hartal in Stern et al. (2008) notes that the town aqueduct “apparently continued to function until the fifth century,” but in the second half of that century “the city underwent a major crisis, the cause of which is unknown, and was greatly reduced in size.” At this time, the aqueduct fell out of use and “the northwestern suburb was abandoned.”

This crisis is illuminated by archaeological discoveries in the city center. Wilson (2004:110) reports that excavations revealed “one rather dramatic and poignant discovery” — a 3.5 m-wide street running parallel to the Cardo Maximus, 25 m east of it, whose flanking buildings, dating to the Byzantine period, “had fallen victim to a huge fire.” These buildings, mostly shops or workshops, contained “large numbers of crushed storage jars, jugs, bowls, vessels of glass, tools (including a set of scales) and many coins,” all dating to the fourth and fifth centuries. The destruction appears to have been so severe that “nothing was rebuilt where they had stood until medieval times,” and Wilson speculates that if the city authorities had been able, “they would have cleared this disfiguring ruin from their city’s centre.”

Further details on this destruction, known as the “Burnt Street” (Stratum IV), are provided by Vassilios Tzaferis in Stern et al. (2008). He describes a north–south street, about 3.5 m wide, aligned parallel to the cardo and lying directly beneath the northern wall and main entrance of the medieval citadel. This street, probably a late phase of an earlier Roman thoroughfare, was flanked by shops or workshops and a public building with water installations — possibly a bathhouse — on its western side. Excavations uncovered “crushed storage jars, jugs, juglets, bowls, glass vessels, various tools (including copper scales), and numerous coins” sealed beneath “a thick layer of dense ash.” All of these artefacts are characteristic of the fourth and early fifth centuries CE.

The destruction layer associated with this complex is significant archaeologically. The ash-covered assemblage, sealed beneath collapsed debris, demonstrates a sudden and catastrophic end to activity on this street in the second half of the fifth century CE. Although the precise cause is uncertain — with hypotheses including a localized fire, a large conflagration, or a regional disaster such as an earthquake — the scale of destruction, abrupt abandonment, and absence of rebuilding until the medieval period all point to a major event that effectively ended urban occupation in this part of the city. Combined with the cessation of aqueduct use and the abandonment of the northwestern suburb described by Hartal, the Phase IV “Burnt Street” destruction horizon marks a pivotal moment in the contraction of the settlement at Banias (Caesarea Philippi) during Late Antiquity.