The coastal plain, or Paralia as it was known since the Hellenistic period, did not have a Jewish majority. With the exception of a brief period of Hasmonean rule, Herod's reign, and Agrippa's brief reign, the region was not under Jewish rule for the most of the Second Temple period. The coast was home to mostly Hellenistic-pagan settlements during Josephus' day, some of which were particularly significant from an economic, cultural, and political standpoint. Joppa was the only Jewish city on the coast and remained so up until the First Jewish-Roman war (66–73 CE), when there were significant Jewish minorities in Caesarea and Jamnia, and to a lesser degree, in Ascalon and Ptolemais and other settlements along the coast.
