The Rome of Paul’s Day

Rome has many different faces, there is:

• The Classical Age (Think: Early Ceasars) that dates from 700 BC to 600 CE
• Medieval Times or the “Dark Ages” from 476- 1453 CE
• The Renaissance from 1300-1600 CE
• Baroque Period (Think: Versailles) that follows The Renaissance from 1600-1750 CE

This tour is for the Rome as the Apostle Paul would have seen it during his travels to Rome during his first and second missionary tours. This was considered the Classical Period of Rome. At Acts 25:6-12 Paul appeals to Ceasar when the Jews try to kill him. “Then Festus, after speaking with the assembly of counselors, replied: “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you will go.”

Paul is brought by ship from Jerusalem to Italy but experiences shipwreck in Malta in route! (Acts 28:1-12) Acts 28:1 says “After we made it to safety, we learned that the island was called Malta”. Finally he arrives at the port in Puteoli (Near Naples) Acts 28:13 says “A day later a south wind sprang up and we made it into Pu·teʹo·li on the second day. 14 Here we found brothers and were urged to remain with them for seven days, and so we went toward Rome”

From here he begins his journey along the Appian way from Naples to Rome. The brothers came to meet him on the Appia at the 12 taverns and the marketplace. Acts 28:15 says “ From there the brothers, when they heard the news about us, came as far as the Marketplace of Apʹpi·us and Three Taverns to meet us. On catching sight of them, Paul thanked God and took courage“. Paul finally arrives in Rome in 59 CE and possibly remained there until 61 CE.

What would Paul have seen as he entered Rome? What monuments would Paul have walked past in his day that we can still see today? When Paul first entered Rome he would have walked down the Appia Way through the arches that lead to the area we now refer to as the Roman Forum. Acts 28:16 says “ When finally we entered Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself with the soldier guarding him”

You may enjoy taking an “arm chair” tour through the City tour of Rome on Paul’s day by accessing this link: https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/#media/45/1/1001072172

This is the route we tried to follow from the Colosseum and Roman Forum to these points mentioned in the video:

• Via Appia
• Circus Maximus
• Palatine Hill
• Roman Forum
• Theater Marcello
• Portico d’Ottavia
• Forum Boario
• Tiber River
• Pantheon

If you are planning a trip to Rome, why not type each of these locations into your google maps and take yourself on a “Paul’s Day Self-guided tour” It’s like being on location “treasure hunt”!

As you heard on the video, when Paul entered Rome he would not have seen the Colosseum because it was not built yet. It would just be a few years later that Vespasian would begin construction on the Colosseum with the loot captured from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. 

Paul would have seen the Circus Maximus, Palentine Hill, The Temple of Julius Ceasar, the Pantheon, the Tiber River with its bridges, the markets and theaters. This is the Rome we will concentrate on today, the Rome of Paul’s day.

The oldest monuments and artifacts you will find in Rome are Pagan temples. Usually a church will be built on top of the ruins and columns of pagan temples. These are the things Paul would have seen. Down the middle of the Forum you will see the Temple of Saturn, this pagan temple that worshipped the sun is the oldest monument in the Roman forum. You will also see the “mile marker” as was placed in the forum by Augustus Ceasar. Referred to as the Miliarium Aureum, It confirms the statement that “All roads lead to Rome”. All roads were considered to begin at this monument and all distances in the Roman Empire were measured by their distance to it. 

Palatine Hill is the center of Ancient Rome, Augustus had a palace here and future Ceasars expounded on it. It sits directly above the Roman Forum with views of the Forum in one side and Circus Maximus in the other. This is a great place to see the Forum from up above and identify the Temple of Saturn. This self guided tour skips the lines and the price of admission, it’s absolutely free for both the “arm chair” traveler and those who will be visiting Rome and standing in these exact locations just as Paul did!

Today Circus Maximus just looks like a big grassy field, in fact you may just walk right past it without realizing what you are seeing! It’s much easier to zoom by these buildings overhead like in the video than navigating the city streets on foot. We pass by so many interesting things we end up getting distracted by all of the amazing buildings and monuments that we forget to focus on what we are here to see, the Rome Paul would have seen!

So next on our list was the Theaters, we located the Teatro Marcello, as seen in the video. It really looks like a “little Coloseum” and was used in Paul’s day to entertain the people with debates, plays and musical performances. But as the video said, these were often immoral and violent.

The Rome of Paul’s time would have had 1 million people living in apartment buildings including a large Jewish community. This area of Teatro Marcello is near the Jewish Ghetto. This is the area that Paul would most likely have spent his time. Acts 28:17, 23, 30 says “ I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans…They now arranged for a day to meet with him, and they came in even greater numbers to him in his lodging place. And from morning to evening, he explained the matter to them by bearing thorough witness concerning the Kingdom of God, to persuade them about Jesuso from both the Law of Mosesp and the Prophets.q….³⁰  So he remained there for an entire two years in his own rented house,v and he would kindly receive all those who came to him,”

Several books of the Bible were written here in this Jewish quarter in Rome during this period including Acts (from Luke), Mark (from Mark), Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews, Philemon (all written by Paul)

As the video pointed out, the Jews living in Rome during the time of Paul’s visit would likely have been in Jerusalem on Pentecost 33 CE and heard Peter speak. Acts 2:5,10 says “At that time devout Jews from every nation under heaven were staying in Jerusalem…Phrygʹi·a and Pam·phylʹi·a, Egypt and the regions of Libʹy·a near Cy·reʹne, sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,”

From the account in Acts chapter two we know that the Jews would had traveled from all over to gather for the festival of Pentecost.

Try to locate Portico d’Ottavia on your google maps. This will guide you in walking around Teatro Marcello, getting great views of the Rome in Paul’s day. This monument of Portico d’Ottavia dates back to sometime after 27 BC. It was built by Augustus and enclosed the temples of Jupiter and Juno Regina. It survived two fires (80 CE, 203 CE) and an earthquake in 442 CE.

From the Portico d’Ottavia you can directly access Teatro Marcello, the “small Colosseum”. Space for the theatre was cleared by Julius Caesar, who was murdered before its construction could begin; it was completed in 13 BC and formally inaugurated in 12 BC by Augustus, named after his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus who had died in 23 BC.

As you look at all of these ancient ruins, notice how all of them seem several meters below the roads you walk on today. This is because later centuries of people would build directly in top of the buried Roman ruins. Picture the people of medieval times and Renaissance building their homes on top of the ruins, thus raising the ground level to where it is today.

Depending on the time of day you will be arriving in Rome and taking in these sites, you may be needing a break and maybe you are ready for lunch! If so, this area of Rome is one of the best for good restaurants. In fact, you may just stumble on a row of restaurants that are spilling outside on the streets creating the perfect look of Rome that you have been dreaming of!

This is the time to seize the moment and sit down for a glass of wine, a plate of pasta carbonara or cacio e pepe. These are Roman specialties and shouldn’t be missed! A great side dish to try is the Jewish style artichoke. it’s fried and looks like a chrysanthemum and it is delicious! Among the choices of restaurants are: Taverna del ghetto, Nonna Betta, Giggetto al Portico d’Ottavia and Sora Margherita. A friend of mine recommended Trattoria da Enzo al 29 for this district but I didn’t have a chance to try it. If it’s open when you are there, give it a try for local food!

Now that you have had a little break, you are ready for the next stop on our tour: Forum Boario (Boarium) and forum Olitorio, these are ancient markets that sold animals and vegetables and are located between the pagans temples. At 1 Corinthians 8:1,4,7-11 we read Paul’s council about eating animals sacrificed to idols.

Now that really comes alive when we see these marketplaces so close to the temples, it would have been a commercial and religious center for the Pagan people, close to the Jewish community and the newly converted Christian community. They would need to exercise good judgement on eating the food being sold at the market. Had it been sacrificed to idols? If so, how would it affect their brothers if they ate from it? It may not have bothered Paul because he was from a Jewish background. But what about the newly converted Romans coming from a Pagan background? Maybe it could offend them (1 Cor 10:25-28).

Last on our tour is the Tiber River. Yes, this mighty river would also have been here in Paul’s day. Notice the island in the middle of the river, this is Tiber Island also known as “Medicine Island”. Before Paul’s day, in 293 BC, there was a plague in Rome and a pagan temple dedicated to the Greek god of medicine was built on the island. This is the temple of Aesculapius, and this is what Paul would have seen when he gazed across the Tiber River.

The bridges that you see were either already built in Paul’s time like the Ponte Cestio which only has a few original parts. Or the Ponte Fabricio that was under construction while Paul was there in 62 CE. It is the oldest bridge in Rome in its entirety that is still in use today. Later, in 998 CE, Emperor Otto had a church built on the ruins of the pagan temple. In 1584 a hospital was built on the island, so it is still considered a “medicine island”, a nod to its pagan roots.

Philippians 1:12-14 Tells us that Paul’s prison bonds actually helped the furtherance of the good news in Rome. During his final visit to Rome in 65 CE, he was finally killed at the hands of Nero. Second Timothy was the only one book that he wrote during his last short stay in Rome before he died under Neros hand. At 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul said “I have run the race to its finish”.

Island of medicine and the oldest bridge in Rome