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On the Road and on the Sea with St. Paul

Travelling conditions in the first century

By Jerome Murphy-O’Connor

In the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that Paul made three missionary journeys. In almost every introduction to the New Testament I have seen, the author discusses St. Paul’s journeys in terms of places and dates; his concern is to establish the location of the cities Paul visited and to fix the exact time he visited them. But when Paul himself speaks of his travels he emphasizes, not the “where” or the “when,” but the “how.” For instance, in defending himself against attacks on his authority in the church of Corinth, Paul writes: “Three times I have […]

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Footnotes

1.

Except for Tarsus, these towns are not mentioned in the Bible. But at the time the Bordeaux pilgrim lived, they existed along the route Paul took.

Endnotes

1.

See in particular Fergus Millar. “The World of the Golden Ass,” Journal of Roman Studies 71 (1981) pp. 63–75.

2.

J. Murphy-O’Connor, “Pauline Journeys Before the Jerusalem Conference,” Revue Biblique 89 (1982) pp. 71–91. This table is based on the calculations presented in Robert Jewett, A Chronology of Paul’s Life (philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979). pp. 59–61.

3.

Cf. R. Jewett, op. cit, p. 138, note 54.

4.

Except for minor modifications, the translation is that of G. C. Stead in E. Hennecke-W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, 2 (London Lutterworth Press, 1965), pp. 243–244.

5.

Op. cit., p. 122.

6.

Cf. G. P. Burton, “Proconsuls, Assizes and Administration of Justice Under the Empire,” Journal of Roman Studies 65 (1975) pp. 92–106.

7.

The description of Lucian in Navigium, 5 is cited by Casson, op cit, pp.158–159.

8.

On this whole question see Lionel Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World (Princeton University Press, 1971).