On the Road with Paul

Id like to continue our exploration of Paul by examining his

travels. Paul spent a great deal of time on the road: missionary
journey #1 (A.D. 46-48); missionary journey #2 (A.D. 50-52) and
missionary journey #3 (A.D. 54-57), as well as his journey to Rome and
his stay there (A.D. 57-62). A number of practical questions arise
concerning these journeys.
In many ways, travel in Pauls day was very similar to travel in
our day. Maritime trade flourished throughout the Mediterranean
world, and passenger travel by ship was commonplace. We see Paul
using ships for travel on his first missionary journey with Barnabas and
Mark (A.D. 46-48), sailing from Seleucia to Cyprus and from Paphos to
the port at Attalia, then upriver to Perge (Acts 13: 4, 13); at the end of
their journey Paul and Barnabas sail directly back from Attalia to their
home church at Antioch (Acts 14: 26). On the second missionary
journey (A.D. 50-52) Paul travels by ship from Troas to Neopolis (Acts 6:
11), from the harbor near Berea to Athens (Acts 17: 14-15), and finally
home from Cenchrea to Ephesus and on to Caesarea (Acts 18: 18-22).
On the third missionary journey (A.D. 54-57) Paul travels by land from
Antioch to Ephesus, the primary deep-water port on the west coast of

Asia Minor, but he returns to Jerusalem by ship, sailing from Assos to

Caesarea, making several stops for cargo and passengers along the
way (Acts 20: 13, 17; 21: 18). Finally, Paul makes his journey from
Caesarea to Rome (A.D. 58/59-60) entirely by ship, being shipwrecked
on the island of Malta along the way (Acts 27: 1-8: 14). In fact, Paul
traveled by ship so frequently that he tells us that he often had been
in danger at sea and that he had been shipwrecked three times, in
addition to the shipwreck on Malta (2 Corinthians 11: 25-26). Clearly,
Paul logged thousands of miles on board ships!

A Carthaginian Quinquereme, a common merchant ship of Pauls day.

And he traveled by foot, as well. The Romans had an

extraordinarily well-developed road system, which at its peak spanned
53,819 miles and contained 372 links. The roads were built of stone
laid on top of a deep roadbed of crushed stone to ensure adequate
drainage and runoff. By law, Roman roads had to measure at least
eight feet in width on the straightaway and sixteen feet in width on a
curve. Many major roads were much wider.

Roman road in Pompeii

Typically, people walked on the roads, while cargo was hauled on

carts powered by mules or donkeys. Milestones marked distance, and
they were placed at one-mile intervals (the English word mile comes
from the Latin milia passuum, one thousand paces, or roughly 1,500
meters). Carts could travel about fifteen miles per day, walkers
somewhat more, so the Roman government built way stations or
masiones (staying places) at 15-18 mile intervals. Often, small
villages or towns grew up around the way stations, offering private
lodging, dining and entertainment, as well as maintenance for carts
and animals.
Of course travel can be expensive, especially when you are on
the road as long as Paul was. Fortunately, the Roman Empire had a
banking system that accommodated travel and international
commerce. The system included professional bankers throughout the
Roman Empire who received and held deposits for an indefinite or fixed
term and then lent the funds to third parties, acting as a creditor. The
bankers functioned much like a guild, lobbying the government,
exerting political influence, and protecting their interests as a group.
Roman law regulated them, including who could enter the trade and
the interest rates they could charge. Not as developed and integrated
as the modern post-industrial financial system, Roman bankers were
more like small-scale entrepreneurs who worked behind a counter or in
a shop. They learned their trade through an apprenticeship and they
were obliged to respect the regulations that governed their trade. The

Roman road system enabled the bankers to work with one another
both locally and regionally, processing transactions as travel and trade
demanded. In many parts of the Middle East today, such informal
banking systems still exist. Ive used them myself in both Jerusalem
and Cairo.
Paul would certainly have had access to such a banking system,
but he probably didnt need it all that often, for he and his companions
could easily have carried cash. The smallest Roman currency of any
real value was the denarius and drachma, each equal to ones day
labor, and there were gold coins valued at twenty-five times the value
of the drachma/denarius.
Today we can economically travel through the U.S. on $35-50 per
day, staying in campgrounds, cooking our own meals and using public
transportation or walking. We know that Paul walked to many of his
destinations and he almost always stayed with friends once he arrived.
Therefore, the cost of his time in transit could easily have been
financed by half a days wages or less, as he stayed at way stations. If
Paul took several gold coins, and he used friends and the local
population for hospitality, his travels would require something on the
order of five gold coins for each year of travel for each person in his
group. Of course, such a plan could sometimes break down. Paul tells
us that at times he would be hungry and cold, going without sleep,
perhaps due to being robbed or simply running short on cash, in which
case he would use the services of the local bankers.
More difficult problems would arise when Paul encountered legal
difficulties, as he so often did. In Philippi during his second missionary
journey, Paul is arrested, flogged and imprisoned, and again in
Jerusalem he is arrested and about to be flogged. In both instances,
Paul asserts his rights as a Roman citizen. When he does, his legal
status instantly changes, for Roman citizens had considerable rights
under Roman law.
One might reasonably ask how Paul would prove his citizenship.
The Roman Empire of Pauls day was a hierarchical and classconscious society. In general, Roman society could be divided into two
categories: 1) the upper classes, which included the senatorial class
and the equestrian class and 2) the lower classes, which included the
commons, Latins, freedpeople and slaves.
The basis for the senatorial class was political, and it included all
men who served in the senate. Senators had to prove that they had
property worth at lease 1,000,000 sesterces; they collected no salary

for serving in the senate; and they were prohibited from engaging in
nonagricultural business, trade or public contracts. The basis for the
equestrian class was economic. An equestrian had to prove that he
had stable wealth (usually in the form of property) worth at least
400,000 sesterces.
Among the lower classes, the commons were all other freeborn
Roman citizens. They had the right to contract a legal marriage with
another Roman citizen, beget legitimate children who were also Roman
citizens, vote, and enjoy all the benefits of Roman law. The Latins were
freeborn citizens of Italy. Freedpeople were men and women who had
been slaves but who had bought their freedom or been freed by their
masters. When Philemon frees Onesimus, this is the category into
which he would fit. Finally, slaves were the property of their owners.
Roman slavery was not racially based. Typically, a person was sold into
slavery through war, piracy or financial difficulties. Although slaves
were the property of their owners, they could buy their freedom or be
granted it by their owner.
When Paul is asked by the Roman commander in Jerusalem, Tell
me, are you a Roman citizen? Paul answers, Yes, I am. To which the
commander replies, I had to pay a big price for my citizenship. And
Paul says, But I was born a citizen (Acts 22: 27-28). The Roman
commander had probably been a man captured in war and sold into
slavery, but who had bought his freedom and become a member of the
freedpeople; Paul, however, was born a Roman citizen and was
probably a member of the commons.
Since Roman citizenship carried such important legal rights as
the ability to enter into contracts, the right to a trial in the presence of
ones accusers, and the right to judicial appeal, Paul doubtless would
have carried evidence of his citizenship on his extensive travels
throughout the Empire.
The University of Michigans Papyrus Collection offers a sample
of such evidence. Among its collections is a wood and wax document
certifying the Roman citizenship of Marcus Cornelius Justus. Dating
from A.D. 103, the document originated in the Roman province of
Alexandria, Egypt, and it reads, in part: . . . [Cornelius] Justus, the son
of Marcus, whose census rating is 20 [thousand] sesterces, [registered]
in the monthly record as a Roman citizen [my son] Marcus Cornelius
Justus, born [. . .] Heras, daughter of Marcus, on the 4th day before the
ides of September past. The document measures 13.5 x 7.2 cm
(approximately 4 x 2 inches); it is durable; and it is portable.

University of Michigan
Papyrus Collection, Item #2737
[Reproduced by Permission.]

Although claiming to be a Roman citizen when one is not was a

grave offense under Roman law, Paul would certainly have carried a
document like this one, much as we carry a passport when we travel.
So, travel in Pauls day was not much different from travel in our
day. In our many teaching tours to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey,
Greece and Italy we encounter crowds at airports, security checks and
hospitality of various sorts (in our case, usually 5-star hotelsI
especially like the Inbal in Jerusalem and the Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul!);
we sometimes run short of cash; and we often have to produce
evidence of our citizenship.
Just like Paul.