Christian History Home > Issue 47 > On the Road With Paul
On the Road With Paul
The ease—and dangers—of travel in ancient world.
Edwin M. Yamauchi is professor of history at Miami (Ohio) University. He is co-author (with Richard Pierard and Robert Clouse) of The Two Kingdoms: The Church and Culture Throughout the Ages (Moody, 1993). | posted 7/01/1995 12:00AM
The first two centuries of the Christian era were great days for a traveler, writes historian Lionel Casson: “He could make his way from the shores of the Euphrates to the border between England and Scotland without crossing a foreign frontier.… He could sail through any waters without fear of pirates, thanks to the emperor’s patrol squadrons. A planned network of good roads gave him access to all major centers, and the through routes were policed well enough for him to ride them with relatively little fear of bandits.”
Because of the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) of Emperor Augustus (27 B.C. – A.D. 14), such conditions prevailed when Paul traveled the Roman world. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (d. about 135) declared, “There are neither wars nor battles, nor great robberies nor piracies, but we may travel at all hours, and sail from east to west.”
New Testament archaeologist W.M. Ramsay concludes, “The Roman roads were probably at their best during the first century after Augustus had put ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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