the memory of Tiberius, that its cliffs still seem to rise from the blue waters as a monument of hideous vice in the midst of the fairest scenes of nature. The opposite boundary was the promontory of Misenum, where one of the imperial fleets' lay at anchor under the shelter of the islands of Ischia and Procida. In the intermediate space the Campanian coast curves round in the loveliest forms, with Vesuvius as the prominent feature of the view. But here one difference must be marked between St. Paul's day and our own. The angry Leighbour of Naples was not then an un sleeping volcano, but a green and sunny background to the bay, with its westward slope covered with vines. No one could have suspected that the time was so near, when the admiral of the fleet at Misenum would be lost in its fiery eruption; and little did the Apostle dream, when he looked from the vessel's deck across the bay to the right, that a ruin, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, hung over the fair cities at the base of the mountain, and that the Jewish princess, who had so lately conversed with him in his prison at Cæsarea, would find her tomb in that ruin, with the child she had borne to Felix. By this time the vessel was well within the island of Capreæ and the promontory of Minerva, and the idlers of Puteoli were already crowding to the pier to watch the arrival of the Alexandrian corn-ship. So we may safely infer from a vivid and descriptive letter preserved among the correspondence of the philosopher Seneca. He says that all ships, on rounding into the bay within the above-mentioned island and promontory, were obliged to strike their topsail, with the exception of the Alexandrian corn-vessels, which were thus easily recognised, as soon as they hove in sight; and then he proceeds to moralise on the gathering and crowding of the people of Puteoli, to watch these vessels coming in. Thus we are fur The fleet of the "Upper Sea" was stationed at Ravenna, of the "Lower" at Misenum. "Hic est pampineis viridis modo Vesuvius umbris.”—Mart. iv. 44. "Vesvia rura."-Colum. x. "Vineta Vesevi."-Auson. Idyll. x. See Lucr. vi. 747. Virg. Georg. ii. 224. Strabo (v. 24) describes the mountain as very fertile at its base, though its summit was barren, and full of apertures, which shewed the traces of earlier volcanic action. * See the younger Pliny's description of his uncle's death. Ep. vi. 16. 4 Josephus. See above, p. 273. 5 "Subito hodie nobis Alexandrinæ naves apparuerunt, quæ præmitti solent et nuntiare secuturæ classis adventum. Tabellarias vocant. Gratus illarum Campaniæ adspectus est. Omnis in pilis Puteolorum turba consistit, et ex ipso genere velorum Alexandrinas, quamvis in magna turba navium, intelligit. Solis enim licet supparem intendere, quod in alto omnes habent naves. . . . . Cum intravere Capreas et promontorium, ex quo Alta procelloso speculatur vertice Pallas, ceteræ velo jubentur esse contentæ: supparum Alexandrinarum insigne est. In hot omnium discursu properantium ad litus, magnam ex pigritia mea sensi voluptatem,' &c.-Senec. Ep. 77. nished with new circumstances to aid our efforts to realise the arrival of the Castor and Pollux, on the coast of Italy, with St. Paul on board And if we wish still further to associate this event with the history and the feelings of the times, we may turn to an anecdote of the Emperor Augustus, which is preserved to us by Suetonius.' The Emperor had been seized with a feverish attack-it was the beginning of his last illness-and was cruising about the bay for the benefit of his health, when an Alexandrian corn-ship was coming to her moorings, and passed close by. The sailors recognised the old man, whom the civilised world obeyed as master, and was learning to worship as God: and they brought forth garlands and incense, that they might pay him divine honours, saying that it was by his providence that their voyages were made safe and that their trade was prosperous. Augustus was so gratified by this worship, that he im mediately distributed an immense sum of gold among his suite, exacting from them the promise that they would expend it all in the purchase of Alexandrian goods. Such was the interest connected in the first century with the trade between Alexandria and Puteoli. Such was the idolatrous homage paid to the Roman Emperor. The only difference, when the Apostle of Christ came, was that the vice and corruption of the Empire had increased with the growth of its trade, and that the Emperor now was not Augustus but Nero. In this wide and sunny expanse of blue waters, no part was calmer or more beautiful than the recess in the northern part of the bay, between Baia and Puteoli. It was naturally sheltered by the surrounding coasts, and seemed of itself to invite both the gratification of luxurious ease, and the formation of a mercantile harbour. Baia was devoted to the former purpose it was to the invalids and fashionable idlers of Rome like a combination of Brighton and Cheltenham. Puteoli, on the opposite side of this inner bay, was the Liverpool of Italy. Between them was that inclosed reach of water, called the Lucrine Lake, which contained the oyster-beds for the luxurious tables of Rome, and on the surface of which the small yachts of fashionable visitors displayed their coloured sails. Still further inland was that other calm basin, the Lacus Avernus, which an artificial passage connected with the former, and thus converted into a harbour. Not far beyond was Cumæ, once a flourishing Greek city, but when the Apostle visited this coast, a decayed country town, famous only for the recollections of the Sibyl.' 1 "Forte Puteolanum sinum prætervehenti, vectores nautæque de navi Alexandrina, quæ tantum quod appulerat, candidati, coronatique et thura libantur, fausta omina et eximias laudes congesserant: Per illum vivere: per illum navigare: libertate atque fortunis per illum frui. Qua re admodum exhilaratus, quadragenos aureos comitibus divisit, jusquejurandum et cautionem exegit a singulis, non alic datam summam, quam a emptionem Alexandrinarum mercium absumpturos."-Suet. Aug. 98. "Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici We must return to Puteoli. We have seen above (p. 309, how it divided with Ostia' the chief commerce by sea between Rome and the provinces. Its early name, when the Campanian shore was Greek rather than Italian, was Dicæarchia. Under its new appellation (which seems to have had reference to the mineral springs of the neighbourhood' (it first began to have an important connection with Rome in the second Punic war. It was the place of embarkation for armies proceeding to Spain, and the landing-place of ambassadors from Carthage. Ever after wards it was an Italian town of the first rank. In une time of Vespasian it became the Flavian Colony, like the city in Palestine from which St. Paul had sailed: but even from an earlier period it had colonial privileges, and these had just been renewed under Nero. It was intimately associated both with this emperor and with two others who preceded him in power and in crime. Close by Baiæ, across the bay, was Bauli, where the plot was laid for the murder of Agrippina. Across these waters Caligula built bis fantastic bridge; and the remains of it were probably visible when St. Paul landed. Tiberius had a more honourable monument in a statue (of which a fragment is still seen by English travellers at Pozzuoli), erected during St. Paul's life to commemorate the restitution of the Asiatic cities overthrown by an earthquake. But the ruins which are the most interesting to us are the seventeen piers of the ancient mole, on which the lighthouse stood, and within which the merchantmen were moored. Such is the proverbial tenacity of the concrete which was used in this structure," that it is the most perfect ruin existing of any Lando tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis 'Destinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ."—Juv. iii. 1. 1 See Suet. Claud. 25, for a notice of the troops quartered at Ostia and Puteoli. It was named either from the springs (a puteis), or from their stench (a putendo). Strabo says, after describing Baiæ: Ἑξῆς δ' εἰσὶν αἱ περὶ Δικαιαρχίαν ἀκταὶ, καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ πόλις. Ην δὲ πρότερον μὲν ἐπίνειον Κυμαίων, ἐπ' ἄφωνος ἱδρυμενον· κατὰ δὲ τὴν Αννίβα στρατεία», εν- ταν Ῥωμαῖοι, καὶ μετονόμασαν Ποτιόλους, ἀπὸ τῶν φρεάτων οἱ δ ̓ ἀπὸ τῆς δυσωδίας τῶν ὑδάτων, ἅπαν τὸ χώριον ἐκεῖ μέχρι Βαΐων, καὶ τῆς Κυμαίας, δια θείου πληρές ἐστι καὶ πυρὸς, καὶ θεόμῶν ὑδάτων.—r. iv. 3 Liv. xxiv. * See Orelli's Inscriptions, No. 3698. See above on Cæsarea, p. 279, n. 5. "In Italia vetus oppidum Puteoli jus coloniæ et cognomentum a Nerone apiscun tur."-Tac. Hist. xiv. 27. It appears, however, that this was a renewed privilege. See Liv. xxxiv. 42. Vell. Pat. i. 15. Val. Max. ix. 3, 8. 7 Nero had murdered his mother about two years before St. Paul's coming. Tac. Ann. xiv. 1-9. • Some travellers have mistaken the remains of the mole for those of Caligula's bridge. But that was only a wooden structure. See Suet. Calig. 19. The pedestal of this statue, with the allegorical representations of the towns, is still extant. This "Marmorea basis" is described in the seventh volume of Grono vius, pp. 433-503. 10 See Cramer. There is, however, some inaccuracy in his reference to Pliny. The well-known Pozzolana, which is mentioned also by Pliny, H. N. xxxv. 13, 47 ancient Roman harbour. In the early part of this chapter, we spoke of the close mercantile relationship which subsisted between Egypt and this city. And this remains on our minds as the prominent and significant fact of its history, whether we look upon the ruins of the mole and think of such voyages as those of Titus and Vespasian,' or wander among the broken columns of the Temple of Serapis, or read the account which Philo gives of the singular interview of the Emperor Caligula with the Jewish ambassadors from Alexandria.3 2 Puteoli, from its trade with Alexandria and the East, must necessarily have contained a colony of Jews, and they must have had a close connection with the Jews of Rome. What was true of the Jews, would probably find its parallel in the Christians. St. Paul met with disciples here;+ and, as soon as he was among them, they were in prompt communication on the subject with their brethren in Rome. The Italian Christians had long been looking for a visit from the famous Apostle, though they had not expected to see him arrive thus, a prisoner in chains, hardly saved from shipwreck. But these sufferings would only draw their hearts more closely towards him. They earnestly besought him to stay some days with them, and Julius was able to allow this request to be complied with." Even when the voyage began, we saw that he was courteous and kind towards his prisoner; and, after all the varied and impressive incidentwhich have been recounted in this chapter, we should indeed be surprised if we found him unwilling to contribute to the comfort of one by whom his own life had been preserved. OF THE RY LIBRA UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNI COIN OF MELITA. (From the British Museum.) Sce Strabo, 1. c. Ἡ δὲ πόλις ἐμπορεῖον γεγένηται μέγιστον, χειροποιήτους ἔχουσα άρμους διὰ τὴν εὐφυΐαν τοῦ ἁμμου· σύμμετρος γάρ ἐστι τῇ τιτάνῳ, καὶ κόλλησιν Ισχυρὰν καὶ πῆξιν λαμβάνει. διόπερ τῇ χάλικι καταμίξαντες τὴν ἀμμοκονίαν, προβάλ λουσι χώματα ἐς τὴν θάλατταν, καὶ κολποῦσι τὰς ἀναπεπταμένας ηϊόνας, ὥστ ̓ ἀσφαλῶς ἐνορμίζεσθαι τᾶς μεγίστας ὁλκάδας. 1 See p. 309. * This is one of the most remarkable ruins at Pozzuoli. It is described in the guide books. 3 Philo Leg. ad Caium. • Οὗ ευρόντες ἀδελφοὺς. κ. τ. λ. 5 See ver. 15. Κἀκεῖθεν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἀκούσαντες. • Παρεκλήθημεν ἐπ ̓ αὐτοῖς ἐπιμεῖναι ἡμέρας ἑπτά. It is not clearly stated who urged this stay. Possibly it was Julius himself. It is at all events evident from ver. 15, that they did stay; otherwise there would not have been time for the intelligence of St. Paul's landing to reach Rome so long before his own arrival there. VOL. II.-23 CHAPTER XXIV. In Tiberim defluxit Orontes.-Juv. iii. 62. THE APPIAN WAY. -AEPII FORUM AND THE THREE TAVERNS.-ENTRANCE INTO ROME. THE PRÆTORIAN POPULATION.—THE PRÆFECT.DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY. ITS JEWS IN ROME. THE ROMAN CHURCH.-ST. PAUL'S INTERVIEW WITH THE JEWS.-HIS RESIDENCE IN ROME. THE last chapter began with a description of the facilities possessed by the ancients for travelling by sea: this must begin with a reference to their best opportunities of travelling by land. We have before spoken of some of the most important roads through the provinces of the Empire: now we are about to trace the Apostle's footsteps along that road, which was at once the oldest and most frequented in Italy, and which was ⚫ called, in comparison with all others, the "Queen of Roads." We are no longer following the narrow line of compact pavement across Macedonian plains and mountains, or through the varied scenery in the interior of Asia Minor: but we are on the most crowded approach to the metropolis of the world, in the midst of prætors and proconsuls, embassies, legions, and turms of horse, "to their provinces hasting or on return," which Milton,-in his description of the City enriched with the spoils of nations, has called us to behold "in various habits on the Appian road." Leaving then all consideration of Puteoli, as it was related to the sea, and to the various places on the coast, we proceed to consider its 1 An animated description of one of the post stations on one of the roads in Asia Minor is given by Gregory of Nazianzus. (De Vitâ suà, 32.) He is describing bir own parish, and says: Κόνις τὰ πάντα, καὶ ψόφοι σὺν ἅρμασι, Θρήνοι, στεναγμοί, πράκτορες, στρεβλαι, πέδαι. Αὕτη Σασίμων τῶν ἐμῶν ἐκκλησία. “Appia longarum teritur Regina viarum.” " For the Via Egnatia, see Vol. I. pp. 316, 317. Stat. Silv. ii. 2. See below. 4 In making our last allusion to Asia Minor, we may refer to the description which Basil gives of the scenery round his residence, a little to the east of the inland region thrice traversed by St. Paul. See Humboldt's Kosmos, vol. ii. p. 26. (Sabine's Eng Trans.) Paradise Regained. book is |