​Paul in Greece – The Via Egnatia

Read: Acts 26:9-18  (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/acts/26.html)
 
One of the reasons why Paul and the other apostles were able to travel so far and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ so quickly in the first century was that the Romans were great road builders. For the first two stops on his first trip to Europe Paul used the Roman road known as the Via Egnatia.
 
The Via Egnatia is named for Gnaeus Egnatius, proconsul of Macedonia, who ordered its construction in the 2nd century BC. It was the first Roman road built outside of Italy and connected the Adriatic coast opposite Italy with Byzantium (modern Istanbul) a distance of about 700 miles. The part of the road that Paul walked would have been about 20 feet wide and was paved with flattened stones. Elongated stones were used to mark a center line that separated opposing directions of traffic and also as curb stones on each side of the road.
 
The photo below shows the Via Egnatia climbing the valley from Neapolis and leading to Philippi. Since Neapolis served as the port for Philippi this section of the road was very busy. Paul and his friends did not stay in Neapolis because there was not a Jewish community there and Paul was still in the habit of going first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.
 
Most of us normally take mobility for granted but these last few months have heightened our appreciation of (and longing for) getting out and about.