Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Roman Traditions of Peter and Paul - 1. Paul in Naples
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
ROMAN TRADITIONS OF PETER AND PAUL. 211
of the judgment-seat bore all too often the stamp of the
cruel whims of a tyrant’s humor.
Among the prisoners, was one to whom ship’s crew
and soldiers both paid especial respect—a short, spare
man, slightly bent, with bald head, and prematurely old
features, arched eyebrows grown together, thick beard,
fine contours and expressive eyes. He was a Jew, born
in Tarsus, of a respectable family, that owned the right
of Roman citizenship, at that time a kind of nobility.
The scribes in Jerusalem had accused him of offences
against their law and temple, and what was worse, against
the Roman emperor ; and the accused had, on the ground
of his rights as a Roman citizen, appealed to the judg-
ment-seat of Caesar. On that account he was now upon
his way to Rome. The prisoner was named Paul.
The harbor of Puteoli was full of ships from all the
countries skirting the Mediterranean, and its streets were
thronged with strangers : Greeks, Syrians, Jews, Egyp-
tians, Africans and Hispanians. The surrounding heights
were oversprinkled with multitudes of splendid castles
and villas, belonging to Roman senators and knights.
Nero himself loved to sojourn amid this luxuriant nature,
as Lucullus and Cicero had done before him.
Among the numerous Jews and Greeks in Puteoli,
were some who had let themselves be baptized to Christ,
and who often assembled, for mutual building-up in the
faith. Had they known whom " The Dioscuri ’’
was now
bringing ashore, they would have hastened to meet Paul,
for his name and deeds were familiar to them, and his
Epistle to the Romans, in written copies, had reached
the Christians of Puteoli and been read by them with
attention and diligence.
They were now ready to land. The captain of the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
