Glen L. Thompson and Mark Wilson, In This Way We Came to Rome

Thompson, Glen L., and Mark Wilson. In This Way We Came to Rome: With Paul on the Appian Way. Lexham Press, 2023. xviii+279 pp. Pb; $29.99. Link to Lexham Press

In This Way We Came to Rome is a commentary on Paul’s travel implied in Acts 28:13–14. Paul arrived in the port city of Puteoli and stayed there for seven days before traveling to Rome. The authors aim to allow readers to travel the road Paul traveled and “see it through his eyes.” Well documented and richly illustrated, Thompson and Wilson succeed in their goal. Readers will follow a suggested route for a seven-day trip from the port city of Puteoli to Rome. Whether Paul took this exact route or not, this book will be an excellent primer for travel in the Roman world.

The twenty-seven-page introduction covers Paul’s sea voyage from Caesarea Maritima to Puteoli (Acts 27:1-28:13).  After tracking some of the details of sea travel, the shipwreck, and Paul’s time on Malta, Thompson and Wilson describe the harbor city of Puteoli in detail. Modern Pozzuoli, Puteoli was Rome’s chief seaport at the time (17). By Paul’s time, Ostia’s harbor was silted up, preventing larger ships from sailing upriver (19). Puteoli was the main hub for huge grain ships arriving from Alexandria and goods imported into the region of Campania.

Thompson and Wilson suggest a seven-day itinerary based on the distance traveled and cities between Puteoli and Rome. This assumes Paul and his companions covered 18-23 miles, traveling 7.5-10 hours daily. A chart on page 27 conveniently summarizes this data with suggested towns for overnight stays. Citing Procopius (Wars, 5.14.6), an unencumbered person could travel from Capua to Rome in five days. Thompson and Wilson add one day for Puteoli to Capua and one day because he was not unencumbered (27). Other Acts commentaries suggest the journey took as many as ten days.

In any case, Paul would have traveled along the consular road from Puteoli to Capua, then the first 132 Roman miles of the Via Appia (the Appian Way). As the authors observe in the introduction, there is no previous description of the road from the port city of Puteoli to Capua (xvii). Italian guidebooks for Via Appia tend to focus on nearby sites and monuments. This book provides readers with what a first-century traveler would have seen and experienced. Thompson and Wilson want to help readers see this journey “through Paul’s eyes.”

Each of the book’s seven chapters covers one day of this suggested itinerary. Each chapter begins with a detailed map of the day’s journey, using ancient Roman descriptions to track possible stops in towns they passed through on that day. The authors provide detailed descriptions of each town that the travelers pass through, with plenty of references to primary sources. The chapters are illustrated with charts, maps, and plans of towns, and photographs when available. Many of the photographs were taken by the authors when they visited the locations. The descriptions of locations often cite Italian archaeology reports.

Each chapter has several maps (twenty-eight in all). Glen Thompson and Jesse Cordes used maps from OpenStreetMap and superimposed ancient roads and city features. This results in a sharp, easy-to-read map correlating ancient locations with modern streets and landmarks. In addition to these maps, the book contains forty-five photographs and illustrations. Physically, this is a beautiful book that is a pleasure to read.

Two added features make this book particularly valuable. Thompson and Wilson provide modern GPS and satellite imagery for most of the locations mentioned in the book. An appendix provides coordinates to road positions and monuments so interested readers can follow along on Google Earth or Google Street View. This data is available as a download from Lexham Press. Second, Thompson and Wilson used Topos Text. This website maps more than 6300 historic places and connects them to more than 730 ancient texts (over 257,000 ancient references). You should bookmark the page or get the app for iOS and Android to enhance your travels with Paul.

The book has several appendices. First, the authors briefly discuss the route from Puteoli to Rome found in popular Bible Atlases. Second, they discuss the rise in elevation along the Via Appia. They suggest using the coastal route to avoid Mount St. Angelo, which would have saved only about a quarter of an hour. Third, they define Mansiones and Stationes as two options for travelers to purchase food and shelter. Appendix 4 lists GPS coordinates for the places mentioned in the book.

Conclusion. In This Way We Came to Rome is a detailed study of one particular seven-day journey mentioned in the book of Acts. Although Paul may have taken more or less time on this trip or even a different route, Thompson and Wilson describe the kind of travel Paul and his companions experienced. The book is well-illustrated and will appeal to academic readers and non-professionals interested in what travel in the Roman world may have been like.

NB: Thanks to Lexham Press for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.