(16) And when we came to Rome.--This journey led them through Aricia (now La Riccia), where they would probably either stop for the night or for their noon-tide meal. From that point, as they neared the city, the Appian Road would present more of its characteristic features--the tall milestones, the stately tombs, of which that to Caecilia Metella, the wife of Crassus, is the most representative example, and which, lining either side, gave to the road the appearance of one long cemetery, and bore their record of the fame or the vanity, the wealth or the virtues, of the dead. As they drew nearer still, St. Paul's companions would point out to him the Grove and the sacred spring in the valley of Egeria, now let to a. colony of squatters of his own race.

"Hic ubi nocturnae Numa constituebat amicae,

Nunc sacri fontis nemus et delubra locantur

Judaeis, quorum cophinus f?numque supellex."

["Here, by the sacred scenes of Numa's love,

We let on lease the shrines, the stream, the grove,

To pauper Jews, who bring their scanty store

Of hay and hamper, and who ask no more."]

--Juvenal, Sat. iii. 12.

He would pass the cemetery of the Jews of Rome, lying on the east of the Appian Way, which within the last few years has been discovered and explored, in the Vigna Randanini, and the Columbaria (now in the Vigna Codini) of the imperial household, with which, as themselves of the libertini class, many of his friends and disciples were even then so closely connected. He would see, perhaps, even then, the beginning of the Catacombs, where the Christians, who would not burn their dead like the heathen, and who were excluded from the cemetery of the Jews, laid their dead to sleep in peace, in what was afterwards the Catacomb of St. Callistus. It may be noted here that the earliest inscription on any Jewish burial-place in Italy is one found at Naples, of the time of Claudius (A.D. 44) (Garucci, Cimitero degli antichi Ebrei, p. 24; Mommsen, Inscriptt. Neap. Lat. 6467), and the earliest Christian inscription with any note of time, of that of Vespasian (De Rossi, Inscriptt. Christ. No. 1). It lies in the nature of the case, however, that at first both Jews and Christians were likely to bury their dead without any formal record, and had to wait for quieter times before they could indulge in the luxury of tombstones and epitaphs. Continuing his journey, the Apostle and his companions would come within view of the pyramid of Caius Cestius, would pass under the Arch of Drusus, which still stands outside the Porta di S. Sebastiano, and enter the city by the Porta Capena, or Capuan Gate, proceeding thence to the Palace of the Caesars, which stood on the Palatine Hill, and looked down, on one side upon the Forum, on the other upon the Circus Maximus.

Paul was suffered to dwell by himself.--The centurion, on arriving at the Palace of the Caesars, would naturally deliver his prisoners to the captain of the division of the Praetorian Guard stationed there as the emperor's body-guard. The favour shown to St. Paul may fairly be considered as due to the influence of the centurion Julius, from whom he had, from the first, received so many marks of courtesy. The Prefect of the Praetorium was the natural custodian of prisoners sent from the provinces, and about this time that office was filled by Burrus, the friend and colleague of Seneca. Before and after his time there were two prefects, and the way in which St. Luke speaks of "the captain of the guard" may fairly be accepted as a note of time fixing the date of the Apostle's arrival. The Praetorian camp lay to the north-east of the city, outside the Porta Viminalis. The manner in which St. Luke speaks of his "dwelling by himself" implies that he went at once, instead of accepting the hospitality of any friends, into a hired apartment. Tradition points to the vestibule of, the Church of Santa Maria, at the junction of the Via Lata and the Corso, as the site of his dwelling; but it has been urged by Dr. Philip, at present working as a missionary in the Ghetto at Rome, in a pamphlet, On the Ghetto (Rome, 1874), that this site, forming part of the old Flaminian Way, was then occupied by arches and public buildings, and that it was far more probable that he would fix his quarters near those of own countrymen. He adds that a local tradition points to No. 2 in the Via Stringhari, just outside the modern Ghetto, as having been St. Paul's dwelling-place, but does not give any documentary evidence as to its nature or the date to which it can be traced back.

With a soldier that kept him.--Better, with the soldier. The arrangement was technically known as a custodia libera. The prisoner, however, was fastened by a chain to the soldier who kept guard over him, and so the Apostle speaks of his "chain" (Acts 28:20), of his being a "prisoner" (Ephesians 3:1; Ephesians 4:1), an ambassador in chains (Ephesians 6:20), of his "bonds" (Philippians 1:7; Philippians 1:13; Philippians 1:17; Colossians 4:18). It was almost a matter of course that the guard would from time to time be relieved, and so the Apostle's bonds, and the story of his sufferings, and what had brought them on him, would be known throughout the whole Praetorian camp from which the soldiers came. (See Note on Philippians 1:13.)

Verse 16. - Entered into for came to, A.V. and T.R.; the words which follow in the T.R. and the A.V., the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but, are omitted in the R.T. and R.V., following א, A, B, and many versions; Alford retains them, Meyer speaks doubtfully; abide for dwell, A.V.; the soldier that guarded him for a soldier that kept him, A.V. The captain of the guard (A.V.); τῷ στρατοπεδάρχῃ: in Latin praefectus praetorio (Στρατόπεδον, was the Greek name for the castra praetoriana). There were usually two great officers so called, and it was their special duty to take charge of prisoners sent from the provinces to be tried at Rome. 'Vinctus mitti ad praefectos praetorii met debet" (Pliny, 'Epist.,' 10:65). It has been argued, from the mention of "the captain of the guard," that Paul's imprisonment must have occurred when Burrus was sole prefect, as related by Tacitus ('Annal.,' 12:42, 1), and that hence we get a precise date for it (so Wieseler, 'Chronologic de Apostolisch. Geshichte'). But this can hardly be depended upon. Luke might speak of "the prefect," meaning the one to whom the prisoners were actually committed, just as we might speak of a magistrate writing to "the secretary of state," or an ambassador calling upon "the secretary of state," the matter in hand determining which of the three secretaries we meant. With the soldier that guarded him. It appears from ver. 20 that St. Paul was subjected to the custodia militaris, i.e. that he was fastened by a single chain to a praetorian (στρατιώτης), but, as a special favor, granted probably on the good report of the courteous Julius, was allowed to dwell in his own hired house (ver. 30); see Acts 24:23.

28:11-16 The common events of travelling are seldom worthy of being told; but the comfort of communion with the saints, and kindness shown by friends, deserve particular mention. The Christians at Rome were so far from being ashamed of Paul, or afraid of owning him, because he was a prisoner, that they were the more careful to show him respect. He had great comfort in this. And if our friends are kind to us, God puts it into their hearts, and we must give him the glory. When we see those even in strange places, who bear Christ's name, fear God, and serve him, we should lift up our hearts to heaven in thanksgiving. How many great men have made their entry into Rome, crowned and in triumph, who really were plagues to the world! But here a good man makes his entry into Rome, chained as a poor captive, who was a greater blessing to the world than any other merely a man. Is not this enough to put us for ever out of conceit with worldly favour? This may encourage God's prisoners, that he can give them favour in the eyes of those that carry them captives. When God does not soon deliver his people out of bondage, yet makes it easy to them, or them easy under it, they have reason to be thankful.And when we came to Rome,.... To the city itself:

the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; or general of the army; or, as some think, the governor of the "praetorian" band of soldiers, who attended the emperor as his guards: his name is thought to have been Burrhus Afranius; to him Julius the centurion delivered all the prisoners he brought from Caesarea, excepting Paul, to be disposed of by him, in the several prisons, or jails, to whom it belonged to take care of such persons: this clause is wanting in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions:

but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him: this was owing, either to the letter which Festus sent to Rome concerning him, and his case; by which it appeared, that he was no malefactor, and therefore to be used in a different manner from the rest of the prisoners; or rather to the intercession of the centurion, who had all along used him in a very civil and courteous manner; who requesting this favour had it granted, that Paul should not be put into the common prison with the rest, but should dwell in an apartment by himself; or, as the Ethiopic version renders it, "at his own will"; where he himself pleased, for he dwelt in his own hired house, Acts 28:30; only he was under the care and custody of a soldier, who constantly attended him wherever he went; and which could not be otherwise, seeing he was chained, as in Acts 28:20 and his chain was put on his right hand, and fastened to the left hand of the soldier, that had him under his keeping; so that wherever he was or went, the soldier must be likewise: hence that passage in Seneca (x),

"as the same chain joins together the prisoner and the soldier, so those things which are unlike go together; fear follows hope.''

(x) Epist. 5.