Paul’s Journeys in Acts: A Thalassological Reading

Travel and transport have become important topics within ancient Mediterranean studies inrecent years. The mobility evidenced in groups in the Roman imperial period is epitomised particularly by the early Christian movement. Historians and archaeologists have used the Acts of the Apostles as an important source to track Christianity’s spread, particularly through the journeys of Paul. Beginning with Paul’s conversion while traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus in Acts chapter 9, Luke chronicles his movement across the eastern Mediterranean with Paul’s final journey ending in Rome in chapter 28. Studies of Pauline mobility have largely focused on his land journeys over the extensive Roman road system using a hodological approach. Neglected in such studies has been the prodigious number of sea voyages also described in Acts. This article attempts to rectify that lacuna by looking at the apostle’s maritime world, hence introduces a thalassological reading of the book of Acts. Its methodology analyses the descriptions of sea travel in ancient authors, discoveries in nautical archaeology, and excavations at Mediterranean ports to bring fresh insights into this neglected dimension of Pauline mobility.