SECT. I.

the patron

St. Basil, commonly styled the Great; all learned and re- CHAP. IV. ligious Bishops and Cappadocians. And amongst many martyrs of great faith and constancy, St. George, a no- St. George ble Cappadocian, a tribune or colonel of soldiers under saint of the Dioclesian, was most celebrated in the churches both east order of the and west, and for that reason was made patron of the noble Caporder of the Garter by King Edward the Third. padocian and martyr.

Garter, a

7.

As Cappadocia lay to the east of Galatia, so to the north of it lay Pontus, mentioned together with the for- Of Pontus. mer two, both by St. Peterf, and the writers of the Acts of the Apostles, in the places before cited. Under this name of Pontus was sometime comprehended all the country lying on the south shore of the sea called Pontus, and by way of distinction Pontus Euxinus, now-a-days the Black sea. Whether the sea gave name to the adjacent coast, or the coast to the sea, is not agreed upon, nor worth while to dispute; but the former seems most probable. This was the native country of h Aquila, whom St. Paul met with at Corinth, and with whom he abode, they being both of the same trade. And the first Epistle of St. Peter is by some styled Epistola ad Ponticos, from Pontus being the first of the countries to whose inhabitants it was sent.

comes into

Having thus taken notice, in our way, of Pontus and 8. Cappadocia, adjoining to Galatia, and mentioned in the St. Paul New Testament, though not in the course of St. Paul's Mysia. travels; let us now return to St. Paul, whom we left in Galatia; he departing hence, and being forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word at this time in Asia, (for afterwards he preached in Asia for a long time, as we shall see in the course of his travels; and then we shall speak of Asia; which the Apostle being now forbid to preach in,) went into Mysia, adjoining on the west to Galatia, and so called, as some say, from the abundance of beech-trees growing in it, and called by the Lydians, a

།

PART II. neighbouring people, Mysæ. The people of Mysia are noted by Tully, in his Oration for Flaccus, to be despicable and base to a proverb.

9.

Of Bithynia.

10.

St. Paul

comes to Troas.

St. Paul being come into Mysiak, designed to go from thence into Bithynia, a country adjoining to Mysia on the north or north-east, and also to Phrygia on the north; and stretching along the sea which lies between the European and Asiatic continents, quite up to the Pontus Euxinus ; and so adjoining to the country Pontus before mentioned on the west. It is one of the countries, to whose inhabitants St. Peter directs his first Epistle, in the place above cited. It has been made famous since the times of the New Testament for the first General Council held at Nice, a city thereof, against the Arian heresy, by command of Constantine the Great; as also for the fourth General Council held at Chalcedon, (a place lying on the straits of Constantinople, and out of whose ruins Scutary has since risen,) by the command of the emperor Martianus, for repressing the heresy of Nestorius. But as to our Apostle, though he purposed to go into Bithynia, yet he did not go, the Spirit not suffering him. Whereupon passing by Mysia, he came down to Troas.

Troas was a small country lying to the west of Mysia, upon the sea. It took this name from its principal city, Troas, a sea-port, and built, as is said, about some four miles from the situation of Old Troy, by Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great's captains, who peopled it from the neighbouring cities, and called it Alexandria, or Troas Alexandri, in honour of his master Alexander; who began the work, but lived not to bring it to any perfection. But in following times it came to be called simply Troas. The name may be understood as taken by the sacred writers to denote the country as well as city so called, but chiefly the latter. Whilst St. Paul was here, a vision m appeared to him in the night, wherein there stood a man of Mace

donia, and prayed him to come over into Macedonia, and CHAP. IV. help them. Hereupon the Apostle, assuredly gathering, SECT. 1. that the Lord had called him to preach the Gospel in that country, loosed from Troas.

SECT. II.

Of St. Paul's Voyages and Travels from his departing out of the Asiatic Continent, to his fourth Return to Jerusalem.

ST. PAUL and his companions loosing from Troas, came

11.

St. Paul

mothracia.

a with a straight course to Samothracia, a small island lying From Troas on the west, and off the coast of Thrace, and so called to sails to Sadistinguish it from the isle Samos lying over-against Ionia, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. The isle Samothracia is now called Samandrachi, and is said to be better stored with commodious harbours, than others in these seas.

From Samothracia the Apostle sailed next day to 12. Neapolis, a sea-port reckoned at first to Thrace, after- Thence to Neapolis. wards to Macedonia, as were the adjacent cities and towns, which follow; viz.

Nicopolis, a town seated on the river Nessus, from which Neapolis was not far distant, but higher to the north than Neapolis. This is the city, where St. Paul tells Titus, chap. iii. 12. that he determined to winter, and whither he would have him come to him; if we may rely on the postscript at the end of St. Paul's Epistle to Titus, which tells us that the Epistle was written from Nicopolis in Macedonia. But this place is not mentioned in the course of St. Paul's travels. For

From Neapolis we are told by the sacred writer, that

a Acts xvi. 11.

b Ibid.

Acts xvi. 12.

13.

Of Nicopo

lis.

14. St. Paul arrives at Philippi.

PART II. St. Paul went to Philippi, lying more to the west, and the chief city of that part of Macedonia, (which being formerly reckoned to Thracia, as lying east of the river Strythe old middle boundary, was therefore more dismon, tinctly styled Macedonia Thracica, or Thracia Macedonica.) This city took its name from Philip, the famous king of Macedon, who repaired and beautified it. It was afterwards made a Roman colony. Near to it lay the fields thence called Campi Philippici, famous for two great and memorable battles, the former between Julius Cæsar and Pompey the Great, the latter between Augustus and M. Anthony on the one side, and Cassius and Brutus on the other. But the city is more famous among Christians on account of the Epistle written by St. Paul denominated from it.

15.

comes to

Departing from Philippi, the Apostle came to d AmThence phipolis, so called as being encompassed by the river Amphipo- Strymon, the old boundary between Thrace and Macedonia; and from this place he passed on to Apollonia, and Apollonia. so to Thessalonica.

lis; and thence to

16. St. Paul

comes to

nica.

Thessalonica was the metropolis or head city of Macedonia, a noble mart, and so the most populous city of Thessalo- the country. It is now-a-days called Salonichi, and is said to keep up still something of its ancient greatness and wealth, having a large safe haven as standing at the bottom of a bay called by its own name. It is still an archbishop's see of the Grecian Church, being first converted to Christianity by our Apostle at this his coming hither; and it is and will, through all ages of the world, be memorable on account of two Epistles written by St. Paul to the Thessalonians, generally allowed by learned men to be the two first of all the Epistles written by him.

17.

St. Paul is

The Apostle being obliged to quit Thessalonica, through conducted the malice and envy of the Jews dwelling there, was conto Beroa. ducted, together with Silas, by night, unto Beroa, a

SECT. II.

great and populous city likewise of Macedonia, and lying CHAP. IV. more to the south, towards Athens. Here likewise was a synagogue of the Jews, into which St. Paul went and preached with good success; insomuch that the sacred writer has bestowed a peculiar elogium on the Berœans, telling us they were f more noble or ingenuous than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and diligently searched the Scriptures, whether the things they had heard of Paul concerning the Messias, or Christ, were so or no. But the Jews of Thessalonica, & hearing what entertainment A. D. 50. the Apostle had met with here, quickly pursued him with their malice, and forced him to retire hence to Athens.

18.

Of Athens,

from Be

Athens was one of the most renowned cities of the world. It stands on the gulf of the Ægean sea, whither St. which comes up to the isthmus of the Peloponnese, or Paul retires Morea; in that district of Greece, properly so called, roa. which was named Attica, whence the Attic dialect was esteemed as the purest or finest Greek. To say all that is to be said of this famous city, would take up too much room in this treatise. It will be sufficient to our present purpose to observe, that as it was the most powerful city of Greece by sea, and one of the two which for a long time contended for, and sometimes had, the chief sway in Greece, and on this account makes a great figure in the history of Greece; so it was more renowned for being the seat of learning and philosophy. On which score we find several great encomiums given it by the ancient writers. I shall take notice but of two, viz. that of the famous orator Cicero, who describes it as the fountain, whence civility, learning, religion, arts, and laws were derived into all other nations. The other h carries in it a true taste of the Grecian humour, running thus: "If thou hast not seen Athens, thou deservest to

f Acts xvii. 11. Acts xvii. 13. 15.

h Lysipp. Comic. apud Dicæarch. de vit. Græc.