|
About 150 miles to the southeast of Rome, Pompeii is surrounded by the region of Italy called Campania (or Campagna, which means "countryside" in the language of the Italians). As you will see in the pages that follow, it was here in the first century that a dramatic moment occurred in the history of Western Civilization.
In verses 13 and 14 of the final chapter of the New Testament book of Acts of the Apostles, we find that on his journey to Rome the Apostle Paul arrived in Puteoli. He found Christians there. Puteoli of the first century is now called Pozzuoli (pronounced "pohtz-WOE-lee"). This city is located on the northwestern side of the Bay of Naples. (My family lived at Lago Patria, about 40 miles from Pompeii.) Pompeii, located across the Bay of Naples from Pozzuoli, is not mentioned in the Bible, nor have I seen documentation that there were any Christians in the city of Pompeii. (I have heard that a "ROTAS Square" was found in Pompeii, but I have been unable to substantiate this.) There is a fictional presence of Christians in the classic novel, The Last Days of Pompeii, written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. |
