The Rome of Peter and Paul

A Pilgrim's Handbook to New Testament Sites in the Eternal City

Brian Schmisek

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781532613104
• eBook ISBN: 9781532613098
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

This handbook is a short guide for those who are interested in Roman sites that have something to do with the New Testament, and in particular with Peter and Paul. For more than ten years, Dr. Schmisek has led graduate ministry programs in the Eternal City. This book is informed by the questions, insights, and comments from students over those years. While not addressing each and every claimed New Testament artifact in the city of Rome, the handbook focuses on the more significant churches and locales that have a connection to Petrine and Pauline legends: places such as St. Peter's at the Vatican and St. Paul's outside the Walls are included, but also St. Peter's at Montorio and Tre Fontane.There are two primary parts to this book: the first is a brief survey of what is known (and not known) regarding Peter and Paul's time in Rome. The various sources of Pauline and Petrine legends are included in this survey as those legends are key to interpreting many sites and their significance. The second part of the book is more akin to a tour book laid out in four subsections, generally corresponding to geographical areas of the city. This brief handbook will be a valuable guide to those who seek a greater understanding of the historical and legendary background to Petrine and Pauline sites in Rome.

Part I

1

Peter and Paul in Rome

New Testament

Perhaps surprisingly, though Peter and Paul are often referred to as the founders of the church in Rome, there is no direct evidence for either of them even being in the Eternal City prior to Paul’s writing his Letter to the Romans in the winter of 57–58. In that letter he speaks of his desire to visit “for many years” (15:23; cf. 1:13). Part of the reason he had not visited was because of his custom not to preach where others have already laid a foundation (15:20). “This is why I have so often been hindered from coming to you” (Rom 15:22). And despite naming over two dozen members of the community (Rom 16:3–15) he never mentions Peter in this letter to Roman Christians. So it seems quite certain that the Christian community in Rome was founded by others. But by whom?

When Peter preached at Pentecost shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Luke tells us there were, among many others, sojourners from Rome (Acts 2:10). If some of these sojourners were among those who were baptized at Pentecost, the Christian seed would have been planted in Rome upon their return. These Jewish Christians might have included Andronicus and Junia, Paul’s fellow countrymen, “my relatives and my fellow prisoners; they are prominent among the apostles and they were in Christ before me” (Rom 16:7). To say Andronicus and Junia were present at Pentecost, and thus founded the Roman Christian community is based on circumstantial evidence at best; it would not be conclusive proof. But the hypothesis might represent the best attempt to name the founders. As difficult as it may be for us to admit, “the beginnings of the Roman Christian community remain shrouded in mystery.”1

Written years after Paul’s Letter to the Romans are the Petrine letters. Most scholars today consider 1 and 2 Peter to be pseudonymous; that is, they were written by someone other than Peter. Though 2 Peter gives no indication as to where it was written, 1 Peter lays claim to having been written through Silvanus (5:12) from “Babylon” (5:13), which is often a code-name of sorts for Rome (cf. Rev 14:8; 16:9; 18:2, 10, 21). Mark is also there. These verses (1 Pet 5:12–13) are the earliest written reference to an association of Silvanus, Mark and Peter in “Rome.” Such an association, though not at Rome, is also referenced in Acts. There a certain Mary, “the mother of John who is called Mark” had a house in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12) where Peter fled upon his escape from prison. (As an aside, the chains that bound him in that imprisonment are said to be at San Pietro in Vincoli [Saint Peter in Chains] in Rome). So even though 1 and 2 Peter are pseudonymous, 1 Peter at least makes mention of the association of Peter, Mark, and Silvanus in Rome.

Mark was also known as the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10) and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on part of a missionary journey (Acts 12:25—13:13). However, it seems that when the going got tough, Mark got going, as he deserted them in Pamphylia (Acts 13:13). They met up again at the so-called Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) where both Peter and Silvanus (Silas) were present. Afterwards, Paul refused to travel with Mark due to his earlier desertion (Acts 15:38). Paul and Silas went one way whereas Barnabas and Mark, being cousins after all, went another. The undisputed letter of Paul to Philemon written when Paul was “an old man” (presbytēs)2 (Phlm 9) mentions a Mark (Phlm 24) as does the disputed 2 Tim (4:11). So it seems Paul and Mark were eventually reconciled. Mark’s final years would have been in Rome, perhaps associated with Peter once again. Thus, the threesome (Peter, Mark, Silvanus) in 1 Peter has plausible roots in Acts.3

The New Testament also seems to be aware that Peter faced a martyr’s death, or at least he did not die of old age. In the epilogue to the Gospel of John, what is commonly referred to as chapter 21, Jesus makes a prediction about Peter. Immediately following the “rehabilitation of Peter” where Jesus asks three times “Do you love me,” and Peter responds affirmatively three times. Jesus continues by saying:

“Amen, Amen I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me” (John 21:18–19).

This is perhaps the clearest indication in the New Testament that Peter suffered a martyr’s death, and even so, it gives us no indication as to place. However, it does say, “when you grow old (gērasēͺs),”4 which indicates his age at the time of his death.

In the case of Paul, we have Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, the second half of which is essentially an “Acts of Paul,” as he is the primary character. Acts of the Apostles concludes with Paul under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:16). But to our modern ears the ending seems rather abrupt and perhaps not that fulfilling: “He remained for two full years in his lodgings [in Rome]. He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 28:30–31).

In fact, the ending is so startling and unexpected that at least one scholar likened it to the ending of the HBO series “Sopranos”!5 We are left wondering what happened to Paul. Was he ever released from house arrest? Was his case heard before Caesar (i.e., Nero), to whom Paul had appealed (Acts 25:11–12)? Did he eventually go to Spain as he at one time intended? (Rom 15:24)? Or was he sentenced to death by Nero? Acts leaves us grasping for answers. Other New Testament documents are little help. The last of the undisputed letters Paul writes is likely Philemon, written from imprisonment (Phlm 1, 9–10, 13, 22–23) when he was “an old man” (Phlm 9) as we noted above. Various locales have been proposed for this letter including Rome, Caesarea, and Ephesus. Scholarly opinion is generally split between Rome and Ephesus, with the latter seeing slightly more support. In any case, Paul names Timothy as a co-sender (Phlm 1) and also extends greetings from Epaphras (a fellow prisoner), Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, “coworkers” all (Phlm 24). One has the picture of a band of associates providing mutual support in a trying time. The embryonic movement saw one of its leaders imprisoned but his pen unfettered.

In addition to this final undisputed letter of Paul we have the “last will and testament” which is also known as 2 Timothy, and which is a letter written from imprisonment (1:16; 2:9; 4:16). Though many scholars consider 2 Timothy to be pseudonymous, there has been renewed interest in seeing the letter as authentically Pauline.6 In such a case, 2 Timothy would have been written from Rome, after his first defense (2 Tim 4:16), where he knows his end is near (2 Tim 4:6–8). Some of those named in the letter are identified with the next generation of Christians by church Fathers, and will be of interest in our study of Rome. E.g., Linus (2 Tim 4:21) was identified by Irenaeus as the bishop of Rome who succeeded Peter (AH 3.3.3). Pudens (2 Tim 4:21) becomes the source of later legend and his purported daughters become the namesake of two churches in Rome (Pudenziana and Prassede). Prisca and Aquila are also named (2 Tim 4:19) and they too have a house church in Rome. More will be said about them when we visit that church.

Thus exhausts our review of the scanty New Testament evidence, which is silent about Peter and Paul founding the church in Rome, or even being martyred there. For those traditions we look beyond the New Testament.

Apostolic Fathers

The Apostolic Fathers are a collection of writings from Christian authors traditionally understood to have been...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Part I
• Part II
• Appendices
• Bibliography