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fragment of the Canon Muratorianus, generally reckoned to date from A.D.170, which
reads as follows:
"Luke to the most excellent Theophilus comprises all those things which were enacted
under his presence; so that manifestly declares the martyrdom of Peter and departure of
Paul when setting out from the city for Spain, to be matters removed from him."
Eusebius (A.D.296-340) affirms that Paul was released after two years' imprisonment
at Rome, that he subsequently preached the Gospel, and that he was later taken as a
prisoner to Rome the second time and there suffered martyrdom.
On the evidence available, it seems that we may safely say that Paul was set free in
A.D.63 after two years at Rome. On the 19th July A.D. 64 the great fire broke out at
Rome, and widespread Christian persecution commenced within a few weeks. Between
the Apostle's release in A.D.63 and the outbreak of persecution under Nero in A.D.64 the
Apostle would have had time to visit the churches before he was called upon to lay down
his life for the Lord he loved.
We see from Titus 3: 12 that Paul intended spending the winter at Nicopolis. When
the winter was over, he evidently traversed the district of Dalmatia, for we learn from
II Tim. 4: 10 that Titus had gone there. The Apostle lands once more at Troas where he
stays for a while with Carpus, but by this time the persecution had spread from Rome into
the provinces, and at Troas, where the Apostle had seen the vision of the man of
Macedonia, the great messenger to the Gentiles is again apprehended. That Paul was
apprehended somewhere in this vicinity is clear from the testimony of Ignatius, a martyr
of the first century. Ignatius was taken prisoner in Antioch of Syria, and traveled to
Rome via Ephesus. Writing to Ephesus, he says:
"Ye are the thoroughfare (parodos) of those that are slain for God's sake, the
co-religionists of Paul the holy, the martyr, the blessed, in whose footsteps may it be my
lot to be found."
Though Paul was probably arrested at Troas, and had been obliged to abandon his
cloak and books there, the Proconsul's residence was at Ephesus, and he would naturally
appear there for the preliminary trial. It looks as though Alexander the coppersmith who
had antagonized Paul some years earlier (Acts 19: 33), and who seems to have been
among those who bore witness against at Rome (II Tim. 4: 14) seized the opportunity at
Ephesus to wipe out old scores, by accusing the Apostle. By an edict issued by Nero,
Christianity had now become a crime. The Proconsul at the time was a man of
exemplary character, named Soranus, who himself was put to death for his virtues by
Nero in A.D.66 (see Tac. Ann. 16: 23). Some even think that he was a convert to the
faith. Paul was a Roman citizen, and as such could appeal from the tribunal to a
Proconsul. Soranus may himself have felt rather like Pliny on a similar occasion in
Bithynia, and have remitted the case to the Emperor. However this may be, Paul
eventually stands once more for trial before the Emperor, and from the expression, "I was
delivered out of the mouth of the lion" (II Tim. 4: 17) it would appear that, upon one of
the counts against him, he was absolved. The jurors in the trial would have been
provided with tablets, one marked A for Absolvo, another C for condemno and a third