Day 4 – Transition Day – Italy to Greece 

Today we transition from all things Italy and Roman to Greece and the apostle Paul. We took a morning flight on Aegean airlines from Naples and arrived in Athens in the afternoon to meet our group. 

After we arrived and got settled, I took a walk to Pandrossou Street and Market. It was amazing. I shopped and also bought food from several street vendors. Awesome afternoon.

Let me share some history as we transition from Pompeii and the Roman Empire to Greece and the apostle Paul. History can be fascinating in linking seemingly unrelated events. 

You would think that Pompeii, which we visited yesterday, and the Apostle Paul, who will be the focus of the rest of our trip, have no connection. But they do! Let me connect the dots. And even if my attempt to do so seems farfetched, it is at least fun to try!

First, it is believed that Paul travelled through Puteoli, just east of Pompeii, on his way to Rome around 58 A.D. This is also known as his 4th and final mission trip. So, when he arrived in the Bay of Naples, he would have passed in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius 20 years before the fatal eruption that would totally bury the cities of Herculaneum and  Pompeii. 

A few years later, in 60 A.D, Paul gets arrested in Rome. In 62 A.D. a massive earthquake shakes the Bay of Naples, doing major damage to the surrounding cities including Pompeii. Like Paul’s arrest in Rome, the earthquake will foreshadow what was to come.

And this is where it gets kind of weird and fascinating. Paul would eventually be executed by the Romans in 67 A.D. while Nero is emperor. The following year – known as the year of the four emperors – civil war breaks out in Rome and Nero is executed. Seeing a pattern here?

Vespasian, who was in Judea putting down the Jewish rebellion at the time, eventually becomes the last man standing and becomes emperor in 69 A.D.

Stay with me here. When Vespasian was declared Emperor in 69 A.D, Titus, his son, was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion. In 70 A.D. he besieged and captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the city and the Second Temple. And Judea was basically eradicated. Remember, Paul, a Jew, studied in Jerusalem and probably spent a lot of time at the Temple. Titus then succeeds his father as emperor early in June of 79 A.D. in August that same year, Pompeii, one of the crown jewel cities of the Roman Empire, is totally destroyed. So, soon after Titus, the man who destroyed Jerusalem, becomes Emperor, Pompeii is eradicated and the Bay of Naples, a key port to receiving grain from Egypt, becomes incapacitated, severely crippling Rome for a brief period.

Paul gets arrested – big earthquake occurs. Paul gets executed – Roman Emperor gets executed. Titus destroys Jerusalem – Bay of Naples incapacitated and key city of Pompeii annihilated.  Just saying….