5. Troas. (2 Tim. 4:13.) It is evident that Paul passed through this place, and stopped with a certain person named Carpus, where he left his mantle for winter wear, and some manuscripts. Farrar is of the opinion that he was here arrested, and in such haste that he could not obtain these articles. He may have come from Nicopolis by way of Macedonia, passing through Philippi, and sailing across the Ægean Sea.
6. An allusion in 2 Tim. 4:20 hints at another place visited by the apostle, perhaps as a prisoner. If arrested at Troas, he would probably be sent to Ephesus, the residence of the proconsul, for trial. And at Miletus, near that city, we find that he left his companion, Trophimus, who had been with him at the time of his former arrest in Jerusalem. It is a slight confirmation of this view, that there is among the ruins of Ephesus a place pointed out as the prison of Paul.
7. From Ephesus he may have set sail once more as a prisoner for Rome. He was accompanied by several friends, as Titus, who had left Crete once more to follow him; Luke the physician, his companion to the last; and Tychicus. We know nothing concerning the voyage, and therefore represent it on the map by the most direct route from Ephesus. At Rome we know only that his imprisonment was short; that his friends were few, for the church had been scattered by the terrible persecution of Nero; that Paul was left alone at his first hearing, his friends having gone in various directions, some on errands of duty, and others in fear of the world; that he wrote earnestly to Timothy to come, bringing Mark with him (2 Tim. 4:9, 11); and we infer from his own expectations and the tradition of the church, that his martyrdom was not long delayed.
The traditional place of his execution is shown at Aquæ Salvæ, now Tre Fontane, three miles from Rome, near the road to Ostia.
OUTLINE FOR REVIEW.
1. Colosse and Ephesus. 2. Macedonia. (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth.) 3. Crete. 4. Nicopolis. 5. Troas. (Arrest?) 6. Ephesus. 7. Rome. (Martyrdom.)
