OLD AND NEW PAPHOS. 155 CHAPTER VI. "Paulus præco Dei, qui fera gentium PRUDENTIUS, Cont. Symm. Præf. OLD AND NEW PAPHOS.-DEPARTURE FROM CYPRUS.--COAST OF PAMPHYLIA. PERGIA.-MARK'S RETURN TO JERUSALEM.-MOUNTAIN-SCENERY OF PISIDIA. SITUATION OF ANTIOCH.-THE SYNAGOGUE.—ADDRESS TO THE JEWS.PREACHING TO THE GENTILES. PERSECUTION BY THE JEWS.-HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ICONIUM.-LYCAONIA.-DERBE AND LYSTRA.-HEALING OF THE CRIPPLE.-IDOLATROUS WORSHIP OFFERED TO PAUL AND BARNABAS.— ADDRESS TO THE GENTILES.-ST. PAUL STONED.-TIMOTHEUS.-THE APOSTLES RETRACE THEIR JOURNEY.PERGA AND ATTALEIA.-RETURN TO SYRIA. N THE banner of the Gospel was now displayed on the coasts of the heathen. The glad tidings had "passed over to the isles of Chittim,"1 and had found a willing audience in that island, which, in the vocabulary of the Jewish Prophets, is the representative of the trade and civilisation of the Mediter ranean Sea. Cyprus was the early meeting-place of the Oriental and Greek forms of social life. Originally colonised from Phoenicia, it was successively subject to Egypt, to Assyria, and to Persia; the settlements of the Greeks on its shores had begun in a remote period, and their influence gradually advanced, till the older links of connection were entirely broken by Alexander and his successors. But not only in political and social relations, by the progress of conquest and commerce, was Cyprus the meetingplace of Greece and the East. Here also their forms of idolatrous worship met and became KOT COIN OF PAPHOS. 2 DO 1 The general notion intended by the phrases" isles" and "coasts" of "Chittim," seems to have been "the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean to the west and northwest of Judæa." Numb. xxiv. 24. Jer. ii. 10. Ezek. xxvii. 6. See Gen. x. 4, 5. Isai. xxiii. 1. Dan. xi. 30. But primarily the name is believed to have been connected with Citium (see note 2, p. 154), which was a Phoenician colony. See Gesenius, under b. Epiphanius (himself a Cyprian bishop) says, Kítɩov ǹ Kvæρíwv vñoos kaλeitaι• Κίτιοι γὰρ Κύπριοι. Hær. xxx. 25. 2 From the British Museum: see below, p. 156, n. 7. blended together. Paphos was, indeed, a sanctuary of Greek religion: on this shore the fabled goddess first landed, when she rose from the sea:1 this was the scene of a worship celebrated in the classical poets, from the age of Homer,2 down to the time when Titus, the son of Vespasian, visited the spot with the spirit of a heathen pilgrim, on his way to subjugate Judæa.3 But the polluted worship was originally introduced from Assyria or Phoenicia : the Oriental form under which the goddess was worshipped, is represented on Greek coins: 5 the Temple bore a curious resemblance to those of Astarte at Carthage or Tyre: and Tacitus pauses to describe the singularity of the altar and the ceremonies, before he proceeds to narrate the campaign of Titus. And here it was that we have seen Christianity firmly established by St. Paul,-in the very spot where the superstition of Syria had perverted man's natural veneration and love of mystery, and where the beautiful creations of Greek thought had administered to what Athanasius, when speaking of Paphos, well describes as the "deification of lust." 8 The Paphos of the poets, or Old Paphos, as it was afterwards called, was situated on an eminence at a distance of nearly two miles from the sea. New Paphos was on the sea-shore, about ten miles to the north.9 But the old town still remained as the sanctuary which was visited by 1 Deam ipsam conceptam mari huc appulsam. 2 Odyss. viii. 362. See Eurip. Bacch. 400. Lucan. Phars. viii. 456. Tac. Hist. ii. 3. See P. Mela, ii. 7. 3 Tac. Hist. ii. 2-4. Compare Suet. Tit. 5. Tacitus speaks of magnificent offerings presented by kings and others to the temple at Old Paphos. 4 Pausanias traces the steps of the worship from Assyria to Paphos and Phoenicia, and ultimately to Cythera. Attic. xiv. 6. Tacitus connects Cilicia with some of the religious observances. 5 See below, n. 7. • See Müller's Archäologie, § 239 (p. 298). 7 Sanguinem aræ obfundere vetitum : precibus et igne puro altaria adolentur, nec ullis imbribus, quanquam in aperto, madescunt. Simulacrum Deæ non effigie humana, continuus orbis latiore i nitio tenuem in ambitum metæ modo exsurgens: et ratio in obscuro. Tac. H. ii. 3. See Max. Τyr. Παφίοις ἡ μὲν 'Αφροδίτη τὰς τιμὰς ἔχει· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα οὐκ ἂν εἰκάσαις ἄλλῳ τῳ ἢ πυραμίδι λευκῇ, ἡ δὲ ὕλη ἀγνοεῖται. Diss. viii. 8. Also Clem. Alex. Coh. ad Gentes. III. iv. 8 He is alluding to the worship of Venus at Paphos, and says: TÌν ¿ñíðνμíav deoTоIŃσaνтεs πроokνvovσi. Athan. Cont. Græcos, p. 10, ed. Col. 1686. Compare Arnob. v. 19. 9 Or rather the north-west. See the Chart, which is due to the kindness of Captain Graves. R. N. The words of Strabo are: Elo' ǹ Пápos . λιμένα ἔχουσα διέχει δὲ πεζῇ σταδίους ἑξήκοντα τῆς Παλαιπάφου· καὶ πανηγυρίζουσι διὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ ταύτης κατ ̓ ἔτος ἐπὶ τὴν Παλαίπαφον, ἄνδρες ὁμοῦ γυναιξὶν ἐκ τῶν ἀλλῶν πόλεων ovvíóvtes. xiv. 6. The following is an extract from some MSS. notes by Captain Graves: "Kouklia (Old Paphos) is three hours' ride from Ktema (near New Paphos) along a bridle-path, with corn-fields on either side. The ruins are extensive, particularly a Cyclopean wall . . . with inscriptions of an early date. There are also very extensive catacombs." The Peut. Table makes the distance eleven miles. Forbiger (Alte Geographie, iii. 1049) says incorrectly, that Old Paphos was according to Strabo, sixty stadia "weiter landeinwärts" from New Paphos. 2 heathen pilgrims; profligate processions, at stated seasons, crowded the road between the two towns, as they crowded the road between Antioch and Daphne (p. 125); and small models of the mysterious image1 were sought as eagerly by strangers as the little "silver shrines" of Diana at Ephesus. Doubtless the position of the old town was an illustration of the early custom, mentioned by Thucydides, of building at a safe distance from the shore, at a time when the sea was infested by pirates; and the new town had been established in a place convenient for commerce, when navigation had become more secure. It was situated on the verge of a plain, smaller than that of Salamis, and watered by a scantier stream than the Pediæus (see p. 139). Not long before the visit of Paul and Barnabas it had been destroyed by an earthquake. Augustus had rebuilt it, and from him it had received the name of Augusta, or Sebaste. the old name still retained its place in popular usage, and has descended to modern times. The "Paphos" of Strabo, Ptolemy, and St. Luke,1 became the "Papho" of the Venetians and the "Baffa" of the Turks. A second series of Latin 5 architecture has crumbled into decay. Mixed up with the ruins of palaces and churches are the poor dwellings of the Greek and Mahomedan inhabitants, partly on the beach, but chiefly on a low ridge of sandstone rock, about two miles from the ancient port, for the But 1 See the story in Athenæus, xv. 18. Ὁ Ἡρόστρατος, ἐμπορίᾳ χρώμενος καὶ χώραν πολλὴν περιπλέων, προσσχών ποτε καὶ Πάφῳ τῆς Κύπρου, ἀγαλμάτιον ̓Αφροδίτης σπιθαμιαῖον, ἀρχαῖον τῇ τέχνῃ, ὠνησάμενος, ᾔει φέρων εἰς Ναυκρατιν. κ. τ. λ. The narrative goes on to say that the merchant was saved by the miraculous image from shipwreck. 2 Acts xix. 24. 3 We learn this from Dio Cassius. Παφίοις σεισμῷ πονήσασι καὶ χρήματα ἐχαρίσατο, καὶ τὴν πόλιν Αὔγουσταν καλεῖν, κατὰ δόγμα ἐπέτρεψε, liv. 23. See also Senec. Ep. 91. N. Q. vi. 26. The Greek form Sebaste, instead of Augusta, occurs in an inscription found on the spot, which is further interesting as containing the name of another Paulus. Μαρκίᾳ Φιλίππου θυγατρί, ἀνεψιᾷ Καίσαρος θεοῦ Σεβαστοῦ, γυναικὶ Παύλου Φαβίου Μαξίμου, Σεβαστῆς Πάφου ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος, Boeckh. No. 2629. So Antioch in Pisidia was called Cæsarea. See below, p. 170. 4 Strab. xiv. 6. Ptol. v. 14, 1. 5 The following passage from a traveller about the time of the Reformation, is a curious instance of the changes of meaning which the same words may undergo. "Paphos ruinis plena videtur, templis tamen frequens, inter quæ Latina sunt præstantiora, in quibus ritu Romano divina peraguntur, et Gallorum legibus vivitur." Itin. Hieros. Bartæi. de Salignaco, 1587. 6 This is the distance between the Ktema and the Marina given by Captain Graves. In Purdy's Sailing Directions (p. 251), it is stated to be only half a mile. Captain Graves says: "In the vicinity are numerous ruins and ancient remains; but when so many towns have existed, and so many have severally been destroyed, all must be left to conjecture. A number of columns broken and much mutilated are lying about, and some substantial and well-built vaults, or rather subterraneous communications, under a hill of slight elevation, are pointed out by the guides as the remains of a temple dedicated to Venus. Then there are numerous excavations in the sandstone hills, which probably served at various periods the double purpose of habitations and tombs. Sev marsh, which once formed the limit of the port, makes the shore unhealthy during the heats of summer by its noxious exhalations. One of the most singular features of the neighbourhood consists of the curious caverns excavated in the rocks, which have been used both for tombs and for dwellings. The port is now almost blocked up, and affords only shelter for boats. "The Venetian stronghold, at the extremity of the Western mole, is now fast crumbling into ruins. The mole itself is broken up, and every year the massive stones of which it was constructed are rolled over from their original position into the port." The approaches to the harbour can never have been very safe, in consequence of the ledge of rocks2 which extends some distance into the sea. At present, the eastern entrance to the anchorage is said to be the safer of the two. The western, under ordinary circumstances, would be more convenient for a vessel clearing out of the port, and about to sail for the Gulf of Pamphylia. 3 We have remarked in the last chapter, that it is not difficult to imagine the reasons which induced Paul and Barnabas, on their departure from Seleucia, to visit first the island of Cyprus. It is not quite so easy to give an opinion upon the motives which directed their course to the coast of Pamphylia, when they had passed through the native island of Barnabas, from Salamis to Paphos. It might be one of those circumstances which we call accidents, and which, as they never influence the actions of ordinary men without the predetermining direction of Divine Providence, so were doubtless used by the same Providence to determine the course even of Apostles. As St. Paul, many years afterwards, joined at Myra that vessel in which he was shipwrecked, and then was conveyed to Puteoli in a ship which had accidentally wintered at Malta -so on this occasion there might be some small craft in the harbour at Paphos, bound for the opposite gulf of Attaleia, when Paul and Barnabas were thinking of their future progress. The distance is not great, and frequent communication, both political and commercial, must have taken place between the towns of Pamphylia and those of Cyprus." It is possible that St. Paul, having eral monasteries and churches now in ruins, of a low Gothic architecture, are more casily identified; but the crumbling fragments of the sandstone with which they are constructed, only add to the incongruous heap around, that now covers the palace of the Paphian Venus."-MS. note by Captain Graves, R. N. 1 Captain Graves. MS. 2 "A great ledge of rocks lies in the entrance to Papho, extending about a league ; you may sail in either to the eastward or westward of it, but the eastern passage is the widest and best." Purdy, p. 251. The soundings may be seen in our copy of Captain Graves' Chart. 3 Acts xxvii. 5, 6. 4 Acts xxviii. 11–13. 5 And perhaps Paphos more especially, as the seat of government. At present Khalandri (Gulnar), to the south-east of Attaleia and Perga, is the port from which the Tatars from Constantinople, conveying government despatches, usually cross to Cyprus. See Purdy, p. 245, and the reference to Irby and Mangles. already preached the Gospel in Cilicia,' might wish now to extend it among those districts which lay more immediately contiguous, and the population of which was, in some respects, similar to that of his native province. He might also reflect that the natives of a comparatively unsophisticated district might be more likely to receive the message of salvation, than the inhabitants of those provinces which were more completely penetrated with the corrupt civilisation of Greece and Rome. Or his thoughts might be turning to those numerous families of Jews, whom he well knew to be settled in the great towns beyond Mount Taurus, such as Antioch in Pisidia, and Iconium in Lycaonia, with the hope that his Master's cause would be most successfully advanced among those Gentiles, who flocked there, as everywhere, to the worship of the synagogue. Or, finally, he may have had a direct revelation from on high, and a vision, like that which had already appeared to him in the Temple,3 or like that which he afterwards saw on the confines of Europe and Asia, may have directed the course of his voyage. Whatever may have been the calculations of his own wisdom and prudence, or whatever supernatural intimations may have reached him, he sailed, with his companions Barnabas and John, in some vessel, of which the size, the cargo, and the crew, are unknown to us, past the promontories of Drepanum and Acamas, and then across the waters of the Pamphylian Sea, leaving on the right the cliffs 5 which are the western boundary of Cilicia, to the innermost bend of the bay of Attaleia. 4 This bay is a remarkable feature in the shore of Asia Minor, and it is not without some important relations with the history of this part of the world. It forms a deep indentation in the general coast-line, and is bordered by a plain, which retreats itself like a bay into the mountains. From the shore to the mountains, across the widest part of the plain, the distance is a journey of eight or nine hours. Three principal rivers intersect this level space: the Catarrhactes, which falls over the sea-cliff's near Attaleia, in the waterfalls which suggested its name; and farther to the east the Cestrus and Eurymedon, which flow by Perga and Aspendus to a low and sandy shore. About the banks of these rivers, and on the open waters of the bay, whence the eye ranges freely over the ragged mountain summits which inclose the scene, armies and fleets had engaged in some of those battles of which the results were still felt in the day of St. Paul. From the base of that steep shore on the west, where a rugged knot of mountains is piled up into snowy heights above the rocks of Phaselis, the 1 See pp. 104-106 and 117. • Strabo's expression is, Οἱ Πάμφυλοι, πολὺ τοῦ Κιλικίου φύλου μετέχοντες, xii. 7. 3 Acts xxii. 17-21. See p. 104. 4 Acts xvi. 9. 5 About C. Anamour (Anemurium, the southernmost point of Asia Minor), and Alaya (the ancient Coracesium), there are cliffs of 500 and 600 feet high. See Purdy, p. 244. Compare our Map of the N. E. corner of the Mediterranean. |