It is really hard to imagine what ancient Rome was like during the first century AD when the Apostle Paul was there. 2,000 years of subsequent history have buried ancient Rome, or else dismantled much of what ancient Rome used to be as building materials were recycled and reused for new architectural projects throughout the centuries.
As a result, we have to imagine what ancient Rome was like.
The Apostle Paul arrived in Rome in the year AD 60. In AD 79, just a few years later, Mt. Vesuvius (a couple of hours to the south of Rome) erupted, completely burying the city of Pompeii in ash. The eruption was a terrible tragedy (killing an estimated 2,000 people), however it did have the unexpected good fortune of preserving perfectly everything about the city … so that we today can have a really good idea of what an ancient Roman city of the first century was like.
And hence, what ancient Rome itself was probably like.
Here you can see a main wide thoroughfare running through the ancient city of Pompeii … very similar to a modern city of today. All along this thoroughfare there were shops, interspersed with big fancy homes, interspersed with Roman baths, etc. …
This is what ancient Rome probably would have been like as the Apostle Paul entered the city in AD 60 as a prisoner under Roman guard.
Here is another street … this one is not quite as large, but obviously it once used to be a very busy street. Notice how deep the street level is compared to the sidewalks.
Imagine shops lining this street with canopies to shade from the sun, and vendors with their merchandise for sale … similar to a scene such as this.
This is probably what ancient Rome would have been like.
Here is yet another street view. Notice how tall the buildings would have been … 2-3 stories tall.
This street is running downhill, and if you look closely, you can see deep ruts/grooves in the stones of the street from the wheels of the many carts and chariots which once traversed this street.
Here is another close-up view of the ruts/grooves. The raised stepping-stones were for pedestrians to cross the street.
Imagine shops lining this street, with items such as these on display out front.
Vibrant! Bustling! Crowded! Full of life! This is what ancient Rome was like.
