Difference between revisions of "Puteoli"

<p> '''Pute'oli.''' ''(Sulphurous Springs).'' The great landing-place of travelers to Italy from the Levant, and the harbor to which the Alexandrian corn-ships brought their cargoes. &nbsp;Acts 27:13. The celebrated bay, which is now the Bay of Naples was then called " '''Sinus Puteolanus''' ". The city was at the northeastern angle of the bay. </p> <p> The name, [[Puteoli]] , arose from the strong mineral springs, which are characteristic of the place. It was a favorite watering-place of the Romans; its hot springs being considered efficacious for cure of various diseases. Here also, ships usually discharged their passengers and cargoes, partly to avoid doubling the promontory of Circeium, and partly because there was no commodious harbor nearer to Rome. Hence, the ship in which Paul was conveyed from Melita, landed the prisoners at this place, where the apostle stayed a week. &nbsp;Acts 28:13-14 - Whitney. </p> <p> The associations of Puteoli, with historical personages are very numerous. Scipio sailed from this place to Spain; Cicero had a villa in the neighborhood; here, [[Nero]] planned the murder of his mother; [[Vespasian]] gave to this city, peculiar privileges; and here, [[Adrian]] was buried. </p> <p> In the fifth century, it was ravaged by both [[Alaric]] and Genseric, and it never, afterward, recovered its former eminence. It is now a fourth-rate [[Italian]] town, still retaining the name of [[Pozzuoli]] . The remains of Puteoli are worthy of mention. Among them are the aqueduct , the reservoirs, portions, (probably), of the baths, the great amphitheatre, and the building, called the temple of Serapis. No Roman harbor has left as solid a memorial of itself as this one, at which St. Paul landed in Italy. </p>

<p> The port of Italy to which ships from Egypt and the [[Levant]] commonly sailed (Josephus, Ant. 18:7, section 4; so &nbsp;Acts 28:13). The bay of Naples was then named from it, '''''Sinus Ρuteolanus''''' . A cross road led thence to Capua, there joining the Appian Way to Rome. [[Sixteen]] piers of the harbour mole, formed of the concrete '''''Pozzolana''''' , remain. Puteoli was at the E. of the bay, Baiae at the W. Puteoli comes from '''''Puteus''''' a "well," or '''''Puteo''''' , "to smell strong," from the offensively smelling mineral springs. </p>

<p> [[Puteoli]] ( ''Pu-Tç'O-Lî'' ). The principal port of southern Italy, in the most sheltered part of the bay of Naples. It was the great emporium for the Alexandrian wheat-ships. Seneca gives an interesting account of the arrival of a fleet of these. All other vessels when they entered the bay were obliged to strike their topsails. These, therefore, could be distinguished in a crowd of ships as soon as they hove in sight. Paul was permitted to tarry seven days at Puteoli on his way from [[Malta]] to Rome. &nbsp;Acts 28:13-14. </p>

<p> ''''' pū́ ''''' - ''''' tē´ṓ ''''' - ''''' lı̄ ''''' ( Ποτίολοι , <i> ''''' Potı́oloi ''''' </i> , "sulphur springs" (&nbsp; Acts 28:13 , Westcott and Hort, The New [[Testament]] in Greek), the modern <i> ''''' Pozzuoli ''''' </i> ): A maritime city of Campania, which occupied a central position on the northern shore of a recess in the [[Gulf]] of Naples, protected on the West by the peninsula of Baiae and Cape Misenum. It was originally a colony of the neighboring Greek city Cumae. </p> <p> The earliest event in the history of Puteoli which can be dated definitely was the repulse of [[Hannibal]] before its walls by a Roman garrison in 214 BC. The design of the Carthaginian to secure a seaport as base of supplies and communication was thus thwarted (Livy xxiv. 7,12, 13). A R oman colony was established here in 194 BC, and Puteoli thus became the first Roman port on the Gulf of Naples (Livy xxxiv. 45; Strabo v. 245; Velleius, i. 15). Its subsequent remarkable prosperity and commercial activity are to be attributed to the safety of the harbor and the inhospitable character of the coast nearer Rome. For Puteoli became the chief seaport of the capital before the creation of an artificial harbor at Portus [[Augusti]] by Claudius, and before [[Trajan]] made the mouth of the [[Tiber]] the principal converging point for the over-sea carrying trade. The imports at Puteoli consisted mainly of [[Egyptian]] grain and oriental wares, dispatched from [[Alexandria]] and other cities of the Levant (Cicero <i> Pro Rabirio </i> 40; Suetonius, <i> Augustus </i> 98; Strabo xvii. 793; Cicero <i> Pro Caelio </i> 10). The eastern element in the population was very numerous (Petronius 81; <i> Cil </i> , X, 1797). The harbor was rendered doubly safe by a mole, which is known to have been at least 418 yards in length, consisting of massive piers connected by means of arches constructed in solid masonry (Strabo v. 245). Extensive remains of this mole still exist. The shore line devoted to purposes of commerce ( <i> emporium </i> ) extended for a distance of about 1 1/4 miles westward from the mole. At the height of its prosperity under Claudius and Nero, the town is thought to have contained a population of nearly 100,000. </p> <p> The region in which the town was situated is of volcanic formation, the name Puteoli being due to the odor of the sulphureous springs or to the wells of a volcanic nature which abound in the vicinity. The volcanic dust, called <i> pozzolana </i> today, was mixed with lime to form a cement of the greatest durability, which was weatherproofing against the influence of seawater. </p> <p> Extensive remains of an amphitheater, whose axes measure 160,126 yards across the space enclosed by the outer facade and 75,45 yards within the arena, bear testimony to the former affluence of Puteoli. </p> <p> The region about Puteoli together with Baiae became the favorite resort of the Roman nobility, and the foundations of many ancient villas are still visible, although partly covered by the sea. Cicero's villa in the territory of Puteoli (Cicero <i> [[Ad]] Fam </i> . &nbsp; Ezekiel 27:15 , &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:2; <i> Ad Att </i> . xiv. 16, 1; 20, 1) was afterward selected as the place of burial of <i> [[Hadrian]] </i> (Spartianus Had. 25). The portion of the bay between Puteoli and Baiae was the scene of the attempt made at the instigation of Nero upon the life of his mother by means of a vessel so contrived that it was to break to pieces while conveying [[Agrippina]] toward her villa near the Lucrine Lake (Tacitus, <i> Annals </i> xiv. 8). See Nero . </p> <p> The apostle Paul found a Christian community at Puteoli, when he arrived there on his way to Rome, and stopped 7 days with them (&nbsp;Acts 28:13 , &nbsp;Acts 28:14 ). At that time the ordinary route to Rome, following the Via Appia from Capua, was 155 Roman, or about 142 1/3 English miles (Nissen, <i> Italische Landeskunde </i> , II, 739). Later, [[Domitian]] reduced the distance to 139 Roman miles (about 129 English miles) by laying out the Via Domitia along the coast, joining the Via Appia at Sinuessa ( <i> Geog. [[Raven]] </i> ., IV, 32; <i> Itin </i> . <i> Ant. </i> , 122; <i> Tab </i> . <i> Peut </i> .). </p>

<p> (Graecized '''''Ποτίολοι''''' [ &nbsp;Acts 28:13], but in classical Greek often '''''Πουτεόλοι''''' '';'' a Latin word, from ''Puteus'' , ''A Well'' , on account of the [[Wells]] or ''Sources'' of a volcanic origin with which it abounded), a maritime town of Campania, in Italy, on the northern shore of the bay of Naples, and about eight miles north-west from that city. Here Paul landed on his way to Rome (&nbsp;Acts 28:13). As above noted, it derived its name from its tepid baths, and the district in which they exist is now called Terra di Lavoro. The earlier name of Puteoli, when the lower part of Italy was Greek, was ''Diccpiarchia;'' and this name continued to be used to a late period. Josephus uses it in two passages ( <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These files are public domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Puteoli'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and [[Ecclesiastical]] Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/puteoli.html. [[Harper]] & Brothers. New York. 1870. </p> </p>