Puteoli

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Πυτίολοι, now Pozzuoli)

The town of Puteoli lay on the northern shore of the Bay of Naples (Sinus Cumanus), and on the eastern side of the lovely Sinus Baianus, which was a bay within a bay. Originally a Greek settlement, it retained the name of Dicaearchia till the Romans established a colony there, when the Latin element swamped the Greek. Eastward the town was separated from Neapolis by a headland (Posilipo) which Augustus pierced with a tunnel, while westward it joined hands with Baiae, the gay resort of fashionable Rome. By the short Via Campania (or Consularis) it was connected with the Via Appia at Capua, which was 125 miles from Rome. Puteoli was not only the usual landing-place of travellers for Rome-such as St. Paul ( Acts 28:13), Josephus (Vit. 3), and the prisoner Ignatius (Martyr. 5)-but the haven for the merchant-ships of Syria and Egypt in the east, of Carthage and Spain in the west. It was ‘the Liverpool of Italy’ (Conybeare-Howson, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, new ed., 1877, ii. 433). Seneca (Ep. 77) gives a life-like picture of the Puteolan crowd gathering on the pier in spring to watch the fleet of Alexandrian corn-ships heaving in sight, easily distinguished ‘in magna turba navium’ because they alone were allowed to enter the bay carrying their top-sails. The mercantile supremacy of Puteoli is explained by Strabo (c._ a.d. 20): Ostia ‘has no port, owing to the accumulation of alluvial deposit brought down by the Tiber, … vessels therefore bring to anchor farther out, but not without danger’ (v. iii. 5). All this was changed by the construction at Ostia of the Portus Augusti, begun in the reign of Claudius and finished in that of Nero, close to the time (a.d. 59 or 60) of St. Paul’s arrival in Italy. The Apostle’s ship, however, sailed for the old port, so that he and his companions had to make the usual overland journey. In Puteoli they ‘found brethren’ of whom they had no previous knowledge (as the absence of the article proves), and ‘were cheered among them (παρεκλήθημεν παρʼ αὐτοῖς), remaining seven days’ ( Acts 28:14). This reading is preferred by W. M. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveller, 1895, p. 212) and F. Blass (Acta Apostolorum, 1895, p. 287) to ‘were entreated by them’ (ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς), which would convey the idea that St. Paul, though a prisoner, was able to make his own arrangements; whereas the truth probably was that when Julius decided that a halt must be made for a week, the Apostle used the measure of liberty given him, and passed the time in happy fellowship with the little Christian Church. There had been a colony of Jews in Puteoli before the time of Christ (Jos. Ant. XVII. xii. 1, BJ_ II. vii. 1), so that the soil had been partly prepared for the seed of the gospel; and as ships plied between Puteoli and every port in Syria and Egypt, it was nothing wonderful that St. Paul found Christianity already planted in that great commercial city. Other Eastern cults took root there sooner than in Rome, as a temple of Serapis, frequented in the 2nd cent. b.c., proved. The modern town (population, 17,000) retains many relics of ancient greatness-amphitheatre, baths, circus, villas. Its cathedral is built into a temple of Augustus.

Literature.-Strabo, v. iv. 7; C. Dubois, Pouzzoles antique, 1908; C. Baedeker, Southern Italy and Sicily12, 1896.

James Strahan.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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.  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.

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.  Acts 28:13-14 - Whitney.

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.

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.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

so called from its baths of hot water, a city of Campania, in Italy; now called Pozzuoli, in a province of the kingdom of Naples, called Terra di Lavoro, and about eight miles from Naples. St. Paul stayed a week with the Christians of this place, in his journey as a prisoner to Rome,  Acts 28:13 . The Alexandrian merchant vessels preferred Puteoli to all the harbours in Italy, and here they deposited their rich freights. They conducted the ships adorned with wreaths and festive garments, in the form of a fleet, one after another, into the harbour, where they were received with the greatest demonstrations of friendship. Such was the case with the sale of Alexandrian commodities throughout Italy. According to the course then pursued, the vessel in which St. Paul sailed went direct into this harbour.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The port of Italy to which ships from Egypt and the Levant commonly sailed (Josephus, Ant. 18:7, section 4; so  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.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

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.  Acts 28:13-14.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PUTEOLI (modern Pozzuoli ). In ancient times an important harbour and emporium, especially for Eastern trade, on the W. coast of Italy near Naples. It was founded by Greeks at a very early period. Such cities were specially sought by Jews and other foreigners, and Christians would early be living there, as St. Paul and his party found them on reaching this port at the end of their voyage from the East (  Acts 28:13 ).

A. Souter.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A port in Italy on the N.E. of the bay of Naples, where Paul landed on his way to Rome.  Acts 28:13 . It has suffered both by sieges and by eruptions, and is now only a poor Italian town. A few piers of the harbour remain. It is now called Pozzuoli.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The wells, now Pozzuoli, a maritime town in the Campania of Naples, on the northern side of the bay, eight miles northwest from that city. It was a Roman colony. Here Paul abode seven days, on his famous voyage and journey from Caesarea to Rome,  Acts 28:13 .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A city rendered memorable from the apostle Paul residing there a week in his way to Rome. ( Acts 28:13)

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 28:13,14

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pū́ - tē´ṓ - lı̄ ( Ποτίολοι , Potı́oloi , "sulphur springs" (  Acts 28:13 , Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek), the modern Pozzuoli ): 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.

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 Pro Rabirio 40; Suetonius, Augustus 98; Strabo xvii. 793; Cicero Pro Caelio 10). The eastern element in the population was very numerous (Petronius 81; Cil , 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 ( emporium ) 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.

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 pozzolana today, was mixed with lime to form a cement of the greatest durability, which was weatherproofing against the influence of seawater.

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.

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 Ad Fam .   Ezekiel 27:15 ,  Ezekiel 27:2; Ad Att . xiv. 16, 1; 20, 1) was afterward selected as the place of burial of Hadrian (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, Annals xiv. 8). See Nero .

The apostle Paul found a Christian community at Puteoli, when he arrived there on his way to Rome, and stopped 7 days with them ( Acts 28:13 ,  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, Italische Landeskunde , 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 ( Geog. Raven ., IV, 32; Itin . Ant. , 122; Tab . Peut .).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Graecized Ποτίολοι [  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 ( 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 (

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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.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Pute´oli, a maritime town of Campania, in Italy, on the north shore of the bay of Naples, and about eight miles north-west from the city of that name, where it still exists under the name of Pozzuoli. It derived its name from its tepid baths, whence the district in which it exists is now called Terra di Lavoro. It was a favorite watering-place of the Romans, as its numerous hot-springs were judged efficacious for the cure of various diseases. It was also the port where 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 staid for a week . The harbor was protected by a celebrated mole, the remains of which are still to be seen.