Paul

The New Testament ends its account of Paul while he is still alive and preaching under house arrest in Rome. Soon afterward, however, Christian sources begin remembering him as a martyr. First Clement, written from Rome near the end of the first century, already says that Paul suffered martyrdom after his extensive missionary work. Later early Christian witnesses associate his death with Rome, and by about AD 200 the tradition of his death by beheading is clearly attested. We can therefore say that Paul was very probably martyred at Rome during the reign of Nero, traditionally by beheading, although the exact year and some details of his final imprisonment remain uncertain.

The New Testament provides detailed information about the events leading to Paul's arrival in Rome. After his arrest at Jerusalem and imprisonment at Caesarea, Paul appeals to Caesar as a Roman citizen and is transported to Italy. Acts ends with Paul living for two years in rented quarters at Rome under guard, receiving visitors and preaching the kingdom of God.

Acts does not describe Paul's trial before Caesar, his release or continued imprisonment, or his death. Second Timothy portrays Paul anticipating death and saying that the time of his departure has come. If the letter is understood as Pauline and as belonging to his final imprisonment, it provides an important biblical picture of Paul approaching martyrdom, but it still does not narrate the execution itself.

The earliest surviving testimony concerning Paul's death appears in First Clement. Writing from Rome near the end of the first century, Clement recalls Peter and Paul as examples from the Christian community's own recent generation. He says that Paul repeatedly suffered imprisonment, exile, stoning, and other hardships, preached extensively in both East and West, and finally suffered martyrdom.

Clement's proximity in both time and place makes this testimony particularly important. He does not explicitly state that Paul was beheaded, nor does he provide a precise date. Nevertheless, he demonstrates that Paul's death as a faithful sufferer for Christ was already part of Roman Christian memory within the first century.

Dionysius, bishop of Corinth in the second century, wrote to the Roman church and associated Peter and Paul with both Corinth and Italy. According to the quotation preserved by Eusebius, the two apostles taught in Italy and suffered martyrdom at approximately the same time.

Gaius of Rome, writing around the beginning of the third century, said that he could show the "trophies" or memorials of the apostles, identifying one at the Vatican and another on the Ostian Way. These were understood as the memorials of Peter and Paul respectively and provide early evidence for established Roman traditions concerning their burial places.

Tertullian, writing around AD 200, refers to Paul's death in a manner comparable to the beheading of John the Baptist. By the time of Eusebius, the tradition is stated explicitly: Paul was beheaded at Rome under Nero.

Later Christian tradition added details concerning Paul's final imprisonment, execution, and burial. His beheading was commonly connected with his status as a Roman citizen, since beheading was regarded as a form of execution appropriate to Roman citizens in contrast with crucifixion.

A traditional execution site developed at Aquae Salviae, later associated with Tre Fontane or the Three Fountains. According to a much later tradition, Paul's severed head struck the ground three times and springs appeared at those places. Such details belong to later devotional tradition and should remain separate from the much earlier evidence for Paul's martyrdom at Rome.

The traditional burial site on the Ostian Way became one of Rome's major Christian shrines and eventually the location of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

The principal early traditions agree that Paul suffered martyrdom and associate his final period with Rome. The main uncertainty concerns chronology and the events between the ending of Acts and his execution.

Some reconstructions understand Acts to describe Paul's first Roman imprisonment, followed by release and additional missionary work before a second imprisonment and execution. This reconstruction is often connected with the Pastoral Epistles and early traditions concerning Paul's extensive western missionary activity. Other reconstructions place his death without requiring a lengthy period of ministry after the imprisonment described in Acts.

The traditional date AD 67 is widely repeated, but the early sources do not establish that exact year. A broader date during Nero's reign, approximately AD 64–68, better reflects the surviving evidence.

Early Christian tradition consistently associates Paul's final imprisonment and martyrdom with Rome. By about AD 200, Gaius of Rome could point visitors to a memorial or "trophy" of Paul on the Ostian Way. The traditional site of Paul's burial outside the ancient city became the location associated with the later Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

Among the deaths of the apostles not narrated directly in the New Testament, Paul's martyrdom at Rome belongs to a particularly early and consistent tradition. First Clement provides testimony within roughly a generation of Paul's death that he suffered martyrdom after extensive missionary activity. Second-century testimony connects Paul and Peter with martyrdom in Italy, while early Roman testimony associates Paul with a memorial on the Ostian Way.

The tradition that Paul was beheaded is somewhat later than the basic testimony to his martyrdom but is clearly established by the end of the second and beginning of the third centuries. Eusebius preserves the settled tradition that Paul was beheaded at Rome under Nero.

The exact year and the precise sequence of events following the end of Acts remain uncertain. It is therefore appropriate to distinguish the well-established early tradition of Paul's Roman martyrdom from later details concerning the exact date, execution site, and miraculous events associated with his death.

Acts 21–28; First Clement 5; Dionysius of Corinth, preserved in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.25; Gaius of Rome, preserved in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.25; Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum 36; Origen, preserved in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.1; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.25 and 3.1; later Roman traditions concerning Paul's execution and burial.