Travel Around the Time of Christ

Travel during the time of Jesus Christ and his Apostles  could an arduous -- often dangerous adventure by land or sea. You had to be tough and determined to reach your destination.


Travel by Land


The Romans by this time had built a system of roads major centers in the empire. These were up to 15 feet wide, paved with stone and even had curbs.  Addition to this many of these Romans roadways had a series of inns constructed every so many miles. Although many of these were often dirty and centers for things like prostitution they did provide a place to rest for the careful traveler.


In Palestine, however travelers faced far more dangers from the weather, wild animals, and robbers while traveling along these dirt trails cut through fields and ravines -- which provided ideal hiding places for robbers wanting to ambush travelers.


As night fell  travelers, loaded down with personal belongings such as a staff for protection, extra shoes and clothing, a money bag, a collapsible leather bucket for drawing water from streams, a water flask and other items either made quick encampments beside the roads or stayed in caravansaries -- stone enclosures with rooms build around a court yard built every so many miles beside the roadways.


These places were often dirty but did provide some protection from the weather and thieves.


These roadways were used by a wide variety of  travelers -- from people on foot, loaded down with their personal belongs when making longer journeys to merchants transporting their goods on donkeys, in wagons pulled by oxen for heavier loads, and even on the backs of camels and couriers racing by with mail or royal decrees.


Lucky travelers  could stay with family or friends along the route.


Travel By Sea


Travel by sea could also be a very hazardous undertaking. The Apostle Paul, says at 2 Corinthians 11: 25-27 that, "Three times I experienced shipwreck, a night and a day I spent in the deep."


Following the lead of the early sailors from Tyre and Israel, who were the early pioneers in Mediterranean coastal and deep ocean voyages, sailors from Israel and other countries such as Rome and Greece had become very skilled coastal and deep water sailors.


But still their wooden vessels, whether the small coastal ships or larger Roman galleys  were no match  for the sometimes violent Mediterranean, shipwrecks, such as the ones Paul mentioned, were fairly common and few long voyages were attempted between the middle of September and May.


And even when the weather was good these were not cruise ships for travelers. Most of them were used for ferrying troops  as well as cargo up and down the Mediterranean.


There were few comforts on these vessels for the travelers such as Paul and others.With below decks crammed with cargo travelers had to sleep on the open decks in all kinds of weather, dependent on the food and other items they brought with them to make the trip as bearable as possible. The ship's captain or master provided passengers only with water.


Such was travel through the Mediterranean area during the time of Christ and the Apostles -- with none of the comforts  travelers or tourists enjoy today.  Still the early Christians made good use of  these road and maritime routes to spread their message and traders and merchants used them to establish profitable  trade routes from one end of the Mediterranean to the other.