The Voyage to Rome

When Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus set sail for Rome, northwesterly winds made them sail along coastlines to the port of Myra, where they transferred to a freighter bound for Italy. Unable to face Aegean headwinds, their ship sailed under Crete to a roadstead called Fair Havens. Although Paul warned against sailing further, the ship owner and captain decided otherwise. Soon, a dreadful nor'easter plunged them into a fourteen-day nightmare of frothy fury, causing the crew to jettison cargo and despair of life itself. But Paul declared that all passengers would survive, although the ship would be lost. And so it happened. All 276 passengers were rescued on the beach at Malta, and they spent three winter months on the island. Paul healed the father of Publius, the governor of Malta, before setting sail the next spring for Puteoli on the Bay of Naples. Disembarking there, they traveled up the Appian Way to Rome, welcomed by two delegations from the Roman church.