BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Why Did Paul Go to Pisidian Antioch?

Museum discovery sheds light on apostle's unexpected journey

View down the main road of Pisidian Antioch in southwestern Turkey. Credit: Valerii Shanin / Alamy

On Paul’s so-called first missionary journey, detailed beginning in Acts 13, he and his companions go from Syrian Antioch to Cyprus (where Barnabas was from), and they end up in the city of Paphos. From there, they sail north to the southern coast of Asia Minor, to the ancient Greek city of Perga. Nothing at all is said about Paul and Barnabas staying and evangelizing there; instead, they head north through rugged mountain territory to a small Roman town called Pisidian Antioch.

Why in the world would they do that? The trek from Perga to Pisidian Antioch is more than 160 miles over difficult terrain, taking four weeks or more to traverse, even if they followed the Roman road called the Via Sebaste. Why not go eastward along the coast to Side, and on to Tarsus, Paul’s hometown, and then back through the Cilician Gates to Syrian Antioch? Certainly, this would have afforded opportunities for sharing the Good News to largely Gentile audiences.

There is now a sound historical basis for Paul’s unexpected route through the mountains, and it begins on Cyprus. When Paul’s group arrives in Paphos, they meet with the governor, a man named Sergius Paulus. To him, Paul’s message must have sounded strangely like imperial propaganda about the “good news” of a savior bringing peace to the world. Note, for instance, the Priene Calendar inscription, part of a decree made in 9 BC about Caesar Augustus and posted in Priene and elsewhere in the Roman Empire:

Since Providence … has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit human-kind, sending him as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things … and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings (evangelion) for the world that came by reason of him …¹

So when Paul appears before the governor and impresses him with the blinding of the magician Elymas, we read, “When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord” (Acts 13:12).

Map showing Paul’s route to Pisidian Antioch. Courtesy BAS.

But here is the key point: Sergius Paulus and his family were from Pisidian Antioch. We know this because of an honorific inscription that archaeologist and frequent BAR contributor Mark Wilson and I noticed in Yalvaç (the modern name for Pisidian Antioch), in the courtyard of the small municipal museum, where it sat gathering mold and gradually wearing away. (Thankfully, it has now been moved indoors; see image below). Its first line mentions the “Paulli,” with the plural referring to an entire family, and the second line names L. Sergius (Lucius Sergius Paulus)—the very proconsul of Cyprus who was so impressed with Paul when they met in AD 48 or 49.

Indeed, we can trace this figure’s career through a number of other inscriptions detailing his posts and promotions over time. One particular inscription, discovered near Pisidian Antioch in the early 20th century, appears to refer to a son (filius) of Sergius Paulus, and thus serves as additional corroborating evidence linking this family with the Roman town.

Moreover, the family evidently was well known by the Roman elites, because Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) mentions Sergius Paulus as an author, like himself, of a book about natural history that he used as a source (Natural History, Book 1). Note that Pliny gives information from Cyprus and mentions there were magicians there (30.2.11). Is this just a coincidence, or did Pliny learn of this from Sergius Paulus, who wrote about his encounters with Elymas?

The Sergius Paulus stone at the Yalvaç Museum in Turkey. Credit: Ben Witherington III.

In the midst of the narrative about Paul’s meeting with Sergius Paulus and Elymas, in Acts 13:9, we find the first reference to “Saul” also having a Roman name: Paulus, like the governor himself. Acts 22:28 says the apostle was born a Roman citizen. We are not dealing here, as many have suggested, with a name change related to Paul’s conversion; rather, we are given the apostle’s Roman name, since he was a Roman citizen from birth.

Why is this important? The reason for mentioning Paul’s non-Jewish name in a discussion with the governor of Cyprus is because Paul is trying to appear Roman to a fellow Roman. In Paul’s early days as an apostle, it was important to reach out to Gentiles in approachable ways. It makes good sense that the governor would suggest Paul and Barnabas go to his hometown; perhaps he even wrote a letter of recommendation for them, though Acts does not say so. We are told, however, that they were at first well received in Pisidian Antioch, and that many Gentiles came to hear Paul speak, which angered some in the Jewish community (Acts 13:44–45).

When one journeys the same route that Paul and Barnabas likely took over the rugged mountains, probably following the Via Sebaste, it becomes obvious that there had to have been a good reason why they undertook this arduous journey to the north, and did not follow the coastal road back past Side and on to Paul’s home town of Tarsus, and then back through the Cilician Gates to Syrian Antioch. It seems clear, then, that Paul and Barnabas deliberately went to Pisidian Antioch, the home of the Paulus clan, with the blessing of Sergius Paulus. The governor may have provided a letter of introduction or commendation to the authorities there for his fellow Roman citizen. This was an opportunity they could not pass up.

This article is adapted from the column, “Why Did Paul Go to Pisidian Antioch?” which appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Notes

1. Translation from Craig A. Evans, “Mark’s Incipit and the Priene Calendar Inscription: From Jewish Gospel to Greco-Roman Gospel,” Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 1 (2000), pp. 67–81, specifically p. 69.

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