Thus  was  fulfilled  his  long-cherished  desire  "  to  proclaim  the  Gospel
to  them  that  were  in  Rome  also  "  (Rom.  i.  15).  Thus  ends  the  Apos-
tolic History,  so  far  as  it  has  been  directly  revealed.  Here  the  thread  of
sacred  narrative,  which  we  have  followed  so  long,  is  suddenly  broken.
Our  knowledge  of  the  incidents  of  his  residence  in  Rome,  and  of  his
subsequent  history,  must  be  gathered  almost  exclusively  from  the  letters
of  the  Apostle  himself.
Coin  of  Nero  (with  the  Harhor  of  Ostia).*


1  Isa.  vi.  9,  10  (LXX.).  Quoted  also  by
oar  Lord  (Matt.  xiii.  15),  and  referred  to  by
8t.  John  (John  xii.  40).  '^  See  above.
*  "  With  the  soldier  that  kept  hira,"  Acts
xxTiii.  16.  See  above,  pp.  66,5,  666,  and  com-
pare Eph.  vi.  20  ("an  ambassador  in  bonds"),
Col.  iv.  18,  Phil.  i.  13.  Possibly  two  soldiers
guarded  him  by  night  according  to  the  sen-


tence of  the  Roman  law  — "  nox  castodiara
geminat,"  —  quoted  by  Wieseler.
*  From  the  British  Museum.  This  is  ono
of  the  large  brass  coins  of  Nero's  reign,  which
exhibit  admirable  portraits  of  the  emperor.
"We  notice  here  that  peciliar  rig  of  ancient
ships  which  was  mentioned  above,  pp.  679
and  721.
CHAPTER    XXV.
Dday  of  St.  Paul's  Trial.  —  His  Occupations  and  Companions  during  his  Imprisonment.  —  He
writes  the  Epistle  to  Philemon,  the  Epistle  to  tlie  Colossians,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (so
called).
