Places in Acts
—Page 1, Achaia to Antioch
This page contains information about places mentioned in the book of Acts. Achaia, Adramyttium, Adria, Alexandria, Amphipolis, Antioch Syria, Antioch Pisidia.
Achaia
- Pronounced Uh-kay'-ya
- Achaia was another name for Greece. It was the region south of Macedonia.
- The major cities of Achaia were Athens and Corinth.
- The whole world used Greek, the language of Achaia, as a common language.
- The New Testament was written in the common Greek.
- The Greek culture was so widespread that all Gentile persons were known as Greeks (Romans 1:16).
- Paul preached extensively in Achaia/Greece during his 3rd missionary journey (Acts 19:21, 20:2-3).
- Christians of Achaia helped other Christians in trouble (Romans 15:26, 2Corinthians 9:1-5).
- Among the first converts of Achaia were Epenetus and the family of Stephanus (Romans 16:5, 1Corinthians 16:15).
Adramyttium
- Pronounced Add-ruh-mit'-ee-um.
- A coastal town of Asia.
- Paul, on his way to Rome, first sailed on a ship whose home port was Addramyttium (Acts 27:2).
Adria
- Pronounced Aid'-ree-uh.
- This is the Adriatic Sea, which lies between Italy and Achaia.
- Adria is mentioned in connection with Paul’s journey to Rome (Acts 27:27).
Alexandria
- Alexandria was a coastal city and port of Egypt.
- The greatest city of the world except for Rome.
- Apollos was born there (Acts 18:24).
- On his way to Rome, Paul sailed on ships that came from Alexandria (Acts 27:6, 28:11).
- Men from this city disputed with Stephen (Acts 6:9).
Amphipolis
- Pronounced Am-fip'-pol-iss
- A Roman military station 50km southwest of Philippi.
- Paul called there on his 2nd missionary journey (Acts 17:1).
Antioch Pisidia
- Pronounced An'-tee-ock of Piss-id'-ee-ya.
- Pisidian Antioch stood on a plateau 3,600 feet above sea level.
- Mentioned in connection with Paul’s 1st missionary journey.
- Paul and Barnabas had to climb a hard mountainous road to get there and preach in the synagogue (Acts 13:14-16).
Antioch Syria
- Pronounced An'-tee-ock of See'-ree-ya.
- Syrian Antioch was the world's third greatest city, bettered only by Rome and Alexandria.
- Antioch stood 25km up river from its seaport Selucia, where the Crontes River entered the Great Sea.
- Infamous for immorality in the form of lustful sports and pleasures.
- A center fo the worship of Daphne, a godess whose priestesses were prostitutes.
- Before continuing through the following points on Syrian Antioch, it would be helpful to read Acts 11:19-30 and mark the place.
- When persecution in Jerusalem gave impetus to evangelism, some of the scattered Christians reached Antioch (Acts 11:19).
- A strong church of Christ was established there, and this is where the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:19,26).
- From Antioch, a great new missionary effort reached out to the Gentile world (Acts 11:19-21, Acts 13:1-4, Acts 14:24-28).
- Paul spent a lot of time in Antioch prior to his 1st missionary journey (Acts 11:25-26, Acts 15:35).
- Several other church leaders also spent time there (Acts 11:27, Acts 13:1).
- Antioch was the center of a controversy involving Gentile Christians and Jewish law (Acts 11:19-22, Acts 15:22-35, Galatians 2:11-21).
- From Antioch, relief was sent to famine-hit brethren in Judea (Acts 11:27-30).
The two Antiochs
Maps by Ron Graham
Copyright on print