Adramyttium
Summary
A flourishing seaport city of Mysia in Asia Minor, whose ship Paul boarded at Caesarea on the first leg of his voyage to Rome as a prisoner.
☩Location and History
Adramyttium was situated at the head of a gulf (the Adramyttian Gulf) facing the island of Lesbos, at the foot of Mount Ida on the coast of Mysia. While some authors identify it with the Pedasus of Homer, others attribute its founding to Adramys, the brother of the wealthy king Croesus of Lydia. A small Athenian colony probably existed there before Adramys's time. Under the kings of Pergamus the city grew to considerable importance, becoming the metropolis of the northwest part of the province of Asia and the seat of a conventus juridicus—the court-town for the district.
☩Connection with Paul's Journey
Scripture mentions Adramyttium only in connection with Paul's voyage to Rome as a prisoner. Finding a direct passage from Palestine to Italy was rare, so the centurion Julius embarked Paul on 'a ship of Adramyttium' that was sailing along the coast of Asia Minor, probably making for its home port. Ships from Adramyttium frequently plied this coast due to the city's substantial commerce, located as it was on the great Roman road connecting Assos and Troas with Pergamus, Ephesus, and Miletus. At Myra in Lycia they transferred to an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Italy.
☩Later History
Coins struck at Adramyttium as late as the third century A.D. bear the effigies of Castor and Pollux, showing the city was a center for worship of these deities. The ancient city with its harbor has disappeared, but the modern village of Edremid (a corruption of the ancient name) occupies a hill somewhat inland, containing about a thousand houses surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, with trade primarily in olive oil, raisins, and timber.
Related Verses1 mention
Acts· 1 verse
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Adramyttium," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Adramyttium," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.George Morrish, "Adramyttium," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Adramyttium," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).