By Elizabeth Prata

Thank goodness for historians. In ancient Rome during the last days of the Apostle Paul, Sallust and Livy, for example, wrote of the notorious jail in Rome known as the Mamertine, dubbed so in the medieval period. It’s originally known in history as the Carcer, or the Tullianum, or at least, the lower half of the underground dungeon was. History does not record for a definite fact that Peter and Paul were at different times held there, but tradition and Roman practice indicate it was a strong possibility.

This essay is constructed in three sections:

Section 1: The prison itself. What was it like?
Section 2: Paul in Prison
Section 3: Facing Death

What was the Mamertine Prison like?

The Mamertine prison was a prison in the Roman Forum where high-profile prisoners…