Roman Road Between Alexandria Troas and Assos, Türkiye
“But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.” Acts 20:13-14
Near Assos, Turkiye is a stretch of Roman republican era road that runs parallel to the modern black top. It is in the country side, along woods and farms and flocks of sheep. There is a beautiful view of the acropolis of Assos in the distance and of the blue of the sea and harbor. It’s an amazing place to walk in the Apostle Paul’s footsteps and ponder the courage that God gave him to move toward his final imprisonment and his likely execution.
This year we had a little more time and were able to walk further along the road to a place where it splits. One fork leads to the western gate of Assos and one down to the rocky harbor. The peacefulness of the walk was interrupted by two Kangal Anatolian shepherd dogs. They seemed little interested in us when we first passed them, but on the way back they were not having it!! We had to run straight up hill to the black top road and walk along that for a mile to rejoin our group on the roman road. Our guide gave us a stern lecture on never passing near these incredible canines when they are with their flock. She explained that they will attack and kill if they think the flock is threatened and that no one will find the dog to be at fault - it will be the dumb tourist at fault!! So lesson learned and thankful that God saved us from that gruesome fate!
A stretch of republican era roman road between Alexandria Troas and Assos, walked by the Apostle Paul. The Assos acropolis can be seen in the background on the left.
