A question which often arises with reference to the New Testament characters concerns their means of travel; for we read of the Master journeying all over Palestine, while we find Paul in such widely separated lands as Arabia and Italy, Syria and Macedonia, Galatia and Greece. Tradition would carry such Christian pioneers still farther afield, to Spain, Britain, and elsewhere, and whether or not these latter journeys were actually carried out, they are not at all impossible, for in that age methods of communication were by no means as restricted as one might perhaps suppose.
It is highly probable that in the case of Jesus himself, all, or almost all, his journeys were carried out on foot, for Palestine, despite its great religious and historical importance, measures only some one hundred and fifty miles at its greatest extent from north to south, varying in width from about thirty to fifty miles. It is true that from the standpoint of a modern city dweller such distances might seem sufficiently formidable when covered on foot, but in the East walking is considered no hardship. The only record of the Master's riding appears to be the account of his entering Jerusalem on the back of a young ass, an act apparently carried out in fulfillment of prophecy (Matthew 21:1-5). For crossing the Sea of Galilee, fishing boats were used, propelled either by oars or by sails.
With Paul's journeys, the case is somewhat different, since he penetrated so far afield, yet even he seems to have gone largely on foot, thus gaining a closer contact with the people than he could perhaps obtain by any other mode of travel. Asses and camels were often used for riding in the first century, and it may be that the apostle himself used them upon occasion. Then it is interesting to note that the peculiar phrase in Acts 21:15 rendered, "We took up our carriages," was specifically employed in Classical Greek with reference to the equipping and saddling of horses, and several authorities contend that Paul rode or was driven from Cæsarea to Jerusalem on this final stage of his long and hurried journey to the capital, instead of following "his usual method" of travel, "namely walking" (Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, Vol. II, p. 394). Even on foot, he doubtless covered considerable distances. Dr. Farrar represents the distance of "about three-and-thirty miles" from Philippi to Amphipolis, as "an easy day's journey" for the apostle (Life and Work of St. Paul, Vol. I, p. 504).
