Editing Paul the Apostle (section)

=== Death ===
[[File:Decapitación de San Pablo - Simonet - 1887.jpg|thumb|upright=1|''The Beheading of Saint Paul'', an 1887 portrait by [[Enrique Simonet]]]]
Paul's death is believed to have occurred after the [[Great Fire of Rome]] in July 64 AD, but before the last year of [[Nero]]'s reign, in 68 AD.{{sfn|Brown|1997|p=436}} [[Acts 28]] concludes with Paul living and preaching in Rome but does not mention his death. Eric Franklin sees this as the author's "[[purposeful omission|omission]]", comparable to his emphasis on Stephen's preaching, rather than his death, in [[Acts 7]].<ref>Franklin, E., ''59. Luke'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary], p. 939: "Luke will later omit an account of Paul's death".</ref>

[[Pope Clement I]] writes in his [[First Epistle of Clement|Epistle to the Corinthians]] that after Paul "had borne his testimony before the rulers", he "departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance."<ref>Pope Clement I, ''First Epistle to the Corinthians'', 5:7</ref> [[Ignatius of Antioch]] writes in his [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians|Epistle to the Ephesians]] that Paul was "martyred", without giving any further information.<ref>Ignatius of Antioch, ''[https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0104.htm Epistle to the Ephesians]'', 12:55. "You are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, the holy, the martyred, the deservedly most happy, at whose feet may I be found (...)."</ref> [[Tertullian]] writes that Paul was "crowned with an exit like John" (''Paulus Ioannis exitu coronatur''), although it is unclear [[New Testament people named John|which John]] he meant.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''De praescriptione haereticorum.'' Caput XXXVI [3] - Wikisource |author=Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus |work=la.wikisource.org |date= |access-date=12 November 2023 |url= https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/De_praescriptione_haereticorum |language=la}} {{Cite web |title=CHURCH FATHERS: The Prescription Against Heretics (Tertullian) |author=Tertullian |translator=Peter Holmes |work=New Advent |date=1885 |access-date=12 November 2023 |url= https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0311.htm}}</ref>

[[Eusebius]] states that Paul was killed during the [[Neronian persecution|Neronian Persecution]]<ref>Eusebius, ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Church History]]'', Book 2, Chapter 22, Paragraph 3</ref> and, quoting from [[Dionysius of Corinth]], argues that [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and Paul were martyred "at the same time".<ref>Eusebius, ''Church History'', Book 2, Chapter 25, Paragraph 8</ref> This is also reported by [[Sulpicius Severus]], who claimed Peter was crucified while Paul was beheaded.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Chronicle / Sacred History, Book II''. Chapter 29. |author=Sulpitius Severus |work=[[New Advent]] |date=1894 |access-date=11 November 2023 |url= https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/35052.htm |quote=In the meantime, the number of the Christians being now very large, it happened that Rome was destroyed by fire, while Nero was stationed at Antium. (...) Nero could not by any means he tried escape from the charge that the fire had been caused by his orders. He therefore turned the accusation against the Christians (...) At that time Paul and Peter were condemned to death, the former being beheaded with a sword, while Peter suffered crucifixion.}}</ref> [[John Chrysostom]] provides an account of Nero imprisoning Paul, but not of his execution, and no mention of Peter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Concerning Lowliness of Mind.'' Chapter 4. |author=John Chrysostom |work=New Advent |date=1889 |access-date=11 November 2023 |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1907.htm |quote=Now Nero had then cast him into prison. (...) when he saw Paul having lighted a lamp throughout the world, (...) [Nero] exerted himself both to extinguish what was preached, and to put the teachers out of the way; in order that he might be allowed with authority to do anything he pleased; and after binding that holy man, cast him into prison.}}</ref> [[Lactantius]] only mentioned '[It was Nero] who first persecuted the servants of God; he crucified Peter, and slew Paul' (''Paulum interfecit'').<ref name=Lactantius /><ref>{{Cite web |title=''De mortibus persecutorum'' - Wikisource |author=Lactantius |work=la.wikisource.org |date= |access-date=12 November 2023 |url= https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/De_mortibus_persecutorum#2 |language=la}}</ref>

Based on the letters attributed to Paul, [[Jerome]] claims Paul was imprisoned by Nero in 'the twenty-fifth year after our Lord's passion' (''post passionem Domini vicesimo quinto anno''), 'that is the second of Nero' (''id est, secundo Neronis''), 'at the time when [[Porcius Festus|Festus]] Procurator of Judea succeeded [[Antonius Felix|Felix]], he was sent bound to Rome, (...) remaining for two years in free custody'. Jerome interpreted the [[Second Epistle to Timothy]] to indicate that 'Paul was dismissed by Nero' (''Paulum a Nerone dimissum'') 'that the gospel of Christ might be preached also in the West'; but 'in the fourteenth year of Nero' (''quarto decimo Neronis anno'') 'on the same day with Peter, [Paul] was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake and was buried in the Ostian way, the thirty-seventh year after our Lord's passion' (''anno post passionem Domini tricesimo septimo'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=''De Viris Illustribus'' Chapter 5: Paul. |author=Jerome |translator=Ernest Cushing Richardson |work=New Advent |date=1892 |access-date=11 November 2023 |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hieronymus. ''De viris illustribus.'' Caput V |last=Khazarzar |first=Ruslan |work=khazarzar.skeptik.net |date= |access-date=11 November 2023 |url= http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/hieronym/viris_l.htm |language=la}}</ref>{{sfn|Tajra|2010|p=188}}

A legend later developed that his martyrdom occurred at the Aquae Salviae, on the [[Via Laurentina]]. According to this legend, after Paul was decapitated, his severed head bounced three times, giving rise to a source of water each time that it touched the ground, which is how the place earned the name "[[San Paolo alle Tre Fontane]]" ("St Paul at the Three Fountains").<ref name="VaticanBenedict">{{cite conference|first=Joseph Aloisius|last=Ratzinger|authorlink=Pope Benedict XVI|title=General Audience of 4 February 2009: St Paul's martyrdom and heritage|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=2009|location=[[Paul VI Audience Hall]], Rome|url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20090204.html|access-date = 1 April 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|De Leonardis|Masi|1999|p=21}} The apocryphal [[Acts of Paul]] also describe the martyrdom and the burial of Paul, but their narrative is highly fanciful and largely unhistorical.{{sfn|James|1924}}