The Worst Room in Rome: Paul's Last Words from the Mamertine Prison

There's a prison in Rome that looks like nothing from the street, and it may be one of the most moving places you'll ever stand. The Mamertine began as a cistern carved into rock, with a hole in the ceiling as the only way in or out. Rome held its condemned there before execution, and church tradition says both Peter and Paul spent their final days in that room.

A spring still rises in the floor. By tradition, Peter used that water to baptize his guards and the other prisoners. New birth on one side of the room, and a drain carrying the dead to the river on the other. It's the gospel in stone.

It's also where Paul likely wrote 2 Timothy, his last letter. He asks for his cloak because he's cold. He names the friends who left him. And then he writes this:

"But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me." (2 Timothy 4:17)

God didn't only meet Paul after he got out. He met him at the very bottom, and He'll meet you there too.

Can you visit the Mamertine Prison today?

Yes. It sits beneath the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami near the Roman Forum.

Is 2 Timothy Paul's last letter?

It's widely understood to be his final letter, written during his second imprisonment in Rome.

Our Rome group goes down into the Mamertine together. Reading Paul's last words in the room where he wrote them changes how you hear them.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

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