circumstances, that he made this land-journey from Naples to Rome, on foot; and on the way stopped at the house of a Galilean countryman of his own, named Mark, in a town called Atina, of which the said Mark was afterwards made bishop.
Respecting these minute accounts of Peter's stopping-places on this apocryphal
journey, Baronius says, "Nobilia in iis remanserunt antiquitatis vestigia, sed traditiones
potius quam scriptura firmata." "There are in those places some noble remains
of this ancient history, but rather traditions than well assured written accounts."
The part of the route from Antioch to Sicily he takes on the authority of the imaginative
Metaphrastes; but the rest is made up from different local superstitions of a
very modern date, not one of which can be traced farther back than the time when
every fable of this sort had a high pecuniary value to the inventors, in bringing
crowds of money-giving pilgrims to the spot which had been hallowed by the foot-*steps
of the chief apostle. Even the devout Baronius, however, is obliged to confess
at the end of this story, "Sed de rebus tam antiquis et incertis, quid potissimum affirmare
debeamus, non satis constat."—"But as to matters so ancient and uncertain, it
is not sufficiently well established what opinion we may most safely pronounce."
As to the early part of the route, speaking of the account given by Metaphrastes of Peter's having on his way through Troy ordained Cornelius, the centurion, bishop of that place, Baronius objects to the truth of this statement, the assertion that Cornelius had been previously ordained bishop of Caesarea, where he was converted. A very valuable refutation of one fable by another as utterly unfounded.
Respecting the causes of this great journey of the apostle to
the capital of the world, the opinions even of papist writers are as
various as they are about the route honored by his passage. Some
suppose his motive to have been merely a desire for a refuge from
the persecution of Agrippa;—a most unlikely resort, however, for
nothing could be more easy than his detection in passing over
such a route, especially by sea, where every vessel could be so
easily searched at the command of Agrippa, whose influence extended
far beyond his own territory, supported as he was, by the
unbounded possession of the imperial Caesar's favor, which would
also make the seizure of the fugitive within the great city itself, a
very easy thing. Others, however, do not consider this journey
as connected in any way with his flight from Agrippa, (for many
suppose it to have been made after the death of that king,) and
find the motive for such an effort in the vast importance of the
field opened for his labors in the great capital of the world, where
were so many strong holds of error to be assaulted, and from
which an influence so wide and effectual might be exerted through
numerous channels of communication to all parts of the world.
Others have sought a reason of more definite and limited character,
and with vast pains have invented and compiled a fable of
most absurdly amusing character, to make an object for Peter's
labors in the distant capital. The story which has the greatest
number of supporters, is one connected with Simon Magus, men-
