Antonia Fortress

In the Bible

The name "Antonia" does not appear in the Bible. However, the "castle" into which the Roman chief captain (a commander of a thousand soldiers) brought Paul in Acts 21–23 is generally identified with this fortress.

• In Acts 21:27–36, Paul is seized and beaten by a Jewish crowd in the Temple. When the chief captain hears the news, he runs down with soldiers, has Paul bound, and orders him to be carried into the castle.
• In Acts 21:35–40, Paul stands on the "stairs" leading up into the castle and addresses the crowd in the Hebrew tongue. This is the occasion of the defense recorded in chapter 22.
• In Acts 22:24–29, the chief captain intends to have Paul examined by scourging inside the castle. The examination is halted when Paul declares that he is a Roman citizen.
• In Acts 23:10 and 23:16, when dissension breaks out in the council, the soldiers take Paul back into the castle. Later, Paul's sister's son enters the castle and reports a plot to kill him.

The chief captain is named Claudius Lysias in Acts 23:26. From here Paul is escorted under guard to Caesarea (Acts 23:23–33).

Background

According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, a Hasmonean citadel originally stood on this site. Herod the Great extensively rebuilt it and named it "Antonia" after his Roman patron, Mark Antony. Josephus writes that the fortress overlooked the outer courts of the Temple. He also records that a Roman garrison was stationed there to keep watch over the crowds that gathered at the Temple during the festivals. The fortress was destroyed by the Roman army during the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.

The Greek word translated "castle" in Acts (parembolē) denotes a military camp or barracks. Scholars differ on the fortress's exact size and boundaries.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Standing immediately beside the Temple in Jerusalem, the fortress illustrates Rome's military domination of Judea. In Acts it is the setting for a turning point at which Paul, while bearing witness to the gospel among his own people, comes under both Roman protection and Roman custody. It is in this custody that Paul eventually travels, by way of Caesarea, to Rome.

Interpretation and Debate

A long-standing tradition has identified the "common hall" or "Praetorium" where Pontius Pilate tried Jesus (Matthew 27:27; Mark 15:16), as well as "the Pavement," Gabbatha (John 19:13), with the Antonia Fortress. In keeping with this understanding, the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) in Jerusalem begins near the site of the fortress.

Many scholars, however, hold that the governor resided in Herod's palace on the western hill when staying in Jerusalem, and they locate the trial there. Many also date the stone pavement displayed today beneath the Convent of the Sisters of Zion, along with the Ecce Homo Arch, to a later period (the second century). The identification of the Antonia Fortress as the site of the trial of Jesus is therefore not stated directly in the biblical text but belongs to the realm of tradition and interpretation.

In the Korean Church

Korean believers walking the Way of the Cross on Holy Land pilgrimages to Jerusalem are often told that the site lies near the route's starting point. It is also sometimes mentioned as the setting in sermons on Paul's defense in Acts 22.