The Mamertine Prison

Rome’s oldest maximum security prison held enemies of the state. Tradition says this small space was the last place the Apostles Paul and Peter were held before their executions. This attempt to quash the burgeoning sect of Christianity did not stop them from spreading their message. Paul continued to write letters from prison. His second letter to Timothy was possibly written here. Tradition also tells us that Peter’s prison guards, Processus and Martinianus, became believers and were baptized by Peter with water which miraculously rushed from a defunct spring. They later became martyrs themselves. With two churches built atop it, this place of ultimate Roman oppression became a symbol of God’s forgiveness.

While here, look for these three spots:

Upper Chamber/Carcer: Once street level, the condemned would have entered here. When he was in a cave, David cried out, “Bring me out of prison so I can thank you.”—Psalm 142:7a Imagine what it would have been like for the Christian prisoners to enter here, knowing that they would likely not leave alive. Would your thoughts be focused on telling your jailers about God and encouraging other believers, as the apostles’ were?

Tullianum: The prisoners in this lower chamber would have been lowered by rope through a hole in the floor of the Carcer, the upper chamber. Imagine the hopelessness of being lowered into a prison you may never leave. If you feel trapped in a pit of your own, remember Paul’s words, also written from prison: “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”—Ephesians 3:18. God’s love and forgiveness can reach you wherever you are.

San Giuseppe dei Falegnami: This church now stands atop the former prison. Not only was the Roman government at the time unable to eliminate Christianity, but a monument to that which Peter and Paul preached now sits atop their prison.