Four largest cities in the Roman Empire illustration

Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Roman empire during the time of the New Testament. It was connected to the sea by its protected harbor, and to the vast expanse of “Asia” (modern-day Turkey) to the east. The population of the city was between 250,000 and 400,000. Because the city slowly dried up as its harbor filled with silt, no one built on top of the ruins we see today. The population of Rome reached 1 million early in the second century. Alexandria had 500,000-600,000 people. Antioch of Syria and Ephesus had between 200,000-400,000 people, with most scholars leaning toward the lower numbers. Antioch was where Paul and Barnabas had first begun their missionary journeys. Both Antioch and Ephesus had very active seaports and heavily-traveled roads leading inland. They were perfect locations from which the Gospel could spread around the known world.