I have been involved in an ongoing seminar within the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies that looks at the intersection of Travel and Religion in Antiquity (click for the accompanying website and some of the topics covered). Consideration of the realities and modes of travel are, of course, essential in understanding how religious life was affected by transportation.

So I was very interested to hear (on Troels Myrup’s blog) that Kristian Minck, a graduate student in archeology at Aarhus, Denmark, now has a blog focussing on Ancient Transportation: Roman Wagons and Beyond (his MA thesis is on wagons specifically). So far he has some interesting posts on Roman roads and on wagons themselves. Minck also points to some useful online materials regarding land transport by Dr. Judith A. Weller: Roman Traction Systems. Such issues are also important in studying travellers like Paul.