Though the region of Macedonia in northern Greece was located nearly a thousand miles from Jerusalem, it had an indirect impact on the events of the New Testament and the ministry of the apostle Paul. Macedonia is never directly mentioned in the Old Testament, which came to a close with nearly the entire world of the Bible–including Macedonia and Israel–under the rule of the vast Persian Empire. But about a hundred years later (in 356 B.C.) Alexander the Great was born in the Macedonian town of Pella, and within 33 years he conquered virtually the entire Persian Empire. Over time, however, much of Alexander’s empire, including Macedonia, came under the rule of Rome. The Romans built many reliable roads throughout their empire to greatly improve long-distance travel. One of these roads was called the Egnatian Way, and it passed through several towns in Macedonia visited by the apostle Paul in the New Testament as he established churches in Philippi and Thessalonica (Acts 16-17).
